Bariloche, Northern Patagonia and the Lakes District; the adventure begins!

Vino in hand, the view from our accommodation

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Today Mum & I flew (1 hour late of course - this is South America!) from Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche, or just Bariloche, as it's better known. Bariloche is a 2-hour flight, 1,500-ish km, from Buenos Aires in Northern Patagonia, the Lakes District.

It's popular as a ski resort in winter but very picturesque all year round, lying tucked around lake Nahuel Huapi at the base of the Andes and practically a stone's throw from Chile.

View from the top!

We walked the 3 kilometers from our goorgeous apart-hotel right on the lake (that's the trick; make sure your hotel is on the lake without the road in between it. And there are 'pretty' & 'not-so-pretty' parts to the lake) to a cable-car which takes you a huge distance up to a panoramic view over Bariloche town & lake Nahuel Huapi.

Slightly scary wind, which delayed our 'take-off' for 20 mins, aside, the cable car is a must-do and provided breath-taking views and a way to see where the town lay in relation to our hotel.

Is it a bear?! Wandering down the streets of Bariloche,

At the top of the semi-mountain (or that's what it felt like!) is a revolving restaurant/cafe and plenty of touristy-things to keep you occupied & interested for an hour or so.

After that little adventure, it's back to the hotel to make use of the jacuzzi in the room and sit, vino in hand, by the heater and admire the view over the lake and almost across to Chile...where we'll be in a few days time!

Tomorrow's to-do list:
Sleep in!
Big Patagonian breakfast
Isla Victoria y Bosque de Arrayanes boat trip
Try more Patagonian wines - from the southern-most vineyards in the world

Lots of wooden houses; and our chair-lift hill in the background

Feria!! San Telmo street market

Tango dancers and performers beat drums and dance in the streets, the sun shines and antiques, hand-woven rugs, bright jewellery & silverware are laid out for the literally hundreds of people who come to experience the atmosphere and pick up the seriously cool, unique bargains on offer.

The Feria de San Telmo (Buenos Aires) is held every Sunday; it runs the length of La Defensa from Plaza Dorrego to Plaza de Mayo. 

Along with La Boca, San Telmo is one of the oldest and most historically rich areas in Buenos Aires. Along its cobblestoned streets lay tango parlours, antiques shops filled with silverware, cafes, bars & restaurants. It is an area filled with passion for dance, music, food, and life in general - yet it is also lined with sorrow and a sense of faded desperation.

 Every Thursday for many years, the Madres (Mothers) de Plaza de Mayo have convened at the Plaza to protest their children who 'disappeared' during the last military dictatorship from 1976-1983. They wear head scarves embroidered with their children's names and while perhaps no longer fighting with the hope of being reunited, they implore us not to forget the tens of thousands (military admits to 9,000; the Madres estimate 30,000) who went missing and are still unaccounted for. The history is horrendous; Wikipedia have an entry on the association and history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_of_the_Plaza_de_Mayo

Despite the past, San Telmo is a very upbeat, must-see barrio (suburb), especially for the feria on Sundays. It lies between Retiro and La Boca (see the previous Romancing La Boca post http://apasionadotravel.blogspot.com/2011/03/romancing-la-boca.html); and is the perfect way to spend a Sunday late-morning-till-early-evening. Sample empanadas from various vendors wandering along the street (there's an older couple who sell huge, delicious 'carne' - meat - ones so keep an eye out for them!), stop off at a cafe and have a glass of wine or a beer, haggle gently with the street jewellery sellers and wind up at Plaza Dorrego around 5 or 6pm, in time for the serious tango dancing to start.

Loving Argentinian......Polo

Palermo Polo Ground, overlooking the city of Buenos Aires

(especially when the sun is shining) Free entry, right in the middle of the city....que sofisticado!

They learn young!

Straight onto TV for the winning team

Romancing La Boca

Touristy  For me, in the instance of La Boca, it's a place you just  have to visit when in a new town. I didn't come the first time I was here...because I heard it was 'touristy'. It is, and there's a reason! Nowhere else in the world, will you ever be in La Boca. 

Catch a taxi or a bus, but do come here if you come to BA. There's tango in the streets (and if you sit at a restaurant, you will probably have to jump up for an impromptu dance...just remember, you don't know anyone here!), and you can call it corny, but fact is, the area is here because it still exists from history and there's a reason for it.

La Boca is a daytime excursion (nighttime, or any areas outside of the main strip around Caminito, generally err on dangerous) unless you're up for 'La Bomba de Tiempo', a drum-African-South American-samba-playing, energy-filled group who pack out the Konex Cultural Centre every Monday from 7pm (they come on at 8pm, then a guest DJ/jazz/ trumpet player/ anything else comes on around 9 to always keep it interesting).
It's one of the oldest areas in Buenos Aires and is filled with colourfully painted buildings, tango-dancers, Quilmes (beer) drinkers, artists and personalities. A poor area filled with the richness of life and of course, passion for football. Absorb it, but keep your wits about you; I went there with my mum and we were absolutely fine, un-threatened, mildly tipsy and had a great time so don't get paranoid! But DO keep an eye on bags and at the very least, pretend you know where you're going.

Loving Argentinian.... Chardonnay - Rutini Trumpeter

Delicious; more linear than many Australian chardonnays, mineral, close-to-Chablis characteristics. Elegant. Yum. Happily drank a bottle last night :-)

Rutini vineyards, Mendoza

( Facts: 100% Chardonnay; 50% barrel fermented and aged for 7 months in 50% new, 50% second-&-third use French oak. 30% Malo fermentation)
http://www.rutiniwines.com/

AY Not Dead - BA Fashion - ♥!! In Vogue

Beautiful Buenos Aires - Gardens, Parks, Museums

View from the Puente Griego, Bosques de Palermo, Buenos Aires

Rosendal (Rose Gardens)

Buenos Aires is such a beautiful city. Today we walked to the Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Woods/ Parque Tres Febrero) and El Rosedal, a garden that over 12,000 colourful rose bushes call home. The garden was designed in 1914 by famous French landscaper Carlos Thays. Besides the flowers, there is a bridge called the Puente Griego (Greek Bridge) which offers stunning views over the parks to the city. The bridge is ornately decorated with greek urns and latticework and overlooks the Lago de Palermo (Palermo Lake), where you can hire a paddleboat or row boat to race the geese around the lake.

Lago de Palermo

Respite from the city!

The area is beautiful and 'elegante parisienne' in more ways than one; you can't step on the grass (guards will literally chase after you with whistles!) or pick the flowers, or have a picnic (unless in the public areas). In a city of 14-ish million people, it's easy to see why! However, the gardens are a lush respite from the hustle of the city & nearby streets Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Sarmiento. The park covers 62 acres and was property of strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas (Rosas! Town planners have a sense of humor too you know!) until he was overthrown in 1852.

On Pergola del Lago, Park Tres Febrero

Patio Anduluz

Inaugurated in 1875, the park has since been used constantly by Portenos (local Buenos-Aires-ites) and now also contains a beautiful homage to Spain, the Andalusian Patio as well as a number of busts of famous poets from around the world.




In addition, the park is also very popular at nighttime for, um, less refined activities. It's definitely recommended to stay clear unless you are experienced in these situations!

To finish the afternoon, a great place to head is the MALBA (Museum of Latin American Art) in Palermo for a glass of vino (the chardonnay they serve is great - trust me!). The restaurant is gorgeous and the museum is free on Wednesdays, a must-see for arts lovers.

Lunch at MALBA restaurant

Planning our travels...

Botanical Gardens, Buenos Aires

...Can be a real pain! I've just spent hours planning the research-slash-holiday trip with mum that we have been really looking forward to. After a missed trip to France 2 years ago, and then missing each other in Paris again last year (thanks, volcano) we have a lot to make up for! The plan for the next 5 weeks, here goes:

Buenos Aires  - Capital of Argentina, and in my humble opinion one of the best cities in the world. BA has a real 'vibe' to it unlike any other city; the people are so friendly, it's great value, and the food, shopping & nightlife are pretty much unsurpassable.

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) - Colonia is a gorgeous, UNESCO heritage-listed town in Uruguay just an hour's ferry from BA. As well as being cute as a button, in just a day trip it's possible to discover Uruguayan wines (Tannat! Like never before), food, history and a little bit of its culture.

Iguazu Falls - Famous for a reason; we're going to see both the Argentinian & Brazilian sides of the falls.

An estancia somewhere -  I haven't planned the whole thing yet! Estancias are traditional stations/ farms, many at which you can now stay. They range in luxuriousness and in activities offered from watching/ learning polo, trying traditional Argentinian food & wines, to spas and resort-type facilities.

Bariloche - In winter it's a ski resort; all year 'round it's one of the most beautiful places on earth

Lake / Andes crossing to Peulla (Chile) - Pretty mountain/lake town that apparently has a grand total of 2 hotels. The crossing is called 'Cruce de Lagos' and is a spectacular boat-and-bus crossing from Argentina into Chile.

Puerto Varas - Puerto Montt - Port towns in southern Chile at the base of the Andes

Bodegas Salentein, Valle d'Uco

Santiago - Chile's capital, is a city of about 6 million people and sister city to Paris! It has the stunning Andes as a background and stretches to seaside Valparaiso; it also allegedly has the biggest swimming pool in the world.
6 day tour of the wine regions of Chile

Mendoza (Argentina) - The main wine-producing area of Argentina, once again set to the stunning backdrop of the Andes mountains. Home to some fantastic accommodation options like fincas set on a vineyard and some wineries themselves have very luxe accommodation.We're hiring a car as there is a lot of ground to cover - wish us luck!

Salta & Jujuy - 'La Linda', The Beautiful, as it's known. Of everywhere I have spoken to Argentinians about, this is the area to make eyes light up. I'm excited!

Palermo street art, Buenos Aires

Raise your glasses to the sport of polo. And it's players....

Nacho Figueras talks about his love for the sport and the intensity & beauty of polo...while being easy on the eye  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGZeU36-3_M

History:
Polo can be dated back to 5th century BC Persia and was first a training game for cavalry units; think miniature battles (ie another excuse to fight when there were no real battles on) and there were up to 100 players to a side. On a pro-girl-power note, once the game became popular in Iran around 6th century AD women were right in there; even the queen and her ladies played against the king.

In more modern times, India embraced the game and made it their own; they also livened things up a bit by playing it on elephants. Horses or elephants not your thing? It's also played on camels and yaks if you'd prefer. (and yes, water polo, canoe, etc etc, yawn. I prefer horses or yaks!)

Polo in Argentina:
However, polo today brings to mind one country: Argentina (or is that just me? Anyway, they have the best looking players!) The modern game is faster, more aggressive & requires more equestrian skill; there are only 4 players per side and ponies are changed multiple times per match. The 'ponies' are actually not ponies, they are usually over 14.2 hands and can get pretty big; up to 16hh.

Going to a polo match in Argentina is totally the thing to do. And yes, they really do wear Polo Ralph Lauren clothing to the matches. And somehow manage to pull it off and not look ridiculous. There's a polo ground in the middle of the posh part of BsAs, and there's also La Rural, a ground not far from the city (and plenty more - it's what you do instead of going to the beach) So; get chic-ed up and definitely see a match while in the country. It's well worth it! Email me at info@travelapasionado.com.au if you'd like more info.

Want to try it?!
Playing polo yourself - that's another issue altogether! There are a lot of places you can take lessons. The first thing to remember is that polo is played on horseback; so having been on a horse before will be an advantage! It's also pretty boring to play polo at a walk; so....trotting & cantering on a horse you've never been on before....if you've broken into a sweat, maybe just watch the pros do it.

However, it's also reeeally fun and as the horses are usually so well trained, surprisingly easy. The sticks get very heavy after a while especially for weak lil' girls like me. Guys with their stronger wrists (hmm) will have an easier time of it but no matter, it's worth it. And if there's one place to say you've 'played' polo in the world, it's Argentina! Again, email me and I can recommend & book a polo lesson(s) anywhere in the country. Combining this with a stay on an estancia (farm/station) is a great way to get a real feel for the country.

Today's fashion inspiration; Chanel 2010 S/S campaign shot in Buenos Aires

From cold Melbourne to warm sunny Buenos Aires!

Ensconced on the couch in a gorgeous little apartment in Palermo, Buenos Aires. It's warm and the sun is streaming in; I'm feeling at least partly human although more sleep is needed! After a quick trip to el supermercado and a wander around the area I'm happy to still say - I LOVE this city!

The flight here (with Qantas) went without a hitch; although there was *some* running involved at Sydney to make the connection...being hungover didn't help. The flight was on time and I just jumped in a taxi at the airport and 45mins later, voila! The area I'm staying in is gorgeous and  the apartment is perfect; fully furnished, wifi, a mobile phone to use, big flat screen TV, bath and bargain cost.

Super relaxing afternoon in store and tomorrow I'm off to San Telmo markets; one of my fave places in da world!