Bariloche the Cold and Windy

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Geo: -41.1333, -71.2833

Sorry Divas, I failed.

I had the water, the guide and the flies, but I now have the grand distinction of being the only Diva skunked on two continents.

But boy did we have fun.

If you don't count the wind gusts strong enough to throw you in the river. I spent the day learning secrets, girls. Fish secrets. Well, casting secrets, anyway. It was a day of roll casting under the willows and I got to where I could put it exactly where I wanted it IN THE WIND.

Allan the guide says, don't tell anyone--this is secret.

Well, I HAVE to tell the Divas, I said.

Ok, you tell the Divas, no one else, he grins. Then he re-thinks: no, don't tell them--his eyes twinkle--just do it and make them wonder.

He's adorable and we have a fun day on the river with he and his son, also named Alan. Their friends call him Witti (short for Whittington, their last name). We explained what witty means in English and they thought that was perfect!

Being on that beautiful crystal clear river was awesome, though. We were where the river joined again after going around an island and he taught me how to roll cast (under overhanging willows) to get the fly into the current, then mend, mend, mend until it's joined the main tributary and I'm down to the backing.

What an empowering feeling, watching your line stretch out further and further and feeling the power of the river carry it away. And being able to do it on your own too. Cool girls. Cool.

We fish differently here than you do in the United States, he says. You nymph fish upriver--we fish down river with a sinking line and strip it back up.

We could see the dang fish on the bottom, but they weren't interested. They were just laying low, hanging out, being cool.

You'd still be there Linda if you had to tie a rock on your tippet. But after 8 hours of fighting the wind, we were ready to head for the barn.

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Photos

Bob Ties One On
Not being a fly fisherman, Bob used his spinning rod.

Rare Argentinian Tree Trout
As close as I got to having my own, this dried up thing hung lonely and forgotten in a land of catch and release. Somebody was very, very bad.

My Guy
He's grinning because he caught the only fish that day. The fact that it was too little to be away from it's mother didn't lesson the fun one whit.

Bariloche--City of Many Hills
It's 116 steps up to our street. 166 steps AND a hill.

Hanging out at the Antiguo Solar
David, Bob, Me, and gorgeous girl from Buenos Aires with cute boy from Norway. Neither one wanted to ever leave Bariloche.

Antiguo Solar Guest House
This place was impeccably clean and well maintained. It was a pleasure to stay here and we met a bunch of really nice kids here too. Kids--25 and 30 year olds.

Breakfast With Friends
David from Melbourne, Australia, and Maria, our maid and breakfast cook, enjoy a good laugh with Bob. David and Bob are the same age--the only person Bob's met in all our travels who's his age. He lives in Sao Paulo, Brasil and teaches English to executives. He was traveling alone and visited with Bob like they were old friends.

Anniversary Lunch
We had cheese fondue for our anniversary. Oh yes, decadent.

Bariloche is SERIOUS About Chocolate
This chocolate fountain half as tall as we are just fits here. Bariloche is all about chocolate. Something about it's Swiss and German settlers. Argentinians from all over the country have to bring Bariloche's chocolate home to their friends--even though they can buy the same stuff in their own stores.

Chocolate Heaven
The stores are half the size of Target and FILLED with chocolate of all shapes & sizes, plus ice cream.

Comments

[Diva Landis]

Well, I am so sorry that you got skunked but delighted that you had fun. Just having a day on the water sounds heavenly to me right now. Well maybe skunked on two continents but not skunked on a golf course! That is truly a record LOL!DO di
nner Tues. at my place. Wish you were here.

[bobnkaren]

Me too. Tell Rick the place we're staying had a big asado (barbeque) the night before we came and they grilled an entire animal over the fire.Dang, we missed it. Someday I really want to go to an Argentine asado. These people really know th
eir meat. They have a true appreciation for all things carne.

[Diva Landis]

WOW

[bobnkaren]

This area looks so much like the drier parts of Montana. A lot of it like the Big Hole area around Wisdom.

[Diva Landis]

This is a GREAT photo of your fishin' self!!

[bobnkaren]

Well, I do apologize for the lack of fish slime in my photo. I'm working on that. We just went down and rented a car for tomorrow so we can go fishing up in the mountains at a place our host tells us the big ones live.We'll let you know how
that goes.

[Jim and Jackie]

Happy Anniversary. Jim and Jackie

[bobnkaren]

Thanks, we realized after sitting down that we'd actually eaten here 3 years ago. Guess we like it how we like it--out of all the restaurants in Bariloche, we chose the same one twice.

[Arnaud]

We spent 4 nights in Antiguo Solar hostel. Before being in this hostal, we wanted to lay back. Thanks to Estefania and Berardo, the owners, we laid back a lot. The hostal is very clean, calm and well localized.A good place to sleep.