El SurReal - A Puerto Montt!!

Well, here we are!  Yesterday, Rachael and I took off from Santiago airport at 2PM, and about two hours later, we crash landed in Puerto Montt.  Literally, the girl in the seat behind me shrieked when we touched down.  I've got a mild fear of flying, especially during take-off, touch-down, or any turbulence.  Great.  Well, this time, I was absolutely terrified.  Even Rachael got scared.  "Remember that time our plane crashed?"



Upon landing, the change of climate was more than notable.  We had left beautiful, sunny, warm Valparaiso to vacation in the overcast, chilly, and fairly rainy south of Chile.  We found our "Hospedaje," where we'd be spending only one night.  We ventured to the beautiful cemetery that adorned the small town and explored the colorfully decorated graves.  This was the third cemetery I've seen in Chile, and the vibe is just so different than the negatively-charged idea of death in the States.  

 After enjoying not only a sopaipilla (fried pumpkin dough) lightly adorned in mostaza (mustard) and ají (hot sauce), but also mote con huesillos (food/drink: barley and semi-dried peach swimming in sweet juice), we bought a $4 bottle of wine and headed back to the mini-apartment for a relaxing evening.  We cooked tomato soup with cous cous, sipped our cabernet souvignon, and sang along with Ingrid tunes.  We had Butterfinger pumpkins for dessert (thanks again, Mom, for the Halloween goodies!) and eventually turned in for the night.  

It turned out to be quite an enjoyable evening!  We had heard that Puerto Montt was fome (boring) and not even worth the trip.  However, despite its cloud cover and ghost-town feel, its vibe wasn't so bad.  It was a somber kind of tranquility, reserved but friendly.  I liked it there, but next, it's on to Ancud, Chiloé.