Hotel Pinacoteca El Greco Puerto Varas

... excursion on Wednesday. Isabel was immensely helpful, recommending a rental car place and where we might go explore the next day. She also sent us to a fabulous café called Danes, where we went on both Monday and Tuesday.

James’ favorite part of the week thus far is the chacarero, what they translate as the farmer’s sandwich. It has beef, tomato, pickled green beans, peppers and mayo. My mother taught me to love a messy, meaty sandwich and this ...

... days with some home cooking. Actually, one night when we were cooking Lorraine and I were talking in the kitchen and an American traveller who overheard us didn’t realise we could speak English as she couldn’t understand a word we were saying. Turns out it was just our Scottish brogue and that we were talking so fast that she presumed we weren’t English speakers. We found that very funny! Ended up spending the evening sharing a couple ...

... When I got to the hostel, the owner greeted me in French. Turns out that not only is this hostel French-owned, it's also next door to a chocolaterie. I think I'm in heaven. Puerto Varas is very picturesque and is a popular base for lots of activities and trips in the region. Instead of going on one, however, I opted to take the day off today. I wandered around the town a bit, took a book down to ...

... were able to talk a bit on the ride up there, and I found out that we were going through the forest and over into another branch of the valley where I would stay with him and his family for the next two nights. MY HEAVENS was the ride fabulous! The trail was muddy and steep, but the horses handled it well so that I could consume myself in the views of the forest and changing landscapes before me. I honestly have never seen nor ...

... t too far off, huh? :) Vina del Mar y Valparaiso The next day (Sunday) we took the bus to Vina del Mar. (Once again, I went to the wrong bus station) Vina wasn't too thrilling but he had a good Mexican lunch and then jumped on a local bus to go to the port city of Valparaiso. There are about 7 funiculars that go up to the top of the mountain- so we took one up and did a little of shopping...and of course took pictures!!

... Puerto Varas is also on the lake and there were more stunning views of the volcano. We boarded the van again and headed toward Petrahue Falls. This is a summer resort area with lots of "cabañas." These are small cabins (sometimes only three or four on a property) that are rented to families for their vacation. We stopped at one where they had a restaurant and llamas and rheas (they look like ...

... estan més tranquil.les. El que és increïble és la darr**a parada del dia: El glaciar "Pio XI". El més gran de Sud Amèrica amb més de 1263 Km2. Amb més de 90 m d'alçada. Al arribar comencem a veure petits iceb**gs flotant i fa una fred impressionant. Hi ha una calma que fa esgarrifar. Uau! No tinc paraules p** descriure aquesta bellesa! Tinc la pell de gallina! Ens parem una mitja horeta. Al s** la darr**a nit, avui hi haurà música en viu, un bingo i, festa després de sopar! 04.12.2008 ...

... bags ready to disembark. The next day, while quiet, was unfortunately out on the open sea where things got a whole lot rougher and some people were nursing some heavy hangovers while not wearing their sea-legs - a bad combination. The rest of the trip was very relaxing watching dvd´s, playing cards, drinking in moderation, and penguin/small dolphin spotting. We arrived in Puerto Montt in reasonably good shape, ready for more messing.

... Per mi va ser fins hi tot emocionant, buscar-les a l'horitzó, contemplar els rajos d'aigua suspesos en l'aire com a mig minut, i finalment un llom trencava la fina línia que tanta estona vam estar observant. Tot lo que va seguir el viatge va ser una ingestió etílica, sempre proporcional als ulls de l'observador. Dit lo dit no em queden més forces per continuar escrivint. A hores d'ara ens trovem a Pucón, a l'hombra del volcà Villarrica encara ...

... kleine schattige kerkjes, wilde we daarom ook niet missen. Tijdens de tour begon Jorien zich weer ontzettend vaag, ziek, zwak, misselijk te worden dus zijn we halverwege maar met een openbaar vervoer bus naar het hotel gegaan. Terug in het hotel bleek dat ze 39 graden koorts had dus dat was de dagen erna weer erg saai voor Fer. Maar drie dagen later ging het wel weer en zijn we na weer even te zijn bijgekomen onderweg naar Santiago de Chile, de hoofdstad. ´S ...