Beautiful Bariloche

So it´s been about a week since our Antarctic adventure, and we´ve thawed out sufficiently to write another blog post... We left Ushuaia on Sunday morning, took an all day bus ride to a city called Rio Gallegos, then an overnight bus to Comodoro Rivadavia, and finally another overnight bus to Bariloche. This left us with an entire day to kill in the bustling city of Comodoro. We were hoping to spend it on the beach, but the gail-force Patagonian winds (which are apparently commonplace) prevented us from doing so. These winds were so strong they actually affected how we crossed streets, as we had to ensure an extra buffer for cars in case a gust came and stopped us in our tracks... The only attraction listed in the city in our Lonely Planet guide was the ¨state-of-the-art¨ Petroleum museum, but of course, that was closed (apparently closing Museums on Mondays is a worldwide phenomenon). Faced with the unpleasant possibility of whiling away the day in the bus station, we pondered where we might go that met our key criteria: free, comfortable, and sheltered from the wind. Drawing on my four years of consulting experience, we realized that a hotel lobby would be perfect! We opened up our Lonely Planet guide and for the first time turned to the ¨Top End¨ section of hotel list. We found a couple of hotels in the area, marched on in, and then Dena put on her sweetest face, spun a little tale, and voila: cushy couches, climate control, clean bathrooms, and that oh-so-wonderful hotel lobby smell! We were skating free and clear until at the very end of the day, back at the bus station, we ran into the doorman from the first hotel where we ¨squatted.¨ Caught in our web of deceipt we came clean, and the guy had a good laugh. We are now (or at least were when I started writing this post two days ago) in beautiful Bariloche, enjoying the sun (finally!), views, and food. At the northern edge of Patagonia, Bariloche is blessed with the breath-taking Patagonic scenery, but with much better weather than the rest of the region! Between Bariloche and a nearby town called San Martin de los Andes there is a 3-4 hour drive that takes you along seven lakes (this is after all the Lake District). We heard that the views were spectacular, so we decided to rent a car and see what all the fuss was about (we could have done it by bus, but it would have been harder to take pictures for you all to enjoy). After a little car rental agency confusion (I´ll spare you the details), we ended up with a "cozy" three-door VW Gol. Our theory is that it´s like the Golf in the US, except they chopped off some of the car, so they chopped off the "f" in the name as well. We did the standard walk around the car, signed the paperwork, got in, and were ready to go. Dena went to put the car in Drive, and only then realized that this car was NOT an automatic. We looked at each other, not sure what to do. Dena quickly got out of the car and asked the car rental agent if the company had any automatic cars. He gave her a quizzical look, so she started making some shifting hand motions while saying "automatico." He finally realized what she was saying, and then laughed, and sai,"Of course not." The guy´s son, who also works at the agency, helpfully added: "Don´t worry. It´s easy." SO, Dena got back in the car, we looked at each other again, and in classic Dena and Amit fashion, tried to analyze whether or not we should go ahead with our plans. Dena, I found out, learned to drive a stick 11 years ago on her Dad´s Corvette. Me driving was out of the question since I left my driver´s license at the TD Bank North Garden in Boston the day before we left for Argentina (it has since been recovered). In any case, I´m not sure my very limited prior experience driving stick shift (under dubious circumstances in Mexico a few years ago) would have proven very helpful. After carefully weighing the risks of getting into an accident with the comedic value it would provide for the blog, we decided to go for it. To appreciate the full predicament of our situation, imagine if someone dropped you at the top of a hill in San Francisco in a manual car, with almost no prior experience driving stick, double-parked on a busy road, and then add to that the fact that the right of way rule in Argentina appears to be that whoever has more momentum when approaching an intersection has the right of way. Fortunately, we were facing down-hill, so Dena put her foot on the clutch, and we slowly rolled our way down to the bottom of the hill. We then did a few loops around a relatively flat section of road so Dena could practice getting into first gear. It was a little jerky, but the car was relatively forgiving, and Dena managed a few consecutive starts and stops without stalling, so we started to feel pretty good. From there we were off to the races, Dena driving carefully and me side-seat driving the whole time ("Second Gear! Second Gear! Don´t forget to switch to second!¨). We finally pulled into Bariloche many hours later, and as we were waiting in line to refill our car, the gas station lights went out. We asked if the station was closing, and the guy said there was no power. We looked around and realized there was no power in the entire city. SO, Dena then had to drive into the city in the dark, without street lights, and more importantly without traffic lights (you cannot make this stuff up). Other than that and a few stalls in some not so fortunate situations, everything went fairly smoothly (mayby jerkily would be a better description), and the view was definitely worth the climb. The scenery was indeed spectacular (see a couple of pictures to the right). A couple of conclusions: we Americans should appreciate more our automatic transmitions (especially cruise control), and everyone should learn to drive a stick shift. A few other highlights from our time here: Chocolate and Ice Cream: Bariloche is a chocolate lover´s dream. Every other store is an "artisinal chocolate factory" selling hand-crafted chocolates and often ice cream. Our favorite chocolate flavors: banana split, dulce de leche (kind of like caramel), and tiramisu (Dena, not me). From the Andes to the Beatles: A performance by an Argentinean band of Beatles music with the the traditional musical instruments and style of the Andes. It turned out to be OK, not amazing, but interesting nonetheless El Boliche De Alberto: Alberto has three restaurants in town: two steakhouses and one pasta place. We had heard wonderful things about both, so decided we had to try them. At the steak house, I had the "bife de chorizo", an absolutely enormous steak that was delicious (Dena had a salad... she´s such a good sport). The pasta place was even more special, though. They hand make the pasta there every day, and the Ricotta-stuffed Gnocchi was out of this world. Doing nothing: Bariloche is a fantastic place to do nothing. For 2-3 days of the week we were here we just hung out around town, sitting in the grass, soaked up the sun, and walked from chocolate store to chocolate store trying the free samples Our very own "asado" (barbecue): Last night we had a traditional Argentinian BBQ at our hostel with some of our newly-made Israeli friends. Delicious meat, beer, wine, and even grilled veggies for Dena. I ate so much I couldn´t sleep (oops). That´s all for now. Tomorrow morning we´re off to Pucon, Chile, for some hiking, rafting, etc. -Amit and Dena

Dena shows off freshly purchased chocolates from Mamuschka, the best chocolate shop in Bariloch (in our humble opinion) Amit cuts into his steak from El Boliche de Alberto A pictuure of my cousin Eitan and his girlfriend Maayan that we found at our hostel, where they stayed two years ago Proof of the stick-shifting that was going on Lago Nahuel Huapi, on which Bariloche sits One of the other seven lakes (damned if I can tell which one) Pasta making in action at the other El Boliche de Alberto Finishing dinner at 12:30am (a little late, but not so unusual) Folk music band in the main square of Bariloche Beautiful vista outside Bariloche Ditto