Puerto Natales
[[We've been very busy travelling in Perú, so there was a bit of a delay with the blog. We'll try to get back to it now, so don't forget to subscribe ;)///We've been very busy travelling in Perú, so there was a bit of a delay with the blog. We'll try to get back to it now, so don't forget to subscribe ;)///Cestovanie niekedy nenecháva čas na písanie článkov a v Peru sme si nenašli veľa času, no polepšíme sa, tak nás nezabudnite sledovať :)]]
[[Puerto Natales is a nice small town and a good place to get ready for Torres del Paine (and rest after doing some hiking there). You won't find many attractions in the town, but it was definitely a nice place to be - just walking around the shore, enjoying the sunset, or watching the local kids playing and joining them :)///Puerto Natales is a nice small town and a good place to get ready for Torres del Paine (and rest after doing some hiking there). You won't find many attractions in the town, but it was definitely a nice place to be - just walking around the shore, enjoying the sunset, or watching the local kids playing and joining them :)///Puerto Natales je príjemné mestečko vhodné na oddýchnutie a danie sa dokopy pred a po návšteve Národného Parku Torres del Paine. V meste nenájdete veľa turistických atrakcií, ale rozhodne je príjemné sa poprechádzať po promenáde a vychutnať si krásny západ slnka, prípadne sa nechať vtiahnuť do bezstarostného života s deťmi blázniacimi sa naokolo.]]
[[On our first day there, Ivan tried to end our endless saga with our padrón - the chilean document for the car ownership, that wasn't in the system even after two months. The last time we were dealing with the problem was in Temuco, where we sort of gave up and paid again to put our transfer into the system, but this time directly at the "civil registry" and not through a notary(who couldn't be bothered to send it to them, apparently). A surprisingly friendly lady gave us her contact info there, so when we checked here in Puerto Natales - still not in the system - we called her and she actually checked what's happening and told us it got delayed in Santiago and it "should" be done in a week. Good.///On our first day there, Ivan tried to end our endless saga with our padrón - the chilean document for the car ownership, that wasn't in the system even after two months. The last time we were dealing with the problem was in Temuco, where we sort of gave up and paid again to put our transfer into the system, but this time directly at the "civil registry" and not through a notary(who couldn't be bothered to send it to them, apparently). A surprisingly friendly lady gave us her contact info there, so when we checked here in Puerto Natales - still not in the system - we called her and she actually checked what's happening and told us it got delayed in Santiago and it "should" be done in a week. Good.///Ivan sa v prvý deň pokúsil o ukončenie našej nekonečnej ságy o získaní padrónu - technického preukazu, ktorý stále nebol ani po 2 mesiacoch evidovaný v systéme. Naposledy sme to riešili v Temucu, kde sme rezignovali a zaplatili za opätovné zadanie do systému, tentokrát však priamo na miestnom úrade a nie cez notára. Sympatická pracovníčka nám na seba nechala kontakt, aby sme sa v prípade komplikácii vedeli spojiť. My sme neváhali a zavolali jej, keď aj napriek ďalším 3-4 týždňom naša žiadosť stále nebola spracovaná. Žiadosť preverila a vysvetlila, že sa to zdržalo niekde v Santiagu a v priebehu týždňa to bude spracované, čo vychádzalo niekedy medzi sviatkami.]][[We stayed here for a couple of days just to get our strength back after the Torres del Paine, but then we left for Ushuaia. On the way there, we had one last stop - Punta Arenas, one of the three cities that call themselves "end of the world" - more about that in the next blog post.///We stayed here for a couple of days just to get our strength back after the Torres del Paine, but then we left for Ushuaia. On the way there, we had one last stop - Punta Arenas, one of the three cities that call themselves "end of the world" - more about that in the next blog post.///V Puerto Natales sme ostali pár dní na načerpanie síl a trošku práce pred naším presunom do Ushuaje. Cestou sme sa však zastavili v Punta Arenas, ktoré je označované ako jedno z 3 najjužnejších miest (viac si o tom povieme v Ushuaji).]]
Punta Arenas
[[Punta Arenas is a big and modern city and also a home to the "zona franca", which mean duty free area. Good place to go shopping for electronics, food, alcohol or car related stuff. It's also a place where some travellers buy a car (and then travel north), albeit with a smaller market then Santiago. We bought a few small things(=chocolate) and cleaned our super dirty car...which was even more dirty after a few days because of a muddy dirt road. That's life.///Punta Arenas is a big and modern city and also a home to the "zona franca", which mean duty free area. Good place to go shopping for electronics, food, alcohol or car related stuff. It's also a place where some travellers buy a car (and then travel north), albeit with a smaller market then Santiago. We bought a few small things(=chocolate) and cleaned our super dirty car...which was even more dirty after a few days because of a muddy dirt road. That's life.///Punta Arenas je moderné mesto, kde sa okrem iného nachádza aj “zona franca”, duty free zóna. Zoženiete tu lacnejšiu elektroniku, potraviny, alkohol aj autové veci. Niektorí cestovatelia si tu kúpili auto, avšak mali slabší výber ako v Santiagu. My sme si tu nakúpili pár drobností, nenašli sme veci, ktoré sme zháňali a nechali umyť Pabla, ktorý však pár dní na to bol ešte viac špinavý, keď sme prechádzali cez hranicu do Argentíny, kde zrovna pršalo a cesta nebola rozhodne asfaltová.]]
[[There are a few places to visit in the city too, it has definitely some nice historic buildings. Because it's a port, it has seen a lot, the sailors, miners, sea seal hunters, but also shepherds and wool merchants, that got rich during the sheep craze. From this period of history, there's Sara Braun Palace on the main square. It was built for (unsurprisingly) Sara Braun, widow of the largest sheep breeder and a french architect. It took 9 years to build and most of the material was shipped directly from europe. It was being reconstructed for about 40 years and now you can see it in it's former glory - including beautiful marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers. That is, if it's not closed like it was when we tried to visit it - so if were there, please send Janka a picture :)///There are a few places to visit in the city too, it has definitely some nice historic buildings. Because it's a port, it has seen a lot, the sailors, miners, sea seal hunters, but also shepherds and wool merchants, that got rich during the sheep craze. From this period of history, there's Sara Braun Palace on the main square. It was built for (unsurprisingly) Sara Braun, widow of the largest sheep breeder and a french architect. It took 9 years to build and most of the material was shipped directly from europe. It was being reconstructed for about 40 years and now you can see it in it's former glory - including beautiful marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers. That is, if it's not closed like it was when we tried to visit it - so if were there, please send Janka a picture :)///V meste nájdete aj trošku histórie. Punta Arenas je prístavné mesto a zažilo si veľa, či už námorníkov, baníkov, lovcov tuleňov ale aj chovateľov oviec a obchodníkov s vlnou, ktorí tu zbohatli počas vlnového ošiaľu. Z tohto obdobia sa zachoval aj Palác Sary Braun, ktorý je na námestí. Bol postavený pre Saru Braun, vdovu najväčšieho chovateľa oviec a obchodníka s vlnou, francúzskym architektom. Jeho stavba trvala 9 rokov a väčšina materiálov bola dovozená priamo z Európy. 40 rokov ho rekonštruovali a dnes si ho môžete vychutnať v celej nádhere vrátane mramorovaných krbov a krištálových lustrov. My sme sa však dovnútra nedostali, bolo zatvorené, ale intenzívne som nakúkala dovnútra. Keď sa tam náhodou dostanete, pošlite mi aspoň foto.]]
[[We heard that southern Chile is famous for it's food (contrary to the rest of Chile, which is mostly hot-dogs and burgers - sorry, but that was our impression), so we went to see the local market. Apart from every single type of fish in the observable universe, we found this nice small bistro with 50 years of tradition. We started with a nice pisco with el calafate fruit, Janka tried (for the first time in her life) real crab meat - no fake surimi cod - and I tried some fish soup. First I wasn't particulary happy about it, mainly because I wasn't expecting the meal I ordered to be a soup - I ordered fish-something with rice and potatoes; also the taste was a bit bland, but after a few minutes the fish cooked in the near-boiling soup and it became awesome. In the end, Janka wanted to try again and I politely refused O:)///We heard that southern Chile is famous for it's food (contrary to the rest of Chile, which is mostly hot-dogs and burgers - sorry, but that was our impression), so we went to see the local market. Apart from every single type of fish in the observable universe, we found this nice small bistro with 50 years of tradition. We started with a nice pisco with el calafate fruit, Janka tried (for the first time in her life) real crab meat - no fake surimi cod - and I tried some fish soup. First I wasn't particulary happy about it, mainly because I wasn't expecting the meal I ordered to be a soup - I ordered fish-something with rice and potatoes; also the taste was a bit bland, but after a few minutes the fish cooked in the near-boiling soup and it became awesome. In the end, Janka wanted to try again and I politely refused O:)///Na obed sme sa vybrali na mestský trh, kde sme narazili na bistro s 50 ročnou tradíciou a musíme uznať, že jedlo bolo vynikajúce. Na prípitok sme si dali pisco s el calafate ovocím, ja som si pochutnala prvýkrát v živote na pravom krabovi (žiadne surimi treska tyčinky ;), Ivan na rybacej polievke. Najprv z nej nebol nadšený, lebo v prvom rade neočakával polievku, keďže sa v menu písalo, že obsahuje ryžu a zemiaky (v polievke sme našli 2-3 malé kúsky) a na začiatku chuť nebola veľmi výrazná, avšak ako sa postupne rybka dlhšie varila v horúcej polievke, jej chuť sa začala viac a viac rozvíjať a nakoniec bol tak spokojný, že mi nechcel dať viac ochutnať.]]
[[Next - the way to the southernmost city in the world(one of the three), Ushuaia. Fin del Mundo.///Next - the way to the southernmost city in the world(one of the three), Ushuaia. Fin del Mundo.///Ďalšia zastávka - najjužnejšie mesto na svete - Ushuaia. Koniec sveta.]]