Leaving Buenos Aires behind and flying two hours to the western coast of Argentina to a town called Bariloche. We can see the Andes mountains and Chile in the distance. All of the buildings are built on the hillsides and slope down to Lake Nahuel Huapi. There is an almost constant wind the locals call "The Patagonia Breeze." Breeze is not the term I would use -- hurricane-force winds is more like it. Bariloche architecture is heavily influenced by Swiss and German immigrants who arrived at the turn of the century. We hear there is great chocolate here. We'll let you know tomorrow.
Dropped our bags (literally) in our room, changed into hiking gear and took off for Mt. Otto. Mt. Otto dominates the nestled town below. We had quite an initiation for our first hike -- five miles of uphill/downhill climbing, which just about put Jim on crutches. We hiked from 4:00 until almost 8:00 p.m.
When we got back to the hotel, Sharon and Arno were there at the door to greet us. We are overlapping for one night here. They were pooped and were ready to turn in -- and we had not eaten all day and were going to go for dinner. We agreed to meet for breakfast before they take off for Chile tomorrow.
Went to dinner with 9 of our group to an Italian restaurant. This place had a remarkable wine cellar which they took us into and gave us a short talk on Argentinian wines. The folks in our group are very nice. Very agreeable and compatible -- we were sharing bottles of wine and steaks without giving it a second thought. Jim has found a fellow Navy-man and boy do they have a lot in common. They were in the navy at the same time; in similar jobs; marriages are similar and they both keep tropical fish.
Back to the hotel by 11:00. Got to get some rest for tomorrow as it is jammed full of activity.
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