Traveling to Bariloche || Argentina

San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.

After an intensive month of Spanish classes, 5 hours a day, Monday through Friday I am able to say I am fluent in Spanish, just kidding, but I am more comfortable speaking the language than when I first arrived. I finally had my week long break to travel and really see the sights in Argentina. So what better way to do that than to head South to Bariloche? Bariloche, Argentina is a part of the Patagonias (the Southern part of Latin America) and is known for its beautiful scenery, meaning mountains and lakes, and also its chocolate, which I totally indulged in.

When one comes to Bariloche you come for the outdoor activities that this city has to offer. You are surrounded by so much nature everywhere and for anybody who knows me, nature and I don't mix well. Basically, my terrible allergies prevent me from enjoying nature to its fullest so before traveling I knew I would be miserable but I figured YOLO.

So what did I do with my 4.5 days there? Well first I got sick because going from 100°F to 60°F weather apparently, is too much for me to handle. Which means for the whole trip I was sick and miserable. This of course was not pleasant but it was one of those trips that I knew I'd look back on with fond memories so instead of staying in my hostel and being miserable I decided to go out with my travel buddies and enjoy myself.

Day 1: After a 22 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires I arrived in Bariloche and was greeted by rain and cold weather, well 53°F (which is basically freezing to me). After arriving, I checked in to my hostel and decided to explore the city and all the touristy areas. After, I went to a super market with my friends, bought some food, and we all made dinner together.

Day 2: Woke up, had an amazing breakfast in my hostel, and then got ready for the 2 excursions that had been planned. The first trip was a boat ride to Isla Victoria. The boat ride was amazing. My first time on a boat was so extremely memorable to me. The island was gorgeous, in all honesty I didn't have too much time to explore it but from what I did see it made me never want to leave. The second excursion was another boat ride to Bosque de Arrayanes, the forest that was the inspiration for Bambi. I've never seen that movie but everyone I was with said that they could feel the Bambi vibes. After the tours, my group headed back. We went to the super market again and bought some ingredients for empanadas because when in Argentina that's what you do. We then proceeded to make 60 empanadas because at the time it seemed like a good idea.

Day 3: Started out with another amazing breakfast, which really just means I ate 5 crepes with dulce de leche and enjoyed every single bite. After breakfast my travel group went on a couple of hikes. Once again, nature and I don't mix too well so my allergies were not liking all the trees but I enjoyed it. While hiking I had my handy dandy bag of left over empanadas to snack on.

Day 4: Woke up and ate my last breakfast of crepes. To make sure I would remember them I had 8, with dulce de leche of course. Next I went to an open market that the city was having and bought some souvenirs and just enjoyed the view of the city one last time before getting on a bus to take me back to Buenos Aires.

Sidenote: If you ever decide to go to Bariloche I suggest staying in the Tango Inn Hostel. It has extremely clean rooms and bathrooms, an amazing view of the lake and the mountains. My personal favorite is that they always have an amazing breakfast selection. Crepes con dulce de leche is to die for!

Since I am writing this while back in Buenos Aires, even now I'm able to look back on the trip with great memories. Even though I got sick so making the trip was definitely worth it.

Will I go back anytime soon? Probably not, I just don't have the time. Will I remember this trip for years to come? Por supuesto!

Scroll down for more pictures!

-Annalise

This is a real bird guys, taking a cracker from my hand. It's so cool! When you look up on the boat you see all these birds just waiting for the tourist to feed them.

Las chicas that I traveled to Bariloche with. They are an awesome group of girls that I'm so happy I got to meet. Missing one from the picture though.

The view from my hostel. Re-lindo!

Just look at that water!

When I said we made 60 empanadas I was not kidding. Here's 37 and we had another huge try like this one in the over.