Mark and I fell in love.
Picture this. Picture Lake Tahoe. Or Granby. But DRASTICALLY increase the size and grandeur of the mountains, and half or third the prices and the population. This is Bariloche.
A steep 15 minute walk uphill from where our bus dropped us off put as at the doorstep of Arko, a cute, old-lady run guest house in a Bavarian style with only 3 guest rooms, a shared kitchen, our own bath, and get this, A QUEEN BED! Mark and I have only slept in the same bed maybe a week total out of our 8 weeks on the gringo trail. The little old lady that runs the house asks us many questions about nationality, if we´re married, how long we´ve been traveling, etc, before she decides we´re safe to rent to. She can´t be to careful she says, Bariloche isn´t what it used to be. Mark and I learn that she is a concentration camp refugee that came to Argentina as they were the only country during the war that would accept whole families. A Slovanian by birth, and close to 90 years old, this woman LOVED to talk and tell stories. Every encounter with her resulted in a 30+ minute conversation about how things used to be. She is fabulous. My only complaint on our morning-sun-lit room was that we discovered our bed isn´t actually a queen, but two twins pushed together. DAMN! Foiled again.
Anyway, Mark and I only had 3 days in Bariloche, but coming off Patagonia, Ruta 40, our Torres Del Paine trek, we really needed a day to scrub down, wash everything, catch up on email, and just relax. So we spent the first day walking the cute little town, we had lunch in a fabulous little cafe on the lake overlooking the mountains, and we sat and just held hands on the rocks by the lake. It was glorious. Bariloche is food for the soul. The town has a distinct Bavarian feel, due to an early founder designing the original buildings that way on purpose. However in the last 50 years, eye-sores have popped up on the lake, obscuring the views and masking the original feel of the town. Bariloche might even sink into the lake underneath the weight of tourism here, but inspite of that, it is still in maybe the most georgous mountain setting I have ever been in. The people are super friendly. The shopes are cute and not nearly as expensive as El Calafate or El Chalten. Chocolate and ice creameries (heladerias) rule the streets, and almost everywhere in the town is walking distance.
Day two Mark and I decide to take a 4 hour hike up Catedral, the ¨most important ski resort in South America¨. A late start, an inability to find the trailhead, and a small disagreement between Mark and I (it´s about time… we´ve only been together for 1400 STRAIGHT hours now) made our summit attempt impossible on foot, so we bought a lift pass and rode the lift to the top.
The views up there were utterly spectacular. You can see snow smothered volcanoes on the horizon. You can see Chile. You can see 5 or 6 lakes, and how they bend and fold and cuddle around the mountains. You can see glaciers and pristine valleys and the town of Bariloche. And you can do all of this from a refugio , a little hotel right at the very top of the mountain, where you can sit and drink your mate or beer from the most magnificent deck and just take it all in. And you can sleep here. Imagine if Vail put a hotel at two-elks… except two-elks is UGLY compared to this view. Any residual frustration Mark and I felt for each other due to the earlier incident was immediately wisked away.
We made our way down the mountain, stopped for some more local artisan chocolate, and decided to try our hand at home cooking empanadas for dinner. While the meal was not bad, we met our housemates and had a late and fabulous evening with them. We stayed up maybe until 2 in the morning, Mark and I polished off two bottles of wine. We went to bed (in our twins) drunk, full, and happy on conversation and views.
Our last day in Bariloche coincided with Mark´s birthday (Happy Birthday Mark!) so I woke up early and cooked him breakfast. French Toast, or maybe Argentian toast, fresh oranges, and mate. We attempted to go on the Circuito Chico, a quick tour around the lake, stopping at viewpoints and beaches. While we didn´t actually make it around (buses weren´t running anymore, hotel was closed, lots of stars were out of alignment) we did manage to fall in love with Bariloche all over again. Huge lots ON the lake with massive old growth trees and views to die for. The weather was hot in the sun and cool in the shade with a breeze that smells of pine and snow. We even stopped into a real estate office.
Turns out in Bariloche, you can buy a nice piece of land with fabulous views for $65K. You can buy a lake side lot for $200K. There was 2.5 acres for sale, ON THE WATER for $750. Okay, while that´s a lot of money (for those of us that don´t have it), imagine what 2.5 acres of pristine old growth forest ON Lake Tahoe would cost you, if you could even find it anymore. $5million? $10million? Mark and I have every intention of investing our first million here. (now we just need the first million).
Again, we sat on the rocks by the water and napped in the sunshine, just generally enjoying eachother´s company, the views, and the absolute sense of peace Bariloche provides.
For Mark´s birthday we went to a buffet that had more types and genres of food you could ever imagine. This sounded like a good idea in theory, but in reality was really quite awful. Imagine coming to the US, wanting to try the food, and being unsure about what you should get, you found a buffet to try the many varieties the US offers. Where would you go? Country Buffet maybe. The food was AWFUL. But again,the generocity of the town overwhelmed us as our waiter spent maybe 10 minutes standing there and talking with us. He spoke slowly and clearly and helped us correct our spanish , he talked of his family, his origins, and asked us many questions. After our conversation with him, we forgot the bad taste of the food.
Tomorrow, we catch a flight to Mendoza, our last stop in Argentina, for one more week of Spanish classes and wine tastings!
The view at this place sound like MY kind of place! No picture? I am jealous! OK, I have been in the flat lands long enough. When do I get to go to the high country?
I too think prices here are a bargain compared to anywhere else in the world. I think property in Barioche is $.20 on the dollar compared to Lake Tahoe.