June's Journeys

We're still in the Lake Region of Chile. Yesterday we took a local bus to another little lake town north of Puerto Varas where we are staying. Buses  are cheap, reliable and comfortable. Our host, Helga, told us how to do it and now we're just like the locals.  Ha. The highlight at Fruitillar was the German museum with its beautiful flower gardens on a steep hillside. It also included several houses, a water wheel and a machine shed displaying the evolution of their farming equipment. We also had our first "completo", a loaded hotdog!  Big bun, little hotdog, avocado, ketchup and mayonaise. Not bad. No picture of that, but here we are at breakfast.  Bread, bread, and more bread! Just what I need. I had no idea Chileans would eat so much bread.

Yesterday was a travel day. I've been amazed at how well the connections have worked. Mauricio took us to the airport in Punta Arenas after breakfast. We flew the 3.5 hours to Santiago. At the airport we figured out how to get a bus into the city to get a different bus to Valpo, our colorful city by the sea. We paid our fare and, with 5 minutes to spare, boarded the fancy bus to Valpo. Two hours later we were here and by 6:30 pm we were ringing the door bell of our B&B, Casa California, in the Cerro Alegre area of the city. We met Jonny, our host who is from California, and his wife Cata (Chilean)  and sweet baby Max. We were very hungry by then. Jonny recommended a place with a view up the hill. The city is built on very steep hills. Everywhere we walk uphill or put on the brakes going downhill. Houses and restaurants appear to built on top of each other with every inch occupied. There are hidden little patios and gardens beh...