Punta Arenas, Chile ... a pleasant surprise
Posted on February 04, 2011 By Joseph
Punta Arenas (Sandy Point) is the southernmost city on the mainland of the American continent.
And while you might expect one of the last outposts before Antarctica to be a rough and tumble pioneer village with nary a shred of civilization, Punta Arenas will surprise you. This town of more than 100,000 people only 600 miles from the northern tip of the planet’s southernmost continent is a happening place. For instance, while the rest of Chile is sipping on Nescafe the folks in Punta Arenas have put this dreadful alternative to a righteous cup of Joe in its rightful place (See photo – you’ll have to get it translated because this a G rated blog site). While Starbucks is the best cup of coffee you can get in most of Chile, in Punta Arenas they offer up every style of liquid caffeinated love that you know and drink back home. In addition, the restaurants in Punta Arenas offer a lovely combination of good food, cozy ambience and stellar service. Anyway, that was the experience we had at La Marmita (it means “little pot”) where the fresh crab was succulent, the lamb stew luscious and the Carmenere (Chile’s very own) wine simply marvelous. The welcome was as warm and satisfying as Julie’s pumpkin soup, Zeb’s rabbit casserole and Tad’s pork chop chunk. Only disappointment was Julie’s guanaco which was a bit over cooked. All the accompanying veggies were so tasty it almost made me forgo the meats and go strictly Vegan. Here are a few photos from the experience. And it was reasonable, the entire evening including appetizer, soup, mains, desert, a Pisco Sour (more on that later), a fine local vintage and a mug of the homegrown lager was about $100US. Not bad for a spot that is 1,354 miles and close to a four-hour plane ride from life as residents of the capital city of Santiago know it. We’ve only just begun our Patagonia adventure, but things are already looking up from the real down under. Hasta luego, mis compadres!
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