Where do i start? Well i should start by telling you that i am half Chilean and lived in Chile for a year. During this time i traveled up and down getting to know not only my family but also the country and its various attractions. Without a doubt the place that stays with me even in cold London is La Serena; a seaside town in the north of Chile. It is the second oldest town in Chile and at only 5 hours drive from Santiago is a must visit place of the country in my opinion. Although known as a tourist place to the locals it is not as well known by foreigners as say the Atacama desert or Santiago center. La Serena meaning the serene one, has lots to offer travelers as well as Chileans. It has a mixture of both old and new which can be seen in the form of its old huts and seaside restaurants and its ever increasing mall and Americanization. When in La Serena it is easy to find your way around as the town is very traveler friendly and has a range of maps and tourist information around. With a taxi costing as little as 300 pesos a ride, which is about 30p it is very affordable to get to know this gorgeous place. La Serena cators for all ages and for all interests. For the young it has a beach front full of nightclubs and amusements. Including a funfair on the beach which runs all year round. For party animals the famous "barrio ingles" is a bit like a plaza or town square packed to the brim with pubs and clubs hosting a variety of different music and entertainment including house and techno as well as the more traditional salsa clubs. This is a favorite for the local teenagers and a normal club is about £4 to get in which includes a first free drink of pisco ( a traditional chilean drink). For the more mature traveler there are dozens of seaside restaurants which serve a wonderful and diverse selection of seafood including 'cazuela' which is a traditional Chilean soup dish. All food is caught fresh from the sea by local fishermen. And in most cases you can actually ask for a fresh fish to be caught for you and to watch it from net to plate. As well as wonderful food, La Serena has romantic horse riding along the beach which costs about 1000 pesos which is a pound for an hours ride. All locals are very friendly and warm towards travelers and in my opinion add to La Serena's wonderful appeal. For a traveler who likes home comforts La Serena has a huge hyper market which sells British classics such as baked beans and earl grey tea. In the center of La Serena they have a large mall which as well as including clothes shops has fast food such as Macdonald and KFC. The mall is very similar to shopping centers that we have here with a bit of an American twist.With ATM's readily available it is very easy to withdraw money and at 1000 pesos to a pound very easy to convert. La Serena also has a very large university where lots of the students learn English and are delighted to test out their new skills on any one who agrees. You will see lots of students around the beach front at night and although they have a good time, it is very rare to see yobbish behavior as we often have here. La Serena is also very family friendly and there are lots of activities for little ones including horse riding, swimming and a trip to the farm. As it is a very friendly place there is only one takeaway shop as locals prefer to either cook or go for a meal. Funnily enough unusually for Chile this takeaway shop is Chinese. Which i may warn you if you are thinking GOOD Chinese is a Chilean version of Chinese and totally different to what we have here. But never the less is tasty and cheap and actually run by a Chinese family. Although a favorite summer holiday place La Serena is also lovely in the winter and you can go for a horse and carriage ride along the beach front for only about £5 an hour. The town is more quiet in the winter but luckily does not switch off or stop any of the entertainment or activities. One thing i havnt mentioned is accommodation. La Serena has wonderful hotels and houses to rent to suit each budget. A famous Chilean footballer Marcelo Salas owns a property on the beach front which is totally made out of glass. To rent a 2 bed house with garden close to the city center is about 100-150 pounds a month. Not including bills. All in all although i am from Santiago the capital of Chile, i consider La Serena with its delightful people and clean air my home.
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