Patagonia Family

Sunday, December 25th, 2008

Day 179 on The Big Trip. “Patagonia!”

A BUS from the airport is how the first tiny chunk of time is chewed on but soon we leave the pantry of Bariloche and enter the kitchen. That is, until the ceiling springs a leak and soon my family minus my dad is looking for shelter and good food and wine. No surprise there!

SNOWSTORM in Rochester, NY means that dad will arrive even later than expected: two days later. The mountains and the exact level of grandeur bestowed upon the lakes in this region are hidden by the inclement cloud weather in Bariloche as well. So, no big shakes, I suppose!

Thursday, 22-12-08: Cerro Otto

DAD makes it here!

BESIDE the road, we experience the bus waiting in Argentina. The days are filled with hanging out, exploring the town of mountains, a big lake, chocolate shops, and hanging out.

Then we catch a gondola up to Cerro Otto.

The weather is nice as noted in the percentage of white in the decolorized, expansive pictures we take.

We aren't satisfied with the views from the top.

So we hike a bit.

For the CookOff ’08, Jon and Nicky take there churn out a polenta, veggie stew, birthday cake and bubbly combination that stirred the beast in my stomach for mealtime! Mm…Mm!

Friday, 23-12-08: El Bolsón

BARILOCHE is sweet but Patagonia was the main destination for this Christmas vacation retreat for a family of seekers. As such, we rent a car for a few days and first hit up good old Berkeley.

I mean, El Bolsón. It’s a Tuesday, which is one of the three days of the week that this town standing a mere 2 hours tall houses a large market. The market forms a rainbow around an otherwise nonplussed grassy park.

Although Alisa has to work 8 hours each of these days, we’ll likely trip to El Bolsón again. Mom stretches her market legs and meets nearly every vendor! Friends and girlfriends back home are taken care of, and the sights and sales are seen. Sean finds himself a nice mate and bombilla, too! We get back home in time for a dinner at A Ver, the new restaurant run by Chains and Bandit. Although the English version of the menu has some mistakes, the food doesn’t. Here's the menu in Español:

Saturday, 24-12-08: Seven Lakes

CRUISING the paved and dirt roads out of Bariloche, we pass through Villa La Angostura, Villa Traful, Confluencia, and are back. Of course we packed a small picnic that we enjoyed along Lago Espejo Chico (Small Lake Mirror). We stopped at miradors and other crystalline lakes that couldn’t hide their bottoms.

Back in Bariloche we enjoyed dad’s cookoff meal and a surprise dulce de leche dessert!

Sunday, 25-12-08: Cerro Campanario

WAKING up early, I drive into the sun with Alisa. It gets too hot so we turn around and head back to Earth and head to her hostel for work. Then I return to the house in time to leave and hit up KM 17.5 on Bustillo where an empty Cerro Campanario parking lot beckons us up the 30-minute hike. The view at the top is definitely worthy of being National Geographic’s Top 10 Views in the world. It’s stunning. We record a vlog entry:

And take the cardinal pictures:

BACK to town for a church mass in Spanish. It’s a good day for a Christmas in the sunny town of Bariloche, Argentinian Patagonia! The day is not over yet! Keep posted to get posted! Happy Holidays to all!

-N8, et al, your landscapers!

Birthday Whoas

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Day 168 on The Big Trip. “Reflection”

ONCE upon a time sat a place. The place was 7 kilometers from the center of a small city in Patagonia named Bariloche. A couple of youngun’s found an ad for the house-apartment in the ABC magazine of classifieds and decided that this house might be the place they have been looking for should they settle down for a year or so. So they snatched it up, real fast.

BECAUSE the house was not equipped with such luxuries as bedsheets, toilet paper, and silverware, the couple had to fetch an ATM card and a market before they could christen their house: kitchen, bathroom, bed, and all!

IN no time at all, the couple was accustomed to the house. Taking the bus for $1.60 (that’s Argentinian pesos, folks) a piece for 30 minutes into town seemed the norm. The tiny fruit and vegetable shop next door felt like destiny poked its head into reality. And the funky outlets, match-lit stovetop, key-to-close front door and huge upstairs windows just 3k from climbing, swimming, and even less to a conversation in español were all considered available for a deeper past than actually held true.

THE moral of the story is: Hoping for good weather on a cloudy day is like skydiving: you never know if it’s going to open up.

FOR two days, the couple went to work. The girl went to work, training at a hostel, while the boy went to work looking for work. He applied online and in person to hostels, institutes, and institutes again. Until one day it was his birthday. He woke up to find an outstretched hand offering hot chocolate in a folded cup. Perfect!

BEFORE the girl had to train from 4pm to 10pm, the couple went for a sunny hike up Cerro Otto. On the hike down back into town they stopped to do some bouldering at the Piedras Blancas. This energy-consuming task was followed by 6 hours of relaxation and reflection for the boy, now 24 years of age. You see the boy had just traveled from the west coast of the USA to the east coast, followed by a crash course on traveling in Spanish-speaking countries from Ecuador to Argentina. For this reason, this boy from small towns in Maine felt like the 24th year seemed to bulge with significance and size. Age seemed more relevant than ever before, where before it was practically negligible.

THE moral of the story is: There are many ways in which you can save money, you can save the earth, you can save a drowning doe or a burning bulldog; but as far as I know there is only one way in which you can save time.

T-5 for your landescaper, n8

Frey

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Day 162 on The Big Trip. “Frey in a Day”

FREY is a place just outside of here, where here is Bariloche, Argentinean Patagonia. To get to there from here might I suggest taking the No. Cerro Catedral bus to the base of Cerro Catedral? From the parking lot, follow the banderas (flags) to the sign that says Frey and the path that says Frey, just quieter than the sign – at first, that is.

FOUR hours is the expected duration of the trek there for hikers with large packs full of morsels, tents, and could it be – climbing gear? We are without these large packs and have been told by those who have ventured this far that three hours is our expected trekking time. Being competitive, we want to smash the three hours in a trekking battle. Off we go! We pass a forest fired. Lakes, the Andes and songs about Chains and Bandit are the backdrop. By the by, Chains and Bandit are the names we give each other when adventuring.

A MERE two and a half hours after parking lot departure, we strike gold. Alisa poses for the first picture, behind her the astounding mini lake captured by the cliffs and spires. We rest and eat two of our 13 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we made for the trek, and drink some of the six liters of water that we also lugged up these 1700m.

TIME to walk! The scenery here is amazing. I notice nice crack systems in spires for climbing and spot a few bolts, if I’m not mistaken. But alas, we only brought our shoes. No chalk, no nothing, no else! Regardless I give this boulder a run for its money. That is, until it takes my spare change. Soon my fingers hurt and I just can’t get past the crux move on what I guess is only a V4 or V5. All this traveling has made me soft!

I HOP up on another boulder surrounded by its very own mote, to record the vlog for this little adventure that isn’t quit over.

FIRST we run back to the refugio. Can you see tiny Alisa running near the water? And, after a little rest and snack, we’re ready to leave Frey and the Refugio Frey for our descent trek. Hopefully we’ll go even faster back to C. Catedral!

IN just under two hours, we’re back! Unfortunately, we missed the bus that arrives every 1 ½ hours by 20 minutes. I hope we like waiting around! We rest, take off our dirty shoes, and think about the days to come. On the 12th I turn 24. On the 9th we move into our house. On the 19th my family visits. There are a lot of momentous events on the horizon! I look forward to all of them, some out of turn!

Bariloche 4

Saturday, December 6rd, 2008

Day 160 on The Big Trip. “Back to Earth”

You may be wondering where I go at night. Well, if I'm not on a bus, I go to a bed. Usually I find a bed in a hostel. These days, I'm staying at Hostel "La Bolsa" because "1004" raised their prices. As a math minor I know that 35 is better than 40. However, I also know that 1300 for all 30 nights or so is better than 35 per night for the same amount of time. It is for this reason that I've decided to stop completely escaping the land and come back to Mother Earth for a house on Kilometer 7 in Bariloche, Patagonia! I'm moving in on Tuesday. It currently lacks any dishes or silverware (cuttlery), but has a workable kitchen with a mini-fridge! It's great! Our own place!

More pictures are soon to be captured and loaded to this address on the world wide web. More news is on its way! Why, just the other day I had my first lengthy interview in español for an English-teaching job...! And then I received a random phone call asking if I can teach Adobe After Effects. I wonder if they meant in spanish? No jobs yet, but cheaper living is an improvement I'm ready for!

I hope all is well wherever you're reading this from!

-Returning Landescaper, n8

Buenos Aires

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Day 157 on The Big Trip. “Buenos Aires”

I CAN now say that I’ve been to the capitol of every country that I’ve been to; and I had a great time in the last capitol: Buenos Aires. We spent a week there visiting family and friends, seeing sites, running errands, eating well, drinking well, and sleeping more!
ED and Adriana and Virginia and all of the family and friends thereof made this trip spectacular, if I do say so myself. For one thing, it’s nicer sharing a place with good people than not. To boot, experiencing a large city such as Buenos Aires with friends who are familiar with its ins and outs makes for smooth traveling! So officially: thanks! Thanks for the hospitality, the good times, and so on!

THOSE are the main high points of the stay. Here are the subtle things that pet the soul with a cool breeze on those hot Buenos Aires days: learning that no matter how much you eat like a hog, you will never eat more dulce de leche than an Argentinian!; there are question marks in the park near the bus station and I have no idea why; watching a movie such as Che just doesn’t seem right unless you see it in spanish in Argentina!

MORE: walking through the small city of mausoleums known as Recoleta Cemetary was very surreal with the living city just beyond the cemetary’s walls; having bagels with locks from Zabar’s in NYC in Buenos Aires was an unforeseen treat; not getting robbed in Buenos Aires – ditto!