Drive to Villa La Angostura

Nice morning here in Bariloche. Weather is good for our drive to Villa La Angostura with partly cloudy skies, warm temps in the low 60’s, and no rain, at least not until tomorrow. The drive is about 1.5hrs from our rental and goes along the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi (pronounced,” na well wha pee”). Not too bad of a drive, only had one police stop for a breathalyzer check then on our way. These stops are quite frequent. On our way to the airport at 9am on Sunday, there was a check point just outside of El Calafate. 9am on Sunday! If they caught anyone, they deserved it! There was a total of three stops along this road to Angostura. Not sure if the others were breathalyzer or just random stops, we were waved through.

Roadside Police Station

Again, some amazing scenery. Homes around a lake like this in the US would cost a fortune. Here in Argentina, hard to say. With triple digit inflation occurring about every 2-3 years, the value of everything fluctuates. That’s why no one robs an Argentine bank. If you steal a million, by the time you get in the car, it’s only $500,000.00, and by the time you get caught, it’s only a misdemeanor. Tough times for the working population, for sure.

Chimango Caracara

Cruised into Villa La Angostura, found a parking spot, and set out to explore. But not before we had a pastry and coffee at York Bakery. Nice place with friendly service and great pastries. Collette vied for a cookie while I went for the curd filled pastry. A cappuccino and an Americano to top it off.

York bakery

York Bakery

Yum!

The town mostly caters to tourists and hikers with many shops selling hiking gear and sports clothing. Quite a few trinket shops selling key chains, magnets, sweatshirts and gnomes. Gnomes? Seems there is this video that came out in 2008 where some kids caught a gnome wondering around the woods. Of course it was fake, but the gnome interest caught on. Soon everyone was selling all kinds of gnomes. Today, gnome sales are everywhere and of every type and style of gnome you can imagine.

Angostura downtown walkway

The city…

Not in the market for a gnome so we continued on our stroll through Angostura. Found the central park at the end of main street, took a few pics, called it a day. Time to head back to Bariloche for the evening. Going to rain tomorrow so we’ll be doing laundry and writing. Our next outing will be a drive through part of Nahuel Huapi National Park.

Till then – te veo luego

Oh, and those of you wondering if 7 weeks in South America has helped my Spanish, un poquito.