Travel

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Bariloche, Day 3 — Thursday

After my busy day and relatively late night, I had to get up early on Thursday as my tour left at 8.30 am.  I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, because today I’d be going out on a boat on that beautiful lake!

Unlike the minivan of yesterday, this tour was in a large bus, conducted by an efficient woman called Cristina. It was a good hour’s drive along the lakeshore to Puerto Pañuelo, where we were to catch the boat. I love just being on a boat, even if it is a tourist boat full of people and constant commentary about the history of the region. After an hour, we arrived at our first destination, an island that contains the Bosque de Arrayanes.

As far as I can find out, arrayanes means myrtle trees, although that seems to be the subject of discussion. Anyway, they are an unusual shade best described by the brochure as cinnamon, and they have tufts of white growing out of their trunks. To the touch, they are so cold they don’t even feel like wood. To make the walk accessible to everyone, they have built a boardwalk across the island. It’s quite well done, as it is a little hilly and windy.

A sign told us the hike takes half an hour, and they allowed us 40 minutes before the departure of the boat! So there was no time for sketching, and it was a matter of following the other 299 people who came off the boat until we reached the end. I kept wishing I could be there by myself, but it is certainly an eerily beautiful place and worth a little inconvenience.

Thankfully, we all made it back to the boat before it sailed, and then we were on the water again for another hour. Nahuel Huapi is a very big lake, apparently larger than the whole of Buenos Aires Province, and that’s big. Surrounded by the majestic Andes, it captured my imagination and held my attention until we landed on Isla Victoria.

Here we had four hours to spend however we wanted. There were four different trails you could take, with varying levels of difficulty. I wanted zero difficulty, so I chose the trail that led, surprisingly, to the beach. It was about a twenty-minute walk and then I came upon this little jewel of a beach. Quite a few people had chosen this trail, but not enough to make it feel crowded.

Although the Andes, being a much younger range, are higher and craggier than the Laurentides of Quebec, this little lake reminded me of one I swam in with my friend Lynda the summer before I left Canada. If I had known about it, I would have brought my swimsuit, but as it was I had to be content with paddling up to my ankles.

They brought us back into town just in time for a nice early dinner. With no milongas along the way, I went home after dinner and had an early night. This is the sight I saw as I lay in my bed looking out the window after a very satisfying day.

 

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Day 2, Wednesday — later that night

I was tired after my tour and had eaten dinner in town so that I could stay home for the rest of the evening. However … I was walking down the main street on my way home when I saw a sandwich board on the sidewalk outside a bar announcing a milonga at 10 pm! I groaned inwardly because I really was tired, but of course I was curious.

A young woman from the bar told me the milonga was only held on Wednesdays and I should definitely come. I kind of thought I wouldn’t, but as I walked along I realized that if I didn’t go, later I would be sorry I hadn’t. Decision made, I hurried home and got changed. I didn’t wear actual tango clothes, as it looked like a casual kind of place, but I did take my tango shoes of course.

I took a taxi and arrived about 10.15 pm. It was a simple bar, with a small space at the end for dancing — mirrors all around made it look a little larger! There were a few people at the tables, and two young men took pity on me and invited me to join them. They told me there was no table service and if I wanted a drink I would have to get it at the bar. I changed into my shoes and headed over.

I asked for a glass of red wine. After conferring with her boss, the bartender said she couldn’t open a bottle(!) I asked for a glass of champagne. Another conference brought the news that they had small bottles, so I settled for that. In Buenos Aires milongas, I get a glass of champagne for 100 pesos including tip. Here, it was only slightly more than a glass for 225 pesos before the tip! Bariloche is expensive.

Anyway, I took my champagne back to the table and sat down. Before I could even pour my glass, I looked up to find a young man inviting me to dance. Most of the people there were young, and I wasn’t sure I would be asked to dance, but this young man was in charge of the music and it was nice of him to take a chance. He was a great dancer, so he showcased me and I had several lovely tandas in the hour I stayed.

All in all, I’m glad I sampled the tango in Bariloche!

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Rosario

Cecilia’s sister Adriana lives in Rosario, a city a couple of hours north of Buenos Aires. Since it was on our way home, we stopped off for an overnight visit.

This is the front door of the Cathedral.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had lunch in a restaurant owned by world famous football star Lionel Messi. He wasn’t there, of course, as he plays football in Europe. But I couldn’t resist posing with his photo to send to my nephew’s young son, who is football crazy and knows all about Messi!

But there’s no doubt that the number one landmark in Rosario is a huge monument that takes up a city block, dedicated to the national flag of Argentina, which was designed and first flown here by General Manuel Belgrano. It’s usually just referred to as The Monument.

The monument from the front.

The flags along the edge of the square have no image of the sun in the centre. These are recognized as a national symbol, but more informal. They must always be flown at a lower level than the official ceremonial flag.

View from the top of the monument, with the Rio Parana in the background

A detail on the wall of the square, showing Belgrano waving the flag for the first time.

Seen from the top of the tower, this is a beautiful view of a beautiful flag. The blue and white stripes represent the sky, or the heavens, which is said to be where the fight for independence from Spain began. The Sun of May in the centre represents the May Revolution, the high point of the war for independence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the other end from the tower is the memorial to the unknown warrior, topped by an eternal flame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were at the top of the tower, a spontaneous concert of the Argentine folk music called chamamé broke out. The charmingly surprising thing was that the musicians wouldn’t take any money, saying the music was a gift from the heart.

We tried very hard to find a milonga so that I could dance tango on vacation, but it’s really a Buenos Aires thing. This poster for a class was the nearest thing we found!

And since we went there to visit Adriana, I thought it appropriate to add this charming photo of the two sisters walking hand-in-hand along the street.

This was my second visit to Rosario. It is a delightful city, and I look forward to going again.

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Road Trip — with Aventuras!

Yesterday started a new aventura, ie a road trip with Cecilia and Venetia! This time we’re venturing into the Province of Cordoba, an 8-9 hour drive north of Buenos Aires.

All three of us went to a party on Friday night at the home of our friends Rob and Alex. Who goes to a party before an early morning departure on a road trip? Well, we do! It was a fun night and I’m glad we didn’t miss it.

We stayed overnight at Cecilia’s place so that we could get an early start on Saturday morning, and we duly left at 7 am. (Venetia isn’t really aware that there is such a time as 7 am, especially on the weekend, but we rolled her out into to car anyway.)

We took the scenic route as Cecilia was keen for us to see how beautiful Cordoba Province is — and it is. It did, however, add an hour or so to our time, and we arrived around 6 pm at our Air BnB in a lovely little town called Villa General Belgrano. Right in the midst of the mountains of Cordoba, Argentina is a little piece of Germany! Instead of trying to describe what I mean, here are some photos taken on the main street.

The two main commodities here seem to be beer and chocolate. Since I’m not a fan of beer but definitely a fan of chocolate, that’s what I’m concentrating on. But there are so many chocolate shops that we can’t decide where to buy. So we are systematically trying them all, and we’ll choose where to buy before we leave on Tuesday morning!

Today, Cecilia and her cousin Elvirita, who lives up here, took us up into the mountains to let us see some more spectacular scenery. I have some photos and I also did a sketch, but it’s pretty late now so I think I’ll wait till tomorrow to post those photos.

Definitelt loving Cordoba!

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I Can’t Believe I Did That

   My friend Venetia is back from her long vacation in Europe, so on Saturday we spent the day wandering around downtown, enjoying the spring weather. When it came time for lunch, we happened upon a lovely bodegón, the Argentine equivalent of a French bistro.

Love the sign pointing to the washroom!

When we went inside we were delighted! It was classic old Buenos Aires, down to the furniture, the way they displayed the bottles and the tiles on the floor. It also had a distinct tango vibe, with pictures of the old tango masters on the walls. When we had been there about ten minutes, and before we had begun lunch, a young guy sat down and started to play the bandoneón — that soulful, concertina-like instrument that gives tango its distinctive melancholy sound. Well, that was the icing on the cake. Venetia pronounced herself happy to be back in Buenos Aires.

Venetia took these photos and the video, so you can probably see the improvement from my usual ones!

But my feet were itching to dance tango!

Along the wall were several tables, most of which were occupied by groups of people. But the one closest to us was occupied by a man on his own. He looked to be in his sixties. I don’t know what got into me, but I gave him the classic mirada, the flirty glance that’s used in the milonga to entice a man to ask you to dance! He looked a bit startled – not surprisingly — and before I could think twice, I pointed to the small space in front of the bandoneón and said, “Queria bailar tango?” (Would you like to dance tango?)

Venetia nearly fell off her chair!

The man smiled and said he was sorry but he didn’t dance tango, but he thanked me very much for asking. I looked at Venetia and said, “I can’t believe I did that!” She said she thought it was very brave of me, but in retrospect I just thought it was a bit daft. But I’m sure the man will dine out on it for a while — I’m sitting in this bodegón minding my own business and this crazy woman asks me to dance!

Venetia’s steak was tender and juicy, but unfortunately mine was tough as old leather and I couldn’t eat it. I didn’t complain, but just told the waitress it was very tough. When the bill came there was no charge for mine. That’s good customer service, so I would go back.

But I won’t ask any more strange men to dance!

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A “Striking” End to our Trip!

This is the last word on the trip to Uruguay.

I took a taxi home from the boat, late on Wednesday evening. When I was walking across the road to my apartment, my suitcase got caught on the curb and fell, taking me with it. Because I didn’t have time to take my hands off the case, I couldn’t use them to break my fall, and I ended up hitting my face full force on the road!

I was too tired to do anything about it that night — although I should have at least bandaged it better, as I had blood stains on the pillow case in the morning! But next morning early, I went to Emerg and had it checked out. They x-rayed the orbital area, and all is well. My eyes and teeth are fine, so it was really just the one deep cut on my cheekbone. But the bruising is spectacular! I was going to post a selfie for you to see it, but it might frighten young children so I won’t. Use your imagination!

But I didn’t let it hold me back. I went to the hospital very early so as to be back in time for a Skype call with my Butt Kickers at 9.30 am, and I was. Then I went out to a museum and lunch event with a group I belong to, and finally I went for my tango lesson at 7 pm. I told my teacher I might not be able to do the whole hour, but of course once I got going I forgot about the face and did the hour and more. I feel sorry for everyone having to look at my face in this state, but the doctor said it should fade in about a week — after turning a variety of beautiful shades from purple to yellow to green!

Anyway, that’s it for Uruguay. It was an interesting experience.

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Practica in Punta

The night before we left became the highlight of our visit, at least for me. Thanks to our Buenos Aires friend Montserrat, who did the housesit the week before we did, we were introduced to a lovely lady called Alicia, who in turn introduced us to her tango community. As it turned out, a group of them have a weekly practica, which is, as you can probably guess, a kind of practice session. It’s actually very similar to a milonga, but less formal. They invited us, and Alicia was kind enough to pick us up and bring us home.

The practica took place in the home of one of the group members, a great tango dancer nicknamed Cabeza, and the space was excellent. I think there were about twenty people there. They all know each other and are super friendly. Everyone danced with everyone else, which was lovely. We took wine and nibbles and that was part of the social aspect of it.

As Venetia doesn’t dance tango, she assumed the role of videographer. The photo at the beginning of the video is, left to right, Alicia, me, a wonderful dancer called Pablo, and his wife, Evelyn, who is also an amazing tango dancer. As you can tell, the lighting was quite dim, but Venetia did a great job to just give an idea of what it was like. I loved it so much I’m thinking about how I might do something similar in my apartment. Stay tuned!

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At Felix Caffe

Just up the road from us there is a lovely, chic little place called Felix Caffe. Of course I noticed it right away and decided we would have to go while we were here. One night we set out to have dinner there, only to find it was closed. As I said before, the season is actually over, but most places open again for this week. It is Holy Week, but they don’t call it that here, as there is official separation of church and state, and they call it Tourist Week!

Anyway, we stopped by yesterday morning and confirmed they were open for dinner, so we went there last night. We were not disappointed. We each had a different type of lasagna, which was delicious, and some Argentine wine — much better than Uruguayan.

We liked it so much we went again this morning, Venetia for some coffee and me for yummy hot chocolate. It’s a lovely little place with a French vibe.

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Museum and Port

Given that the season is really over here, we have been lucky with the weather. Out of the week we’ve been here, we only had one rotten day (the day after we arrived) and one with a sunny morning and then very cold in the afternoon, so we can’t complain.

On Monday, a friend of a friend of Venetia, Alfredo, picked us up and took us into La Barra to see the Museum of the Ocean. We had seen it mentioned online, but it turned out it was owned by Alfredo’s brother, Pablo. It’s a fascinating place, created and maintained by Pablo himself, obviously a labour of love. It has animals, birds, shells, pictures of Punta in the past, a room about pirates, and even an old fashioned bathing machine! Here are a few photos, including a visitors’ book just for children — I loved that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Port

After having lunch and taking care of the dogs, we set off again and headed for the port. There we saw a bunch of sealions who were hilarious, and a fine selection of fresh fish for sale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Great Beef at 481

Last night we were going to have dinner at a place called Felix (if you know me, you know why that’s significant) but it was closed. Holy Week is not called Semana Santa in Uruguay as there is complete separation of church and state. It is, however, the last hurrah for tourist season in Punta, so it’s called Tourist Week! Some places have been closed, but reopen for Tourist Week, including Felix. So it was closed last night, but we hope to go there tonight.

In the meantime, last night we still had to eat. We decided to go back to a great parilla we found just after we arrived, called 481. It’s open year round, so obviously popular among locals as well as visitors. We had exactly the same meal as before — brochette of lomo, which is beef tenderloin, accompanied by a delicious capresse salad.

We were open to trying the Uruguayan wine called Tanat, but after we tasted it we switched back to Malbec!