Trip Report - Days 7 and 8 - Bariloche
Dec 25th, 2008, 06:08 PM
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Trip Report - Days 7 and 8 - Bariloche
Wed 12/24 – Thurs 12/25
This morning we slept in until we woke up naturally, which was lovely, followed by room service breakfast which we ate while gazing out our window at the most perfect view. We decided to spend the afternoon taking a drive north to the smaller town of Villa La Angostura. The drive is about 100 km each way but takes about an hour and a half each way depending on how crazy you drive and how willing you are to pass slow drivers when there’s a double yellow line (which my husband got more and more willing to do and I learned to just close my eyes and pray). The drive is really pretty, although the scenery was not much different from what we saw the day before, but still beautiful of course. Villa La Angostura is a much smaller more quaint town than Bariloche, where everything is built in the same architectural style out of logs, not sure what to call it exactly – it kind of reminded me of Aspen as I was seeing stores with Columbia gear and Merrills. We really wanted to eat at a spot that our guidebook recommended with great pizza and interesting empanadas and were very disappointed to find it closed! We sat outside at an enoteca and had some terrible wine (don’t know what it was) and a gigantic cheese platter which could’ve fed 5 people as opposed to the 2 that they said it was for. We feed half of it to the cute stray golden retriever that wouldn’t leave us alone. At that point we didn’t have much time to walk around because we had to get for tea, but the town is very small so we walked quickly up and down the street, stopping in one of the MANY chocolate stores to buy some chocolates that we couldn’t resist.
We got back, quickly changed in the hotel, and went on to the Llao Llao for tea. The security is intense there, as I had been warned, but eventually they figured out we really did have a reservation (don’t go without one) and let us in. The Llao Llao was such a change of pace from our hotel, and it really made us feel good about our choice. Maybe it’s just because it’s Christmas time, but the lobby was super crowded and chaotic, with lots of screaming children, and some weird Christmas balloon releasing thing going on (sorry maybe this is a religious tradition I don’t know about, us being Jewish and all.) We did enjoy tea, and listening to the Carolers while looking out at the beautiful view. Tea was mostly sweet stuff, with a few savory sandwiches, lots of tea choices, juice, etc. I recommend the apple strudel quite highly! We walked around a little, and it was so windy because the hotel is so high up it’s hard to imagine sitting at the pool or playing golf, although my husband still might want to do the latter there tomorrow. We actually ran into a couple we had met at Cavas, and friends of my mother’s from home, a small world.
We came back to the hotel to have a relaxing evening just hanging out in our room….I’m sort of missing the Jewish Christmas of Chinese food and a movie, but we ended up ordering room service later (you always get hungry again even when you think you won’t, or maybe I’ just expanded my stomach a lot here). We had a “dry” pasta as they refer to it here when there’s no sauce, with tomatoes, arugula, and olives which was quite tasy, and a chicken sandwich which was a little dry, with really good fries. All of a sudden I noticed a few gnats/mosquitoes (not sure which) flying around, and then I looked over at the wall near the window we had open and the lamp we had on and there were hundreds of bugs on the wall!!! I am NOT exaggerating!!! We’d had the window open for days with no problem, but I guess at dusk time and with the lamp open they were all attracted inside and I completely freaked out. Luckily my husband kept calm and managed to kill most of them by flinging his towel at them or smushing them with the towel. For a minute there I thought we were going to have to move rooms. Crazy!! Luckily the room has good A/C so we could close the window for the night and use that!
The next day was a lazy day for us, as I had promised my husband it would be. We woke up late, made it to breakfast just before it closed, and then put on bathing suits and went to sit by the pool. I couldn’t figure out at first where to sit – my sunburn hurt too much to sit in the sun, but it was too cool to sit in the shade closer to the lake, so finally I realized there was an umbrella stand and I asked them to bring an umbrella out for me which worked perfectly ( except that everyone nearby then tried to horn in on my shade). It was a perfect day of reading, swimming, eating, and napping, all with beautiful views. For lunch we had yummy “empanaditas” – finally satisfying my empanada craving, and sandwiches with avocado, mustard, and mushrooms – also really good. Then we actually went to the gym for the first time on this trip!! I don’t think it’ll put a dent in all this food (seriously, my clothes don’t fit), but once I dragged myself there it felt really good to work out, so maybe we’ll continue this trend at the Four Seasons in BA, we’ll see. Now it was my husband’s turn to be stupid and not wear enough sunscreen at the pool. Maybe he just felt bad for me, so now we both look like tomatoes (aka stupid Americans).
For dinner we decided on El Patacon – the guidebook mentioned Bill Clinton had dined there, so I figured if it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for us. It was a great choice. Our appetizers of venison carpaccio and grilled provolone cheese were good, not fantastic, but the entrees were great. I had trout in a leek cream sauce with creamy Arborio rice. I hardly ever get cream sauces but this one was great and so was the fish, although I really think it was salmon, not trout (it was pink, and tasted like salmon), but I love salmon so that was fine by me. My husband had a great barbecue lamb. We were too full for desert, so went back to the hotel to sadly, pack up our stuff again to leave - but now onto Buenos Aires finally!!
This morning we slept in until we woke up naturally, which was lovely, followed by room service breakfast which we ate while gazing out our window at the most perfect view. We decided to spend the afternoon taking a drive north to the smaller town of Villa La Angostura. The drive is about 100 km each way but takes about an hour and a half each way depending on how crazy you drive and how willing you are to pass slow drivers when there’s a double yellow line (which my husband got more and more willing to do and I learned to just close my eyes and pray). The drive is really pretty, although the scenery was not much different from what we saw the day before, but still beautiful of course. Villa La Angostura is a much smaller more quaint town than Bariloche, where everything is built in the same architectural style out of logs, not sure what to call it exactly – it kind of reminded me of Aspen as I was seeing stores with Columbia gear and Merrills. We really wanted to eat at a spot that our guidebook recommended with great pizza and interesting empanadas and were very disappointed to find it closed! We sat outside at an enoteca and had some terrible wine (don’t know what it was) and a gigantic cheese platter which could’ve fed 5 people as opposed to the 2 that they said it was for. We feed half of it to the cute stray golden retriever that wouldn’t leave us alone. At that point we didn’t have much time to walk around because we had to get for tea, but the town is very small so we walked quickly up and down the street, stopping in one of the MANY chocolate stores to buy some chocolates that we couldn’t resist.
We got back, quickly changed in the hotel, and went on to the Llao Llao for tea. The security is intense there, as I had been warned, but eventually they figured out we really did have a reservation (don’t go without one) and let us in. The Llao Llao was such a change of pace from our hotel, and it really made us feel good about our choice. Maybe it’s just because it’s Christmas time, but the lobby was super crowded and chaotic, with lots of screaming children, and some weird Christmas balloon releasing thing going on (sorry maybe this is a religious tradition I don’t know about, us being Jewish and all.) We did enjoy tea, and listening to the Carolers while looking out at the beautiful view. Tea was mostly sweet stuff, with a few savory sandwiches, lots of tea choices, juice, etc. I recommend the apple strudel quite highly! We walked around a little, and it was so windy because the hotel is so high up it’s hard to imagine sitting at the pool or playing golf, although my husband still might want to do the latter there tomorrow. We actually ran into a couple we had met at Cavas, and friends of my mother’s from home, a small world.
We came back to the hotel to have a relaxing evening just hanging out in our room….I’m sort of missing the Jewish Christmas of Chinese food and a movie, but we ended up ordering room service later (you always get hungry again even when you think you won’t, or maybe I’ just expanded my stomach a lot here). We had a “dry” pasta as they refer to it here when there’s no sauce, with tomatoes, arugula, and olives which was quite tasy, and a chicken sandwich which was a little dry, with really good fries. All of a sudden I noticed a few gnats/mosquitoes (not sure which) flying around, and then I looked over at the wall near the window we had open and the lamp we had on and there were hundreds of bugs on the wall!!! I am NOT exaggerating!!! We’d had the window open for days with no problem, but I guess at dusk time and with the lamp open they were all attracted inside and I completely freaked out. Luckily my husband kept calm and managed to kill most of them by flinging his towel at them or smushing them with the towel. For a minute there I thought we were going to have to move rooms. Crazy!! Luckily the room has good A/C so we could close the window for the night and use that!
The next day was a lazy day for us, as I had promised my husband it would be. We woke up late, made it to breakfast just before it closed, and then put on bathing suits and went to sit by the pool. I couldn’t figure out at first where to sit – my sunburn hurt too much to sit in the sun, but it was too cool to sit in the shade closer to the lake, so finally I realized there was an umbrella stand and I asked them to bring an umbrella out for me which worked perfectly ( except that everyone nearby then tried to horn in on my shade). It was a perfect day of reading, swimming, eating, and napping, all with beautiful views. For lunch we had yummy “empanaditas” – finally satisfying my empanada craving, and sandwiches with avocado, mustard, and mushrooms – also really good. Then we actually went to the gym for the first time on this trip!! I don’t think it’ll put a dent in all this food (seriously, my clothes don’t fit), but once I dragged myself there it felt really good to work out, so maybe we’ll continue this trend at the Four Seasons in BA, we’ll see. Now it was my husband’s turn to be stupid and not wear enough sunscreen at the pool. Maybe he just felt bad for me, so now we both look like tomatoes (aka stupid Americans).
For dinner we decided on El Patacon – the guidebook mentioned Bill Clinton had dined there, so I figured if it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for us. It was a great choice. Our appetizers of venison carpaccio and grilled provolone cheese were good, not fantastic, but the entrees were great. I had trout in a leek cream sauce with creamy Arborio rice. I hardly ever get cream sauces but this one was great and so was the fish, although I really think it was salmon, not trout (it was pink, and tasted like salmon), but I love salmon so that was fine by me. My husband had a great barbecue lamb. We were too full for desert, so went back to the hotel to sadly, pack up our stuff again to leave - but now onto Buenos Aires finally!!
Dec 26th, 2008, 04:00 PM
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Hi Sharbear 84, I have enjoyed a lot your trip report. We know most of the places you have stayed and some you have taken tea/lunch/dinner. Great choices, I must say you planned very well. One thing, just for the record, the Casco is not a new hotel, it was a fantastic place years ago , I believe the owner was some kind of Countess or similar from Austria. We had the good fortune of staying there it was indeed an enchanted place with excellent food and care to detail. Later because of the crazy up and downs of Argentina it was closed for a long time. Now I know thanks to you that it is opened again, probably totally redone.
I agree that the Llao Llao Hotel is most likely overpriced to stay there unless you love golf. We usually go there for those great lunches on the front closed porch facing the lake.I am guessing that tea might be served there too. Great food.
I can imagine that when you visited with your husband during the holidays it might have been too crowded....I do not think it is any Christmas tradition, it was just unpleasant for you or for any one , I bet...
I am glad you enjoyed Cavas WIne Lodge which is so special. I loved it two.
Again congratulations for your good planning. Where are you staying in Bs As? Good luck.
I agree that the Llao Llao Hotel is most likely overpriced to stay there unless you love golf. We usually go there for those great lunches on the front closed porch facing the lake.I am guessing that tea might be served there too. Great food.
I can imagine that when you visited with your husband during the holidays it might have been too crowded....I do not think it is any Christmas tradition, it was just unpleasant for you or for any one , I bet...
I am glad you enjoyed Cavas WIne Lodge which is so special. I loved it two.
Again congratulations for your good planning. Where are you staying in Bs As? Good luck.
Dec 27th, 2008, 03:10 AM
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This is so good.. we have friends with a new home in Bariloche and we are SO ready to go visit !
<i>(I felt the same way about Christmas this year
Wondering why I was craving Chinese food lol)</i>
<i>(I felt the same way about Christmas this year
Wondering why I was craving Chinese food lol)</i>
Dec 27th, 2008, 08:03 AM
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Thanks for the encouragement everyone!
Graziella - I had no idea the El Casco was "older" - thanks for the history! And thanks for the comments on my planning, I think in another life I would be a travel agent. We are staying at the Four Seasons in BA right now and it is wonderful. I will post more on that soon!
Scarlett - you should definitely go to Bariloche, I would go back in a second if I lived here, instead of, sadly, three long plane rides away! (And surely you could find some chinese food in BA? maybe?
Graziella - I had no idea the El Casco was "older" - thanks for the history! And thanks for the comments on my planning, I think in another life I would be a travel agent. We are staying at the Four Seasons in BA right now and it is wonderful. I will post more on that soon!
Scarlett - you should definitely go to Bariloche, I would go back in a second if I lived here, instead of, sadly, three long plane rides away! (And surely you could find some chinese food in BA? maybe?
Dec 27th, 2008, 09:25 AM
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Hi sharbear again great choice , Four Seasons Hotels have a great asset, that is service. The most professional yet friendly and personalized service in any group of hotels and know of...
In spite of our different age groups we share the same
preferences, .....this is wonderful to me it makes me feel happy...
Continue to have a great time, a lovely honeymoon , take care and remember all the good security advice given in Fodors...
In spite of our different age groups we share the same
preferences, .....this is wonderful to me it makes me feel happy...
Continue to have a great time, a lovely honeymoon , take care and remember all the good security advice given in Fodors...
Dec 27th, 2008, 11:37 AM
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Scarlett - so sad about the Chinese food...I suppose the difference being in America they are actually run by Chinese who don't celebrate Christmas...
Graziella - we do seem to have the same tastes! I only regret that I can't always afford my tastes..I think my husband and I are being spoiled by this trip, not sure how we'll be able to stay in "regular" hotels again!
Graziella - we do seem to have the same tastes! I only regret that I can't always afford my tastes..I think my husband and I are being spoiled by this trip, not sure how we'll be able to stay in "regular" hotels again!
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