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!