Good morning!
Once again a lovely breakfast spread.
We didn’t have champagne at breakfast, but we might have if we wanted to.
The rain clouds rolled in and their were no volcanos to be found anywhere. You can’t expect beautiful weather every day while on vacation!
Good bye to one of the staff. She was the waitress at breakfast this morning and not the bruja. Notice the lack of broom.
Good bye beautiful front gardens.
Open Sesame and good-bye Quincho.
We are off now to see Fruitillar. This was a community like Puerto Varas that was settled by Germans in the early 19th century. After the Napoleonic Wars Spain had little money left and said to Chile that they could have their independence. It costs too much money to take care of you!
So the government of Chile asked people to come. The British and Germans came gladly to settle the country. The British stayed in the cities and the Germans went to farm in the country. They fell in love with the Lake District as would you if you came to visit.
This farm had the cows grazing right next to the house!
The farmland goes right down to the lake. Farming has so many challenges and it is difficult to earn money as dairy farmers. The farming life is not so popular and many of the farmers are selling some of the land for vacation homes, or for those that want to start new businesses in Puerto Varas.
This house was being gutted from the inside and the frame was kept. These. are not tear downs as the owners want to keep the historic outside.
Another house in need of repair.
So we arrive in Fruitillar. This house is owned by someone very wealthy. They have a great view of the lake. The living room drapes were up inviting passers by to cross the street and admire the furniture.
Of course I would cross the street! Here the lady of the house would sit with her friends and eat Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake) and keep up with all the news. I think I could fit in very well. I could seriously have a good time here!
(The New York Times has the recipe. Google-Recipe Original Plum Torte New York Times. It is easy and delicious)
So Isabel is explaining to Steve why Fruitillar is so well preserved. Something about some wealthy families who own a lot of the land and don’t want development. Or at least I think so.
Really neat old houses.
This one was also an inn.
More explaining. If I didn’t take so many pictures, I would know what is going on!
It’s a cake store, but not open yet.
It was cool and the weatherman predicted rain at 11:00.
See how visible my new red Patagucci jacket is? Now Steve will always be able to find me.
Isabel is short, but the hydrangeas are still big!
Yankee-Way! Now you can speak Chilean also!
Orsono is someplace behind the clouds!
Red Hot Pokers?
Love it!
Off to the museum to see how the German immigrants lived. museoastral.cl
A closeup of the famous shingles that the area homes used in their. construction. These were from a tree that was more widespread in the past, but is now a protected species. They no longer make shingles with this wood. You could get a lot of money on a tear down of one of the homes with these shingles.
This map shows you the development of the community on Lago LLanquihue. Lago is Spanish for Lake. The dark brown is the original town.
Steve giving you a demonstration on how light the slats were. He does have the top of a head, I just didn’t center my picture properly.
A fuchsia bush!
A carriage from a later era than my Regency Romance novels. This gentleman was rich, the seat cushions look well padded, and the carriage looked like it was well sprung!
These hydrangeas are even bigger than I am posing in my lovely red Patagucci jacket!
The kitchen in one of the old house replicas.
The bedroom upstairs with the bed warmer sitting on the coverlet and the chamber pot on the floor.
Somehow Isabel got me to climb a small hill and some stairs.
Here are some of the blossoms, all on one Hydrangea plant!
By this time I had enough of wandering around in the cold. “No Mas!” I told Isabel. So Fernando brought the car around and we went off for coffee.
Our next stop was the Performing Arts Center in Fruitillar, Teatro del Lago. It cost $25 million to build. The outside is a replica of the wooden sheds that the Germans who bounded this community built to store their boats. This picture was from a cover of a book in the lobby of the Center.
So off we went for a coffee.
The outside of the building looked so pretty with many types of wood.
A Cappuccinni Cappuccino! It tasted as good as it looked!
Steve was so happy.
Isabel was pretending to be interested in what Steve had to say.
We had a plane to catch, but first we had a tour of the building scheduled. We were getting worried. In Chile you don’t have to be too early to catch your flight. We were still worried.
This art work hanging form the ceiling represents piano keys.
The man on the right is the artistic director for the center. He got us into see the main auditorium instead of having to wait with the rest of the big group. Check out the leg room and the width of the seats!
The main theatre seats 1178 people.
Upper floor seating is best for seeing the dance patterns in a ballet. The front is best for seeing the hands of pianists and the musical instruments. All seats are equally great to hear the music.
We got to take a peak at a youth choir practicing. Children from all over Chile receive dance and music scholarships. On a beautiful day you can see the lake and the volcanos through the glass windows behind this stage surround.
Good bye LLanquihue Lake!
Goodby German Museum.
Goodby humongous white hydrangeas by utility poles.
On the way to the airport Isabel showed us some pictures of the volcanic eruption that they had a view years ago.
Incredible.
Isabel’s husband on LLanquihue cool as a cucumber.
Neat!
This is from Isabel’s girlfriend from Puerto Montt. It looks like computer generated images from a movie.
Hello pouring rain on the way to the airport.
We finally got through all the airport lines and got to our gate to wait for the plane. Isabelle had asked her favorite baker to make us a lunch with love. Steve wanted to eat it in the car, or at least check it out, but I shook my head no. I told him we couldn’t, we had to check it out at the airport. I didn’t want Isabel to see unhappy faces if we hated the lunch.
I had a sneaking suspicion that I would not enjoy the sack lunch. I was right, it did not appeal to me at all. Dark bread, cream cheese, tomato and dill. Where is there a good deli when you need one?
The pumpkin muffin was meh.
I saved the raisin nut mix for later.
Of course the water bottle that I opened was not still water, but water with gas. So much gas, that the water bottle gushed water all over. My pants got wet, but not my upper body as that was protected by my Patagucci Gore-Tex jacket!
Steve bought some almonds for his lunch. He didn’t eat any of the sack lunch Isabel provided.
Our plane finally showed up. The gate for our tripmkept on changing and we had to keep a sharp eye on that.
We were amused by the snack cart. I can’t imagine anyone buying a cheese wheel to bring with them on the plane. Perhaps it was a gift to be brought to someone when you got off the plane.
What I did find amusing was this lady trying to bring pool noodles on the plane!
Steve was happy the lady with the noodles wasn’t sitting next to him.
What time do you usually have your first drink made from alcohol?
When was the last time a cow was in your front yard?
Don’t you thank God everyday that inside plumbing was invented?
This will be the last part of the South American trip for a week. Steve and I are off to Abaco again, so I will be blogging about that. We are bringing our friends M and G with us. Hopefully M will get in lots of interesting situations that I can blog about.
