Tango, Whales & Mountains

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After arriving into Buenos Aires on 18th already on 21st of December we were on the road again. This time from BA to Puerto Madryn (that initially wasn’t even on our plans) because Buenos Aires at that time was having a heath wave & walking in the city wasn’t too much of fun. Although we did go to Recoleta, San Telmo and Caminito (where we’ve had a chance to watch quite a few Tango dancers)
Great surprise on our last day in BA - while walking in San Telmo we’ve bumped into Katina and Frazer - two people who were on the Inca trail with us - what a small world…
In Puerto Madryn we went on a tour around the Peninsula Valdes . Where we have managed to see quite a few local inhabitants - sea lions, Elephant seals, Southern Right Whales, Magellanic Penguins, Guanacos, etc.
Next day was already the Christmas eve. So, Asta and I have spent part of the day down the beach, part of the day “gathering the strength” & having a siesta…
This year Christmas was extremely different from anything Asta and I have known before… party has started at 9:00pm with wine and some cold dishes, after that there was a parrilla (BBQ), lots of wine and at 12:00 champagne & everyone went out to the street to watch the fire works… all the neighbors came out as well, someone has arranged some music and within 15 minutes whole street turned into a dancing scene…
On the first Christmas day there wasn’t much happening at all because everyone was trying to recover from the hang-over (including us…).
The Boxing Day Asta & had to pack our stuff and get ready to head off once again. But because our buss left only late in the evening we’ve had a chance to spend whole day down the beach with the guys from hostel and a lot of beer…
The first day in Bariloche was very quite. A bit of shopping, a bit of walking, coffee at Mamushka’s and visit at Dora’s - to get one of my bags (that was like Christmas in itself - my laptop, clothes which I haven’t worn for a very long time, etc.)
On 28th we did catch-up with friends of mine & went fishing in the lake.
The day later Asta & I packed our backpacks and went for a hike around Cathedral - we took a lift up to Lynch and then walked all the way around the mountain up to the Refugio Frey and then down again… It was beautiful, a specially because at some places it was a bit more technical then just a walk (with a bit of climbing)… :-) But probably that’s why yesterday we both were complaining about muscle tenderness in our shoulders and the upper arms…

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