In and around Bariloche

To all my faithful readers, accept my apologies for completely neglecting this blog over the last couple of weeks. Between the arrival of my very dear friend, Joanna, and the call of the mountains, it was hard to justify spending any time in front of a computer. But now I begin...

I'm so glad I chose to go back to Bariloche for the final part of my journey. Not only is the backcountry around Bariloche spectacular, but I found a really nice place to live. I rented a room from Marta in her home. Also, I met many people who were sticking around Bariloche for the full ski season, adding a nice stabalizing factor to my friendships. One of the most difficult parts of traveling is meeting really amazing people and then having to part ways a couple days later.

In mid-July Joanna showed up. Joanna and I met at summer camp when we were in 7th grade and have remained close friends ever since. As she went to university on the East coast, I hadn't seen her in two years. It was so great to reconnect and share many wonderful, days, adventures and outings with her.

Below is a pictoral glimpse of my life in Bariloche...

Me waving good bye to Bariloche. Joanna and I hiked up Cerro Otto one last time before getting on the bus to leave.

Me just after sitting down on the bus. Although I was still smiling, it was a hard good-bye.

"Happy Travels" from the City of Bariloche

Out at South Bar on the night before I left with some friends

The road leaving town. Joanna and I had nice front row seats on the bus.

The moon watching over Bariloche

Pierre, who was also living at Marta's house, and Joanna enjoying a good bottle of wine with dinner. The view of Bariloche from Cerro Otto
Me with Marta's grand-daughter, Agustina
The view out my bedroom window on a snowy day
Me and Mike, who also rented a room for a time from Marta, enjoying a bottle of wine with dinner (on a different night than the one above... the wine here is really amazing and really inexpensive!)
Sunset over Bariloche

Julian and Andrea, who we met at Refugio Neumeyer, invited Joanna, Stephen, Melanie and I over for an asado. It was delicious!
Me and Andrea
Sitting down to enjoy the asado
Joanna and I went for one night to El Bolson, a nearby hippie town. We stayed in an adorable, hand-built log cabin. Unfortanetly (for Joanna), they didn't take tall Americans into account when they built it.
The view from El Bolson
Joanna and I sitting down to our favorite lunch: avacados on toast and bananas and peanut butter. We went through the jar of peanut butter that Joanna brought down in a little more than a week.
Joanna and I in my favorite cafe, Cafe Antigua. I didn't even have to order there after a while. The waitresses would just look at me and ask, "cafe con leche?"
Joanna
We went for afternoon tea at a really nice hotel called Llao Llao. Talk about luxury and delicious sweets.
Mount Tronador. This is my favorite mountain in all of Argentina. It's absolutely spectacular no matter what angle you view it from.