Day 31 - Punta Arenas

We decided to go into town again to go shopping and just explore a little more of the area!  Just like in Rio, the second day made the city even better and we had a great time!  Today was a great lesson, every city can redeem itself and if you give things another try, they usually redeem themselves!  

The seas were still rough, but when we got to shore, the sun was shining and the skies cleared.  We walked around the main square, checking out the stalls again and seeing what was being sold and made.  We then went off in search of an internet cafe but the one that we heard about was closed, along with every other store because it was a Catholic City and everyone takes Sunday as a holiday! 

Sights of the main square!

Off the main square, their is the Sarah Braun house, which is converted into a hotel.  We found a side entrance into the hotel and it was magnificent!   There was a glass greenhouse that was converted into a restaurant, a bar that was full of leather chairs and hand painted ceilings.  We found free wifi! So we ordered cappuccinos and sat there, with the sun light shining in through the windows! We sat there for a couple of hours and enjoyed the beautiful house and internet!

We left the Sarah Braun house, went through the markets again, the sun was shining and our group went from stall to stall buying hand knit wools!  We walked through the streets, and we passed by the restaurant that we wanted to go to last night.  It was opened!  What an amazing restaurant this was!  We ate upstairs and the place was full with locals who were all eating their Sunday lunches.  The place was decorated in modern tones and these beautiful tapestries that represented all the areas of Chile. We had a wonderful lunch of fresh crab and lamb.  First, they brought out empanadas for appetizers.  Then they brought out fresh pico de gallo and we ate that with the lamb (although it was too hot for me!)  They gave us so much crab meat, but it was really good!  

Our day with no plans in Punta Arenas turned out to be excellent!  We made our way back to the ship and stopped at a store and I bought a traditional mask that was used by the natives in ceremonies!  

Tonight was the Super Bowl and they transformed the Queen's Lounge into an arena with decorative flags covering the entire entire. They severed chili dogs, nachos, burgers, brownies and more! There were very intricate designs craved out of watermelons- one was of the NFL logo then there were football helmets for each team!  They broadcasted the game on the giant screens! It was a fun time!