Steve and I spent the last 4 days doing what we do best: EATING. The week we spent in Buenos Aires was great because all we did was just walk around the city, enjoy the different sites, did more shopping, and eat great meals. We spent time in the following neighborhoods:
La Boca
We went to the Boca Junior vs. Arsenal soccer game. Wow, what an event! This was the first international soccer game for me and Steve. We've seen plenty of games on TV but to be in the midst of all the action was definitely a great experience! We loved all the chants and songs the crowd would sing during the game. I wish I knew all the words to the songs because I would have loved to sing along. I was also amazed by how many different songs/chants there were. We probably heard 7 different songs for different moments in the game: a song to get things started, a song for offense, a song for defense, a song for corner kicks, a song for scoring, a song for just the heck of it, a song for the final 10 minutes, etc. It was a lot of fun and we loved seeing the passionate fans really stand behind their team!
We were also glad that we made it out of the game in one piece. Since the Argentines are so passionate about their soccer, we were told that the games can get very hostile and intense. We were advised to take an escort to the game so that we will be out of harm's way. Escorts cost around $100 per game. Fortunately, our hotel arranged for us to go with a group or travelers like us and everything turned out great.
San Telmo
We spent a day in San Telmo which is the Tango District and the Antiques District. I'm awful at designing rooms so I typically have little interest in looking for unique decorative items. However, when we were walking through the different shops, it gave me ideas and inspired me to put together neat things when I have a home of my own. After walking through the shops, we grabbed ice cream and beer at Plaza Dorrego. This Plaza is in the center of San Telmo and it is basically a big outdoor cafe where you can sit and enjoy the tango performances at the center of the Plaza. I love watching Dancing With the Stars so this was like watching a live performance! Too bad I'm a horrible dancer.
Puerto Madero
We stayed in Puerto Madero because it is central to all the neighborhoods. This is the area where all the boats and ferries dock. There is also a lot of shopping in this area. Before Steve and I arrived in Argentina, he told me he wanted to find a leather jacket and a leather overnight bag because Argentina is known for their leather. There are so many leather shops in Puerto Madero and each shop aggressively wants to earn your business. You can bring in a design that you want to have made for you or you can shop from the many choices that they offer in the store. Since there are so many shops, you have the opportunity to price hunt and negotiate a good deal too. Steve ended up going with 2 different jackets and a new overnight bag. He was a happy camper!
Back to Palermo Soho
We spent a few nights drinking in Palermo Soho. This is the area that reminds me of NYC Soho with all their boutiques but the nightlife in Palermo Soho reminds me so much of Chicago. You have many outdoor patios with lots of people having drinks so it's a great place to wrap up your day. It's so funny how much energy you have on vacation. People know I'm not a night owl so one night Steve and I were having drinks and talking on this rooftop bar in Palermo. I asked him what time it was and he said it was 3:30am. Surprisingly, I managed to adjust to Argentina time very well. We typically would go out to eat at 11:30 pm and finish up around 1:00 am.
El Tigre
We took a boat trip out to this vacation area where the Argentines have weekend/summer homes. All these homes were located on mini islands where cars are not allowed. People have to get around in boats. We were advised by several people that this was a great tour and El Tigre was comprable to Venice, Italy. This place was okay. It was neat to see some of the homes but this was nowhere near Venice. When you describe something to be like Venice, that is raising the bar REALLY high. The only thing similar to Venice was the water and the fact that cars were not allowed. Anyways, Steve and I joked that this was comprable to the Swamp Tour in New Orleans (and the Swamp Tour was actually really cool, El Tigre was not as cool).
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was spent at our favorite restaurant La Estancia. We had to eat our share of meat once again. Seriously, the food was my favorite part of Buenos Aires. Here's a tip though...we had heard that you could get by on $15/meal in BA. Okay, that is true but you might not be getting the best that BA offers. We tried a couple of these $15 meals for lunch and they were so-so. You definitely have to a pay more to get the higher quality meals. The meats are amazing. Seriously, the best meat we have ever had. We were eating Morton's caliber steaks every night. Since BA is more affordable than the US, your "Morton's" meals would end up being $75 for 2 people instead of paying $150 in the US. These meals would include a bottle of wine too.
Steve and I loved exploring Argentina and we definitely plan to come back. Aside from all the great hiking, food, culture and shopping that we experienced, I really enjoyed being able to speak Spanish. In the beginning I was very rusty but by the middle of the trip, I started to pick it up again. It made me feel great to be able to have a conversation and understand everything that was going on. Steve really impressed me with his Spanish too. He has taken a few Rosetta Stone courses and he was able to pick up on the gist of most of our conversations. He is also a good student because anytime I would teach him a phrase or a word, he always knew how to use those phrases/words at a future time in the correct way. Nice work Steve! Now time to learn some Korean!
We arrived in the US yesterday morning. Yesterday was our first day not eating any type of red meat or having any ice cream in 2 weeks. Steve looks up at me at 11 PM and says, "I'm hungry." I replied, "Really? We just had salmon and pasta." He responded with, "I really want a steak." I felt the same. We are having major withdrawl. Anyone up for Fogo de Chao?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Repeat Twice Daily: Steak, Wine, Ice Cream
We have spent the last 3 days in Buenos Aires and enjoyed every minute of it. So many people have asked me how I decided on coming to Argentina. In early 2009, my friend Jaclyn took a trip to Argentina and raved about it. I always trust Jaclyn´s traveling advice because she has been everywhere and she also knows me well enough to understand what type of cities and places I would like. So Jaclyn planted the seed, then Keith took a trip here in late 2009 and told me it was one of the best places he´s been to (just like Jaclyn, Keith has traveled a lot too). Thanks guys for painting a great picture of Argentina --- you both were totally right!
Steve and I love the energy behind this city. We love the hustle/bustle of any large city but Buenos Aires isn´t just a big city. It´s a big city with a charming Eurpoean/NYC/Chicago/DC twist plus more! It´s a city that everyone can fall in love with because it offers something unique for anybody.
Buenos Aires is known as the Paris of South America. When you walk down the streets of Recoleta, you will find buildings and architecture that remind you of the streets of Paris. Then you walk through the outerparts of Recoleta and you will see tree lined streets of high rises and brownstones that remind you of the Upper East side of NYC. After going through this neighborhood, you can walk into Plaza Serrano - an area with lots of outdoor bars and cafes. This reminded me so much of the summers in Chicago!
Then you can walk to the Palmero Soho neighborhood and find blocks and blocks of boutiques. There are hundreds of boutiques - imagine Soho in NYC but 10 times bigger and this is Palmero Soho. I could definitely see myself living in this neighborhood. It´s picture perfect: tree lined streets, boutiques with character, lots of cafes, great people watching. With all the great shopping on this street, even Steve was inspired to shop! Steve hardly goes shopping back home. I´m the shopper so typically I buy things he might like and bring it home. Then he can decide if he likes it or not. When we were in Palermo Soho, he was jumping into stores and excited about shopping. It was great! Good thing we wear the same size, I´ll just borrow whatever he bought :)
Aside from walking around the city, shopping, and checking out different parks and national monuments, Steve and I have been eating. EATING A LOT. EVERYDAY. I don´t need to get into much detail about the food because it´s straightforward. We eat steaks. We drink wine. We have ice cream. We repeat this routine 2x a day. Seriously, the steaks here are that good and it is basically the "national" food. There are 10 parrillas on EVERY block so it's hard to resist. Each morning we wake up and we say, "Hmmm, maybe we should give our bodies a break and try some fish today." Then we get to the restaurant and we order a Filet or Rib Eye.
Another thing we do everyday is drink. Steve and I are not big drinkers back home but we have been drinking everyday since we got here. I love the wine here. I'm not even drinking anything fancy but it's sooo good. My Chicago friends would be proud.
After our steak and wine dinner, we walk over to an ice cream parlor. Again, ice cream parlors EVERYWHERE. I usually go with the 1/4 kilo of ice cream which is a mini bucket of any flavor you want. I typically go with dulce de leche and a lemon sherbert. So delicious. Sometimes I feel like a dog when I'm eating ice cream because it's gone in 2 minutes as if I slurped it down in one gulp. By the time I´m done, Steve is only scratching the surface.
In between our meals, I stop into the many bakeries located everywhere. This has been my M.O. since I studied in Spain in 1998 --- Buy a baguette and eat it while I´m walking around doing my sight seeing. I can do this everyday for the rest of my life. On that note, we need to grab breakfast and head out for our day trip to Tigre. We'll write more soon!
Steve and I love the energy behind this city. We love the hustle/bustle of any large city but Buenos Aires isn´t just a big city. It´s a big city with a charming Eurpoean/NYC/Chicago/DC twist plus more! It´s a city that everyone can fall in love with because it offers something unique for anybody.
Buenos Aires is known as the Paris of South America. When you walk down the streets of Recoleta, you will find buildings and architecture that remind you of the streets of Paris. Then you walk through the outerparts of Recoleta and you will see tree lined streets of high rises and brownstones that remind you of the Upper East side of NYC. After going through this neighborhood, you can walk into Plaza Serrano - an area with lots of outdoor bars and cafes. This reminded me so much of the summers in Chicago!
Then you can walk to the Palmero Soho neighborhood and find blocks and blocks of boutiques. There are hundreds of boutiques - imagine Soho in NYC but 10 times bigger and this is Palmero Soho. I could definitely see myself living in this neighborhood. It´s picture perfect: tree lined streets, boutiques with character, lots of cafes, great people watching. With all the great shopping on this street, even Steve was inspired to shop! Steve hardly goes shopping back home. I´m the shopper so typically I buy things he might like and bring it home. Then he can decide if he likes it or not. When we were in Palermo Soho, he was jumping into stores and excited about shopping. It was great! Good thing we wear the same size, I´ll just borrow whatever he bought :)
Aside from walking around the city, shopping, and checking out different parks and national monuments, Steve and I have been eating. EATING A LOT. EVERYDAY. I don´t need to get into much detail about the food because it´s straightforward. We eat steaks. We drink wine. We have ice cream. We repeat this routine 2x a day. Seriously, the steaks here are that good and it is basically the "national" food. There are 10 parrillas on EVERY block so it's hard to resist. Each morning we wake up and we say, "Hmmm, maybe we should give our bodies a break and try some fish today." Then we get to the restaurant and we order a Filet or Rib Eye.
Another thing we do everyday is drink. Steve and I are not big drinkers back home but we have been drinking everyday since we got here. I love the wine here. I'm not even drinking anything fancy but it's sooo good. My Chicago friends would be proud.
After our steak and wine dinner, we walk over to an ice cream parlor. Again, ice cream parlors EVERYWHERE. I usually go with the 1/4 kilo of ice cream which is a mini bucket of any flavor you want. I typically go with dulce de leche and a lemon sherbert. So delicious. Sometimes I feel like a dog when I'm eating ice cream because it's gone in 2 minutes as if I slurped it down in one gulp. By the time I´m done, Steve is only scratching the surface.
In between our meals, I stop into the many bakeries located everywhere. This has been my M.O. since I studied in Spain in 1998 --- Buy a baguette and eat it while I´m walking around doing my sight seeing. I can do this everyday for the rest of my life. On that note, we need to grab breakfast and head out for our day trip to Tigre. We'll write more soon!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Gracias y Adios Bariloche!
Thank you Bariloche! We couldn´t have asked for a better place to start our Argentina adventure. When we first planned this trip, we wanted to combine two of our favorite things: outdoor activities and a vibrant cosmopolitan city life. This is how we decided on Bariloche and Buenos Aires.
Aside from all the amazing hikes and the great food we had in Bariloche, here are a few of the major takeaways from the last 4.5 days....
Smile at Work???
After we did the hike up Lopez Peak, our clothes were filthy. We took our laundry to a laundrymat that washes/dries your clothes in a few hours. They charged us $4/load so it's a steal! When we went to pick up our clothes, we thanked the clerk that did our laundry for us. She was so appreciative and had the biggest smile on her face. Steve and I were happy campers because all our clothes were clean but the enthusiasm and smile this clerk had for us was indescribable. I really don´t think it had anything to do with me and Steve. I think she just enjoys what she does because I saw the same smile and perkiness when she was handling other customer transactions at the store. It just made me think, ¨Do I have the same gusto for my job? Do I do my job with a big smile on my face and with the same skip in my step?" Well, I should. I have a great boss who teaches me something valuable everyday. I have the job that I always wanted - a position where I can teach and develop sales reps. At the same time, I learn just as much from them. I´m also challenged by the obstacles we face everyday in the marketplace - so I continuosly grow and learn from these challenges. On top of it all, I have the flexibility to work from home, anywhere in the US, with great pay and benefits. I think I have a lot to be smiling about. It´s too bad I sometimes get bogged down with the minor issues (aka my annoying reps) that drive me crazy. There is no perfect job out there and based on what I listed, this is close to perfect for me and my expectations. If the girl at the laundrymat can be skipping for joy at her job, why can´t I? Seeing her really made me evaluate how good I have things and put a big smile on my face.
This is the Life!
Speaking of being grateful and appreciative....Steve and I were having dinner on the patio of our house in Bariloche. We had great steaks, fresh vegetables, wonderful wine and the most unbelievable setting. We were eating at the traditional Argentina dinner time: 11 PM. As I was eating my dinner, I looked up in the sky and saw a bunch of stars shining. Then I looked to the left and I saw the moon in the background right behind the Andes Mountains. On our left, we have the cutest house that we rented which is a mini Paradise (pics to come!). I sat there thinking, "This is the life!" This is what I love the most about traveling. I love being inspired and energized by new surroundings. We are fortunate to have everything accessible to us in the States but sometimes I get caught up in the hustle and the daily grind of my normal responsibilities that I forget to take time out of my life and create these special moments. I shouldn´t have to travel to another continent to experience this. I can create this in my own home (minus the Andes Mtns).
Charming City
We can´t say enough about this great city. Bariloche offers so many great activities: skiing, hiking, swimming, spas, boating, biking, shopping, fine dining, sight seeing, and above all great people. You walk around town and you feel like you are at home. Bariloche is also the home of the best chocolate in South America --- you literally see 3 to 5 chocolate shops on every block. Shawna, are you booking your flight right now? So quick food recap.... there are hundreds of steak restaurants, chocolate shops, bakeries, and wineries in Argentina. Why w0uld anyone leave here?
Traveling with Steve
Most of you know that my blog title is Traveling with Nancy because I started this when I quit my job in 2008 to travel. Well, I definitely want to note that this trip has been great spending it with Steve. I love sharing all these neat experiences with him. I get excited thinking about the future trips we plan to take. He´s a great boyfriend and a great traveling companion. I know I can be a pill at times but he´s good about going with the flow :) Aside from enjoying his company, here´s another great thing about travling with Steve..... We wear the same size shoes and same size clothes! This came in handy because I didn´t pack hiking boots or enough long sleeved layers to go up the snowy trails. This was a tough trip to pack for because we had to pack for 3 different temperature ranges: 80s, 60s, 40s. I packed well for the 80 degrees and 60 degrees but not so much for the 40 degrees. I purposely didn´t pack my hiking boots because they are so big so I figured I would use my running shoes for running, walking, and hiking during the trip. Besides, I would rather pack an extra pair of heels instead of my boots. Nina Garcia would understand. Well, Steve let me wear his outdoor shoes (looks like running shoes but sole can handle rough terrains) because he brought his own hiking boots. Perfect - we´re the same size! Then he let me borrow several of his dry fit long sleeve shirts to layer up for the cooler hikes. Once again perfet - we´re the same size! Glad Ranger Steve packed for me and for him :)
We arrived in Buenos Aires a little after midnight. We are excited to experience the city life here this week. You know where my focus is - food and shopping. Plus, I´m thrilled that the temperature is in the 80s here. Time to put our hiking gear away....it´s time for heels and flip flops!
Aside from all the amazing hikes and the great food we had in Bariloche, here are a few of the major takeaways from the last 4.5 days....
Smile at Work???
After we did the hike up Lopez Peak, our clothes were filthy. We took our laundry to a laundrymat that washes/dries your clothes in a few hours. They charged us $4/load so it's a steal! When we went to pick up our clothes, we thanked the clerk that did our laundry for us. She was so appreciative and had the biggest smile on her face. Steve and I were happy campers because all our clothes were clean but the enthusiasm and smile this clerk had for us was indescribable. I really don´t think it had anything to do with me and Steve. I think she just enjoys what she does because I saw the same smile and perkiness when she was handling other customer transactions at the store. It just made me think, ¨Do I have the same gusto for my job? Do I do my job with a big smile on my face and with the same skip in my step?" Well, I should. I have a great boss who teaches me something valuable everyday. I have the job that I always wanted - a position where I can teach and develop sales reps. At the same time, I learn just as much from them. I´m also challenged by the obstacles we face everyday in the marketplace - so I continuosly grow and learn from these challenges. On top of it all, I have the flexibility to work from home, anywhere in the US, with great pay and benefits. I think I have a lot to be smiling about. It´s too bad I sometimes get bogged down with the minor issues (aka my annoying reps) that drive me crazy. There is no perfect job out there and based on what I listed, this is close to perfect for me and my expectations. If the girl at the laundrymat can be skipping for joy at her job, why can´t I? Seeing her really made me evaluate how good I have things and put a big smile on my face.
This is the Life!
Speaking of being grateful and appreciative....Steve and I were having dinner on the patio of our house in Bariloche. We had great steaks, fresh vegetables, wonderful wine and the most unbelievable setting. We were eating at the traditional Argentina dinner time: 11 PM. As I was eating my dinner, I looked up in the sky and saw a bunch of stars shining. Then I looked to the left and I saw the moon in the background right behind the Andes Mountains. On our left, we have the cutest house that we rented which is a mini Paradise (pics to come!). I sat there thinking, "This is the life!" This is what I love the most about traveling. I love being inspired and energized by new surroundings. We are fortunate to have everything accessible to us in the States but sometimes I get caught up in the hustle and the daily grind of my normal responsibilities that I forget to take time out of my life and create these special moments. I shouldn´t have to travel to another continent to experience this. I can create this in my own home (minus the Andes Mtns).
Charming City
We can´t say enough about this great city. Bariloche offers so many great activities: skiing, hiking, swimming, spas, boating, biking, shopping, fine dining, sight seeing, and above all great people. You walk around town and you feel like you are at home. Bariloche is also the home of the best chocolate in South America --- you literally see 3 to 5 chocolate shops on every block. Shawna, are you booking your flight right now? So quick food recap.... there are hundreds of steak restaurants, chocolate shops, bakeries, and wineries in Argentina. Why w0uld anyone leave here?
Traveling with Steve
Most of you know that my blog title is Traveling with Nancy because I started this when I quit my job in 2008 to travel. Well, I definitely want to note that this trip has been great spending it with Steve. I love sharing all these neat experiences with him. I get excited thinking about the future trips we plan to take. He´s a great boyfriend and a great traveling companion. I know I can be a pill at times but he´s good about going with the flow :) Aside from enjoying his company, here´s another great thing about travling with Steve..... We wear the same size shoes and same size clothes! This came in handy because I didn´t pack hiking boots or enough long sleeved layers to go up the snowy trails. This was a tough trip to pack for because we had to pack for 3 different temperature ranges: 80s, 60s, 40s. I packed well for the 80 degrees and 60 degrees but not so much for the 40 degrees. I purposely didn´t pack my hiking boots because they are so big so I figured I would use my running shoes for running, walking, and hiking during the trip. Besides, I would rather pack an extra pair of heels instead of my boots. Nina Garcia would understand. Well, Steve let me wear his outdoor shoes (looks like running shoes but sole can handle rough terrains) because he brought his own hiking boots. Perfect - we´re the same size! Then he let me borrow several of his dry fit long sleeve shirts to layer up for the cooler hikes. Once again perfet - we´re the same size! Glad Ranger Steve packed for me and for him :)
We arrived in Buenos Aires a little after midnight. We are excited to experience the city life here this week. You know where my focus is - food and shopping. Plus, I´m thrilled that the temperature is in the 80s here. Time to put our hiking gear away....it´s time for heels and flip flops!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Bienvenidos a Bariloche!
Steve and I arrived in Bariloche on Monday! Bariloche is located in the Patagonia region of Argentina and it is known as the Aspen or Vail of South America. It is Spring in South America so we weren´t planning on skiing but we decided to come here and take advantage of the incredible hiking trails and beautiful views.
Wednesday was our first full day here. We took a ski lift to this area called Campanero to get a 360 degree view of the area. When we reached the top we were amazed by our surroundings. It is a post card worthy view of snow capped mountains, green forests and rich blue water all around. This was a great way for us to start our trip. It gave us an idea of the type of mountains we wanted to hike and it gave us a glimpse of what we would be seeing when we reached the top of the hikes.
Tuesday afternoon we drove around the area and took a lot of pictures at scenic points. Then we tackled our first hike. This was called Cemetery Mountain for obvious reasons - there is a mini graveyard at the bottom. After we walked through this mini cemetery, we started our hike. Our hike was about 3 miles up and it was mostly a rocky trail so we had to do a lot of scrambling or climbing our way over the rocks to make our way to the top. Fortunately, Steve is an expert. He gave me a lot of great tips to tackle this course and helped me get through it. There is no way I would have attemped this on my own. (I´ll write more about Steve´s hiking navigations skill later). When we reached a nice scenic point, we took a few pics and made our way down. We had a full day of hiking for Wed so we wanted to take it easy on Tue.
Dinner was prepared by Steve on Tuesday night. He wanted to take advantage of the Parilla that we have at our house. We rented a cute house nestled in between the Andes mountains. This house has a huge outdoor fireplace that is attached to a large grill space for you to cook anything. It´s big enough to roast a pig. Steve decided to prepare filets and chorizo. The Parilla is a slow cooking process so it takes about 90 minutes. When he was finished we had the best dinner. Hands down this was the best meat we´ve ever had. After dinner we were thinking about how we could build one of these outdoor fireplace-grills back in VA....Steve´s main concern is HOA rules but otherwise, he´s on board!
Wednesday was a big day of hiking for us. We did 3 hikes:
Casita del Sol Peak
This hike was right behind our house. A very short hike (1.5 miles up and down) to get us warmed up. At the top, we saw incredible views, took a few pics and made our way down.
Llao Llao Peak
This hike was about 10 miles away. A medium hike (6.2 miles up and down). Again, when we reached the top, we saw incredible views, took a few pics and made our way down.
Lopez Peak
A very difficult hike. (11 miles up and down). All the hikes were difficult - no matter if they were short distance or long distance. They are difficult because none of them were smooth trails. They were all very rocky or there was hardly a path to hike on. You basically had to create your own path. Steve said it best, "Anyone could get themselves killed on any of these hikes". Lopez Peak was on a different scale. We had to battle weather conditions and a huge incline all the way. Now, all the hikes had incline (obviously we´re going up a mountain) but Lopez was consistently a 45 degree incline for long stretches. Another obstacle was the weather conditions. At the base of the mountain it was very mild Spring weather. As we started working our way to the top it started to drizzle. The drizzle turned into rain and then it stopped. As we got even closer to the top of the mountain, we reached the snow capped areas so we were hiking through the snowy trails in an incline. We wanted to reach Lopez Refugio ( at the top). There we could rest and grab something to eat before we made our way down. 75% of the way there, I was exhausted. I wanted to turn back around, especially once we reached the snowy parts. Steve kept on pushing me to go further and tried to motivate me with ¨When we get to the top you can have some cafe con leche¨. In my head I was thinking, ¨COFFEE??? I can have coffee on land!¨ However, he kept my spirits up by painting a great picture of what we would see at the top and then saying that we were almost there. He was right. We made it to the top and we enjoyed our cafe con leche and embraced the amazing scenery. We also made it in great time. The Park Ranger told us it would take about 3.5 hours to reach the top but we made it 2 hours and 20 minutes. After we had our mini break at the top, we made our way down. We were proud to complete 3 hikes in one day but we were exhausted.
Enough of the details of what we´ve been doing. Here´s the little stuff that I´ve pick on since Steve and I started our trip:
Man vs. Wild
Steve loves the show Man vs. Wild. Steve loves adventure and outdoor activities. He definitely brings out the adventurous side in me. When we go on our hikes, he´s always giving me a great lesson on the types of plants we see and what type of things to look out for in case we are faced with an emergency. He also gives me an education about natural erosion or anything nature related . Steve is also brave and at times fearless. I might look ahead at a trail and think, "Where is there to go? I don´t see anywhere for us to hike." Steve´s response, "Just walk over the bush or push all the branches and bushes out of the way and march on through!". Again, these are things I would never do on my own but when I´m with him, I just follow along. The best part of it is the rush I have when we do finish a hike. I´m really proud that I was able to tackle my way through. I have to agree with him when he says, ¨It´s all going to be worth it when we get to the top." He hasn´t been wrong so far. I have learned a lot from these hikes and I admire how resourceful he is. He always packs our backpack with the necessities and food. My contibution to the backpack: My Hairbrush. It is windy at the top so I need to brush my hair out because it gets knotty.
Our Quirks
After being together for almost 2 years, we are fully aware of each other´s quirks. We both love food. I´m obsessed . Steve will be driving and he is counting on me to give directions. Instead every few minutes I´m screaming out, ¨Pizzeria¨or "Ice Cream Parlor" or "Carne Asada" . His response, ¨Are we on the right track?". My response, "We have to go back to the chocolate store on our way out."
Then you have Steve´s positive attitude all the time. ALL THE TIME. When we were climbing up Lopez, I just wanted to throw off my backpack and just roll myself down the hill. Unfortunately the hill was rocky and too steep so I´d be throwing myself down a cliff. Through it all, Steve was upbeat and cheered me on. He would say, "You ran a marathon - you can do this!" or "Think about what we´ll eat for dinner tonight!" Then he would start singing my favorite songs to keep me going. He would even sing Michael Bolton songs because he knows I like Michael Bolton. The truth is, he likes Michael Bolton too :) Anyways, I love Steve´s positive outlook on EVERYTHING. I have my grumpy moments but he can always snap me out of it.
Life in Bariloche
The Argentines have been very kind and gracious. Everyone is very helpful and eager to accommodate. For example, when we reached the top of Lopez, the place where we wanted to rest was closed. We bumped into the owner as he was heading down (by foot). Since this guy is a pro hiker, it was only going to take him an hour to get back back. Even though he needed to be somewhere, he said he would turn back around and open up the shop for us so that we can grab coffee. Steve and I grabbed coffee. We wanted to pay and leave immediately because we didn´t want to hold him up. Instead, he did not rush us at all. We were there for almost a half hour and he just sat in the other room reading and writing . We really needed that break and we really appreciated his hospitality.
Also, as we have been walking around all the stores and street markets, people are very friendly and eager to talk to us, inquire about where we are from and help us if we need anything.
Today is Friday. Our 3rd full day here. We are not doing any hikes today. Instead we are walking around the city and checking out the stores, hanging out at cafes, and putting together a list of restaurants we want to check out. We´ll write more before we head off to Buenos Aires! Also, please excuse my typos in this blog....I´m tying as fast as I can and didn´t get a chance to proofread.
Wednesday was our first full day here. We took a ski lift to this area called Campanero to get a 360 degree view of the area. When we reached the top we were amazed by our surroundings. It is a post card worthy view of snow capped mountains, green forests and rich blue water all around. This was a great way for us to start our trip. It gave us an idea of the type of mountains we wanted to hike and it gave us a glimpse of what we would be seeing when we reached the top of the hikes.
Tuesday afternoon we drove around the area and took a lot of pictures at scenic points. Then we tackled our first hike. This was called Cemetery Mountain for obvious reasons - there is a mini graveyard at the bottom. After we walked through this mini cemetery, we started our hike. Our hike was about 3 miles up and it was mostly a rocky trail so we had to do a lot of scrambling or climbing our way over the rocks to make our way to the top. Fortunately, Steve is an expert. He gave me a lot of great tips to tackle this course and helped me get through it. There is no way I would have attemped this on my own. (I´ll write more about Steve´s hiking navigations skill later). When we reached a nice scenic point, we took a few pics and made our way down. We had a full day of hiking for Wed so we wanted to take it easy on Tue.
Dinner was prepared by Steve on Tuesday night. He wanted to take advantage of the Parilla that we have at our house. We rented a cute house nestled in between the Andes mountains. This house has a huge outdoor fireplace that is attached to a large grill space for you to cook anything. It´s big enough to roast a pig. Steve decided to prepare filets and chorizo. The Parilla is a slow cooking process so it takes about 90 minutes. When he was finished we had the best dinner. Hands down this was the best meat we´ve ever had. After dinner we were thinking about how we could build one of these outdoor fireplace-grills back in VA....Steve´s main concern is HOA rules but otherwise, he´s on board!
Wednesday was a big day of hiking for us. We did 3 hikes:
Casita del Sol Peak
This hike was right behind our house. A very short hike (1.5 miles up and down) to get us warmed up. At the top, we saw incredible views, took a few pics and made our way down.
Llao Llao Peak
This hike was about 10 miles away. A medium hike (6.2 miles up and down). Again, when we reached the top, we saw incredible views, took a few pics and made our way down.
Lopez Peak
A very difficult hike. (11 miles up and down). All the hikes were difficult - no matter if they were short distance or long distance. They are difficult because none of them were smooth trails. They were all very rocky or there was hardly a path to hike on. You basically had to create your own path. Steve said it best, "Anyone could get themselves killed on any of these hikes". Lopez Peak was on a different scale. We had to battle weather conditions and a huge incline all the way. Now, all the hikes had incline (obviously we´re going up a mountain) but Lopez was consistently a 45 degree incline for long stretches. Another obstacle was the weather conditions. At the base of the mountain it was very mild Spring weather. As we started working our way to the top it started to drizzle. The drizzle turned into rain and then it stopped. As we got even closer to the top of the mountain, we reached the snow capped areas so we were hiking through the snowy trails in an incline. We wanted to reach Lopez Refugio ( at the top). There we could rest and grab something to eat before we made our way down. 75% of the way there, I was exhausted. I wanted to turn back around, especially once we reached the snowy parts. Steve kept on pushing me to go further and tried to motivate me with ¨When we get to the top you can have some cafe con leche¨. In my head I was thinking, ¨COFFEE??? I can have coffee on land!¨ However, he kept my spirits up by painting a great picture of what we would see at the top and then saying that we were almost there. He was right. We made it to the top and we enjoyed our cafe con leche and embraced the amazing scenery. We also made it in great time. The Park Ranger told us it would take about 3.5 hours to reach the top but we made it 2 hours and 20 minutes. After we had our mini break at the top, we made our way down. We were proud to complete 3 hikes in one day but we were exhausted.
Enough of the details of what we´ve been doing. Here´s the little stuff that I´ve pick on since Steve and I started our trip:
Man vs. Wild
Steve loves the show Man vs. Wild. Steve loves adventure and outdoor activities. He definitely brings out the adventurous side in me. When we go on our hikes, he´s always giving me a great lesson on the types of plants we see and what type of things to look out for in case we are faced with an emergency. He also gives me an education about natural erosion or anything nature related . Steve is also brave and at times fearless. I might look ahead at a trail and think, "Where is there to go? I don´t see anywhere for us to hike." Steve´s response, "Just walk over the bush or push all the branches and bushes out of the way and march on through!". Again, these are things I would never do on my own but when I´m with him, I just follow along. The best part of it is the rush I have when we do finish a hike. I´m really proud that I was able to tackle my way through. I have to agree with him when he says, ¨It´s all going to be worth it when we get to the top." He hasn´t been wrong so far. I have learned a lot from these hikes and I admire how resourceful he is. He always packs our backpack with the necessities and food. My contibution to the backpack: My Hairbrush. It is windy at the top so I need to brush my hair out because it gets knotty.
Our Quirks
After being together for almost 2 years, we are fully aware of each other´s quirks. We both love food. I´m obsessed . Steve will be driving and he is counting on me to give directions. Instead every few minutes I´m screaming out, ¨Pizzeria¨or "Ice Cream Parlor" or "Carne Asada" . His response, ¨Are we on the right track?". My response, "We have to go back to the chocolate store on our way out."
Then you have Steve´s positive attitude all the time. ALL THE TIME. When we were climbing up Lopez, I just wanted to throw off my backpack and just roll myself down the hill. Unfortunately the hill was rocky and too steep so I´d be throwing myself down a cliff. Through it all, Steve was upbeat and cheered me on. He would say, "You ran a marathon - you can do this!" or "Think about what we´ll eat for dinner tonight!" Then he would start singing my favorite songs to keep me going. He would even sing Michael Bolton songs because he knows I like Michael Bolton. The truth is, he likes Michael Bolton too :) Anyways, I love Steve´s positive outlook on EVERYTHING. I have my grumpy moments but he can always snap me out of it.
Life in Bariloche
The Argentines have been very kind and gracious. Everyone is very helpful and eager to accommodate. For example, when we reached the top of Lopez, the place where we wanted to rest was closed. We bumped into the owner as he was heading down (by foot). Since this guy is a pro hiker, it was only going to take him an hour to get back back. Even though he needed to be somewhere, he said he would turn back around and open up the shop for us so that we can grab coffee. Steve and I grabbed coffee. We wanted to pay and leave immediately because we didn´t want to hold him up. Instead, he did not rush us at all. We were there for almost a half hour and he just sat in the other room reading and writing . We really needed that break and we really appreciated his hospitality.
Also, as we have been walking around all the stores and street markets, people are very friendly and eager to talk to us, inquire about where we are from and help us if we need anything.
Today is Friday. Our 3rd full day here. We are not doing any hikes today. Instead we are walking around the city and checking out the stores, hanging out at cafes, and putting together a list of restaurants we want to check out. We´ll write more before we head off to Buenos Aires! Also, please excuse my typos in this blog....I´m tying as fast as I can and didn´t get a chance to proofread.
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