Day 14 - Chris - After a quiet day by the pool yesterday, today we transferred to San Antonio for an overnight stay prior to boarding the Coral Princess tomorrow. There were 4 of us on the trip, along with the driver and tour guide.

We started at Vina del Mar, just North of Valparaiso. This was a nice little seaside town, slthough again signs of vandalism and graffiti from the demonstrations were everywhere. Next was Valparaiso - a charming city well know for the street art which appears on pretty much every wall. The guide walked us through the streets and then we caught a funicular railway down to street level.

Next up was the Varamonte vineyard in the Casablanca area. This was very nice. We were introduced to 3 of their wines and bought a couple of bttles to take on board.

We were told during the trip that San Antonio wasn't really a great place to be staying. The hotel turned out to be a tiny B&B type establishment which was very basic. A tiny room, no wardrobe or drawers and a toilet seat that was broken off. We were advised not to walk out at night after about 9.00 pm and there was only really one place to eat that we could easily walk to. As with many pleaces in South America, not much English is spoken anywhere.

We later spoke to somene on board the cruise ship who had made a similar trip down as us. Their driver left the vehicle unattended and all of their hand luggage was stolen. This included the passports of one couple who consequently lost their cruise!