My heart floats when I walk on these streets

11-03
930 AM

I made it Puerto Varas yesterday.

I was asleep when we arrived from Puerto Montt, where we had lunch at the local fish market, where I made my 3rd offense agaisnt my vegetarianism with a plate of salmon, covered in cheese, as usual, and riddled with bones. Walker ordered a plate of the sea - literally everything that lives beneath the waves was dead on his plate. He was surprised that the abalone was cooked. Turns out restaurants must cook all the seafood they serve so people do not catch the red sea disease. I bought some alpaca socks and scarf at the handicraft fair and took some fantastic pictures of boats, sea lions, pelicans, and dogs.

We pulled into ¨Sweet Home Puerto Varas¨, our hostal for the night, and when I stepped off the bus I almost fell into a large OM sign which had been dug into the ground. A large rose bush of the most lilac purple sat by the wooden archway. The house is a yoga studio and hostal in one, and the place has been decorated with attention to every square inch. The green bedspreads and the soft yellow walls, the large brightly colored paintings in every room, the hand carved wooden table in the kitchen...spectacular.

I dropped my pack and hit the street, noticing the lake just a few hundred feet fromt he door, and a large ship sleeping at the port. The german architecture and chocolate shops lined the street as I descended the hill into the plaza de armas. Unlike most ciudades before this, I could anticipate the streets, as everything was in a grid format, and I found my way around easily.

Gonzalo, the hostal owner, insists this place has an energy (not surprising coming from a yoga instructor) but you know, he´s right. I am truly at home in Puerto Varas. I could live here all my life despite the constant rain. Luckily, I don´t have to leave today, but when a do, a part of me will long for this place forever.