Our longest time away from Santiago was a 7 day trip to Chile's Lake District. It was my favorite place that we visited in Chile--I even preferred it to Santiago! We rented a car for this trip, which was liberating after almost 3 months of public transportation.
Chile's Lake District is comprised of a variety of towns settled by Germans, Austrians and the Swiss, and this influence was liberally evident in many of their architectural and culinary endeavors. We first flew into Puerto Montt and spent 2 nights there. Puerto Montt is a port town famous for its seafood, and it certainly did not disappoint! This town also had the best deals on woven and leather goods that I've found in all of the places we've visited in Chile. A considerable chunk of my Christmas list was taken care of in these two days!
The next 5 days were blissfully spent in Puerto Varas. Ah, Puerto Varas! This place is extraordinarily beautiful! Pat arranged for us to rent a cabin on a beach of Lake Llanquihue (Camp Kutral), which was cozy with extraordinary views. There were two volcanoes in view from our back yard, one of which I could not stop taking pictures. The name of this volcano is Orsorno. It is perfectly symmetrical, and its appearance was constantly varied, depending upon the time of day and arrangement of the fog. The contrast of this snow capped volcano with the azure blue of the lake was breath taking. We were even treated to a rainbow one afternoon!
We twice visited a town close to Puerto Varas called Fruitillar. It is a lovely and tiny little German town on a lake with a lot of interesting shops and restaurants. We walked to a place for lunch called Frau Holle. The food, service, and view of the lake and volcano were fantastic. We liked it so much that we drove back for lunch another day. The kids liked the town a great deal too, as there was a playground right on the beach.
The weather of the Lake District was an interesting contrast with Santiago. When we left the city, it was 90 degrees and we were in shorts and tee shirts. When we arrived in Puerto Montt, it was in the high 40s and mid 50s for the week, so our winter coats had to be pulled out of the suitcases. It was chilly!
I knew ahead of time the weather forecast, and also that we would be on a lake, where the water was certain to be really cold. I packed only one pair of shoes each for the kids, never in my wildest dreams thinking they would get in the lake. Unfortunately, the first day in Puerto Varas proved me wrong, as they came back from their first walk on the beach soaking wet up to their waists. I packed plenty of extra clothes, but the wet and sandy leather shoes were a problem, as we didn't have a washer and dryer in our cabin. Fortunately, the cabin staff kindly offered to wash and dry them in their office facility for us.
Our visit to the Lake was a fantastic trip for the entire family, and when we visit Chile again, I would love to try to go back!
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