Livin' la vida local!

After getting our adrenaline fill in Pucon, we made out way down even further south to Puerto Varas. It's a smaller town on Lago Llanquihue with a view of not one, but two volcanoes! (One of which went off last year). It also has quite a German influence like most of southern mainland Chile. 

Volcan Osorno on the left and Volcan Calbuco on the left (which went off last year)

While the story of Puerto Varas is nice, the story of how we ended up here might be even better (I thought so). When we were planning this region we knew we wanted a couple of nights but really didn't know where to spend them. And then in October while out in Colorado, we were out with some friends of mine, Brent and Kate. We told them about our trip and come to find out Kate went to high school with a guy, Chester, that started a brewery in Chile. Turns out it was in Puerto Varas so we decided that was the place to stay!

Thanks Kate! (and Brent too!)

To add an even more entertaining turn of events, when we were looking for places to stay in Puerto Varas, we came across a cabaña that was available. It looked perfect for our stay so we booked it. In reading some of the reviews, there was mention of beer brewing and the name Chester so we sent a message to our host asking about the connection. It was their place! This was six degrees of Kevin Bacon happening in real life. 

We knew a trip to the brewery had to be on the schedule at some point but with good weather on arrival, we set out to explore the town first. We visited a park right up the street that offered great views of Osorno.

Osorno from across the lake

Then we walked down in to town for our traditional grocery shopping to get breakfast items. We walked along the lake for a bit and then decided to take an hour lake cruise to see the town from the water as well as a get a little closer peak of the volcanoes.

Puerto Varas from the water (which was incredibly clear)

After the boat trip, we were hungry and ready to eat so we stopped at Mesa Tropera, a restaurant that was built out over the water. The had put windows in the floor so walking towards the back of the restaurant you could see the water beneath you. It had a very lively atmosphere and we had some delicious food and drink.

Friday was a low key day. It was raining most of the morning so we took our time getting up and going. We got a text from our air bnb host, Jenny,  inviting us out to the brewery for a lamb BBQ. Sounds like a great way to see a brewery. We scrapped what plans for the day we hadn't made yet and decided to head to the BBQ. Before heading out we needed to scope out the bus station for our departure on Sunday since there is no central bus station here. We got that sorted then picked up some veggies for kebabs to take to the BBQ and headed out.

The lamb goes on.

Chester Beer was the site of the BBQ. It's a small brewery out on a farm, with perfect views of volcan Calbuco. It was too cloudy to see it today, but it would be nice on a sunny day. It was an awesome evening. We got to talk with both Chester and Jenny as well as meet all of their friends. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. They all stopped by to introduce themselves. We truly felt like locals just hanging out. The beer was fantastic as well. It was flowing the whole night and I was able to sample all four of their beers and they were all fantastic. I really enjoyed their IPA while Jess was a big fan of their summer ale.

The party getting started

Our skewers meet the BBQ, Obama's redemption stout and Chester and I pose for a shot

While the lamb served as the main food course (and the kebabs were a hit too!),  the horseshoe tournament served as the main entertainment. This was just a practice tournament for a larger event they had coming up, but the competitiveness was there. Jess and I entered as The Nomads but were quickly dispatched as Jess had never played horseshoes and I hadn't thrown one in 20 years since the Rudemiller renuions!! The tournament went into the night with the playing field being lit by one light and the rain started falling as well!!

The lamb being served

Dedication to the game. Measuring the closest shoe in the rain

Overall it was an awesome time getting to hang out like locals at a backyard BBQ, especially when the backyard happens to be in the back of a brewery. We said our goodbye and headed home after a late night of fun, food and new friends.

Saturday was a tough morning to get up but we had to bite the bullet as we needed to part ways with our trusty rental car that had been our companion for over 2 weeks and 3000 km on all sorts of road. We'll certainly miss the convenience and flexibility of a car. It was a great way to see Chile. After returning the car we headed back to Puerto Varas and since the weather was supposed to be nice in the afternoon and raining at night we went for a walk along the lake to the other end. We had to get our 10,000 steps in for the day! On our way back, we stopped for a great ice cream sundae at Cassis. We first stumbled upon one in Pucon and had a delicious dessert there after dinner one evening. They've got a bit of everything sweet but also some savory. We'll stick to the sweet.

There's always room for ice cream

All in all, it was a great time in Puerto Varas! The weather was mixed but when the sun was out, it was easy to get a sunburn (got my first big one on Saturday). There's also something ominous, yet beautiful about living in the shadow of a volcano. Sunday we head back to Argentina for a couple days in the Argentine lake district before flying down to Patagonia.

-Nick