Castro on the Island of Chiloe (2-2-19)

Saturday, February 2 - Castro, Isla Chiloe
Weather:  86º F, Sunny

Founded in 1567 by the Spanish, Castro is Chile’s third-oldest city and home to roughly 29,000 people. Castro is know for it's colorful wooden stilt houses (palafitos) and the yellow San Francisco church on the town square with its distinctive wooden interior.

I was in no rush to get up and as I laid in bed, I could hear the tendering platform being lowered right below our cabin. We had arrived in Castro yesterday afternoon after skipping Puerto Montt. Many people had gone ashore when we arrived, but we stuck to our original plan of visiting today.

Bob and I went to breakfast around 8 am and Kent and Laurel came a little later. By the time we were ready to go ashore, tender tickets were no longer required. Having the tenders loading right below our cabin was convenient...both leaving and returning later in the day. We had no tour booked and no real plans other than to explore the city.

Free wi-fi was available at the port building near the tender dock in Castro. Lots of folks were trying to get on which in turn was making the connection very slow. Kent & Laurel were able to at least check their text messages. No wifi needed for us thanks to T-Mobile service. We picked up a city map and walked to the Plaza de Armas via a very steep hill. On one side of the square was the San Francisco church with its ornate wooden interior.

Kent stopped to buy sunglasses from a street vendor in the plaza...he had left his at the pool yesterday. (They did show up at guest services several days later.) We stopped at the information center in the square and using our very limited Spanish, we asked where we should go to get a good view of the stilt houses.

Model of the church inside the information center.

Taking time to smell the roses. 😉

There was a small craft market next to the church and we walked through the various stalls. I was looking for some yarn for my daughter-in-law who does weaving and was hoping I could find some alpaca yarn. I found some that looked interesting and when I asked if it was alpaca the lady said no, it was oveja. I didn't understand so she picked up a small toy sheep and started baa-ing at me. Ah...oveja means SHEEP! Most of the yarn was very bright colors so I waited hoping to find some that was more neutral in color.

Beautiful hydrangeas...such a treat to see in February!

Wool yarn from oveja (sheep!)

This man was sitting in the plaza weaving a basket.

Using the map we followed the directions to the stilt houses and came to a park on a hill that overlooked the bay where the houses were located. It was low tide at the time and the houses were all surrounded by a large expanse of mud. Directly below the overlook we could see where several boats were being constructed.

Interesting building.

Overlook to palafitos (stilt houses)

Low tide.

Zoomed in view.

Red roofed houses on the hill behind the palafitos.

Boat building

Down below where we stood were artists sketching/painting the view of the stilt houses.

Bob saw there was a cemetery on the map not too far from where we were and thought it would be interesting to see. Earlier we had noticed stands selling flowers near the port and judging from the number of people walking to the cemetery carrying bundles of flowers we assumed that was where they must have purchased them. There was also a flower shop right at the entrance to the cemetery.

Paramedic Bob and the obligatory ambulance photo.

Murals we passed by on the way to the cemetery.

Some of the graves were quite old.

Leaving the cemetery we headed back into the main part of town...Laurel and I were needing to find a restroom. We stopped at a small cafe with only a few tables and each one was occupied by one or more Chilean men. The waitress asked one of the men to move so we could have his table. We each ordered Cokes and Bob also pointed to an empenada in a display case. The waitress kept trying to tell us something about the empenada, but we weren't understanding. She was using hand gestures to try and explain but in the process she knocked over Bob's coke, spilling it all over the table. By this time everyone in the small cafe was laughing at the gringoes. I handed the waitress my phone and indicated that she should write what she was saying on the Google translate app. That didn't make sense either...something about Manzanillo which as far as I knew was a city in Mexico we had visited on our last cruise.

Bob bit into the empenada and discovered it was filled with apples. At that point we realized that was what the waitress had tried to tell us...it was an empenada de manzanita (apple)!  Most of the men in the cafe were drinking very large bottles of beer but our cokes were teeny tiny...less than 300 ml. The cost of our two tiny Cokes and one empenada was 3300 pesos or about $5 USD. My guess is the prices might have been inflated for tourists but it was worth it to use the banos.

Walking back towards the waterfront, we passed a small booth where a woman was selling yarn and many knitted items. I found exactly the type of yarn I was looking for and purchased a large bundle for my daughter in law for 4000 pesos (~$6).

Headed back down the hill to near the tender dock.

Very typical...the wiring looked like a pile of spaghetti!

Not far from the tender docks was a large...very large...craft market. Walking through the maze of stalls, Laurel and I managed to get separated from Bob and Kent. They both were carrying cell phones but our attempts to text didn't help...neither one even checked their phone. After a long time we did find them...and neither one even realized we had been looking. (Men! 😠)

I would have been more interested in the woolen ponchos if it hadn't been so hot!

We debated about getting something to eat at one of the food stands near the craft market, but we were so hot and tired we agreed to just go back to the ship for lunch. During the afternoon I spent some time backing up photos and taking a nap...Bob played pickleball (do you sense a pattern?)

An interesting food stand getting set up.

The Zaandam left Castro while we were having dinner and it was amazing to watch as the scenery slowly changed from rolling hills and fish farms to snow covered mountains. It was almost like watching a video as the view from our window changed from one scene to another.

What a view!

An interesting wave pattern as the ship turns.

More empanadas! These short rib empanadas were the "regionally inspired" appetizer on the dinner menu.

The four of us decided to skip the evening show to stay outside and enjoy the beautiful views until sunset. (We did manage to catch the last few minutes of the flutist, Andrea Amat in the main theater when we went inside however.)

It was hard to believe how hot it had been during the day but yet so chilly on the moving ship. 

A golden glow as the sun sets.

Andrea Amat...the "virtuoso de Valencia"