Bariloche

After El Bolson, the next stop was Bariloche. Here we stayed at a hotel called Alún Nehuén, which was a bit secluded but had a beautiful location. However, it rained the first few days and it was quite cold, windy, and uncomfortable. We made the best of it and when the weather improved, there was still plenty to see. Not far from our hotel was the famous Hotel LLao Llao, situated in a very prominent location. We wanted to have a meal there, but it was fully booked until January...but there were many other beautiful things to see and also restaurants where, to the delight of our children, they offered goulash with spaetzle due to the German immigrants in Bariloche. There are a few Germans and Swiss living here and Bariloche itself is modeled after a Swiss mountain village, at least that was the idea. Founded in 1902, initially Swiss, Italian, and German people settled here. Additionally, Bariloche is Argentina's chocolate capital and it really tastes delicious, whereas the chocolate in Buenos Aires doesn't taste good at all for someone who is used to German chocolate :) We didn't really like the city itself as it is very touristy and hundreds of people push their way through the chocolate shops. Furthermore, you can get your picture taken with a St. Bernard on the main square for that authentic Alpine feeling, which we found very strange, and the kids wanted to quickly get back to nature...

We also saw the famous myrtle trees, the los Arranyanes, even though we didn't take the boat to the peninsula because it was simply too cold and windy, Lea was struggling to catch her breath...