Just for the record: We are not on a crazy hunt for air miles. We are simply trying to squeeze some of the items on our original South American tourist agenda for 2014 into the last remaining weeks of 2013. And Bariloche sounded like a good place to spend this year’s Christmas.
Bariloche is located at the shores of the Lago Nahuel Huapi and a good starting point for exploring the Argentinean Lake District. Some say that it is like Switzerland and we shouldn’t bother, others say that it is the most beautiful area of Argentina. We decided to take a look for ourselves and are very happy to have gone. (Besides, we have never been to Switzerland so we couldn’t compare.)
Bariloche itself is a friendly little town with a good infrastructure, tons of quaint stores that sell chocolate, and a selection of good restaurants. The majority of the houses are built in an alpine style, and the abundance of Saint Bernard dogs in the city centre makes you believe that Heidi and Peter will stroll around the corner anytime. The fact that these dogs belong to enterprising townspeople that will charge you money for having your picture taken with them puts a little damper on the quaintness. But the main attraction of Bariloche is the amazingly beautiful scenery along the various lakes. We had decided to explore on our own, and on the day of Christmas Eve we took our rental for a spin along the Small Circuit Tour on the San Pedro and Llao Llao Peninsulas. The round is only about 70 km long, but with all the stops along the way to take pictures, a short hike to the famous Arrayan Trees, a quick drink at the lobby bar of the Llao Llao Hotel to ogle the grounds and the grand interior, and a lunch break in Colonia Suiza, we barely made it back to Bariloche to chill for bit on the sunny terrace and get ready for our Christmas Eve Dinner at the restaurant El Patacon.
On Christmas Day, we tackled the longer Ruta de los Siete Lagos, driving along the Ruta 40 to Villa La Angostura and San MartÃn de los Andes. The picturesque villages were a bit deserted because of the bank holiday but even with the shops closed it was quite obvious why these places are so popular. And we didn’t mind the fact that with everybody at home and probably enjoying the Christmas Asado, we had the road almost to ourselves. All in all, it was again a strange Christmas. We had already come to the conclusion last year that for us, summer temperatures and Christmas do not go together. Now we learnt that not even an alpine scenery can make up for that. But these have been strange weeks anyway, so this Christmas in sunny warm Bariloche without the rest of the family fit right. And I would have hated to miss this beautiful part of Argentina.
I hope you all had a very peaceful and happy Christmas and wish you all the best for 2014!
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