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Ok, so I´ve finally made it onto a computer to do some updates...
First thing is you´ll see some extra photos on the site here... a few extras in Cordoba, new folders for Bariloche and Buenos Aires and also 2 new videos (one of Jo skiing! and one of some street performers in San Telmo, Bs As).
The Lake District, Northern Patagonia
So, we travelled from Cordoba down to Bariloche in the Lake District. Cordoba airport was new... one odd thing we found was a poster advert, which was about the size of my house, offering places on Dove shooting tours with some cheesey photos of the small game hunters... hmm.
The flight into Bariloche was great (I got to sit in the window seat this time and had superb views of the mountains and lakes). We caught a minibus into town... other passengers were an English couple who didn´t really want to talk to us... I think it was because they were staying at a 5* place and they had overheard that we were staying at a hostel!!!! And what a hostel it is... 10th floor (the top floor) of the biggest building in downtown... very cosy, very chilled out. We were welcomed by Javier who, along with Annie, showed us around and really helped us over the coming few days with information on places to go, places to eat etc.
The first night we were invited by Javier to join in the "wine and cheese" evening which would begin at 10pm. Javier pointed us in the direction of the wine shop and that was it (Jo questioned whether we should get some cheese... I said I didn´t want anything to spoil the Pinot Noir!!! ).
Before returning for the wine tasting we got straight out to explore the town... Dad, you have a lot to answer for... Jo says I´ve got your trait of itchy feet, always wanting to rush off and see what´s round the corner!
Well, it was pretty darn cold down in Bariloche, around 5C compared to the 20C in Cordoba, so we retrieved fleeces and woolly hats from the depths of our bags and went out. We found a festival going on in the main square. I´ve uploaded a photo or two to show the food stalls handmade by the local kids as I was so impressed with them! The festival had a stage where a few local bands played anything from rock to what seemed like Russian music with a few dancers up there too.
After dragging ourselves away from the festival we went on the hunt for ski equipment for the following day... found some bright yellow jackets which you´ll see in the photos too!
Back at the hostel for the wine tasting... and it was a busy and slightly noisy affair so after downing a few glasses of the good red stuff we got off to bed and put the old earplugs in!
Next day we took the local bus up to Cerro Catedral, the closest and biggest of the ski centres in the Lake District. The bus was chock full of tourists and locals clutching their ski gear including skis themselves and snowboards.
We hired skis and boots and I had to hire some gloves too. While attempting to hire the gloves I managed to slip over in the shop... come on, it was a wet floor and I was wearing ski boots!... anyway, I landed on the bad elbow... when I relayed this to Jo she said "You´re a long way from IV anti-biotics this time Alex!". Luckily no lasting damage, but visions of being hooked upto a drip like last year flashed through my mind!
Next was booking a ski lesson. Our instructor, JT Williams (a Bostonian) was a little worried when he heard that I had skiied previously although this was 20 years ago... he immediately pulled a funny face and wanted me to understand that the lesson would be for Jo primarily! Anyway, I soon found that he was right... within 30 mins or so, I felt fine and went off to do my own thing before regrouping for Jo´s ascent up the mountain. On the ski lift I sat in a car of my own. I forgot to pull the bar down infront of me until I was quite high up and wondering why there was nothing to stop me jumping off!! Then I was merrily taking photos and video and almost forgot to pull the bar up before reaching the end of the lift. JT, sat with Jo two cars behind me, was shouting "Alex, lift the bar man!". Ask Jo to do an impression of it, it´s a cracker.
Anyway, Jo did great and really picked things up quickly as you´ll see in the video... which was taken after the instructor left us halfway down a run cos he wanted to rush back and catch the last lift up the mountain to do his own skiing!
Back down in the town we enjoyed a wander around and checked out a few eateries. Bariloche has a bit of a winter wonderland feeling with lots of alpine type architecture (and the cold weather). We had a meal in a restaurant called Familia Weiss which is a big wood and glass structure. It must be a great tourist attraction too as during our meal my eyesight was severely affected by the flashing of cameras from the other side of the road. That´ll teach me for sitting in the window on full view. Jo ordered the jabali (wild boar) and quite enjoyed it. All I could think about was Asterix and Obelix hunting wild boar in Gaul... how sad is that?
Day 3 in Bariloche and we left the hostel and hired a car to do 2 days travelling around. We were recommended to get a car as you can see so much more of the scenery, explore places that buses don´t go and it´s one of the cheapest places in Argentina to rent. So that was it... we rented a little VW Gol and planned to head out to San Martin de los Andes, a renowned resort which some people have said has more charm and is less touristy than Bariloche. I say we planned to hit San Martin, because Javier from the hostel then told us that the beautiful 7 Lakes Route was closed until at least October! This would mean a 400km longer route to reach the town (and not as scenic). So that put paid to San Martin and we headed for Villa la Angostura on Javier´s advice... beautiful small town, a peninsula into the lake that is a national park and a 12k hike through it.
Villa la Angostura
The town is split into 2 areas, the first is El Cruce - the main commercial street with shops, restaurants and hostals and the second area is La Villa - the port area on the lake, 3km from El Cruce.
We stayed in a pretty, family run, traditional hotel right down on Lake Nahuel Hapi in La Villa. The views from the bedroom were fantastic. I couldn´t believe how superb the setting was and we were paying less than a quarter of the cost for a comparable hotel in the English Lake District... and the views and weather here were better!
We spent a few hours hiking through the national park on the peninsula. The going was a little tough in places where the track was covered with snow but we made it through. We even met a man on horseback who I think was a real gaucho but maybe just a park warden! We got worried that we would miss the boat at the end of the peninsula to return us to La Villa as the going had been a little slow but luckily we made it with about 15 mins to spare. Otherwise it would have meant a) pleading with the park wardens to take us back, b) bedding down in the park warden house for the night or c) walking the whole 12k back again!
Return to Bariloche
We were very sad to leave Villa and head back to Bariloche so this is another of the many places that we will have to return to!
Carrying on our great tradition of just making deadlines by the skin of our teeth we drove back, managed to take a few great photos, fill the car up with gas, negotiate the one way streets and drop the car off with about 5 mins to spare.
Then instead of walking straight back to the hostel I suggested stopping in one of the many chocolate shops in town for a refuel. Needless to say it did not take Jo long to agree... we sampled the Argentine drink called a submarino. Hot, steamed milk and a high quality chocolate bar to drop into it and melt! Yum... that´s if you can resist eating some of the chocolate first...
Our last night in Bariloche was spent savouring that famous Argentinian classic... the fondue! Did anyone else know that this area was famous for it? .. I certainly didn´t!
Early morning and 0915 flight to Buenos Aires to look forward to... then the flight was cancelled... and the next one was at 2pm... s´pose it had to happen sometime and there are much worse places to be stuck than in Bariloche airport with great views of the mountains...
I amused myself with singing "You´ll never walk alone", reciting Top Gun dialog, drinking tea and eating chips n salad... this was all more enjoyable than the lame "Just for laughs" video they showed on the plane!
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