The Land O' Lakes

After 5 weeks of Patagonian cold and wind, we decided that what we all really wanted was... more Patagonia. Except this time we shifted gears and went up to Bariloche, Argentina for some "mild Patagonia." We got into town to a blissful, 72-degree day, which was an amazing change from what we had been experiencing. Bariloche is in the "Lake District" of Argentina, and our Airbnb was beautifully situated overlooking the main lake. Off we went to find some empanadas for lunch, stopping to visit with a nice old lady and her poodles along the way. The empanada place had a wine I'd never heard of called "pinguino." Always up for a new experience, I got that. The empanadas were great, and it turns out that a "pinguino" isn't a type of wine but rather a type of container - in this case, a carafe shaped like a penguin. Not one to waste, I did my part, but it was probably more than was wise. Lesson learned, we wandered back to our place. We spent the next couple of days getting ready for my folks to fly in to visit us. They were our first visitors of the trip, and after three months on our own, it was delightful to have visitors. We had a great time enjoying much more mild weather and going on various boat tours and waterfall hikes around the lake. The boys found a fun obstacle course and did a Halloween baking class. The town also has a German history dating back to the 1850s, so many of the older houses (including ours) look like they were transplanted out of a German alpine village. This heritage also resulted in amazing chocolate shops, bakeries, and coffee shops. We, of course, sampled them all and then had lengthy and heated debates about which was the best. Given the extensive German heritage, we decided to wrap up with a tour about the German history in the area. It turns out that there were basically what you might call the Good Germans (the ones from the 1800s) and the Bad Germans. The Bad Germans were escaped Nazis, who came to Argentina and more or less lived in plain sight for decades. That nice old lady with the poodles? She lives in the house where this fine gentleman was kept under house arrest for a year while awaiting extradition. Our favorite bakery? Right across the street from where Adolf Eichmann and Joseph Mengele used to rub elbows. It was quite the eye-opening experience. If you'd like an interesting movie on the subject, Operation Finale might be just what you are looking for. With our adventures in Bariloche complete (including the unexpected history lesson), we bid farewell to my parents and set sail for the next stop. If you have time to visit, Bariloche is a truly stunning place to visit. But be careful with the pinguinos - they can bite.

Out fishing guide called this fish "average" for the lake at 4#. His record trout is 17#. Though he did give tips on how to take a picture of your fish to make it look bigger.

Waffels with blue cheese and bacon...just like Americans make them. Apparently.

Notable quotables from Bariloche:

Carol: Neil, was that ice cream cone actually edible? Neil: Yes, but it wasn't good it tasted like the eucharist. Logan: So your saying that the ice cream cone tasted like the body of Christ? Neil: Pretty close.