Un Completo Con Palta

I ended up spending 5 days chillin’ out in this Chilean city of 125,000 people situated on the Strait of Magellan in Tierra del Fuego. The rain fell hard 4 out of the 5 days I was here, which was fine since I planned to spend most of the time working on cataloging and uploading the hundreds of photos I took in South Georgia and Antarctica, as well as updating the blog…which I neglected to write most of on the expedition because looking at a computer screen made me feel more seasick that I already was.  Blah!

Punta Arenas is definitely not a happening place, but it’s a nice locale to lay low for a bit and the internet works so much better here in Chile than back in Argentina; connection speeds are markedly faster and access doesn’t seem to go down (I’m really tired of hearing “El Internet se cayo!”) as often here either. With a strong uplink, I finally caught up on the photo and video uploads. Also hopped on Skype most every night to chat with my brothers, including wishin’ my little bro Dan a happy 25th birthday on Feb. 27 (I remember holding him the day he came home from the hospital when I was 8 years old…wow, time just screams! Even more affirmation to seize the moment and live life on your own terms, even if just for bit).

Yeah, I was skeptical at first as well, but it actually tastes pretty fantastic, and they used organic, all-natural mayonnaise too...which is a good thing since I’m watching my diet and trying to eat healthy.

On Thursday the sky opened up into a beautiful, sunshiny day and I seized the brief window in the weather and set out to walk around a bit and explore the city, the highlights of which included a great vista of Punta Arenas and the Strait of Magellan from Mirador La Cruz, a stroll through the Cementerio Municipal, a fascinating place with some elaborate and extravagant tombs of the town’s first families, a walk through the Palacio Mauricio Braun, the opulent and ostentatious former mansion (now museum) of the Braun-Menendez family, who were early 19th century sheep farmers turned land magnates, and the Plaza Munoz Gamero, a centrally-located park that is basically the heart of the city.

Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/timothyshoup/sets/72157604007702300/

The best part of my week by far was a visit on one rainy night to Lomit’s, a bustling neon café with a center griddle where locals and foreign expats (along with a few travelers as well) alike scream at the big screen TVs for their favorite futbol teams while downing Shop Fanta (an Orange Soda & Beer mix). The café is located just a block from the Plaza Munoz Gamero (near the corner of Jose Menendez & Bories) and serves up a variety of greasy, griddle food (steak, pork, hamburgers, etc.) and it was here that I tasted a venerable Chilean specialty for the first time.

“Un Completo Con Palta” is a jumbo hot dog in a large dinner roll, covered with sauerkraut, diced tomatoes, guacamole (the Palta) and mayonnaise. Yeah, I was skeptical at first as well, but it actually tastes pretty fantastic, and they used organic, all-natural mayonnaise too...which is a good thing since I’m watching my diet and trying to eat healthy.

So, I ordered up two completos and a Fanta Orange Soda (without the beer, my cross-cultural adventurousness only goes so far) and sat back to watch a futbol match between Colo-Colo (Chilean team) and Maracaibo (Venezuelan team) in the Copa America futbol tourney. Colo-Colo managed to score two “Gggggoooooooooooolllllllllssssssss” during my counter-seat dinner.  I, of course, screamed along with everybody else…no need to tick off the locals (and maybe get left for dead in some alley) by not cheering and making them suspect I’m a covert Maracaibo fan.

Stuffed with the completos (two is more than enough), I strode out of Lomit’s around 10pm for the 7-block walk back to Amanecer Austral to get a good night’s sleep. I’ll need the rest (and the calories), because Saturday morning I’m hopping on a bus for a 6-hour ride north of Punta Arenas to do a 5-day trek of the masterpiece “W” trail in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

Make sure you check out Lomit’s and order a couple “Completos” whenever you get to Punta Arenas…and don’t forget to cheer for Colo-Colo with the rest of the Chilenos…and let me know if you end up braver than I and try the Shop Fanta…