When I arrived at the hotel the rooms had not turned over yet so I sought out some kick-you-in-your-soul coffee ☕️and went exploring the city. 24 hours of traveling with very little sleep left much to be appreciate in my ability to summon up any Spanish. I repeatedly told people “thank you in Greek and French. The whole of Patagonia probably thinks I’m a little loco. I found comfort in a dessert restaurant. Yes, people go to these places to get full desserts and coffee and I may move here forever.
In fact, I’ve used my recent baking exploits as a reason to “sample” many desserts already… for “research purposes”. The FOOD in this small city is an out of body experience. Even the simple foods are BEYOND anything you can find in the states. The chocolate tiramisu is from an amazing restaurant called Specechless Patagonia. If you ever visit, make this a stop and absolutely order the traditional Milcaos! They are these little potato bread things and I can’t explain why they are so good… just trust me 🤯
About Punta Arenas
Besides the food, this city is known as the gateway to Antarctica as it sits at the southern tip of South America and Chile. Many expeditions run through here and the city thrives in their summer months on tourists making their way down to the southern continent. It is summer here and in the high 40s / low 50s
The primary language is Spanish… not Greek or French 🤦♀️ It seems to be a very quiet area with little traffic (car or foot) and about 18 hours of daylight right now.
What’s Next?
- Gear check - tomorrow morning
- Runner Debrief: travel and race info, bibs given out, etc Tomorrow evening
- Update on weather conditions at the debrief to see if we are clear to fly to Antarctica on Tuesday!
- PENGUINS! This area has a colony of penguins and I’m going to find them!
Before all that ^ I need to run to burn just a fraction of the calories consumed today or I won’t fit in the plane to Antarctica.
More to come!
Stephanie
Enjoy the journey Steph!
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