La Alpine
Nov 28, 2009
After a long, cold day of hiking, hot fondue sounded like a good way cure our hunger and warm our frozen bodies. The traditional swiss cheese fondue with bread, papas, and what looked like little pieces of hotdogs was great and completely satisfied our hunger. It was an intimate setting with couples at every table, therefore we definitely felt at home...
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Nov 29, 2009
Bariloche is a small lake and mountain town in the northern part of Patagonia. The town reminds us of towns that can be found in the Swiss Alps. Many of the buildings are chalet-like and the scenery is composed of brilliantly blue lakes and intense, all encompassing mountains. The town is full of young people who are interested in the outdoors. The perfect place for us to make a stop (don't you think?).
Hiking is the name of the game here and we are definitely taking advantage of the numerous trails. Today we summitted one of the main skiing mountains in the area. At the top, there were amazing views in every direction. The mountains were amazing and just kept going and going. It felt completely surreal.
The trail led us straight up the mountain. It reminded us of the incline on Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. We had a few close encounters with falcons, a great view of lakes and a semi-luge run on the way down (thanks to the rain and steep trail).
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Dec 01, 2009
We set out early on a drive to Villa Angostura. Our mission? Summitting Mt. Belvedere and checking out the sweet Cascada Inayacal. The drive was scenic and accompanied by some great '80's tunes. The views were absolutely fantastic and the radio, well there's just nothing like Bariloche radio. We arrive at the cute, ski mountainesque town and begin our search for the trail head. Which, according to Lonely Planet, "starts northwest of the tourist office." The trail is nowhere to be found. We find a map of the small town and the area around it. On the map we find the trail to Mt. Belvedere and Cascada Inayacal.
Being the good map readers that we are, we have both taken extensive classes on reading, even some of the most difficult, maps, we follow the road/trail to where we should begin on our adventure. We can not find the trail or the waterfall for the life of us. We trekked through a new housing development, up steep and muddy roads, and dealt with stray dogs and Argentines. One Argentine couple even told us to "go away". This unsuccessful expedition took us the entire day and we didn't even accomplish the slightest bit of what we had set out to do.
On our return to Bariloche, I remembered a poem my aunt loves and passed along to me, Ithaca. I pulled it out of my bag and read it aloud to Annie. The message fit our day perfectly. Life is all about the journey, not the destination.
Although we did not get the chance to summit Mt. Belvedere, we did laugh at our selves, our map reading skills, the the general lack of information on maps in Argentina. It turned out to be a pretty good day.
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Tarquino
Dec 01, 2009
This place was made completely out of Patagonia Cypress and resembled a hobbit house. Not only was the building made of wood, but there were very large trees that were scattered throughout the restaurant that were growing through the roof. It was a traditionally Patagonian menu. The food was delicious! The pork loin and ravioli were particularly good. Definitely a place to eat and see.
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A young German couple own the hostel. They are very nice, accommodating, and helpful.
The German is a little nuts, but endearingly friendly nuts.
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Windy day? Try your luck surfing some of the waves on the little lake near Bariloche. Who knows, you might find some great contacts for a future job (like the kayaking guide living in Lake Tahoe for 7 years).
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