… to Punta Arenas, Chile …

… which calls itself the south-most city in South America – and says Ushuaia is an imposter because although it’s south of Punta Arenas, it’s on an island, so it shouldn’t count! We visited both so it doesn’t really matter. Due to a storm in the Pacific, we had two days in Punta Arenas instead of one. Tendering ashore was rocky, with waves slapping over the windows. Gale force winds whipped around the dock as we left the tender. Inside the port terminal the ship manned a hot chocolate station. Ummm! Our excursion was later so we walked a few blocks to the town square. Punta Arenas has about 125,000 people, and a long history as a stop for ships passing through the Strait of Magellan. The city reached its pinnacle from 1850 until the Panama Canal opened in 1913, and the city crashed. Many mansions built by local tycoons remain, including several on the square, which also has a large statue of Magellan with an indigenous native. Legend has it that if you rub the Indian’s big toe, you will return to Punta Arenas; after posing for a toe-rubbing photo, we re-thought that choice ... as it began sleeting, then hailing, then raining. The square was filled with local vendors selling handicrafts – many woolly and warm!
   
Our bus excursion took us to a mansion turned museum, the Braun Menendez house.
       
Our guide took us downtown on the main street, lined with monuments to sheepherders, oilmen, Croatians, etc. Next stop: the cemetery, similar to Recoleta in Buenos Aires, with ornate mausoleums and incredible mushroom-like cypresses. Here it began pouring in earnest, with no shelter to be had. Soggy, we climbed back on the bus for a stop at a scenic overlook, and then on to the Dick family sheep farm museum.
    
Here they plied us with fine red Chilean wine, and empanadas. Someone made the mistake of asking what was in the empanadas and it turned out to be llama meat. They just didn’t taste the same after that… We saw a short film, then watched a sheep-shearing demonstration.
      
Day two included a visit to the city’s cathedral, shopping for lapis lazuli (abundant in this area), and the best stop of all: at Corsini Café, for a cup of spectacular hot chocolate. Even better, just as we got settled with our steaming mugs , it began hailing and sleeting outside! The sun reappeared as we finished. We stopped at the local supermarket on the way back to the ship for a few bottles of Chilean late harvest dessert wine. The ship arranged a huge Super Bowl Party that night, and a good time was had by all.