More Bariloche

As the week progressed in Bariloche, I begin my Spanish classes at La Montana Spanish School.  The previous continuing education Spanish course I took was a long time ago, and my brain was very challenged every day, but it felt good to have a bit of a routine again!

One day after school Chad and I took the bus out to Cerro Companero, a mountain just down the road.  You can either take the chairlift to the top, or you can hike to the top underneath the chairlift.  You can probably guess which one we chose...

I'll admit it - this is as far as I made it.  The trail is much steeper than it looks in this shot, and mostly loose gravel/volcanic ash.  Chad forged on, though.

Some shots of the beautiful 360 degree views from the top:

After dinner that night?  More beer, this time at a little cafe/brewpub down the street from my school called Manush.  It was recommended by one of my teachers, and the milk stout was actually pretty good.

Super cozy space.

Yummy appies that came for free before the main meal.

Trucha (trout) is a local specialty. 

Doesn't this pizza with arugula and cherry tomatoes look great?  Why, yes - it was!  Little did I know that this (as far as I can tell) would cause the worst case of food poisoning - by far - that I have ever had.  Thank you, arugula, for an illness that seemed to last a lifetime and caused me to miss a day of Spanish classes, spend two days in bed, and never want to eat again (luckily this feeling has now passed).

Bariloche, in particular a place called Jauja, is renowned for having the best ice cream in Argentina.  Chad checked it out and confirmed that it is indeed very tasty.

Doble Dulce de Leche on the top, Profundo (extremely dark chocolate) on the bottom.  Dulce de leche is a sweet spread (caramelized condensed milk) that the Argentines (and to some extent, the Chileans) use a LOT.  Including at breakfast.  A little sweet for my taste, but when in Rome...

A bit more wandering around Bariloche...

Winner: Best view from a gas station.

Mural of Mother Earth in the artisan square in downtown Bariloche.

[Note from Chad: Yes, I made Sarah include this photo, so blame me. :-) I just don't think I could take my babies & kids shopping here: "Hey kids, let's go see what Mr. Cock has in store for us."]

Bariloche is also known for its chocolate shops - the main street is lined with them.  Mamuschka and Abuela Goye are two of the most highly recommended.  They're all pretty touristy.

Mamuschka on a rare moment when tourists aren't fighting for the front of the line to get their chocolate.

Chad tries out the chocolate at Abuela Goye (a mannequin of whom you can see in the window).  Sadly, he was underwhelmed with his choice.

On Wednesday, we took a cooking class at my school where my teacher Gaby showed us how to make alfajores, a traditional Argentine cookie.  Think of two less-sweet sugar cookies (incorporating lots of corn starch) with dulce de leche in the middle, the edges rolled in coconut, with maybe a little chocolate on top.  Um, wow.  A special treat for me, since it was nut free so I could actually try it!  [Note from Chad: my ice cream cone earlier in the day was coincidentally the same flavours.  Highly recommended.]

Gaby shows Roman, the Russian student in my class, how to cut cookies.

Alfajores and coffee, together at last.

It is no surprise that Chad was a master at alfajores construction.

Enjoying the fruits of his labour.

And later that day, Chad partook in the tradition of mate (MA-tay) after "seasoning" his new mate (the cup) for a couple of days.

[Note from Chad: I took a "class" on mate-making at our hostel in Mendoza - there's a whole procedure & etiquette for making it.  I won't go into such detail here.  Basically, mate is like a bitter green tea made of yerba mate leaves.  You fill the mate (cup) with leaves, insert a metal straw with a strainer on the end (bombilla), then pour one sip at a time of hot (not boiling) water in, sipping it in one gulp through the straw.  When several people are drinking, only one person is the mate preparer, and he/she pours for everyone in turn, handing the mate out & taking it back after each sip.  You actually see some people walking down the street with mate, bombilla and water thermos the way we would hold a Starbucks cup.  Apparently the Uruguayans are crazy for mate, and huge numbers of people walk around with thermoses and mate "kits" - can't wait to see that.]

My newly-purchased equipment.  This yerba mate is non-traditional, as it has a bit of mint and other herbs mixed in.

The mate in action.  It does grow on you.

[Another note from Chad:  Argentine pronunciation is a bit different than in Mexico, Chile, etc.  An initial "Y" is pronounced as a soft J (jz) like in the French "Je".  So yerba mate is pronounced "JZER-ba MA-tay." Also, "LL" is pronounced like "sh."  So bombilla is pronounced "bohm-BEE-sha."]

Three New Beer Blog Posts

Less nerdy than usual.


First beer in the southern hemisphere: http://hoplogblog.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/first-beers-in-southern-hemisphere.html

Mendoza, AR: http://hoplogblog.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/mendoza.html

Bariloche, AR: http://hoplogblog.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/bariloche.html


Enjoy!

Beautiful Bariloche!

Finally, we are in Patagonia!  Our first stop is Bariloche, a town in the Lakes District.  Instead of braving the 18 hour bus ride from Mendoza to Bariloche, we took a relatively cheap flight of about 1.5 hours.  It would have been actually cheap if we were Argentinian - their national airline has two tiered pricing so the foreigners get to pay about twice as much as the residents.  [Note from Chad: I wish we had 2-tier pricing for Canada's National Parks.  This summer we had to pay the same park fees as foreign tourists on expensive package tours, and they can really add up for us local citizens/residents.]

On arrival at the somewhat Bavarian themed airport, we saw that tourism is alive and well in Bariloche...

You know it's a real town if it has an Irish pub and a McDonalds.  Check and check for Bariloche.  

A quick taxi ride into Bariloche and we were already sold on this place.  The mountains are beautiful, the lake is stunning, and the town quaint.  Admittedly, the town is touristy - it is done up Bavarian/Italian Alps style and there are a ton of chocolate shops pandering their wares to wandering tourists - but the scenery more than makes up for it.  And it's a good thing we like it, because we are spending just over a week here while I take a Spanish course!

Here's some shots from our first couple days, which involved exploring, gawking at the views, and drinking cerveza artesenal (craft beer).

First views of Lago Nahuel Huapi.  Isn't the water calm?  It was like that our first afternoon, but the wind has been blowing hard ever since - sunny with big whitecaps.

The Civic Centre, designed by an Italian in what has become Bariloche's signature style.  If you want to pretend that you're really in the Swiss Alps you can have your photo taken with a Saint Bernard.

More of the square by the Civic Centre.

 

La Marmite restaurant?  For the Aussies, perhaps?

Dogs are everywhere in Bariloche as well.

The town cathedral - building began in 1940 and is not quite finished yet.   The interior is mostly naked structural stone - they are perpetually waiting to finish the walls with nicer stone.

This stained glass depicts the barbaric local natives killing the kindly missionaries who just wanted to help (by converting them).  According to our tour guide (one of my Spanish teachers) relations between the Argentinians and the local natives are no better (and perhaps worse) here than in much of North America.

But wait!  Now that they have been converted to Christianity, the Indians are kindly and obedient.  It also appears, mysteriously, that their skin has lightened up.

 

Why is this tree wearing a crocheted coat, you may ask?  Many trees in town are wearing them.  Apparently an artisan put one of these coats on a single tree and the idea caught fire.  Don't know why.

Apparently even the phone booths aren't safe from the crocheted coats

Club Andino Bariloche - the local mountaineering club.  Has a very helpful staff who give all kinds of free information about local trails.

The view from our hostel common room.

And the view from the adjoining balcony.  

And another view - this one at sunset, from our room in the hostel.  You can imagine how lucky we feel waking up to this view every morning!

On a walk along the lakefront road, looking at the beach.

Our second day in Bariloche was just a little windier than our first.

There is kite surfing on the lake!  Which makes sense, considering that it is very windy here in the spring and summer.  

Not everything about Bariloche is lovable, though....

All the cervezcerias serve peanuts!  Or mani, en Sud America.

We found craft beer!  Bariloche actually has several craft breweries.  And it is our mission to try all of them.  [Note from Chad: well, all the good ones anyway.]

Bachmann was the first.  Pretty decent beer and a friendly little spot.

Inside the second craft brew pub, Antares.  Beer not quite as good, but a nicely done up, North American style craft beer bar.