Buenos dias!
Have spent four days at the most awesome youth hostel ever. 1004 is on the tenth floor of a building (dad runs up the stairs for exercize) with, when it´s clear, unbelievable views of the Andes mountains and the lake. Converted to a youth hostel from a set of apartments, 1004 is equippped with two large hang-out rooms, plenty of games, mellow music, and a large kitchen with counter space for 5. As it is currently snowing, and has been for the past 3 days, we´ve been spending a lot of time in these wonderful rooms. I learned how to play Texas Hold´em (I was the hostel champion 2 nights in a row!) and have played many chess games (not so lucky, but learning how to think ahead from very experienced players.)
My poker face (knitting while playing helps!) lead to my win 2 nights in a row as Texas Hold´em Champion.
Our first day here we hopped on a local bus to Hotel Llao Llao - a world famous lakefront hotel surrounded with hiking areas. After the 40 minute ride (awesome views!) we got off and walked along the road, looking for a path into the forest. A black labrador took a liking to us, and followed us around for the next four hours! Side-stepping the mud, we had a nice hike to a little lake and up a large hill called Cierro Llao Llao, where we were rewarded for our uphill trek with a panorama of the Andes.
View from Cierro Llao Llao (panorama function on camera!)
We named the dog Gonzalo (after our previous hiking buddy) but later we found out his real name is Pancho. He hangs out in the area and follows tourists all day, hoping to earn a snack. All the locals knew him.
Golden forest on Llao Llao hike
Sweaty and tired, and still trailed by our furry friend, we headed up to check out the hotel. (We left Pancho Gonzalo at the front door.) We had some expensive but delicious tea and hot chocolate which came with an assortment of little treats.
Back in Bariloche, I went to the store to pick up some groceries and we cooked a delicious dinner of ravioli with carrots, peas, and sause. We shared it with our french roommate Thierry.
The next few days after that have been a lot of relaxing in the hostel. We braved the weather to check out the Bariloche History Museum, just across the central plaza right near our hostel. Yesterday we went for a long walking tour of the town, it was fun because I´ve never been in a snowy city before! We walked along the beach of the lake in the snow (oxymoronic, isnt it?) and checked out the mall.
Bariloche is famous for its chocolate and ice cream (YES!) and there are supermarket-sized chocolate shops on every street corner, along with little cuter ones. I´ve been researching which store has the best chocolate... The ice cream is good, but nowhere near the richness of McConnells. It´s softer, more like gelato.
Today the snow stuck to the trees and roofs and made beautiful piles of the fluff, but the streets and sidewalks were transformed into one giant mushy puddle. It´s very difficult to navigate without being ankle-deep in dirty snow water. We went to a little artisan market, bought some earrings and a little mirror for my dorm room at UCSC. We love shopping at little places where the person selling you the item actually created it.
Later we plan on going to a free ping pong class at the community center which we stumbled across yesterday!
Love from the cozy hostel ¨1004¨
-Amber
1 comment:
Hello Amber and Kevin,
Thanks profusely for Amber's latest blogogram. You adventurers seem always able to find something interesting to do, even when the sidewalks are slushy. Regarding your hike with Pancho Gonzalo, once when Joyce and I were hiking from inn to inn in Vermont, a dog appeared and trotted along with us for about three miles until we reached our destination. I turned to it and said "Go home!" It then turned around and trotted away. I was so surprised I never forgot it. Hey! Chocolate and ice cream are good for you. Go for it! I'm pleased to learn you have found a fine hostel. It's the first one I've heard of that is situated in a high rise building. I consider it noteworthy that Amber has learned how to play Texas hold'em and already is a whiz at it. This might come in handy some day in an emergency. Brush up on your chess and challenge your hostelmates to cribbage. I received an email from Jeni R., who is settling into her new Hawaii experience. She says she reads your blog. She also mentioned that her mom might want one of our kittens because she recently lost her own cat and one of her sons and her daughter just moved out. Love from RWY
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