Food, falls, horses and (maybe) shopping in Argentina

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Well, if I thought that I was coming to Argentina for a foodie tour, I have so far been sadly disappointed... the infamous steaks and barbeque are pretty good, but there is only so much meat that a girl can eat. Salads are hard to come by and tend to be of the chopped carrot, sliced cucumber variety (a la 1970). And if you're not eating meat, then it's pizza, which is good, but heavy on the cheese. On the sweet side, I have good news - there is something called dulce de leche, which is irresistable. Translated rather unappealingly as "milk jam", this is basically caremelised condensed milk... and seems to go in or on anything, including toast for breakfast. The other good news is that Bariloche (where we now are) is the chocolate capital of Argentina.

To counteract this heavy protein/ dairy diet, there is lots of activity. After my last blog, we had a day on the Argentinian side of the Iguazu Falls and I was yet again blown away. I've seen Niagra, I've seen Vic Falls, but I have to say that Iguazu is tops. Apparently Eleanor Roosevelt, on seeing Iguazu said "Poor Niagra". I know what she means. The park is lovely and they have built these amazing walkways that take you right to the top of the falls, to the middle and to the bottom, inspected from every angle (including helicopter the day before and boat). The boat trip was a definite highlight, with all the thrills of the Shotover, going right under the waterfall and getting a good soaking.

The next day (after a couple of disappointing meals), we flew to Buenos Aires and then on to Bariloche. It's easy to forget the scale of this country, but it's big. Basically took us most of the day to get here, with 2 flights of a couple of hours or so each. Stella having taken charge of the accommodation here, we have moved beyond the pleasures of the Hostel Inn and into a very nice hotel along the lake. This is a real ski town, looking a lot like Queenstown with lake and mountains, with snow capped peaks in the distance. The architecture has a heavy Germanic influence (think wood, stone, steep slate roofs - and the occasional garden gnome, which is the other thing the town is famous for - as well as chocolate). We took the restaurant recommendation of our cab driver (in retrospect, possibly not such a good choice). We were surprised to find ourselves in a German restaurant, complete with Bavarian outfits (inclouding headscarves) and an accordian. Oh yes, and again, a menu heavily swayed towards those who are carnivores.

Stella is a day ahead, so she had already done a tour. Rachael and I decided that we'd like to go to an Estancia (basically like a Station) and go horse riding. Those familiar with Rachael and her allergies will be as surprised as I was (the last time she surprised me like this though, we went swimming with the seals, again not traditionally her thing, but amazing, so I was willing to go with it). R dosed to the max on every kind of asthma preventative, plus more than the prescribed dosage of anti-histamein. We got picked up and taken to the Estancia. After yet another massive bbq lunch (with vino tinto), we ventured forth. The morning party came out again, all English speakers and all very good value... even Lars, the 5 year old who was pretty clueless, but wanted his horse to "run" and was definitely bold. There wasn't too much questioning about experience, we were lined up by size and I got what turned out to be a really nice horse. One girl had never been on a horse before, but before long she was trotting... the horses were actually pretty tame and followed one another, but those of us who had ridden before were able to peel off and do some cantering. The scenery was fantastic, great expanses with mountains in the background and then pine forests. Brilliant.

Tomorrow Stella heads to Tierra del Fuego - right at the bottom - am a bit jealous.We've decided to stay an extra night in Bariloche and then have a night at a ski village up the way (mountains not open yet, but this would be a brilliant place to ski). Then, we'll head to Colonia in Uruguay for 2 nights, then several days in Buenos Aires, including the main event, which is Rachael's birthday. We are planning several shopping expeditions, frocks, shoes etc, plus choosing which of several top eateries we'll enjoy. Hopefully not to be disappointed...

Best of luck to Mark, Rhonda, Sharon and Pat, who are doing the Oxfam Trailwalker this weekend. You guys will rock it.

Lots of love

Lucy

PS still can't get my photos to upload, something to do with the age of my camera I suspect. If you want to see some good ones, go to Rachael's blog. She's using this same website and is called "RJT". This is for those of you who haven't got over Easter yet... and the fact that there are no public holidays until Queen's Birthday.

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Comments

[Eric]

Hey Lucy, I really enjoyed your Argentina post. It reminded me of my time there. My blog is looking for travel photos, travel stories, hostel reviews, and food reviews. If you have any to share email us at [e-mail], or check us at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric

[Yvonne Riddiford]

Riding!!
Well done both of you! I never expected to hear that! Hope R suffered no ill effects. Its so much the right thing to do in Argentina- I'm envious all over again. XX