PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE
Today, we arrived in Punta Arenas, described by the Chileans as the most Southerly city in the world. It is certainly the most southerly city in Chile (Argentina claims the bit below it… it’s complicated…), in a large area of narrow waterways and islands that stretch right down to the very tip of the continent, collectively known as Patagonia.
Tracey and I were on tour escorting duty; today, we were on the Punta Arenas City Highlights tour – that would be an on-the-bus-off-the-bus, then… easy peasy…
Leaving the quayside at roughly 9am, the first stop was an open-air museum, featuring lots of old wagons, oil-drilling machinery and reconstructed old buildings. We were given about 30 minutes to wander around freely, and I really liked it. It had the feel of an old western town; you could wander into the buildings and see how folks once lived, while in the area outside, the old wagons and other miscellaneous items of machinery were scattered around.
Our next stop was the city’s cemetery, which wasn’t quite as grand as the one we walked around in Buenos Aires, but it still has a certain charm and atmosphere all of its very own. One tomb featured a statue, whose hand you are supposed to rub to make your dreams come true, and was surrounded by testimonials of people from all over the world for whom the magic apparently worked.
After the cemetery, we were taken to a museum. Generally speaking I’m not a huge fan of museums; I usually find them to be quite boring, with guides that drone on and on, and have nothing written in English. However, this museum was actually rather good. Information boards were written in English as well as Spanish, and there were lots of interesting things to look at. As well as there being many displays and dioramas explaining about the culture of the indigenous population, there were many stuffed animals and birds including a section of oddities including a two-headed sheep and a three-legged cormorant. There were also massive whale bones on display.
After a brief photo-stop at a high viewpoint featuring extensive views over the city, our final stop was in the central square close to the cathedral, a park area with lots of trees and flowers, and a statue in the middle. The stautue’s toes are well-polished, from all the visitors who have rubbed his feet in the hope of generating good luck for themselves (there does seem to be a lot of statue-rubbing going off in this city). On one side of statue, a busker was playing pan pipes to an accompanying backing track, while on the other side, there was a man playing an electronic keyboard. Individually they were pleasant to listen to – together, it sounded dreadful.
We were back at the ship for 12:30 – perfect timing for lunch. Because we were in Chile, and our data card works, we spent all afternoon in the Captain’s Club, gorging on the internet.
Finally… today is the Glorious 7th of February. Which means it is exactly 67 days until the 17th of April… which is when the 8th and final season of Game of Thrones starts. Which means, from this evening onwards, we can start watching every episode of GOT, one episode per night, starting with Episode 1, Season 1, tonight…
