Punta Arenas

Sunday Dec. 19

After 24 hours of travel, we arrived in Punta Arenas. It was overcast and surprisingly chilly, making us think that we’d packed entirely wrong. Jessica and David we were waiting for us at the hotel. Given that they had just spent three days in Punta Arenas, they were already experts, and gave us a tour of the town, taking 45 minutes, and seeming to exhaust the subject (yes, you may want to ask what Jessica and David did for three days in Punta Arenas!).

We’re staying in the best hotel in town, a converted mansion of Jose Nogueira. We wandered through the parlors and living rooms that are maintained as from the glory days with wood paneling, marble floors, plush furnishings and some almost medieval touches, such as throne-like chairs.

Our room, however, does not hearken of past glory, but rather is a narrow, musty, closet-like space, with three single beds lined up in a row. Think dormitory, not luxury suite. I guess that’s all they can think of to give you when you have three people (J & D had a much more elegant room, with a bathtub nearly the size of our dormitory room).

We spent an enjoyable hour before dinner looking at J&D’s photos from Antarctica, including their wedding pictures. It looks like quite an amazing trip filled with spectacular views. We particularly liked the icebergs and the penguins. The wedding site was certainly unique. The groom wore a tuxedo top and blue jeans bottoms, and the bride wore a white sweater and black Gortex pants (until she succumbed to the cold and topped it off with her bright red expedition jacket).

We managed to stay up until 10:00pm, going to bed while the sun still was shining.

-- Donna