Author: marionvermazen

This morning we found a wonderful little coffee shop near our hotel and had coffee and croissants.

Then we walked towards the Plaza de Armas. Last time we were in Chile in 2019 we only spent one night in Santiago on our way home and we stayed near the airport because there was civil unrest and there were violent demonstrations in the center of Santiago . As we walked along the main street today a lot of buildings were boarded up and others had closable metal shutters and doors. We hypothesized that this was because of the riots.

We walked around the center for a while.

We wanted some lunch and just happened to find a little restaurant very near Palacio de La Moneda. They offered a menu of the day that was very good. We started with squash soup for Duke and Ham rolled around avocado for me. Then I had tongue and Duke had chicken breast. For desert I had banana and with carmel sauce and Duke had flan. The meal for the two of us was about $19.

We took the metro back to our hotel and then napped.

Tonight we went to a jazz club about a 20 minute walk from our hotel in the Italian District. We had dinner and enjoyed a great show at the Jazz Corner.

Blog post for Monday, 6 November, 2023

It was pouring rain this morning when we drove from Frutillar to the Airport in Puerto Montt.

Our flight to Santiago left at about 2 pm and took about 2 hours. We said good bye to Bonnie and Brian at the airport in Santiago. They fly home tonight. Duke and I took a taxi to our hotel in central Santiago.

For dinner Duke and I ate at a Peruvian restaurant near our hotel, Olan. Duke had fish and I had shrimp.

Blog post for Sunday, 5 November, 2023

Tomorrow we fly from Puerto Montt to Santiago so today we drove back south towards Puerto Montt to Frutillar which is less than an hours drive from Puerto Montt airport.

At breakfast this morning a Chimango Caracara bird sat right outside our table and eyed our food and us. I can only identify it because we took pictures. And I used the Merlin bird ID app.

After breakfast we drove down the road a bit and did the waterfall hike that we missed yesterday. It was raining but the hike takes you through the spray from the waterfall so we hardly noticed. A friendly, polite, exuberant dog led us the whole way.

We stopped a couple of times along our way south to stretch our legs. At one stop some Sunday kayakers we’re just packing up.

In Frutillar our B&B overlooks the lake. If it weren’t so gray and overcast I think we would have a great view of the volcano at the end of the lake.

Frutillar has a strong German influence. We had to check out the Kuchen shop just down the street

For dinner we had a wonderful meal at Colonos del Lago, a short walk from our B&B.

I have to say that I have never before had lamb like the lamb we have had in Chile and Argentina. It has been fabulous!

While we we’re waiting for our food Bonnie and I had to test out the piano across the street.

Blog post for Saturday, 4 November, 2023

There are a lot of hikes in the vicinity of Huilo Huilo Nothofagus Hotel where we are today. This morning we hiked to the museum and to the animal park across from the hotel. They have wild boar and red deer that we were able to get a good view of. The museum covers the history of the indigenous people in Chile and some of the mining and minerals in Chile. The museum is quite run down but it was still interesting.

This afternoon we did two hikes to three different C waterfalls and a lava tube cave

For dinner we ate in the hotel again. We had venison and lamb and for desert lava cake.

Blog post for Friday, November 3, 2023

Today after breakfast we walked up to the lookout just above our hotel. It has been a clear day so we had a good view of Volcano Villarrica. Yesterday there was a significant amount of smoke coming out of the top. This morning there was almost no smoke and the snow at the top seemed to have a dusting of ash.

After checking out we drove south to Huilo Hilo Rain Forest Preserve near Volcano Mocho Choshuenco and Panguipulli. Along the drive we had some wonderful volcano and lake views.

After checking in at at Nothofagus Hotel we went for a two mile hike. through the forest to see the nearby waterfall.

We ate in the hotel restaurant.