My time in Punta Arenas was mostly spent catching up with friends, either at their homes or in town. One of the highlights would have to be returning to my favourite chocolate café to meet these friends. Walking inside La Chocolatta was like passing through the threshold of my memory. Everything was exactly the same as when I left, the only thing that had changed were the mugs in which contain the most sumptuous and creamy chocolate caliente, topped with thick, white, whipped cream. The café is also the only place I have found to sell fudge in all of Chile. I don't know if it's because of the cold weather but the handmade chocolate or chocolate-related foods/drinks are definitely competition to the world-renowned kings of chocolate in Switzerland.
Speaking of the unchanged, the town centre of Punta Arenas itself had not altered one bit. The same little stalls spotted the town square, selling touristy items to the many passengers that hit the shore off the gigantic cruise ships that plague the port all year round. Foreigners still approach the native Selk'nam male sitting at the base of the statue of Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan (of whom the Magallanes is named after) to kiss his foot. It is rumoured that if a traveller kisses this now shiny brass foot, s/he will return to Patagonia again.
Outside the town centre, however, there are noticeable changes, such as the towering, out-of-place casino which overlooks the water, or the freshly opened mall that has become the meeting point for all the young teenagers desperately trying to find their identity. One really nice new attraction is the walkway along the harbour (or beach as locals call it but it is far too cold to ever go swimming there), which happened to open while I was there. Modern, concrete seats are scattered along the walkway so that people can sit and look out into the endless sea before them or perhaps just turn to their side and play chess upon one of the fixed tables amongst the surprisingly comfortable seats. There are also playgrounds for children and basketball courts adjacent to the water, although I am not quite sure how they are going to stop the balls from being thrown into the depths of the ocean - maybe they will put up a fence with time. All the attractions give locals more incentive to be outside because although the weather isn't always nice, the views are always pleasing to the eye.
In town for a couple of days en route to Torres del Paine were a few fellow Australians who I joined for lunch one day. We ate the menu of the day and they tried Vaina, a popular cocktail in the Magallanes region made from aguardeinte, cacao, egg yolk and cinnamon. The restaurant characteristically had bottles of various different alcohols lining the walls and the ceiling was a jigsaw puzzle of alcohol cartons, presumably from the bottles. Following lunch, me being the most local of the group, I took my fellow Australians for a guided tour around town, stopping at the famous cemetery with it's millionaire tombs and lofty hedges, as well as another of my favourite cafes, El Immigrante, for coffees with cream and mouth-watering homemade cake. As the sky darkened, we bought cheap wine in the local corner shop, which we drank at their hostel until it was late enough for us to head to a salsa bar in town.
On another evening I met my friend's four-month daughter for the first time. Her big, brown eyes rolled back in her chubby face as she blissfully enjoyed drinking the milk from her bottle. It was as if she was a crack addict having just injected herself after a long period of craving. We all giggled at her all-so innocent behaviour. When her Dominican Republican papa returned home from work, her mama and I headed to a new bar (well, new to me at least) where we relished happy hour and then headed to a (again new to me) discoteca. Four years back, there had only been 4 places to go out but oh, how the times had changed! Being the small town that it is, I ran into many familiar faces and spoke with some people I hadn't spoken to since the last day of school.
Back at my Chilean family's home, they made sure to cook me all my favourite foods, including Chupe de Centolla: a stew-like soup that can be found in all of Chile but the added king crap ingredient is a speciality of the coastal region. My Chilean younger brother, who is studying to be a chef, also cooked me Pastel de Choclo: a corn pie complete with chicken, mince meat, one egg, one olive and covered with corn, which is then sprinkled with sugar. I guess you could almost call it the Chilean version of Shepherd’s Pie.
And then after one week, I was back in Santiago. It was so nice to see all those smiling, familiar faces after such a long time but I was definitely glad to be out of the wind!
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