This past weekend we took our first GW program trip to Bariloche in the southern Lakes District of Argentina. Located at the foothills of the Andes, the main draw here is the sightseeing in the summer and skiing in the winter. I was a little nervous about the cold, but I knew it was going to be a fun trip when a mix up with the paperwork gave me the middle name "Fun" on my boarding pass. How they got from "Ann" to "Fun" is beyond me but it turned out to be a lucky sign. After a 2 hour flight we got to Bariloche at around 12:30 on Thursday night, and promptly went to find the only restaurant still open. We definitely weren't in Buenos Aires anymore, since at 12:30 on a Thursday most restaurants are hitting their peak traffic. After a delicious (if provincial) meal we went back to the hotel and rested up for Friday.
Friday morning we woke up relatively early and headed out on a guided tour of the Circuito Chico, a circular trip around the city with stops at the tourist highlights. I was not a happy camper when our guide told us it was about 6 degrees Celsius below freezing, but then "Incomplete" by the Backstreet Boys came on the radio and it was fine. Our first stop was the Cerro Catedral, which we scaled in a chairlift. This is where words or pictures stop doing justice to the sheer natural beauty of Bariloche. We got to the top of the hill and in every direction were blue blue lakes and green green moutains. Behind the green mountains closer to us were snow capped ones, and our guide told us that in between the green mountains and the white ones were glaciers. We wandered around for about an hour taking pictures and generally wondering at the beauty. Eventually we went to the cafe to warm up, and took the chairlift back down the mountain. Our next stop was another scenic overlook with an outdoor market, where I took more pictures and played with a St. Bernard puppy one of the vendors had. The final must-do was a visit to a rosa mesquita taller (workshop). Aceite de rosa mesquita, or rose hip oil, is one of the main products of Bariloche and they turn it into everything. We were able to try face cream, lotion, soap, shower gel, bubble bath, "dulce" (jam), and tea. I bought some lotion since I could already tell the cold was doing a number on my skin. After the tour was over, we had the afternoon free to wander Bariloche. The city is adorable. The architecture is very heavily influenced by the Swiss and German immigrants who built it, and around every corner is another beautiful view of the lakes. We wandered around an outdoor fair for awhile, found another indoor fair, and went to one of the many chocolate shops (another main product of Bariloche) before my friends decided a nap was necessary. I was not tired yet, so I visited the Centro Civico, the main square. I was surprised to see a panuelo (handkerchief) of the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo painted on the ground, but I know I should not have been. Every province and every city was affected by the dictatorship, not just Buenos Aires. Back at the hotel, I napped, we had dinner and went out to take advantage of Bariloche nightlife.
The next day, Saturday, was horseback riding day. We were picked up at the hotel by a nice German man and drove about an hour to the middle of nowhere, where the stables were and where he lives with his family. I sat in the front and talked with him the whole way. Apparently in the winter when they get snowed in he goes into Bariloche for 5 or 6 days at a time to buy supplies, and then doesn't leave again for another few months. Wow. My horse was named Pinineo, and imagine my trepidation when I was given a stick to hit him with because "he likes to bite the other horses." It may seem like I've been doing a lot of horseback riding lately, and I have, but I have to say that my intense discomfort around horses has not changed. Riding a maladjusted horse was not what I had in mind. Once we got started riding however, I was able to forget my fear and cold for awhile to enjoy the scenery. About halfway into the two hour ride I was getting too cold to ignore it anymore so I asked our gaucho guide if he could teach me a gaucho song to distract myself. He could not, so I started a round of row row row your boat with my friend Laura. We sang that and other songs the rest of the way to the estancia, where we had a delicious asado lunch. I have had the luck to eat a couple of asados during my time here, and I think they deserve their own blog post, but basically it's barbeque. We got back on the horses, and luckily the afternoon was much warmer than the morning. We rode along a stream most of the way which was beautiful. I was almost sad to say good bye to Pinineo, who had only bit one horse the whole day. We all slept the whole way back to the hotel. After dinner we were so tired we almost didn't go out, and it took our tour coordinator Lea coming into the room and kicking us all out of bed to get us to leave. I am so glad she did, because the second night was definitely more fun than the first. Bariloche has its own Irish pub named Wilkenny's, and it played the best dance music I have heard in a really long time. Portenos love their techno, but I am not a fan. The DJ at Wilkenny's played the perfect mix of pop and reggaeton, and we just danced the night away.
After sleeping in Sunday morning, we had lunch in the hotel and went out to take one more walk around Bariloche before leaving for the airport. I was sad to leave the natural beauty of the lake district, but every time I leave Buenos Aires I am more excited and happy to come back. I think it is because I know that one day I will leave for good, and I realize how lucky I am for now to be able to come home to this amazing city.
Besos!
Nati
