Mom I might be late, ok?

[Hola and Happy St Patricks Day to all! (it does not appear to be celebrated at all here!)]

So I am in Chile - land of the terramoto! Everyone has good stories but things this far south are fine. I am enjoying my "once" (elevens) at about 4 so I guess it could better be called tea. - some very nice pastry, instant coffee (mixed right at the table) and a small plate of cheese, ham and avocado with toast. I am driving through Fruitillar (an old German town) on the way around Lake Llanquihue that fronts Puerto Varas (where I am staying.)

It is a lttle overcast but it is very nice. On a clear day you would see the dormant snow capped volcano - Orsono - across the lake (we had a pretty good view yesterday) Except that it is not spewing lava, it is the perfectly formed image of a volcano.

(We were told numerous times yesterday how lucky we were that it was a clear day for the crossing. So I guess a few clouds today are ok.)

I was dropped on the square in Puerto Varas and waited for my innkeeper to pick me up. This is the guy who said he would help me set the rest of my Chilean itinerary. The town is really cute and is filled with rose bushes in full bud. John is an expat exhippie from Indiana and a bit of a character. We had a quick tour of the little town and then drove the three blocks to the "inn". I have to say now I didn't recall my research well because, to my surprise, my guest room is literally a room in their home. (I pulled the tripadvisor reviews as soon as I could and they are awesome but I almost wanted to leave) It is a big old house and is fixed up very nicely and it is spotlessly clean. But you live with them and the kids and dog! Which is something I've never done. And a bit uncomfortable at first.

I went for dinner to ponder my move - king crab au gratine and my first pisco sour (pisco is Chilean grappa) I was really tired when I got back but John's Chilean wife, Theresa, had told me how to get in and lock up (hence the reference above about coming home late) I slept really well, although my room door popped wide open in the night - no keys (there are other rooms but they are empty right now). In the morning Theresa made me a wonderful breakast and left me to enjoy it at the big dining table. Afterward, I mapped out my next five days with John. It's all very nice so I am staying a few nights!

The most interesting thing to me so far, in this part of Chile, is the very unique architecture. There is nothing really modern and everything else falls into one of three categories - typical, almost fake, Bavarian; really cool and sometimes enormous shingled and almost Victorian (with or without the gingerbread) - some all fixed up as inns and others very weathered farmhouses (the sizes of these remind me of Doctor Zhivago and his country estate and with the smaller outbuildings) and finally fairly simple corrugated metal boxes with very ornate wooden trim around the windows and doors. I'll need to find out a bit more about this.

A few more words about Chile (as compared to Argentina)
1.The bidets are gone
2. It is very lush and green - lots of farmland and it is fall here
3. The inflated peso is crazy - 500US to 1 CHL (my "once" was $5200)
4. Spanish is a bit different here and they use words differently (never saw the word "hospedaje" in Argentina - it means lodging)
5. There is a tremendous German influence here vs the Italian influence (less Bariloche) in Argentina
6. It seems at first glance more modern but there is still tracks of "affordable housing" outside the towns but very safe.
7. There is lots of beef farming here yet the menus all feature seafood whereas Argentina was so barren and dry but everything was beef!

The weather looks worse for tomorrow so I may have a "mental health" day and go to a big old hotel that has a huge thermal spa complex. Then Friday I will head to a small island on the Pacific coast and check out the fish market and dinner in Puerto Montt (larger and grittier town)

Saturday I will leave here and start the odessey north. Bus to a little coastal village with some old Spanish forts. Monday, bus to Pucon to explore an active volcano. Wednesday, bus past the worst of the earthquake to Santa Cruz and some wineries. Then bus to Santiago for a few nights and then to Valparaiso for a few more and then home (I guess)!

[dinner at Donde El Gordido - Anthony Bourdain did a show from here - it is a hole on the wall but good seafood - pisco sour, razor clams with Parmesan cheese and conger eel finished with a spicy sauce and some shrimp, coffee right from the can! At a bar called Cork - there is a shamrock on the door but not festivities]