Founded in 1567 by Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, its strategic location has allowed Castro to be the financial, commercial and tourist centre of the Chiloe archipelago. Castro is a 30 minute ferry crossing away from mainland Chile across the Chacao Channel, verdant Isla Chiloe - the largest of the Chiloe archipelago. There are sixteen wooden churches here clustered around Castro on the island’s east coast, each of which is protected under the UNESCO World Heritage status. A great highlight here are the traditional palafitos or houses on stilts that dot the shores. The Chiloe archipelago became a major whaling centre in the 19th century, which allowed Europeans settlers to build up small townships on the islands. In these current times, life on the islands still very much revolves around the water and regional food specialties which largely consists of seafood dishes. It is said that the Empanadas here are the best anywhere, so with almost no Spanish, I did order one off a food truck just for fun. It was fun ordering it and the two women preparing it from scratch were also having a fun time - and yes it was delicious, tender and stuffed with chicken, cheese, beans and salsa (not too hot).
Our day, Marianne, Marcel, Jan and I jumped onto the 10:00 tender which was pretty much empty and floated the 10 minutes into town. Within minutes we were are the very large artisan market, never seen so many items made out of wool. We continued up the big hill to the centre of town and the Plaza de Armas (every city and town has a Plaza de Armas), here you will find a large main gathering square, a church and usually an administration complex of some sort (mayor house, government palace etc). Here a half a block off the square was the Regional Museum of Castro. This little museum houses exhibits showcasing the archeology of the area as well as objects made in Chloe. Free or by donation and a great way to spend a half an hour. From here we headed to the view point for the traditional houses on stilts (palafitos) and then the church in the Plaza followed by a stroll to an incredible cemetery - all the important Chilean people are buried at this very picturesque cemetery. It was then time for a couple of beers a lite lunch and some wifi before heading back to the ship. Yes it was at this point heading back that I picked up my Empanada, yum.
Back on the ship in time for trivia and taking in the sights of the Chilean Wine Festival going on on the Lido deck ($25 for all the wine you can taste between 3 and 5, great selection also paired with some Chilean cuisine). We were too late to participate. Beautiful sail away tonight and then an Australian themed dinner as tonight and today is Australian Day. So another great weather day along with some 12,000 plus steps of touring around and another fabulous show in the main showroom. Another new port tomorrow, Puerto Chacabuco, Chile.
A few pics of our day today, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day: “ Life is a great adventure or nothing” - Helen Keller
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