South American Adventure Part 9: Days 17 & 18

Day 17 – Monday, February 13th – Aboard the Crown Princess – Puerto Montt, Chile

We awoke to glorious sunshine and warmer temperatures as the Crown Princess was at anchor in the bay of Puerto Montt, the third-largest city in Chile. Puerto Montt lies at the northernmost end of Reloncavi Sound, and is the gateway to Chile’s famous Lake District (Los Lagos). The first thing I noticed (apart from the bustling modern town) was a large, lighted cross atop a nearby hill. Not only was it noticeable for its size and location, but also because the outline changed into a veritable rainbow of colors. We were later to find out that this hill is where Pope John Paul II spoke to the masses, and in commemoration they erected the Disco Cross.

Since we had a private tour booked that was scheduled to start at 9:00AM, and this was yet another tender port, Mike went down at 6:15 to get our tender tickets. But the staff were suddenly following policy and he only got one. By the time Allan and I dragged ourselves downstairs, the numbers were nearing 500. We chose a few nibbles from the International Café for breakfast and wait.

We were off the ship by 8:30 and arrived on shore on-time at 9:00, where our friendly guide Claudio was waiting for us. We loaded into his Kia SUV and drove through the busy port town. While it appeared modern and pleasant from the harbor, a block away the buildings were somewhat ramshackle.

Our first stop was in a residential neighborhood where an overlook provided beautiful views of the city and harbor. Claudio told us that most homes use wood for heat, which was surprising. Some even use wood for cooking. On the other hand, there are lots of trees in these parts.

From Puerto Montt, we continued north on the Pan American Highway, heading toward the Lake District. Our visit was focused on the third-largest lake in South America, Lago Llanquihue (pronounced yahn-KEE-hway). This lake is not only bordered by many towns, but also a series of volcanoes, Mount Osorno being the largest and most beautiful. It’s very similar in form to Mt. Fujiyama in Japan: a conical stratovolcano with a snow-capped peak (approximately 8,700 feet high). And while it was hard to see in the morning mist, it got clearer as the day went on.

In the early 1850s, Manuel Montt, then President of Chile, encouraged German, Austrian, and Swiss populations to migrate to this area of Chile. The scenery is very reminiscent of those areas, with rolling green hills, perfect for cattle grazing. It’s no wonder that this area provides most of the dairy products consumed by Chile. The immigrants also brought with them their language, customs, and architecture (as we would eventually see).

We stopped again at another viewpoint in these rolling hills, with the Lago Llanquihue shimmering below. This viewpoint was a memorial to the original German settlers, and listed the names of the first families to move to this area. Driving from here to our first stop, the winding road and green scenery reminded us of rural Western Washington. Very scenic, as it was a beautiful, warm day. Lots of bikers were out as well, enjoying the good roads and perfect weather.

We arrived in Frutillar (froo-tee-yar), a charming town of about 25,000 permanent residents. The lakeside featured a large beach with a promenade, and plenty of alpine-style architecture in the buildings lining the waterfront street. The charming town had a fair amount of summertime visitors, but it was still picturesque and tranquil. And those views of Mount Osorno were stunning.

Claudio left us at the German Colonial Museum, which featured a series of buildings set along the hillside, surrounded by colorful gardens and trees. Each building (the Mill, the Blacksmith’s house, the Farmer’s House) had some original furnishings, as well as informative photos of the people who lived there and what their daily lives were like. Allan was intrigued by the buzzing bees at the spacious farmer’s house. (There was one or possibly two nests of honeybees on the side of this building right next to the balcony on the second floor – AFK) We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent here, and could have lingered longer if our time wasn’t limited.

My blood sugar was crashing at this point, so we grabbed a quick lunch across the street at Café Chocolate, where we not only ate chicken empanadas, but the finest walnut kuchen we’ve ever had. I mean, it was a dessert that we were still raving about days later. Seriously.

After lunch, Claudio gave us about 45 minutes to walk around the town and meet him at the lakeside Music Theater, a modern concert hall set perched on the lake. We took many, many photos of the scenery and buildings, as well as the latest in our series of quad-selfies (this time with Mount Osorno in the background).

From Frutillar, we headed south toward the larger town of Puerto Varas, also located on Lake Llanquehue. While this is considered the fanciest resort town in this area, I hated it because it had bad traffic, too many people crowding the sidewalks, and a lack of charm (except for the setting along the lake and a large 19^th century church in the Bavarian style). Nevertheless, we managed to spend about 45 minutes seeing the town and buying some beautiful souvenirs. – Grouch…The town was very busy, yes, but it was lovely – rolling hills with verdant vegetation and beautiful flowers everywhere - AFK

The drive back to Puerto Montt was uneventful, but since Princess changed the “last tender time” from 4:00PM to 3:00PM, we had to hustle to make it back in time. Claudio did a good job of getting us back on time, and we managed to jump aboard a tender without waiting. By the way, the ship still didn’t pull out of the harbor until after 5:00PM. – This is quite true. It would have been nice not to have to rush back to the ship. We could easily have spent a few more hours in Frutillar… and had more of the transcendent Walnut Kuchen! J - AFK

We grabbed a quick bite in the International Café although we were sitting in the Vines wine bar. Vines had a fabulous server named Carmen, who we adored. After the snack, I had a short nap, and then hung out on the deck watching the tenders make their way to and from the ship. At one point, I looked down from our balcony and saw a sea lion cavorting in the water. Very cute (but no photo, alas).

Dinner was at our usual time (7:45PM) in our usual place (the Michelangelo Dining Room) with our usual waiter (Alex) and his assistant (Allan). The food was better tonight, although frankly it’s becoming a blur what we ordered and ate. I do know that we’ve been enjoying the Reservado Merlot from Concha Y Toro many nights.

It was a memorable last port of call, and as we headed back into the Pacific, the ship was back to its rock-and-roll motion. The motion isn’t the issue: it’s the creaking of whatever’s inside the hull that’s been keeping me up nights. I’m sure I’ll miss it after we’re off the ship.

Day 18 – Tuesday, February 14th – Aboard the Crown Princess – At Sea

The sunshine was hidden this morning as we made our way through foggy seas. Our last at sea day, and no agenda. We had breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room, leisurely enjoying honeydew melon, corn-flake crusted French Toast, and copious cups of coffee.

Our entertainment this morning was a cooking demonstration by the head chef, assisted (and I use the term loosely) by Neville, the Maître d’. The chef, with his heavy Italian accent, was the “straight man” to Neville’s humorous (and frequent) interruptions. The chef made gnocchi from scratch (and made it look very easy), sautéed scallops on a bed of ratatouille, and finally tiramisu for dessert. The banter between them was quite humorous, and the chef wasn’t too thrilled when Neville threw a few gnocchi against the wall to see if they were done. This trick works with spaghetti, but not gnocchi. Tours of the galley were offered afterward, but we demurred: we’d seen it as part of several Chef’s Tables we’ve done on past cruises.

We enjoyed a short nap, then met the boys up on the deck for a cheeseburger. It was still foggy and cool, and there were few people out. This was Valentine’s Day, but Allan still managed to surprise me with a vase of roses delivered to our room!

The excitement of the day was a medical deviation that the ship had to make to offload a sick passenger. Ship turned east toward the Chilean coast and were met by local authorities near the town of Talcahuano. The passenger was offloaded (we didn’t see the specifics), and we turned around and made our way back to our original northerly track at a quicker 22 knot speed (versus the usual 19-20 knots).

We spent the afternoon packing, which meant revisiting items from the beginning of the trip (boarding passes to Buenos Aires, restaurant receipts, etc.) which always makes me wistful. Mike and Chuck, on the other hand, saw several whales. Even though we’re on the same side of the ship, we missed it. Probably because (wait for it) we were napping.

To celebrate the last day of the cruise, and because it was Valentine’s Day, we enjoyed our final dinner at Sabatini’s, the Italian specialty restaurant located in the topmost rear part of the ship. Allan and I have been to Sabatini’s many times, but this was a first for Mike and Chuck. Alas, it wasn’t the best experience we’ve had there. First off there was tremendous vibration of the entire room that felt like someone put too many quarters into the slot. Second, it was surprisingly understaffed. Not that the restaurant was packed (maybe half full), but even at that our waiter Czeslav was hurrying between several tables.

The food quality was very good, with a particular standout of Penne Con Brasato di Manzo (a braised short rib beef sauce over penne pasta) that was rich and flavorful. The chocolate tiramisu for dessert (with a scoop of espresso gelato) was outstanding. We also ate a few of the chocolates that Allan bought at Vassalisa in Buenos Aires nearly two weeks ago!

After dinner, we raced back to our cabin to finish packing and get the tagged bags into the hallway by the 11:00PM deadline (we made it by five minutes). It was then off to bed and our last night sleeping on the Crown Princess (for this voyage).