The weather is overcast but we had off and on sunny
weather all day and it wasn't too cold.
From the ship we saw rows of floats in the harbor. We believe they are salmon farms.
The views of the town from the ship were dominated by the Church of San Francisco...
and there were lots of fishing boats in the harbor.
Our shore
excursion today is a drive through the countryside around Castro, Chile to see
several UNESCO Churches. Many of the
older churches in the area were built of wood by the local ship builders so the buildings, and especially the ceilings, had a bit of a ship aesthetic.
The first church was the Church of San Francisco in
Castro. Apparently whenever the church
needs painting they have a contest or election and the locals get to pick the
next color. Right now it is a pretty
yellow church covered with tin siding but it looks like it will need a paint job soon so
perhaps the color will change. Unfortunately we couldn’t go inside as they are in the process of fumigating
it for termites (hazards of wooden buildings).
There was a lovely garden area beside the church.
In the drive around town we also saw a section with colorful houses on stilts over the water in the estuary...
and a place where they were doing ship building/repair right on the estuary.
On the outskirts of Castro we stopped at the Nercon
Church.
 |
| Awesome ceiling...looks like the keel of a ship. |
The church had a lovely and large nativity set up in preparation for Christmas.
Right beside the church was a rather colorful cemetery.
While there we heard a pretty obnoxious noise. It was several amorous buff-necked ibis sitting on the roof.
We then took a drive through the countryside that
included a ride on a relatively small car ferry and ending in Achao. The church there had a beautiful wooden
interior with much fine woodworking and colorful detailing.
After visiting the church we walked through part of the
town where we saw many buildings with wood shingle siding in many shapes. The area is known for the colorful wood shingled houses.
The next stop was the small coastal town of Dalcahue where we strolled through a market where they were selling a lot of hand woven, knitted and crocheted items.
We also passed a fish market and some restaurants.
The walk took us along the harbor front where we saw fishing boats...
and a woman drying seaweed...don't remember why.
Snack was at a harbor side restaurant where three
generations of the family played instruments and danced many Chilean dances.
The tour group was given a snack of seafood empanadas (mixed salad for us
vegetarians). We were also treated to
what is the national drink, Pesco Sours. Pesco is a Chilean brandy and to make the sour they mix the Pesco with water, sugar and lime juice. Mary
actually enjoyed hers. On the
other hand, they spilled Paul’s on his fleece and managed to sprinkle (but not soak) his
camera…not a happy camper.
Then it was on to the last UNESCO church. Unfortunately, the keeper of the keys didn't show up so we were only able to see the
outside.
We didn’t get back to the ship until after 3:00 so we had
a very late lunch and opted not to go to the dining room for our normal 5:45
dinner time.
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