Where We Be
| Zooming in on the cathedral with Volcano Osorno behind it |
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| Puerto Varas, Chile |
| Puerto Varas sits at the edge of Lake Llanquihue, with snow-capped Volcano Osorno in the distance |
We settled in for the entire month of March in a
room in a house with a German landlady in a
Spanish-speaking town for just $250 per month.
This proves it's possible to find inexpensive
lodgings in small towns overseas if you wait until
you get there and work with the locals. In this case,
it meant looking for signs saying "Hospedaje,"
indicating a room for rent in someone's home or
hostel. Ours had its own bathroom and was in a
convenient location close to downtown.
Puerto Varas is located in the popular Lake District
of Chile. A snow-capped volcano on the far side of
Lake Llanquihue (pronounced "Yankee Way") adds
a touch of drama to the town. Plenty of restaurants
serve up plates of the day as well as empanadas,
and small fruit stands sell fresh-as-can-be Chilean
fruit at bargain prices. Two supermarkets keep
prices low for groceries. A good bottle of Chilean
wine costs about $3. Still, this is a popular tourist
destination in Chile, so prices at restaurants and
hotels are higher than in most parts of the country.
We bought a space heater for our room because it
was chilly and cloudy most mornings, but by
afternoon the sun usually popped out and it turned
warm. On sunny days, we took long strolls and got
to know the town.
There were enough sights in the region to keep us
busy without being too busy. And that was good,
because the focus of our month here was to
improve our Spanish. An extra perk of our location
was the Spanish school just across the street. I
took conversational Spanish lessons with Malva, a
native of Talca. I met with her three times a week
from 5 to 7 pm and worked on relearning the many
things I had forgotten since my Spanish classes, lo,
these many decades ago. Robin focused on self-
study (plus practicing with me), and by the end of
the month we could have simple conversations
with each other in Spanish. We also met twice a
week with a couple who run a hostel nearby to
trade free English lessons for Spanish lessons.
The fact that few people spoke any English at all
gave us extra incentive to learn the local tongue.
Our month in Puerto Varas is (to date) the longest
we’ve ever stayed put in one place overseas. We
liked having a home base and enjoyed the slower
pace of life that becomes possible when you aren't
changing locations every other day. We did make
trips to Chiloe Island and the nearby town of
Frutillar, but otherwise we were content to stay put.
room in a house with a German landlady in a
Spanish-speaking town for just $250 per month.
This proves it's possible to find inexpensive
lodgings in small towns overseas if you wait until
you get there and work with the locals. In this case,
it meant looking for signs saying "Hospedaje,"
indicating a room for rent in someone's home or
hostel. Ours had its own bathroom and was in a
convenient location close to downtown.
Puerto Varas is located in the popular Lake District
of Chile. A snow-capped volcano on the far side of
Lake Llanquihue (pronounced "Yankee Way") adds
a touch of drama to the town. Plenty of restaurants
serve up plates of the day as well as empanadas,
and small fruit stands sell fresh-as-can-be Chilean
fruit at bargain prices. Two supermarkets keep
prices low for groceries. A good bottle of Chilean
wine costs about $3. Still, this is a popular tourist
destination in Chile, so prices at restaurants and
hotels are higher than in most parts of the country.
We bought a space heater for our room because it
was chilly and cloudy most mornings, but by
afternoon the sun usually popped out and it turned
warm. On sunny days, we took long strolls and got
to know the town.
There were enough sights in the region to keep us
busy without being too busy. And that was good,
because the focus of our month here was to
improve our Spanish. An extra perk of our location
was the Spanish school just across the street. I
took conversational Spanish lessons with Malva, a
native of Talca. I met with her three times a week
from 5 to 7 pm and worked on relearning the many
things I had forgotten since my Spanish classes, lo,
these many decades ago. Robin focused on self-
study (plus practicing with me), and by the end of
the month we could have simple conversations
with each other in Spanish. We also met twice a
week with a couple who run a hostel nearby to
trade free English lessons for Spanish lessons.
The fact that few people spoke any English at all
gave us extra incentive to learn the local tongue.
Our month in Puerto Varas is (to date) the longest
we’ve ever stayed put in one place overseas. We
liked having a home base and enjoyed the slower
pace of life that becomes possible when you aren't
changing locations every other day. We did make
trips to Chiloe Island and the nearby town of
Frutillar, but otherwise we were content to stay put.
| Gorgeous view of Puerto Varas from a lookout point near some of the most lavish homes in town |
| Our simple lodgings for the month at Hospedaje Las Dalias |
| Northern outskirts of town. We hiked up to Parque Phillipi (where the cross is located) for fine views. |
| We walked down this hill each day to get to the center of town |
| The town's German roots are reflected in its architecture |
| Panoramic view of Volcanoes Osorno & Cabulco |
| The cathedral broadcasts hymns for all to hear on Saturdays and Sundays and rings its bells daily at noon |
| The inside of our room where we spent lots of time studying Spanish |
| This restaurant was right next door to our home and offered delicious oriental cuisine |
| This "pichanga" offers a ridiculous portion of fries hiding bites of steak, chorizo, pork, cheesy bread, boiled egg, olives & pickles |
| Sunday at the beach on Lake Llanquihue, where locals savor the last Indian days of summer (in March) |
| Ahh! The fruit stands in Chile! |
| Cafe Dane's -- our favorite place in town for flaky empanadas |
| We ordered a hot dog at a local cafe and this is what we got -- a hot dog covered in guacamole! It's how they eat 'em down here. |
| New friends Andreas & Tania, with whom we traded English-for-Spanish lessons twice a week |
| The little school across the street where I studied conversational Spanish |
| My wonderful Spanish teacher, Malva, with her husband Alex |
| We spent a day in the nearby town of Frutillar, where we discovered this tempting display of "kuchen" (German pastries) |
