#flatstanley #flathal #puntaarenas #chile
On the shuttle ride from the ship to the city center, to Plaza de Armas, Flat Hal and Flat Stanley had their eyes focused on everything we passed, looking for something to wander back to.
Fortunately the square we were dropped at was a short distance from the shoreline where some statues had caught their attention.
Plaza de Arms, Punta Arenas, Chile
Flat Hal and Flat Stanley decided to try and find out why the town squares in so many of the towns they’ve been to recently in South America call their town square Plaza de Armas. They were relatively sure they could guess what the words meant in English… but why?
With a little help from Google’s Gemini AI they discovered: This square was intended as a place for public gatherings, government buildings, and in the past, even as a refuge during attacks, where arms would be supplied to defenders.
Does your hometown have a center square, or major gathering place?
The flat fellas were also curious about the city name, Punta Arenas. It means Sandy Point. A lot of our stops have been at places with Puerto as the first word, which simply means Port.
