Winter Break Travels-Pt. 2-Antofagasta

Antofagasta is the fastest growing city in Chile. It is located up north about 19 hours in bus from Santiago. It was originally part of Bolivia, but won by Chile in the War in the Pacific in the late 1800s. The town is situated right on the Pacific Ocean. It is wedged between the rocky coast and a coast mountain range. The dynamic is as if Palm Springs was on a rocky beach. Beautiful place with arguably the nicest people I have met in Chile. The economy is doing well here, everything revolves around copper mining.
2 views of the city.

This picture is from a copper exhibit at the museum next to the old Bolivian nitrate plant. All the copper in the pieces displayed below originally came from this region.

A view of the ruins and the museum.

In the center of the downtown area is the Plaza de Armas. In the center of the Plaza is a large clock tower. It was a gift from England to Antofagasta, because England operated many of the most successful mining companies in Chile back in the day. Now almost all of them are state owned, I believe.
Clock town with Cathedral in the background.

Hector, my chilean friend who lives in the same house as me, had me over to his place while I was in town. His mom is an amazing cook. Highlights-homemade salsa and lots of fresh palta (avocado). This is was a portion of the table at lunch, not including the meat and rice of course.