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.

19 December 2009

Picture of the day: looking out over the town of Punta Arenas and the Strait of Magellan.

Blogmistress note: The pictures of the day for 20 December through 23 December will not be posted until we land in Ushuaia on the 23rd. They should be stellar, though, so stick around to see the penguins!

Blown away by Punta Arenas

After a week of roasting in the sun in Valparaíso and Santiago (we have the sunburns to prove it!), we flew down to Patagonia on Friday. Punta Arenas is the southernmost city in Chile, a town of about 130,000 sitting on the Strait of Magellan.

The Strait of Magellan as seen from the edge of town.

Punta Arenas is definitely a port city, but also has some cool architecture, courtesy of families who made it big during the wool boom. (Yes, you read that right: sheep estancias were big business in Patagonia a century ago!)

The Sara Braun mansion, right in the center of town.

It is not as cold as we expected here--probably in the 60s--but it is seriously windy. You get very tired walking around just from leaning into the wind. We have been told to expect this throughout Patagonia, which means hiking with our packs on should be... interesting, to say the least. Also, the sun never sets! We were dead tired after waking up at 6am for our flight, but just could not go to bed when the sun was still so high in the sky.

The streets of Punta Arenas at 10:00pm--just about time for sunset!

18 December 2009

Picture of the day: statue of the virgin Mary on top of Cerro San Cristóbal.

17 December 2009

Picture of the day: enjoying the fountain at the park on Cerro Santa Lucía.

Simmering in Santiago

After a nearly unbearable 1.5-hour, 90-degree bus ride from Valparaíso (have we mentioned, it seems like the fancy new technology of air conditioning does not exist yet here?), we arrived in Santiago, the capital of Chile. We spent our first day sweating: our bags are too small to fit our boots in, so despite the 93-degree weather, we traveled in long pants, wool socks, and full leather boots. This would not be so bad, except we had to navigate from the bus station to the metro to our hostal, all while carrying our 35-pound packs. Yikes.

We climbed up Cerro Santa Lucía in the middle of the city, and got some great views that are only partially obscured by the layer of smog. (Notice the small, white statue on the hill to the left--you'll be seeing her again later.)


Today, we were lucky to have a slightly cooler (85 or so) day. We put on shorts and sandals and walked around the parks near our hotel.


Santiago was built around a river. I imagine that it looked a bit better a few hundred years ago...


Tomorrow we're off for Punta Arenas. Given that it's a 4.5 hour flight directly to the South, we'll definitely be in for cooler weather there.

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!