Bariloche

A small mountain town in Bariloche, Argentina. think Breckenridge, but developing country with awful pollution and dogs living in the street.

then add the majestry of the ANDES mountains and the most beautiful blue lakes nestled at the base of the mountains. This mountain town is international and breath taking throughout the whole day. As the sun moves, blues, greens and pinks transform the skyline into postcard images.

Right now there are more Brasilians here than Argentinians and I just heard English for the first time today... I have been here for 5 days.

I went to an amazing restaurant in town, opened for 6 months now, Sesamo. The owner, Ari, is Israeli and moved here 7 years ago. Many Israelis travel throughout South America for months after the obligatory military service. He came down, loved it and moved to Bariloche with a good friend from Israel. They opened a hostel in El Bolson, a neighboring community, and know has about 100 beds. They opened the restaurant -Middle Eastern food in a country where the only food is pizza, pasta and meat. Thank you to Ari for opening a slice of heaven in Bariloche. The food is spectacular. I like to think that I am a good judge of Middle Eastern food and the hummus - jumus in spanish - is amaaaazing. I could eat there pretty much every meal!

The Rocky Mountains are the best skiing in the Americas. I can say that now that I have skied in South America. Pretty sure there isnt skiing in Central America so I have tried it all (almost). Vail is #1 for sure! Aca, the snow is like sugar but with a hell of a lot of ice. The mountain is big but there is no elevation so the runs are pretty short. The best part, our hilllllarious expedition into the trees that left us on a 4x4 trail in the middle of the mountain, literally off the ski map. of course we walked through an ATV trail and rode down part of it. Of course.

We had fun but I am counting down the days until opening day in the Rockies.

Off to Chile in a bus on Sunday....