Day 19: Chiloe to Puerto Varas

Day 19:  Chiloe to Puerto Varas

 

Sunset over the lake

Weather:  Low 60s, mostly overcast with steady breezes in the morning and then raining really really  hard during the afternoon, clearing in early evening and at dinner a gorgeous sunset

Quote of the Day:  Do you have a reservation for esta noche?

THB has a decent night’s sleep considering all the exercise yesterday and is able to do 6 ¾ minutes of the 7 minute program. And, in a total breakout for breakfast, THB orders huevos revoltos con bacon. Since Tierra Chiloe is out of bacon, THB gets jamon scrambled in. A nice change from yoghurt and cereal and multiple pastries (THB still has a small snail).

 

As we're leaving, a construction truck forces us back towards Tierra Chiloe

We've just missed an accident on what looked to be a safe part of the road

Car ferry

Our shared ride

Our ferry shares a ramp with another ferry, very unusual

We are sharing a ride with another couple as far as the airport. Not the airport a half hour from the hotel that we flew into a few days ago: this one is 3 hours away. Basically, if you’re trying to get somewhere, you need to find the airport that offers the most convenient non- or one-stop connections (P and K left at 5:30am to end up in San Pedro de Atacama late in the day). After the other couple is dropped at Terminal Uno (THB joke: these small-city airports only have one - usually very nice - terminal) we continue on to the Las Caiquenes Hotel, about 20 minutes outside of Puerto Varas on Lagos Llanquihue (pronounced Yankee-hay).

Airport art

This sure looks like a Northwest Victorian; it is in Puerto Varas

Caiquenes

It’s noon and they aren’t expecting any guests until 3pm, so the cleaning staff are the only ones here and it takes a few minutes to clear up the confusion about our reservation for the night. Good news: Tierra Chiloe has packed bag lunches for us so we sit on the Las Caiquenes’ back deck with an overcast and breezy (and finally, slightly drizzly) demeanor and enjoy ham and eggplant sandwiches and a small brownie. The staff supplies café con leche (the best THB has had on the trip, maybe it’s the German influence in this region of Chile) and herbal tea to go with our brownies.

 

Our bag lunch

Elsa wants to share

Pita and Elsa

How you know this is also a ski resort area: the bathroom floor is heated.

Elsa and Pita join us on the deck for lunch.

The view of the lake from our room, which must be the best in the hotel

The only power strip we've seen on the trip

Inside we quickly wifi up and listen to the hotel’s soundtrack: Neil singing Harvest Moon: I’m still in love with youuuuuu on this harvest moooooooon. The DJ portion is en Espanol totalmente, la muscia es in Ingles, golden oldies from the 60s and 70s.

A heavy snack at 5pm in the living room: more café con leche for THB, jamon, queso, avocado, toast, jam, butter. Dinner now pushed back until 8pm. The storm continues to rage outside.

Our snack!

THB  has another great cafe con leche

On the bookshelf...something for THB to do between bridge games

The rain disappears and the sun comes out, which in this part of the world means around 6:30 and sunset is at 8:30.

Dinner is ordered at snack time: DB has a flaky white fish and THB has grilled pork, each accompanied by what used to be called frozen veggies (i.e., peas and corn) with lots of pre-sliced bell peppers mixed in and decent potatoes. Even though we get two vinegars and olive oil on the table, no ensaladas. Did we miss something? Flan and mild chocolate ice cream for dessert, and our choice of four different sauvignon blancs; we opt for the Reserva (decent, served very cold). THB will post the price tomorrow…this is not an all-inclusive.

 

Three tables are set in the dining room

Nobody else appears and there are no cars in the parking area

Can we really be the only people here tonight? YEP! And, the only people without a car? YEP! And the only people that arrived unexpectedly? YEP!

 

Old Chilean proverb: God gives salad dressing to some diners that have no salad

We schedule desayuno por ocho en la manana. YEP!

Book Review: The Can’t Kill Us All; Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement, Wesley Lowery: A Washington Post reporter’s intimate (and short) version of the last few years of the protests (often summed up as the Black Lives Matter movement though it is broader than that group) mixed with memoir-like introspection. Valuable for its on-the-ground moments and placement in the broader context, THB wished Lowery had included more of the stats the Post reporting team has been trying to collect about police shootings of unarmed men and women from police departments across America. Similar to accurate death certificates, measuring would go a long way towards identifying where solutions should be focused. Written before the 2016 elections results we’re known; something tells me that DJT has decided to focus on areas other than police reform and training (“…are you a muslim?). Recommended