(Pics will be inserted once my camera is again functional)
If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must taste the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.
Mao Zedong
There are different ways and reasons for travelling.
1) To see as much as possible
2) To experience as much as possible
These are 2 of the biggest. I hold money like a wet soap, so combining the 2 is nay on impossible without large gaps in between to appease the banking overlords (insert monster loogy sound here)
After the recent trip to Siete Lago with the ever awesome Tomas and Diana, surviving on a diet of instant mash, sweetcorn, salchicha and lentils I needed to switch motivation and go with option 2.
With the recent demise of phone 3 (*Jack of all trades, master of ……. ALL!!! I´ve managed to get the camera working again! I AM LEGEND!!!) I lost my WIFI access….. not to worry, there´ll be plenty of internet cafes in such a touristy place like Bariloche… no, no, no Fray!!!
Time have changed. Smartphones + WiFi appear to be the death of the trusty, reliable Internet cafe. The levels of dust that i found on the 2 closed signs of the first 2 internet cafes I found rivalled that of a Maths teachers ´Fun Diary´!
No internet, no correspondence, no deluge of stories from the road……… I had paper, a camera……. time to go old-school!
For me, Argentina is wine and meat. No rock and roll, no women… just life stripped down to the absolute basics… wine and meat!
So with that view I decided to indulge in the 2. I knew that there would be hard times ahead, where survival far outweighs enjoyment. This I accept and even look forward to with an unhealthy amount of anticipation. But knowing this also eases the pain of spending a relatively high amount on a mountain of beef and booze. In the absence of sex I need an endorphine rush….. meat was the key!!!
Bariloche is a tourist trap… a pretty trap, but a trap nonetheless. The local culture is diluted by snowboarding shops, sunglasses shops and various other gringo essentials. That´s not to say it doesn’t have it´s own charm. Stunning scenery, far more prettier girls that Buenos Aires and, by Argentinian standards, an above average level of hospitality. So whilst trawling the streets I stumbled across El Nuevo Guacho!
GOD I LOVE MY STUMBLING!!!
A restaurant, not a cheap little cafe, but I was in the mood to indulge.
MEAT AND WINE!!!
They provided both.
400g of Lomo a la Parrilla + 1000 mls of Sangria. I´d missed Sangria SOOOOOOO much since Venezuala (and before that Barcelona). I had high hopes for the steak, but understood that Sangria is rarely made from anything but the cheapest wine…… WRONG!!!!!
One glass sent my tastebuds (and drunk o´meter) into hyperdrive. The staff were super friendly, helpful, informative, and gave me an infinite amount of paper for my post consumption writing.
I could have cut the steak with a spoon… it was so…so…so juicy and succulent!
Juicy, juicy, juicy!!!
When I’m old and grey I will have many exciting and unique moments to reflect upon. This, I feel, was one of them. For 30 pounds I could have gorged on a mountain of instant mash, sweetcorn and lentils…. but that wouldn’t have made for a lasting memory. No! I had a steak that I would happily class as one of the finest foods I have even eaten in my life, and drank some Sangria that smashed my mind silly.
There may be finer food in the world… but until now I´ve not found it….
…… Guess I´d just better keep looking then!
If you get to Argentina, and then to Bariloche, I would HIGHLY recommend El Nuevo Gaucho….. ES DA PINGA!!!
Now I return to my diet of sweetcorn, lentils and stream water as I make the next step of my journey… the epic southern adventure!
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i can almost taste that steak from here.Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..