Field Trip

Yesterday my roommates and I took a little field trip after class to explore the city. We grabbed sandwiches from a little shop and walked to the Recoleta Cemetery, where we ate the sandwiches on the grass outside the entrance. Everything was going great until the sprinklers decided to turn on and we had to make a run for it before we got soaked! We almost made it without getting wet. After our picnic, we walked around the cemetery for a quick 15 minutes because I had never seen it. The Recoleta Cemetery is a walled-in cemetery with graves of former members of high-class society. The most well known grave is that of Eva Perón, who is probably the most famous woman in Argentine history. Her grave is supposedly the largest and most elaborate grave, so you think it would be easy to spot. We couldn’t find it. Anywho, the cemetery was very cool. It was almost like a little city on its own because the graves were so large they looked like buildings, and they created all these alleyways to stroll down. I will definitely have to return for a more in-depth visit.

Alleyway in the cemetery

Cool grave

Tara and I in front of a grave

After the cemetery we walked to El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which has the largest art collection in BA. We didn’t realize it was Monday and that it was closed. We tried to find another museum to go to, but apparently ALL museums in BA are closed on Mondays. Instead we went down the street to La Floralis Genérica, a humungous (23 meters high) steel sculpture of a flower. The coolest thing about this sculpture is that the petals open during the day and close at night. One of the things on my bucket list for Argentina is to watch the petals open in the morning. It ss located in the center of a 4 acre park that attracts a lot of sunbathers on the weekend. After we snapped some pictures (I didn’t get any because my camera died), we laid out in the grass because it was a beautiful day. It was the perfect way to end our trip. The setting and the weather made it hard to leave. 

Bariloche Take 2

Tuesday: Our second day in Bariloche was by far the best of the whole trip. We went white water rafting! Everything about the trip was awesome. The guides picked us up from our hostel at 9am, and drove us 2 hours into the mountains. Our guides, Nico and Martín were great. They were very cool and had a great sense of humor. During the ride, they prepared mate for everyone and pointed out all the landmarks in the region. We arrived to a site along a river, with mountains in the background, where we had a small breakfast and then changed into our gear. We then hopped back in the van and drove to the drop off area. The river had ten rapids total. They were pretty intense at some parts, but I wish it had been a little more powerful. We did get stuck between rocks on the first rapid, and our guide had to maneuver us out. It was actually pretty funny because we all had to move to one side of the raft. We also got to jump into the river and swim two times. The water was freezing! The scenery along the river was surreal. We were surrounded by the Andes Mountains, and the water was a beautiful blue. There was one point along the river where the rocks had been carved away by the water. It looked really cool because there were holes in the rocks and all these neat shapes. One of the coolest parts about the trip was that the river floated into Chile! So after the last rapid, we climbed out of the raft and our guide took us to the Argentina-Chile border. We only got to stay for about 30 minutes, but I can still say I have been to Chile! We took some pictures and changed into dry clothes in Chile, and then we headed back to the same place we had breakfast for an asado (bbq)! It was delicious. We had steak, potatoes, wine, and banana tart.

After we got stuck

Rafting through the Andes, NBD

We're in 2 different countries!!

Wednesday: Our third day in Bariloche was successful only by luck. Jay and I had awoken early that morning to make a reservation for horse back riding, but we forgot to mention it was for four people. By the time we realized our mistake the trip was full, until 2 people luckily dropped out. We were picked up at our hostel in the morning and driven to a beautiful ranch right on a lake in the mountains. They prepared us an asado right away that was just as delicious as any I have had so far in Argentina. Then we walked to the barn to pick out our horses. I, naturally, got a shorter brown horse. Tara got a beautiful white one that was probably one of the biggest. Kelsey got a black one that didn’t listen, wouldn’t gallop, and only wanted to eat. Haha. It was Jay’s first time on a horse, so luckily he got a nice gentle one. We rode through the forest and into a beautiful meadow right next to the mountains. The view was amazing because the mountains were right there in your face. Then we rode along a lake until we ended back on the ranch.

Frolicking in the meadow

Along the lake

Thursday: The weather was not so great on Thursday. It was colder and windy, with a little rain, so we decided to do Canopy to become a little closer to nature. We zip-lined from tree to tree in the top of the forest. I am really afraid of heights but this was really fun. There was only one tree I had to hold on to for dear life. I am pretty sure it was swaying in the breeze at one point. For our last night in Bariloche we decided to go out in style at a local Parilla, or steak house. A guy in our hostel recommended El Boliche, so we took his advice. He told us the locals love it when Americans eat there because they like to see the look on our faces when we see the portion sizes. Let me tell you, they don’t mess around. I ordered a pequena bife de chorizo, which is pretty much a sirloin, and it was massive. The pile of mashed potatoes that came with it was larger than my head. The best part? Throw in a bottle of wine and it only cost me $15 USD. Cha ching! Needless to say we were all pretty satisfied that night.

Weee

Then I got stuck

Feasting at El Boliche

The next day we headed back to BA. I was a little sad to leave Bariloche because I had such an awesome time doing so many cool and new things. However, I was feeling a little homesick for BA, and couldn’t wait to return “home”.

Bariloche

For my “Spring Break” this year I went to Bariloche, a small city in northern Patagonia. It was the best trip of my life. The city is absolutely beautiful- words and pictures won’t even do it justice. It’s a smaller city right on Nahuel Huapi Lake and surrounded by the Andes Mountains. So needless to say the views were breathtaking. The architecture was also very cool, and different from Buenos Aires. It had a German and Swiss influence- so a lot of buildings made from wood and stone. Sometimes it felt like I was in Europe because the buildings looked straight out of Germany or Austria. And I have never even been to Europe.  

View of Bariloche

Cool house in the middle of downtown Bariloche

Our whole trip lasted six days: fours days in Bariloche and two days of travel.

Sunday: My roommates and I woke up early and packed because we failed to do it the night before. Our host parents made us sandwiches for the bus and packed a whole suitcase of food to take with us. They packed us all kinds of snacks, 2 containers of dulce de leche, something that resembles spam (which none of us had the guts to try), a mate kit, and 3 bottles of wine. By the time we finished packing we realized we were ahead of schedule! This almost never happens. When you put us 4 girls together, it’s a miracle if we make it on time. Kelsey, Tara, and I left for the bus terminal, where we met Jay, Kelsey’s friend from class. Lucky him, he was stuck with 3 girls for a whole week.

Our suitcase full of food, courtesy of my host parents

We all got on the bus ready for a 22-hour ride to Bariloche! Flying is expensive in Argentina, so buses are a popular form of travel. 22 hours sounds bad, but it really was not terrible. They played movies the whole time and it was overnight so I slept a good portion of the ride.

Monday: We were on the bus until about 11am, and then we got a cab to our hostel. This is when our luck began. The hostel had exactly 4 spots left. We found our rooms, dropped our luggage off, and went outside to check out the scenery. Our hostel, Patanuk, was the only waterfront hostel in Bariloche so we had quite the view. We wanted to do an excursion that day, but the lady at the front desk told us it was too late in the day, so she gave us some other options. The people who worked at the hostel were so helpful. They helped us throughout our entire trip with planning activities and gave us great recommendations. Since it was a really nice day outside we decided to go to Cerro Companario, a panoramic view from the top of a mountain. They had lifts to take you to the top, but we all wanted to hike. It was a steep climb all the way up, but it was definitely worth it. Once we got to the top, none of us could talk. The view was absolutely breathtaking. We snapped a bunch of pictures, enjoyed the view, and then hit up the café at the top of the mountain where we all got ice cream. Afterwards we hiked back down and caught a bus back to the hostel.

Our backyard at the hostel

Panoramic view from the top of Cerro Companario

Later that night we went to a Mexican restaurant that was amazing. Mexican food is hard to come by in BA, so we were all excited to finally find a good place. Afterwards we went back to the hostel and sat outside on the porch until we could no longer stand the horrible music they were playing.

I will write about the rest of my trip later because this is really long and I am too lazy to finish it now.