La chacra Rincon del Sur, Mallin Ahogado (cerca de El Bolsón) Every morning we would stay in our beds, keeping warm, long after the sun rose. The sheep and cows would make their morning rounds and come up the hill to graze on the lush dewy grass in the sun near the casita. I was always the first one to get up. At first sign of movement from any of us the kittens would begin fussing for breakfast. I would climb down from my loft, head outside to the toilet, turn on the gas, then come back into the casita to feed the kittens and start breakfast. I might read for a bit if there was extra time. Because mornings were cold, unseasonable so, I cooked up oatmeal, rice pudding, sometimes hot chocolate, and always tea ... read more

I made three separate trips to Bariloche in November and early December from El Bolsón. First trip: second weekend of November On Saturday morning, Pablo and I took a bus to Bariloche which left us off at the bus depot. We figured that we would find a place to stay and walk around town, as we had done in so many other cities, but we found that this bus depot was not in town. No one was working the information desk, so we picked up some fliers and found a little place that looked nice, and reasonably priced, then headed out to get a taxi. We started up a conversation with some American backpackers, shared the taxi, and ended up deciding to stay at the same hospedaje. During our short taxi ride Hillary asked me what ... read more

We ended up spending so much time in Chile on our detour trip (we planned to go in December and will be back then) that in the end, we only had an afternoon to spend in Mendoza. We wandered through town while everything was closed during Sunday's siesta, but admired the decorated neighborhoods throughout. Already, back in Argentina, our spirits are down a little and we are more wary of the future. How is it that Chile was so invigorating? I guess we're just not made for Argentina. Hopefully we'll make it back and spend some time in wine country soon, but I need to head south to the farm!... read more

We stopped in the town of Curacaví, between Valpo and Santiago, with one mission - to visit the Kross brewery. We took a cab from the center of the town through fields of yellow flowers and were greeted by the young Germans who ran the operation, and given an explanation of their setup. Kross is one of the best microbreweries in Chile, and we were curious to see how they fared with designing recipes for the Latin American palate - reduce hoppyness in some styles - but the beer is technically sound and the recipes satisfying. Pablo was told that he might be able to volunteer here during the summer - he's excited about the possibility but not holding his breath. Back in town we explored the local version of chicha - in this region, a ... read more

After hearing lots of great things about Valpo, both Pablo and I were initially a little let down by first impressions, walking along a dirty street near the water, smelling fish and urine along the way, then walking through the hills that have become popular with the young tourists. We were delighted to find that we had only managed to keep to the least interesting parts of town that first day, and soon discovered the attitude and more real, local city, which we were immediately drawn to. Days were spent walking around and visiting nearby sites (described in other posts). Nights here are vibrant and entertaining - just walking the streets and people watching was fun. Watching the chubby street dogs (they're everywhere!) kept us busy too. We visited a bar recommended to us called El ... read more