A Hot Bariloche Christmas!

After we left lovely El Bolson we made our way to Bariloche to spend Christmas. It was only two hours north so we arrived pretty refreshed compared to other places and as soon as we popped out of the taxi outside our hostel we bumped into one of the lovely ladies from it, Sylvia and then Ben. He took us into the building and up to the tenth floor where we met lovely Annie that I had been emailing about spending Christmas there. Bariloche is quite a big place but by far the biggest and most eye sore part of it is the huge 1960s concrete tower block inside which our hostel was the penthouse. So for us it was fine. We were in the eyesore so didn't see it. What we did see was the most incredible views I've ever seen from any hostel. (When the ash clouds from the volcano allowed!) Below us stretched out a deep blue lake that led up to the mountains all around it, some of which were snow capped. There was even a balcony we could go out on and we had the same view from our room.We spent such a lovely Christmas there, met some proper characters, ate LOTS of food and drank copious amounts of gorgeous wine (well I did anyhow).

The first day we were there we got chatting to lots of people and established that we will be spending it with some lovely people in a place that felt like a home. Anyone that has stayed at Penthouse 1004 will tell you it feels like that. In no time at all we were leaving our things everywhere, walking around in bare feet and sharing things. In the afternoon we were at last going to give away all our camping stuff and to shed the weight we had been carrying throughout all our time in Argentina. We were so excited about feeling light and mobile again! We wanted to give our tent, camping stove and utensils and roll mats to a school or a charity shop so we went into the tourist info place and asked where the best place would be to do that. They said that there was a mountaineering place that we could give our things to. I was a bit dubious because I wanted to help by giving it so we went there and asked if they helped children or other people in their mountaineering. They told us that they took groups of children hiking into the mountains and when we showed them what we had to give they were so grateful and started hugging and kissing us! They ended up giving us a mate gourd cup with bombilla (http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(drink) ), a thermos flask, some stickers and badges of their Club Andino emblem embellished on them. Amazing! Wandering around town we came across lots of chocolate shops (although Bariloche is the chocolate capital of Argentina we didn't really like the taste of it too much) but we did find this little gem and I had a submarine (hot milk with a lump of chocolate to melt into it and a gorgeous chocolate mousse on a chocolate biscuit base),

there were also lots of outdoor shops and the first in a long list of scary doll shops!! Check these terrors out!!

On our second day we decided to cycle around the Circuito Chico, through the countryside, next to mountains, through some boque (woods) and up to some beautiful lakes. I hadn't cycled since being in the desert in La Guajira Colombia or done any sort of fast exercise for a while so I found the hills a bit too steep! The countryside was beautiful and as we cycled along with Mark and Miranda my nose filled with the scents from the woods, the flowers and plants which were in full bloom. Mark was obsessed with the smell of Juniper berries. He kept legging it into bushes and producing them for us all to smell! 

Such a strange thought that it was Christmas with the glorious sunshine, the heat and the flowers everywhere! We saw some astoundingly beautiful lakes, one was the colour of crystalised turquoise. 

Another was totally clear and still in the glorious sunshine.

We saw some magnificent views over the lakes and forests from on top of the hills we cycled up. 

Freewheeling back down was pretty fun as well. On the way back we were told about Gilbert's a place were he brews his own beer. So we stopped off to sample a taste. It was delicious! I don't think I've ever tasted tasty beer. Lager is ok, I like the fizz but this beer was tasty. So we had quite a bit of it. 

Freewheeling became even more fun afterwards! We were joined for the final huge steep downhill by some skater nut jobs, after being towed up the hill holding onto a car Michael J Fox style they let it loose and skated all the way down. Balls of steel.


The next day was Christmas Eve and everyone at the hostel was going to bring some food to share with everyone. We had been on a bit of a cooking spree of late and didn't fancy cooking so we bought a big tub of delicious helado (Argentinian ice cream is to die for). We lounged around all of that day and then everyone started cooking and drinking. Then we all started eating and I started drinking. I tell you it's really hard not to keep filling your glass up with the wine in Argentina, it just so deliciously like juice. So much so that I ended up drinking almost two bottles by myself and before I knew it it was middnight. Christmas Eve is a little like our New Years Eve at home. The streets below were filled with drunken people and people revving the engines of their cars. At middnight fireworks went off for about ten minutes non stop and much shouting and screaming could be heard all throughout the night. 


When we awoke on Christmas Day I was feeling a little tender, but not so bad considering how much I drank. I just felt like I was in a boat at sea, no headache or anything. Of course I didn't feel as good as most people who had decided to get up and go hiking!! Sam and I skyped the parents and lounged around for the most part of the day. Once I had stopped feeling so dizzy we popped our cossies on and went for a Christmas Day swim in the lake. The water was so pure it felt really good to be immersed in it, if a little cold! After that we cooked up a massive roast for a feast and ate it with Mark and Miranda before falling into bed again at late o'clock.

On Boxing Day we had bought our tickets on the night bus to Mendoza. More wine!