Day Five and Six in Bariloche - SKI

FINALLY!!!! What we came for, some sweet powder in Patagonia!!!! 5 1/2 feet in two days at Cerro Catradel, visibility was not great but we did snap a few photos.

A snowy mountain a beautiful backdrop to the lake
Heading up to Cerro Catedral for some skiing

A hotel barely visible through the snow and clouds

Michael pointing out some sketchy path through the rocks for me to follow (and yes I followed)

Michael found some sweet powder, even though there is a bit of shrubbery still around (which was dry just three days ago)

view on the way down from the ski area, amazing!!

Lake Nahuel Huapi from Cerro Catradel (ski area)

Susan headed down the mountain (Michael hasn't gotten the hang of the camera yet)

Just a sweet puppy at the base.

Day Four in Bariloche - A day of transition

Preparation of the Curanto

Shop in Colonia Suiza

Dinner is ready (uncovering the Curanto)

A little music to enjoy while we ate the Curanto

Cerveceria Berlina (brew pub)

Our little hot rod (Chevrolet Corsa)

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It was 6am when we were awoken by thunder and lighting and crazy wind. Both of us say, "well how can you ski in THAT $#!&" Later that morning I find Michael fully dressed and ready for the day back in bed and looking depressed. I told him he couldn't spend the day in bed depressed, we were going out. At breakfast at the hotel we learned that the ski area had closed for high winds, however we also heard that it was indeed snowing on the mountain, a small bright spot in the morning news.

So we headed to Colonia Suiza, a small village where they hold a Curanto, a meal cooked over hot rocks warmed by a pit fire. We arrived just in time to see the preparations. Over the rocks they placed leaves, laid out the food (chicken, beef, sausages, lamb, potato, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, squash, apples), they laid more leaves, covered it with burlap, and dirt. It was to cook for approximately 1 1/2 hours. During the wait we headed to the main street of the town. On our way we found a small shop to taste wine at, the proprietor took us on a small tour on how her family made one type of wine, made with Sherry and spices. We then headed to a chocolate shop, and then several shops that had hand made wares from the region. Once back at the Curanto we watched as the food was uncovered, they explained the folklore around this type of cooking (which we could not understand) and played music. We all headed into the dining area and were treated to regional Malbec wine, and a ton of amazing food, as well as regional music. It was pouring out and started to snow. Our spirits were raised.

On our way home we stopped in to the third and last brewery in Bariloche, a very cute and interesting building. We then went back up into downtown via the local bus system to do a little more shopping. All of the stores are open late, and the town was busy, everyone getting excited about snow.

A last important note to make, as the promise for snow increased we made the decision to stay in Bariloche and not go to Buenas Aires as we had originally planned. Two ski days ahead of us.

Day Three in Bariloche

Outside Blest Brew Pub

River on the drive to Cerro Bayo

View from Cerro Bayo (Chile to the right of us)

Inside Blest, patrons have left hundreds of messages from around the world.

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Well, we finally did what we came to Argentina to do. We drove 80 KM to a small resort called Cerro Bayo. The snow was lacking, well, not existent at the base. We uploaded midway where we got to finally put our skis on! We spent the next several hours making turns in the, what has become the theme of the trip, wind and rain. Although the conditions were not ideal, we were still able to find some good snow, terrain and views! We stopped for lunch and a beer at El Cucharon where the proprietor happened to be from Vail. After another couple of runs, we headed back down and drove into the small town of Angostura. Nice, quaint, little town. Once we got back, we headed back into town to have dinner and beers at Antres, an Argentina brewery.

Day Two in Bariloche

Our ship the Cao Cao

Waiting on the Cao Cao

Isla Victoria

This forest is the only one of it's kind in the world (Isla Arrayanas)

This was another funky tree, we also have seen them around town and on the ski hill

A look off the ship on the way from Isla Victoria to Isla Arrayanas

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Day two started out very rainy and very windy. We rented a car and then headed out to take a boat excursion on Lake Nahuel Huapi. Our boat, the Cao Cao ( http://www.islavictoriayarrayanes.com ) was some sort of cata boat and was incredibly stable. It was still rainy and windy. Once we got out on the water, and some safety information, they gave us some history of the lake (which was in spanish so we could not understand them) and then they let us go outside. They were allowing the passengers to feed the birds crackers which created a bit of excitement on the deck. We reached our first destination Victoria Island. We then took an hour hike around the island and checked out the interesting trees they had (many had been imported from other countries, including the Sequoia from the US). We got back on the boat and headed to the National Park Bosque de Arrayanes, which was another hike. The views were amazing, the forests very interesting, the sun even came out for us for a brief period. When we docked we went to the Llao Llao hotel, a large elegant hotel. We stopped back by Blest (brew pub) and then back to the hotel. We headed downtown for dinner. We had dinner at Don Molinas steak house. We had patagonia lamb and Lomo (a filet of beef). The lamb was very good and so was the Lomo (although a little over cooked, as we have been told Patagonians eat there meat well, and we had ordered medium rare). We also had more Alamos Argentinian Malbec wine from the region. We topped the night off at Wilkeny's, an Irish pub in downtown Bariloche.

We have learned more spanish and are feeling more comfortable about getting around the area. It is a beautiful place.

Day One in Bariloche

Day one in Bariloche was certainly different than we both expected. After a breakfast of coffee, ham, cheese and scrambled eggs, we got a remise (private taxi) to Cerro Catedral. The weather was rainy and blustery. On the way to the mountain, we were hoping it was snowing on the mountain. Upon arriving at the base of the ski area, we were a little taken back. Literally no snow at the base. We were in the process of purchasing lift tickets when some helpful advise came our way. It was suggested we don't waste our money on lift tickets. The top of the mountain was closed due to high winds and people were down loading on the lift because they can not ski down. So we did what any good skier would do, we sat on the deck of a restaurant and had a beer. We got lunch - Milanesa con jamon y queso completa - Breaded beef w/ ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce. Really quite good! After a great day on the mountain we headed into Bariloche town center. We walked around, had a few beers and ate at a nice fondue place. Cheese fondue with ham, sausage, bread and potatoes which was washed down with a bottle of Argentina Alamos Melbec wine. Quite a ski day without much skiing! Hopefully the weather will change over the next several days!

Made it to Argentina

View from our hotel room deck, we are right on the lake, mountains behind us.

In Buenas Aires we took a walk along the coast, there were guys fishing everywhere.

Downtown Buenas Aires from our Remise (taxi) changing from the international airport to the regional airport.

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It was a long 24 hrs to Bariloche, but we made it!!! Not too many travel mishaps, our flight was late out of Alb so we had to run to make our flight in Dallas, and we had a long layover in Buenas Aires. After settling in to the Nido de Condor (our hotel) and sipping on some welcome cocktails they brought us, we headed down to Blest, a brew pub here in Bariloche. http://www.welcomeargentina.com/bariloche/craft-brewed-beer.html We figured out quickly that the small number of travel phrases we learned is not enough to get us around. So we have already had some great laughs over communication failures. We heard it snowed early in the week and we woke up to rain today, we are headed to the mountain and are trying to stay optimistic for skiing.