Compleanos blanco (White birthday)

This morning I woke up to a white birthday as a dusting of snow fell in this town of Bariloche overnight. It seems like this snowfall caught the locals unprepared as I've seen no cars with snow tyres - they were crawling along with little traction on the iced roads this morning - some almost sliding backwards!

I received a number of sms message this morning from friends and family and just as warm "Feliz compleanos" greetings from the peeps here at breakfast. A lovely warm start to this cold morning.

It only starts to get light after 8am so the sun isn't shining very strong when I walk to the Spanish school, which is only two blocks across and one block down from the hostel. As the people walk on the snow it compacts to make very slippery ice. Quite exciting and novel for me. Trail shoes do pretty ok. I'd love some with ice spikes!

I'm now two days into Spanish lessons and feeling quite overwhelmed. My teacher, Sasha, speaks nothing but Spanish to us - I probably understand about 40% of what she says; I get the gist of the next 40% and there's a goo 20% where I haven't got a clue. If we ask what a word is, she does tell us in English.

There are two other women in the class with me. A lass from Arizona who is probably at a similar level to me; and a lass from Rome, who is definitely above both of us.

I'm enjoying the vibe in the hostel. Last night I was up quite late (most are up way later than me) and enjoy being surrounded by all the Spanish. There are a few who speak pretty good English but they're good and they don't speak much English to me and are very willing to help to explain words and to correct my sorry attempts. I seem to get it so much better in my head than when I try to spit out the words.

Well, two days down and 3.5 weeks to go... A chap here reassured me this afternoon that it will start to click after a week or so. 

Yesterday after class another teacher, Javier, took us on a mini tour of the town. It drizzled the whole day yesterday with snow coming into the mix in the afternoon. Our tour was very cold and very wet and very windy but at least I now know where to get an electronic bus ticket, which I need to do before the weekend, and also he recommended a supermarcado (supermarket). 

There's a fiesta on this weekend, which is a long weekend. It's in the town square - only a few blocks from the hostel. It's a public holiday on Thursday so they get Friday too. It seems there will be concerts and things. That will be fun to check out.

The silver lining to my lost-in-the-language compleanos day was that the morning dawned crystal clear with a big blue sky and shining sun. I took advantage to head out for a birthday run - the same area as I was on Sunday afternoon. This time I took the road up and down. What fun! 

There was probably around 30cm of snow - or a bit more - on the upper parts of the road. I didn't go all the way to the top - just to a lower-down ski station (children's ski area?) where I met the two St Bernards on Sunday. And then I turned around and ran back. I saw a few runners out there and also three guys on what I assume are cross-country skis. I ran past them going up the road ;)

It will take me a while to get used to running on this snowy-icy surface. Definitely can't lose focus for even a second or I'll go flying for sure. I enjoy running on the snow, which 'squeaks' under my shoes rather than the slipper ice, compacted by cars. I also learned today not to run too close to the trees. With the sun out the snow was melting so chunks come off the trees - some just missed my head!

Feliz compleanos! 37 today! And what a beautiful afternoon. This road was all dirt two days ago. Warmer out than on Sunday (less wind) so sweating despite the chill.

Looking down on Bariloche - through the branches. First snow in town for the season.

Arrow showing where I went to on Sunday afternoon. Didn't go all the way up there today. I couldn't have asked for a prettier birthday run ;)

There's quite a cooking culture here in the hostel and at night (late) a number of the men take turns cooking. I can't quite figure it out but there is the guy who owns the hostel, Pablo, and his wife and little daughter, plus some of the people who work here plus a couple of other guys - perhaps friends? They all eat together late at night. Last night the one guy may delicious pizzas and most nights Pablo bakes 'pan casita' (home-made bread) for breakfast.

Things happen here late... the local disco gets going around 3am. My dorm mate (only one at the moment - Diego, he works here at the hostel) got back at 8am on Sunday morning! And people get up late too. And so they eat dinner late too. Diego must have been partying last night too because when I cam back from school a bit after 1 he was still sleeping!

To give you a quick idea of how much things cost...

• It's around R2.00 for a bread roll. Loaves of bread (like regular sandwich bread at home) are very expensive - like R40.00 a loaf. Very popular here it to buy rolls daily or to bake your own bread at home.
• Six large eggs are around R14.00.
• It's around R15.00 for a can of lentils.
• I paid about R22.00 for three bananas and two apples today. It's around R20/kilo for bananas at the supermarket.
• A litre of apple juice is similar to home at around R14.00.
• A 500g packet of fresh spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli is around R36.00. Big Italian heritage in Argentina so pasta, especially fresh, seems popular. 

Some things very similar to home - others much more expensive and others cheaper.

My other slippies are somewhere - with prices for things like rice and other odds. I've found a nice vegetable shop with a not very socially-adept fellow (a bit abrupt) that is on my way home from the Spanish school. I bought a nice red cabbage (half) and onions from him over the weekend and I got my bananas and apples there today too.

Bariloche has many stores that cater specifically for tourists, who will be hitting town in a big way in the next two weeks for ski season. TONS of chocolate stores. Also outdoor clothing (new and second hand). And artesanal beer is also a big thing here with many microbreweries around town.

Hasta luego...

First run... in heaven

After a slow and easy morning I headed out for my first run here in Bariloche. I thought I'd go out for an hour or so. I got back after THREE HOURS. At one stage during the run I thought that I must have died and gone to heaven. But as I'd always figured heaven for tee-shirt-and-shorts weather, I knew that could not be so. Nonetheless, I am in a HEAVEN of some kind because this place is just fabulous. Cold. But fabulous.

I set off along the 'coastal' road, with basic street map of Bariloche in hand. The wind was howling but with two Buffs (one on head, one around neck), a thermal base layer plus run jacket plus wind shell and long warm (not fleece - these are still to come out) tights, I felt A-ok. Ah, and running gloves. The wind here is really icy! Even saw iced-over puddles on the road side. And this was at 13h00-ish! Only going to be getting colder from here...

I've got another, local map. This just gives you an idea of the town. Need to get my hands on the hiking map of the area.

As much as I've never been crazy about the cold I do find it fresh and invigorating - quite novel and exciting for now. The hostel is nice and warm inside and you sleep warm too. There's even a radiator in the bathroom, which keeps off the chill after showering.

The lake. These waves are so totally because of the wind. Brrrr...

After a few kays I took another road up and made my way across to what looked like a trail on the map. What it was is a trail... it runs beneath a ski lift. Yes, it is steep and straight up!

More than 2/3 up already. Just a bit more to go. Underfoot on this section ahead the 'gravel' just slides - very loose.

After a bit I started to see bits of snow and up on top there was quite a bit. Spectators too, who came up by cable car.

And this isn't even the main ski mountain area! So much exploring to be done!

I think I'll run this route frequently as it is awesome and easily accessible. Will be interesting to see the change in the scenery over the next few weeks. Going to get very WHITE. Won't be any vegetation showing. I'm going to have such awesome weekend adventures!

And then I ran the road down and back into town. The only tricky bit was running on ice on the higher parts of the road. Very slippery. I look forward to attempting to run this road up. Great fitness challenge to be able to run 90% of it - at least - by the time I leave. Nice in places, steep lower down. I met two St Bernard dogs. I think they live at the ski place next to the road down. They came up to me to say hi and leaned against my leg while I petted them. Very sweet. I saw a big St Bernard and a puppy yesterday. Suitable and evidently popular dogs for this area. Oooohh... the huskies would absolutely loooovvveee this place!

High up on the road. Where the car tracks are... that's ice, not dirt. Safer to run on the snow. Crunch-crunch.

Also what makes this place so great is that aside from the main roads in the central part of town and the main routes along the lake, the rest are DIRT. That's right. DIRT. I did say HEAVEN, didn't I?

Where I'm staying. Bariloche stretches long along the lake but this here is the main town 'centre'. I'm staying a few blocks above the centre of centre of town.

These photos are to make you TOTALLY envious. I would be. Except I'm not. Because I AM HERE!

This afternoon I went to check out my Spanish school - it's like two small blocks from here. I start lessons at 09h00 Monday morning. So very excited!

Excitement is... learning Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country!

In the news here too. In the local Bariloche newspaper from today, 16 June 2013. A few people in BA asked after Mandela's health too.

I did good

This morning I successfully caught a bus. This sounds like a minor, routine thing but I find it more daunting than catching a flight. The staff at the hostel told me the bus number and the road intersection (two blocks from the hostel) to catch the bus to the domestic airport, which is just North of the city centre, on the river. So, last night, when I went out walking, I went to watch the buses at this intersection because I didn't know where it would come from or where to stand. I got it figured out and made the successful connection.

What I didn't know is that these city buses don't take cash - it's an electronic card or coins, put into a 'slot machine'. I had 2 pesos in coins and a 10 pesos note. The fare was 3.50 pesos (they write pesos with a $ sign - if the amount was US Dollars they'd add US). I asked a young woman if she had change and she kindly swiped her bus card, giving me a ride. Very sweet. I obviously looked very out of place with my luggage and I-don't-know-what-to-do expression.

City centre of Buenos Aires from the air. Yellow circle is the obelisk and the pink x is where I was staying.

On my walk last night... I went to the port area, to the left of the pink x. This is the second of three ports built for BA (this one in 1890). But, they made the docks too small for the ships so it wasn't used and the current main port was built (bottom of photo). It is a fancy area now with restaurants, nice new office buildings, hotels and apartments. They've got two historic ships that you can look around - I'm going to do this when I come back to the city. Great area to walk around and I saw some runners too.

As for Barlioche... My feet started itching just looking at the open, far-South-looking terrain. Oh golly. Not much accessible but just open and expansive and lovely. It is chilly but was a clear and beautiful afternoon. Icy wind that howls across the lake. Mountains visible with snow-capped tops. Definitely snowing the other side of the lake today. White horses on the lake.

Approaching Bariloche. My first view of the Andes. Snow on the mountain tops.

The town is really cool. A bit of sweetness and cuteness mixed with ski-town-tourist-trap - but overall a nice feeling to it.

I did real good to choose to come here instead of staying in the city. I'd go crazy there.

My hostel here is very homey and warm and welcoming - very different from the huge one in BA. They even bake their own bread for breakfast! Big, welcoming kitchen.

Not much in the way of English speaking peeps, which is just what I need ;) Very friendly people. I'm going to have fun practising my Spanish on them - very accommodating.

I'm in a four person dorm - I haven't seen my roomies yet but I think it is two guys. Not as messy as the girls from the BA dorm!

I'll write more tomorrow to give you an idea of the cost of things here etc.

Rio de la Plata - the domestic airport in BA is right on the river, which was quite whipped up by the wind on Saturday.

Walking around a part of the Bariloche town. That's snow happening in that storm across the lake. It seems like there are a few flat roads near the lake and then they go up steeply. During a run on Sunday I'll check out the place more.

OMG - yarn bombing in town! There are a couple of trees wrapped in yarn. This means that there is a group of knitters / crocheters in town and to do stuff like this it means that they probably get together at least once a week... now to find them. Would be fun to join their group, hablo espanol y crochet. The hunt is on!

Big walking in da city

Have I been walking! Working it out, it looks like I did around 17km yesterday and I clocked around 13-14 kilometres today - so far. Will head out this evening for another walk-about. Phew!

Today I walked North of the city. Amazing the difference two kilometres out of the centre (Centro), where I'm staying. Fancier apartments, no McDonalds. More of a residential than a business area. More calm. More dogs. More parks. In fact, Recoleta and the northern part of San Telmo is quite pretty and had many parks.

I have quite a fascination with the dog walkers. Probably because I'd like to be a dog walker. Not in a city like this though. I'm quite surprised at how well behaved and docile these dogs are. They all walk nicely together. There was this one park where a few dog walkers had collected and some dogs were tied to the fence while others were free and in a fenced enclosure. Personally, if I was a dog owner and I hired a dog walker I'd follow them to see where they go and what they do. I wouldn't want my dog walker to tie the leads to a fence and leave the dogs just sitting there...

It is quite chilly today - a number of dogs had jerseys on.

In another park I saw the best thing. A guy with a dog and four CATS. What puzzles me is that these are pet cats in really good condition (not strays) and they were just sitting nicely on the lawn next to him and walking around right near him. Are they his cats or is he a cat walker? How'd he get the cats to the park? Did he walk them on leads? How far did they walk to get to the park?

In the much nicer neighbourhood that I went through today I saw many people walking their own dogs. All beautifully groomed (same with the dog walker dogs too) and walking so very nicely on leads. Totally city dogs.

Of interest, my tour guide for the second walking tour yesterday, Vicky, said that people from Buenos Aires don't show off if they have money. You see no Ferraris nor fancy-pants cars driving around. She said that they prefer not to publically flash their money. Instead they'll do nice things to their homes. I wonder whether the type of dog you have is a bit of a 'bling' thing? Some snooty pooches around.

I headed down to the Recoleta Cemetery. I've been there previously - nice to take a look around again. Packed with mausoleums, built by the original wealthy families of the city, there are something like 5,000 dead peeps in here. It's like a mini city of remains in ornate house-like tombs.

No flowers nor angels above the door to this mausoleum...

Near the cemetery is his amazing tree. Vicky said that this is the oldest tree in the city. It's a rubber tree and around 200 years old. They had to put supports under the branches.

And then off again to the Japanese Gardens. I expected them to be bigger... but they were pretty nonetheless. I don't think this time of year does the Garden much justice. I'm sure it is magnificent in Spring / Summer with leaves on the trees and an abundance of flowers and flowering trees. Still, it is pretty and quiet and nice to sit for a while.

I'm back at the hostel - chilling for a bit. Tomorrow I fly to Bariloche. Forecast is 10C and rain, with a low of -2C... I did pack my rain jacket and pants. There's a bus stop two blocks from here and the bus goes straight to the airport. Convenient! On the other side there's a bus from the airport too - and a walk of a few blocks to the hostel.

Ah... I wanted to tell you that this city is not dirty as I was told. For having 13 million people living here on top of each other it is pretty clean. Cleaner than Jo'burg city by a huge margin! Sure, there's a bit more litter in the Centro than, say, Recoleta and other nice-nice suburbs, but it really isn't bad.

Some stuff that Vicky told us last night...

If you get five locals together you can be sure that one will be a psychologist. They have two options, like us, for medical treatment: government or private. She says the doctors in the government system are really good but that the buildings and facilities are neglected and falling apart. So, most middle class and higher income pay for private medical. Two benefits they receive from this are: cosmetic plastic surgery procedure every two years and psychologist visits.

On the plastic surgery side she says BA is crazy for plastic surgery. At least 100 boob jobs a day! She says locals like to look good and so plastic surgery is very popular. Medical aid pays for this cosmetic surgery.

She says that locals also go to their psychologist once a week. For an hour. Just to chat. If you don't go to a psychologist, you're the odd one out.

Ah... Gaston, my morning guide, was answering someone's question about the tango, which is the national dance and an 'identity' of BA. He says only really older folk tango. Younger people don't. Not at all. Like between the ages of 25 (and younger) to 35 people don't dance tango. They don't go out to clubs to dance unless they're dance students; much like any people who go to dance classes. He doesn't tango and says that not one of his friends dances tango either. It's more popular with tourists than locals.

Off to the mountains tomorrow. Yay! And am soooo totally looking forward to starting Spanish lessons on Monday.