An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
We greatly enjoyed our additional 2 hours of relaxation before departing, but, alas, we finally had to board the van for the long drive. We shared the first few hours to Puerto Natales, Chile with an English couple and a German one, though conversation was minimal due to the noise of the van on the washboard roads, so Milton read (One Hundred Years of Solitude) while Wendy enjoyed the scenery and fended off carsickness.
We arrived in P.N., dropped off the English couple, used the bathrooms in their hotel, then got back on the road. After an hour or so, we stopped at a little roadside inn for lunch. We finally had our first Barros Luco: a sandwich of grilled meat or chicken with melted cheese, named for the President of Chile early in this century who (invented and) had that creation everywhere he went. It was actually quite good.
We dined with Bob and Joan from Atlanta, fellow Exploras, who were riding in a different van. An amusing time, as Joan ventilated about the miserable and rustic time she’s been having for the past weeks in South America. Then it was back in the van for the home stretch to Punta Arenas, Chile which, thankfully, is mostly on a paved strip. The land was beautiful, though so different from the mountains and glaciers of the past few days, with vast expanses of grassland in all directions and an endless sky of ever-changing clouds and shades of blue.
We checked into our hotel for the night, where we had to again be the squeaky wheels, as they first put us in a small, dank room with no view, then when we asked if they had a larger room, they offered us a bright and spacious suite (with a large circular jacuzzi/shower) for the same rate. We set off on a walking tour of the city, hitting most of the highlights in an hour or so. It was amazingly chilly for the height of summer - mid 50s with a biting breeze.
An interesting place here at the end of the earth (as they so proudly say in their tourism ads), with a colorful history (mostly from before the Panama canal opened and took much of the focus away from here) and even more colorful houses and buildings. We climbed up Lookout Hill escorted by several of the city’s ubiquitous but harmless dog population, from where we took in a sweeping view of the neatly laid out and colorful city as it is set on the large Strait of Magellan with the Argentine Tierra del Fuegos across in the distance. We then ambled over to the town’s cemetary, which is quite large and filled with the most ornate and grand monuments. It’s an edifying experience, as it is filled with names from the prominent and diverse families throughout the history of this place which include Italian, Slavic, English, etc.
We stopped by El Corral, but of course they don’t start serving until 8, so we went back to the stately and European-styled Jose Nogueira (the oldest hotel in town, and one of the oldest in the country) where we caught up on some emailing and watched the Joan Rivers fashion awards on E!
Dinner at El Corral was quite tasty — started with a chicken consomme (which we’d erroneously believed would contain some chicken), big and flavorful mussels, and some octopus vinegarette. A special mention for their rolls which were really good, especially the garlic ones. We shared a paella entree for one, which fed the two of us with some leftover. It was delicious, with rice and peas, and many assorted (and unidentified) local sea creatures, and went perfectly with the Concha y Torra sauvignon blanc 1/2 bottle we shared.
Then we walked back through the wind chill and watched the second half of the Super Bowl, though again with the spanish commentary (by a team which included Raul Allegre) muted.