Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Lake District Mega Road Trip-- Part 1 Bariloche

There's no better way to celebrate your birthday, than hopping in the car and driving a few umpteen hours to Argentina :)  Thanks, Joe, for sharing your January 18th birthday with miles and miles of pavement. 
 We were ready for yet another summer Berryhill road trip.
    
 No matter what you try to plan, being in the car for your birthday isn't a top choice.  So we tried to make it as sweet as possible.  
 We headed south toward the Lake District and after about 11 hours, we stopped at Lodge El Taique, in BEAUTIFUL Puyehue, to spend the night.  It was a quaint little cabin with a little kitchen, and you weren't afraid to put your head on the pillows!  Yeah!  It was so clean and they brought breakfast to us in the morning.  We got a great night sleep and awoke to this pristine scene behind us, with cows roaming in the meadows and a St. Bernard to keep us company.

 Route 215 was simply breathtaking.  We couldn't get enough of the rolling hills, the crystal blue lakes and then sharp mountain peaks.  I only wish we could have seen more of it in daylight!
 We crossed the border with fingers crossed and stacks of every type of document you can think of--birth certificates, marriage license, passports, RUT cards, all of our car information... you just NEVER know what they are going to ask for.  It varies from border to border, so you have to bring it all.
 Thankfully, we made it through the border patrol in only a couple hours!  Unlike our last car attempt that lasted almost 10 hours last summer.

Everyone was happy!  We were ready to continue on to our first official stop:  
Bariloche, the chocolate capital of South America :)

 This town is serious when it comes to it's chocolate.  There are literally 3-4 Chocolateria's on every single block.  We decided to be scientific about our chocolate tasting, and not go about it in random fashion.  We'd get the same flavors of chocolate from a few different stores and then try them all--decide which was best, and return to that store to load up.
 I honestly don't think I've ever eaten so much cocoa in my life.  Good thing I brought stretchy pants, because this was not a low calorie trip!!!
 Maybe I could sum up Bariloche as an eating fest.  This parrilla down below was unbelievable.  It opened at 8pm for dinner, and the line to get in at 7:45 was already out the door and down the street!
 The owner also had an incredible Italian restaurant on the same street, just a couple blocks up the road.  We ate there too :)
 Did I mention a lot of the chocolate stores had ice cream too?!!!  This is almost making me ill that this post is dedicated to food.


When it comes to yummy things, it has always been done with gusto in our home.


 Everyone was pretty happy about what we found in Bariloche.  


We had our box of chocolate.  We were ready to get out of the downtown and explore ;)


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