New Year's under the Sun

One of the most strange feelings of spending the last days of the year on the southern hemisphere is the fact that it is summertime. Christmas, for instance, is not surrounded by rain and snow, nor those cold dark days, but instead you wear t-shirt and think about going to the beach. Whilst on Christmas this goes completely against my past family traditions around a fireplace, almost making me forget the season, on New Year's I have to confess it is awesome! Celebrating the last night of the year on the streets without rain or cold perfectly matches the concept and definitely fits my ideals. This year I spent New Year's at Valparaiso again (see Valparaiso post last year) with different people and in a different place, but with the same concept: party on the streets until dawn and beyond. It was excellent like last year, but I decided to do something else for the New Year: beach! I longed for it for such a long time that on the first day I left Valparaiso to Santiago and directly to spend three days under the sun!

Tongoy is a fishing town in a rocky peninsula near La Serena, five hours north from Santiago, known by its excellent beaches and marvellous seafood. I rented a bungalow in the town, managed by an extremely friendly and slightly crazy Catalan/Brazilian couple. I enjoyed two days of beach, doing nothing, just feeling the sound and smell of the Pacific, going through childhood summer memories and of course eating all the seafood I could. It was so cheap and tasty and the variety so wide that I never repeated the same dish twice. From shellfish to oysters, crab to locos and the typical empanadas, I ate it all and prepared in different ways. It was a delight! It was a great time! I should had done more beach around here...