Just like Sally Field (upon winning the Best Actress Oscar for Places in the Heart), Punta Arenas is saying to us: “Right now, you like me!” Indeed, we do. This is a great city down here near the end of the world. Walking around, it felt like a charming, small New England town. Most of the buildings were from the turn of the last century, with highly decorated “gingerbread,” and beautiful to behold. Right in the center of town is the main square, once again the Plaza de Armas, with monuments, fountains, trees, and lots of people. On the square is the cathedral (which we couldn’t enter) and Palacio Sara Braun, which we could enter – for $4 US. It was half price with Chilean pesos, but this is our last day in Chile, so we only had dollars.
Sara Braun is an interesting woman. Her family was Jewish, and in 1862, in her early 20s, she and her family left Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, as anti-Semitism was on the rise. The Chilean Government had established Punta Arenas in the middle of the 19th century to assert sovereignty over the area and was interested in drawing a significant population to the area. The Braun Family arrived in the city in poverty, but profited from the Chilean government’s perks to help populate it. Her family became very influential and philanthropic. By the time of her death in 1955, she was one of the richest women in Chile.
Her mansion is pretty much the way she left it. We had free roam through the two stories, and the architectural details and furniture were all quite elaborate. We saw chairs with embroidery on the backs and arms that looked pristine…and there were no signs saying not to touch them or sit on them (which makes us think that people likely do both).
There was also an event taking place in front of the Punta Arenas Cathedral (aka Cathedral of the Sacred Heart) that was marking the 40th anniversary of one of the first public protests against General Augusto Pinochet. The protest took place at that location 40 years ago today as Pinochet was about to accept a military honor. There were posters with newspaper headlines from that period on display and photos of people being arrested. The event was quite elaborate and was like a play that lasted about 20 minutes. There was a choreographed presentation by people with stockings pulled over their faces, and a man sitting above them with a pig’s mask on and a furry gorilla coat. It was very passionate, and when they played a Chilean protest song, the crowd sang along. Since we don’t know a lot about Chilean history of that period, we didn’t comprehend all the details, but it was interesting to see, nonetheless.
And what also must be mentioned are the sights we have been seeing as we have cruised south along the Chilean coast. The first two photos are representative of the beauty we have seen, hour after hour, day after day. We are about 1,000 miles north of Antarctica, and Punta Arenas is the coldest city in Latin America, with more than 100,000 inhabitants, but today was fairly warm, in the mid-60s, and very sunny. The sun makes every scene shimmer and glimmer, and the scenery has been fantastic.
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