Punta Arenas is a popular transit point for getting in and out of Southern Patagonia. Our bus ride from Puerto Natales took us through hours of open fields, before suddenly hitting the edges of this small city, making it feel pretty close to the edge of the world. After a few stops we pulled up the bus depot, leaving us just half a mile walk to our hotel for the night.

After checking in we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and walk around town – here we saw the most evidence of the recent protests, with several buildings sporting broken glass and graffiti. All banks were completely boarded up on this Saturday, and most shops were closed too.

From the center we walked up to Cerro de la Cruz, which offered a nice view.

From here we walked to, then along, the seafront, passing a few monuments and sculptures, plus a car stereo event.

Cerveceria Artesanal Hernando de Magallanes is located across the street from the shoreline, offering a selection of their beers in bottles and three stools. Prices were reasonable, there is a nice view toward water, plus Bon Jovi was playing!

After our beer we walked over to Cuatro Estaciones Pizzeria. I got the maqui beer (blackberry-like fruit) plus the Hawaiian pizza, while Leandra got the churrasco sandwich, which was massive and messy with lots of mayo and a ton of avocado. Good fries too. And after seeing it on the menu, I had to top off my meal with a frambuesa! While we were eating a small protest march passed by in the street too.

We were glad to have an afternoon to explore this cool little town, and quite grateful that the strong winds they are famous for were not in evidence on our visit.