Living in Chile this last year has enabled us to check off some of the places we have on our ever expanding bucket list.  For the last two weeks we’ve been traveling around the southern tip of South America and got to experience a few more things on the list.

Visiting Torres del Paine and seeing penguins in their natural habitat were on the list.  Seeing a glacier calve an iceberg is another truly worthy item on the list along with seeing really massive icebergs are a spectacle we wish everyone could experience in their life.

But today is all about the southernmost city in the world.  Ushuaia is affectionately known as the city “el fin del mundo” or “the end of the world”.  Chileans will say Puerto Williams is further south but it is a town built around a naval outpost, not a city.  So until Puerto Williams grows a lot more, Ushuaia has the honors of southernmost city in the world.

The setting is magnificent.  Bordered by the Beagle Channel and surrounded by snow capped mountains, Ushuaia is postcard perfect.  If you’re lucky the sun may come out allowing you to fully appreciate the splendor of the place.  We were fortunate to have a rare day coupled with mild breezes and relative warmth.   Well, at least for an afternoon.

Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.

Architecture has a bit of a European flair in Ushuaia.

Mountains tower over an Ushuaia monument.

For those who can afford the luxury; Ushuaia has a five star hotel.  Nope, we didn’t stay there.  However we did stay at a hotel with some great views of the Beagle Channel and surrounding mountains.

The light shines on Ushuaia’s 5 star hotel. (Not where we stayed)

One of the views from our hotel.

The spectacular mountains framing Ushuaia.

We walk a lot when on vacation and often stumble across things a bit off the beaten path.  Here are a couple of things we saw while walking plus a picture of Raeski all decked out in her finest summer clothes trudging up the wooden walkway to our hotel.

Mountains tower over an Ushuaia monument.

The platform in the park overlooks the Beagle Channel.

A warm Raeski climbs the walkway up to our hotel.