Cementerio, oh Cementerio

Those who know me really well probably don't know this about me: I'm crazy about graveyards and cemetaries. Seriously. Some of my best memories of Iowa are when I could convince Kyle, who grew up 20 miles from the college, to drive me around to the old graveyards down practically unused dirt roads.

I don't know what it is about them, but in case any of you are as enamored as I am of old headstones and cool crypts, the following pictures are for you. (Since we're currently at sea and unable to post, I thought I'd set up these pictures to keep you all coming back...)

The cementerio municipal in Punta Arenas is probably one of the best cemetaries I've seen in South America. According to Lonely Planet, "in death as in life, Punta Arenas' first families flaunted their wealth--wool baron José Menéndez's extravagent tomb is a scale replica of Rome's Vittorio Emanuele monument." See for yourself:

Headstones and sculptures stretching as far as the eye can see.

Crypts lining the walkway at the entrance to the cementerio.

16 December 2009

Picture of the day: 2-headed lamb (born 1950 in Chile) on display in the Museo Tonck.

This museum is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you ever make it to Viña del Mar and like really weird things. They also have a moai from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) on display, plus an exhibit on shrunken heads (real shrunken heads from Bolivia, plus step-by-step instructions on how to shrink heads, included!) and all manner of stuffed dead animals. Freaky.


Note: We´re headed to Santiago today, then flying down South on Friday, and our access to computers is a bit unknown at this point. We´ll try to keep a relatively frequent posting schedule up, but we make no promises. Thanks for the comments, we´re definitely reading them!