Day 8 in Chile: Shopping!

Today is Sunday May 15 2011 and it is another free day. I woke up around 11 o’clock and got ready to walk around town. At about one o’clock, we left in search of the mall. We walked alongside the ocean to find the mall, which was supposedly down a little ways. On our walk, we came across two gentlemen making really cool art in the sand. Once we walked past the small boardwalk, we came across a bunch of souvenir shops that someone mentioned before. The small souvenirs were similar at each table, but varied by carrying either jewelry or souvenirs pertaining to Chile. I find it very strange that I have not come across any t-shirts that say Chile because, on most of my other travels, t-shirts seem to be the most popular souvenir. I am almost done buying souvenirs for people, but I am still looking around in case something jumps out at me. After we stopped by these tables, we went to the mall, which I must say was huge! It was three stories high and seemed to have several McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. We just looked around in the mall and were not there for too long. The stores contained the same types of items we could get in any store in the United States, so we I did not want to shop around as much. For this reason, we left the mall and went back to the small tables along the shore. During our second round of these stands, I was looking for some something inexpensive for myself, but I did not come across anything that really stood out to me. After shopping, we had some time to get ready and dress up for dinner. We had a reservation at a fancy restaurant near the shore and the food was amazing. The restaurant was empty when we arrived around 6:30 p.m. and I am guessing the reason is because Sunday is the day of rest for most Catholics. We were seated on the second floor of the restaurant and had a great view of the waves cracking below us. Dinner was really fun and enjoyable. I ordered steak and mashed potatoes and it was delicious. We spent about three hours at the restaurant and then came back to the hotel. Since it is a Sunday, nothing has been really open, so right now I am working on making my blog prettier and more detailed. Horseback riding is tomorrow and I cannot wait!