Bariloche

This past weekend I spent three days in Bariloche with IFSA. Bariloche is a small city in the mountains in Patagonia, very close to Chile. It is in the Lake District of Argentina, and is also the chocolate capital of the country. Since there are 185 students on my program, we were split into two groups for the trip; my friends Emily and Katie were in the group that went earlier in the week, and Kristen and I went over the weekend.

We arrived Saturday morning and went straight to the main lake, Nahuel Huapi. The lakes here are glacial (is that how you say it?) and crystal-clear, and the mountains rise up right from the shore. It’s really gorgeous....


The town is very touristy, but cute. It feels like a little beach town, except surrounded by mountains. Also, the 60˚ weather was a nice break from the heat and humidity in Buenos Aires.

Saturday afternoon we went up a mountain on a ski lift. The idea was to get a wonderful view of Bariloche and the lakes. I, however, was terrified. Please keep in mind that I cried the first and only time I went on a Ferris wheel—at age 17. Kristen kept me laughing though, and I managed to smile for a photo (believe me, my knuckles are white below the frame where I’m gripping the bar for dear life)….


And the view was worth it….

I was really happy to be off the ski-lift. Kristen was proud of me.

Unfortunately, Sunday was cold and rainy, but Kristen, two other friends, and I decided to make the best of it by going to Colonia Suiza, a small town outside Bariloche celebrating the area’s Swiss heritage. Actually, we really spent the day traveling to and from Colonia Suiza, and it was so not worth it. We took the colectivo (that’s what regular city buses are called here) out of town and then waited over an hour in the cold drizzle for the next colectivo. When we finally got to Colonia Suiza, we were sorely disappointed. Instead of the cute, preserved colonial village with a nice artisan market we were expecting, the town is a few kitschy buildings and a lot of even more kitschy tourist stands. We ended up getting coffee to stay warm and heading back to the hotel, where I spent the afternoon napping, taking a long shower, and writing in my journal. Not terribly exciting, but exactly what I needed, and the view from my window made me feel like I was still appreciating the area….



Monday morning we went on a pretty difficult hike. Now I know I’m not a hiker, but this was 7 km straight up on a sandy path, and then 7 km down the same path, which was even more difficult. It was basically impossible to keep your footing in the sand, and I don’t think anyone made it without falling at least once. Luckily it was very satisfying once we got to the top….


Also, our guides were really great and kept everyone’s energy up. At the top we stopped to eat lunch and everyone pretty much passed out…


So one of the guides started a dance party! That’s him in the hat….

Today was pretty tranquilo. The big news of the day is that I bought a fan for my bedroom. The fan is only 12” x 12”, but the box is about twice that size, and I had to tote it around all day on the colectivo.

Coming soon…registering for classes!

P.S. FYI, if you click on the photos they'll get bigger. But possibly too big.... Let me know and I can reformat them.

P.P.S. More photos can be found here.