Bariloche

Bariloche is in the lake district at the very north end of Patagonia. It reminds me of a mix between Banff and sproat lake or Penticten. It´s fall already but we lucked out and got some really hot weather while we were here. Our first full day we did some hiking, and then the next day we rode our bikes around this 30km circuito chico.... the guy we rented bikes from claimed that this was a really easy ride, but there was not a single flat bit the entire way! I swear 2/3 of the circuit is uphill. The ride was worth it.. there were some beautiful viewpoints, we saw the most expensive hotel in Argentina (Banff Springs is Nicer), and stopped at a really nice beach for lunch. We were really tired at the end of the day but it felt good to get some exercise after all that drinking! The lakes are a bit chilly for swimming.. we did stick our legs in to cool off but weren´t brave enough to go the whole way. Bariloche is a chocolate-lovers paradise.... every other stofe is a chocolate factory so of course we´ve been eating our weight in Chocolate every day.. and it´s all sooo good! There are also lots of good resturaunts... most of the food in Argentin is very European.. and so hard for me to eat.. there is delicious looking and cheap pasta and pizza everywhere, and the fast food places sell hot-dogs and hamburgers, just like at home. Breakfast here is croissants or bread, coffee, and dulce de leche.. which they eat with everything. Our hostel serves eggs as well for breakfast, which I love!
One night we went out to a traditional rgentinean boliche (bbq type place) they eat soo much meat as well. Sarah´s half portion of steak was 2 steaks! She said that it was amazing, but I tried some and it still isn´t something that I would want to order..
We had a whole day to spend at the beach.. nice and relaxing after the hiking and biking. Still not brave enough to swim in the chilly water, pretty much only the kids are and everyone else is wearing a wetsuit.
From here our plan was to head to Chile to see a penguin colony, which is why we came so far south, but we talked to a girl who was just there and she said that the penguins have pretty much all left already.. and she didn´t see any. So we´ve decided that it´s not worth our time to go if we won´t see any, and we´re heading all the way back up North to Salta, which is supposed to be beautiful. We leave this afternoon and will probably be spending 2 or 3 days on the bus to get all that way. yuck! Today it´s cool and rainy, like a fall day at home, which will make it easier to leave.