Viva Sunshine

We arrived after our very long overnight trip at about 11.30am into La Serena, a bustling metropolis compared to where we´ve been lately.  The sun was shining, people were smiling and there was a generally happy, prosperous air to this beachside city.  Cars even stop for you when you try to cross a pedestrian crossing, so very civilised.  After a quick shower,  few of us headed out to a nearby pub for lunch and enjoyed a lovely casuela (a sort of soup with meat, veg, noodles etc) and either fried fish or chicken.  Also enjoyed a drop of the local beer, and our friend HJ found herself a new friend - a local chap took a shine to the ´rubia¨and even went away to get her  t-shirt he´d sprayed with his cologne.  How romantic!  Our guide, Joaquin, then took us on a local bus to the big shopping centre where we had a wander around for an hour before walking back to the town.  Also had the best ice-cream so far in South America, they make it well in Chile, and loads of flavours.  We stopped at the supermarket to buy some wine and snacks and then settled in at the hotel eating our ´piquncies´, drinking wine and listening to music until about 11pm.  Very enjoyable day all up!  Have decided that La Serena remind us a lot of places like Hervey Bay in Australia, the same carefree beachside atmosphere where life seems good just because the sun is shining!