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Our Year of Adventure
It was snowing a bit when woke up, not like a blizzard but enough to lie on the ground. Our first thought was how lucky we had been yesterday to have a day of sunshine for our walk, and the second was how the bus would cope in the snowy conditions. We were booked on the 11:30am bus to San Carlos de Bariloche.
We were in no particular rush though and had a late, lazy breakfast of toast, cakes and coffee. It's hard not to change your eating routine to that preferred by locals. Breakfast didn't even start until 9am in this hotel.
Our bags were packed and we were out the room by 10:30am, which was one of the earliest check outs we've had to make. After lounging around for half an hour in the nice reception area, we walked down the hill to the bus station, it was still snowing but not as heavily as earlier.
The bus arrived at the station on time and we had front seats with good view. We were making slow progress as we left the town and joined the main road to Bariloche, but not because of the snowy conditions. A Chilean driver, in front of the bus, was going incredibly slow and really annoying the bus driver. The Chilean driver would speed up the straights and slow right down on the bends (like bad Kiwi drivers) making it difficult to overtake. Eventually the bus managed to overtake and the driver very animatedly took the **** out of the Chilean's driving posture to the great amusement of his co-driver.
As the road took us further into the hills, the snow became really deep on the sides of the road and on the trees - it was like being in Finland in winter.
As we descended into Bariloche, the snowing eased off but there was a lot more on the ground here. The bus arrived on time at the station which is 3km out of town, so after getting some tourist and onward bus information, we took a taxi to the La Barraca Suites.
We had managed to secure a special deal on the internet and got a very nice room, very cheaply. Breakfast was excluded from the deal, but we had full access to the kitchen so not a big deal to make our own.
After dropping our bags, we walked 10 minutes down the hill towards the centre to meet Andy & Carlee in Manush Craft Brewery pub for a quick drink before dinner at a parrilla. Manush had been recommended by the girl in our hostel and it was clear to see why, when we entered. It was packed with people who wanted to taste some of the 11 craft beers they make or take advantage of a very generous happy hour or both.
With so many beers available, it was difficult to choose so David opted for the tasting paddle which had a small glass of all 11 beers. After working his way through, Pale Ale was one of his favorites so he went on to the half price happy hour pint (and they were proper pints, not the Kiwi pint which is any size the bar chooses to make it and generally on the small side).
As we were having our drinks we saw food being served, which looked pretty tasty and the prices were reasonable, so instead of waiting until 8pm for the Parrilla to open, we decided to eat in the bar instead. And glad we did. We had enormous, big bacon burgers served with chips that were smothered in a nacho type cheese sauce and ham bits. Very, very nice!!
Desserts didn't sound so apetising in Manush so we took a short walk to El Turista, a huge chocolate and ice cream store. Maria quickly decided on a mug of hot chocolate with an alfajore while David was struggling with his choice. There must have been about 50 different flavors of ice cream and after having tastes of a few he eventually settled for a 1/4kg tub of ice cream - coconut, vanilla and dulce de leche with chocolate bits in it. Yum!!
We were in no particular rush though and had a late, lazy breakfast of toast, cakes and coffee. It's hard not to change your eating routine to that preferred by locals. Breakfast didn't even start until 9am in this hotel.
Our bags were packed and we were out the room by 10:30am, which was one of the earliest check outs we've had to make. After lounging around for half an hour in the nice reception area, we walked down the hill to the bus station, it was still snowing but not as heavily as earlier.
The bus arrived at the station on time and we had front seats with good view. We were making slow progress as we left the town and joined the main road to Bariloche, but not because of the snowy conditions. A Chilean driver, in front of the bus, was going incredibly slow and really annoying the bus driver. The Chilean driver would speed up the straights and slow right down on the bends (like bad Kiwi drivers) making it difficult to overtake. Eventually the bus managed to overtake and the driver very animatedly took the **** out of the Chilean's driving posture to the great amusement of his co-driver.
As the road took us further into the hills, the snow became really deep on the sides of the road and on the trees - it was like being in Finland in winter.
As we descended into Bariloche, the snowing eased off but there was a lot more on the ground here. The bus arrived on time at the station which is 3km out of town, so after getting some tourist and onward bus information, we took a taxi to the La Barraca Suites.
We had managed to secure a special deal on the internet and got a very nice room, very cheaply. Breakfast was excluded from the deal, but we had full access to the kitchen so not a big deal to make our own.
After dropping our bags, we walked 10 minutes down the hill towards the centre to meet Andy & Carlee in Manush Craft Brewery pub for a quick drink before dinner at a parrilla. Manush had been recommended by the girl in our hostel and it was clear to see why, when we entered. It was packed with people who wanted to taste some of the 11 craft beers they make or take advantage of a very generous happy hour or both.
With so many beers available, it was difficult to choose so David opted for the tasting paddle which had a small glass of all 11 beers. After working his way through, Pale Ale was one of his favorites so he went on to the half price happy hour pint (and they were proper pints, not the Kiwi pint which is any size the bar chooses to make it and generally on the small side).
As we were having our drinks we saw food being served, which looked pretty tasty and the prices were reasonable, so instead of waiting until 8pm for the Parrilla to open, we decided to eat in the bar instead. And glad we did. We had enormous, big bacon burgers served with chips that were smothered in a nacho type cheese sauce and ham bits. Very, very nice!!
Desserts didn't sound so apetising in Manush so we took a short walk to El Turista, a huge chocolate and ice cream store. Maria quickly decided on a mug of hot chocolate with an alfajore while David was struggling with his choice. There must have been about 50 different flavors of ice cream and after having tastes of a few he eventually settled for a 1/4kg tub of ice cream - coconut, vanilla and dulce de leche with chocolate bits in it. Yum!!
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