A week in Bariloche... IN PICTURES

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I travelled on Ruta 40 for 32 hours? Man, what a rush! It felt incredible to see the same scenery as Che did all those years ago, just sucking in the mindblowing sights that loomed all around me like spectres of a not-so-distant past.

For 32 hours! Actually I have to say that, three Phenergans later, the bus trip turned out significantly better than I had predicted.

Anyway it didn't matter too much that Ruta 40 completely blew because soon we arrived in Bariloche, an event which came with a definite verdict of YAY. Hey check it out! This crappy photo illustrates what I would see out of the bathroom window when I crawled out of bed at seven every morning for Spanish class:

Whoa but hey what is that building that is shaped like a toadstool?

It is a kiosk that, from what I can ascertain, is shut for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Onwards!

Outside our hostel:

Donde esta el punk rock? I would tell you if I could.

Meat!

From the parilla down the road. Milo Matt and Otis and Jonno came and joined us at the hostel for some crackin' meat treats. I ate potato and lentil salad and some soy Milanesas and they were extremely tasty thanks for asking.

Vegetables!

From "El Vegetariano," the uncreatively named vegetarian restaurant in Bariloche. Oh but it was good though. They don't have a menu, just a set plate each day, and me and Ro shared soy cutlets, super tasty vegetables, corn frittatas, spinach crepes... oh my goodness.

Oh and man just check out the sweet marscapone-y goodness we split for dessert:

I am not really much of a food photographer, sorry. Awwww but this was an amazing tiramisu.

We "volunteered" one afternoon at Spanish school.

It was actually pretty silly, we just wound up playing soccer with a bunch of kids, but it was fun anyway I guess. I am not really soccer crazy so I just entertained myself by singing "Born to Run" and practising guitar windmills when I thought no one was looking. It turns out they were looking and the stupid kids thought it would be a great idea to mock their Auntie Caro ruthlessly for the rest of the game. They secretly thought I was incredible, though. Anyway that's Lucy grinning away in the brown shirt, and in the red shirt is a shy little thing who didn't really speak, she was pretty cool though. We had an understanding.

Then on the weekend we hiked! Ro looks offensively outdoorsy here:

And here is Refugio Lopez! On top of Cerro Lopez, where we hiked.

About three hours up and we had a pretty sweet view of Bariloche and all the sexy little lakes and so on.

CROP CIRCLES VISIBLE FROM CERRO LOPEZ :O

Mark if you read this pls inform a Mr J Sherry immediately.

But where am I, you say? Where is my very favourite friend/family member amidst all these sights? So here is a slightly horrible picture of me with an adorable dog.

It wandered into the pub in Pucon and sat on my lap and after this photo was taken it fell asleep for half an hour. Probably the greatest thing in the world. The dogs in Chile are the best. They all run around without collars and are so sweet and affectionate. They don't even mind if you try to spoon them. Which is more than I can say for the men.

Love love love

Lion