Bariloche

We just got back from 5 days in Patagonia, in a city called Bariloche. It was GORGEOUS!...perfect, really. Our pictures don't do it any justice...and seeing them on computer certainly doesn't help...but, we're going to bambard you with them anyways :)

The trip began on Tuesday afternoon. We took a 25 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Bariloche. The ride wasn't too bad...it was worth it. However, the food they gave us was vomitous...as you can see...by the far our worst meal in Buenos Aires yet.

On the other hand, our first night in Bariloche, we went to a spectacular steak restaurant called " El Tarquino"...this may be our BEST meal in Argentina yet. The steak was delicious and we found our favorite Argentine wine, "Familia Gascon", from Mendoza. Wow...for those of you who know me (Ang) you know how I appreciate food...this dinner made my week! Plus, the restaurant itself was beautiful...all made of wood. I know it sounds weird to get so passionate about a restaurant but we loved it! It was perfect...so much so, we decided to go again on our last night.

The highlight of our first day, or should I say Chris's highlight, was me getting my hair stuck in the blow dryer...my hair knotted up into a ball that I could not get out for the life of me…the blow dryer started to smoke making our hotel bathroom smell like bad bbq ... finally, we both lost- the blowdryer lost it's life and it took a good chunk of my hair with it. Chris was laughing his butt off at me as I’m screaming “my hair is on fire!” Thanks to that little incident happening the first day, I had to walk around with wet hair and now have a full blown cold :(

Thursday we took 2 excursions, the first was called "Circuito Chico" (Small Circuit). We took a chairlift up the mountain and at the top was a breathtaking view. It was called "Cerro Campanario". It was absolutely beautiful. The lake was surrounded by gorgeous mountain peaks and a bright blue sky. There are 7 lakes in total in Bariloche...all of them different colors and so pretty...from deep blues to bright torquoise....certain parts looked like Carribean waters.

After finishing Circuito Chico, we took a ferry ride over to “Isla Victoria” and Parque Nacional de Arrayanes. The Arrayanes trees are specific to Patagonia. There is a story that says Walt Disney visited the area many years ago and found his inspiration for the movie “Bambi” from the trees in the Parque Arrayanes.

Friday, we took an excursion to “Cerro Tronador”. We stopped by “Cascada Los Alerces” (waterfall), where we drank some awesome hot chocolate (Bariloche is know for it’s great chocolate….we brought some back…sorry we can’t share) and ate some little fried dough stuff that pretty much tasted like a really yummy doughnut. After the waterfall, we visited Cerro Tronador, which is the glacier you see in the pictures. The Tronador loses parts of its glacier every so often making this thunderous sound, which is where it gets it's name from....we got to hear it twice. One side of the mountain is in Argentina and the other is part of Chile. We heard a few comments about the history between the Argentines and the Chileans and what “the Chileans thought should be their land but the Argentines didn’t…” etc.,etc. etc.… It was funny to see the Argentines get all worked up. They are as passionate about their land as they are about their futbol.

Saturday and Sunday we just chilled…walked around town, ate more amazing food, rested and took naps….really just enjoyed our time. We visited the Chocolate museum (you can guess whose idea that was ;) walked around the town’s artisan’s market, walked by the river, shopped around a bit.

Anyways, Bariloche was fantastic. Exactly what we hoped for...scenic, restful, fun, beautiful.

We are now back in Buenos Aires for the next 9 days and are looking forward to hanging out with our friends here and enjoying the city again :)