This morning started out with some “housework” around the hostel- figuring out plans from here, making reservations, looking at buses, etc. Our plan was to plan more day by day, but we have had some issues with a lot of the good housing being taken when we try to book too late. It is Chile and Argentina’s summer break, so everything is a bit more crowded.
First stop was the tourist office for some recommendations. From there, we caught a bus out to another town out on the lake called Llao Llao. It is the location of one of the nicest hotels in Argentina as well as a National Park (which if you can’t guess is where we headed). We snapped a picture of the famous hotel and headed to the park.
First stop in the park was Bosque de los Arrayanes (Forest of the Arrayanes). Arrayanes are a type of tree only found in Chile and Argentina, but the largest area in the world to find them is right outside Bariloche. They have a reddish type bark that peels very easily. We thought they were pretty cool.
From there, we headed to the sop of Cerro (Mountain/Hill) Llao Llao for some great views of the surrounding mountains and lakes.
We caught the bus back to town. On the walk back to our hostel, we noticed a bunch of craft breweries and decided to try out some Argentinian beer. It was surprisingly pretty good and very refreshing after our 8-10 miles of walking that day.
After the long day, we were ready to eat. While I was looking at posisbilities in the guidebook, we realized that one of the most highly recommended places was literally right next door. We went inside and looked at a menu, then the guy that handed us the menu said, “Or we serve meat downstairs”, so we decided to go see what that was like. Alejandro was intrigued, so we stayed downstairs at Tio de la Parilla. It was a good choice. We had a wine from our own winery (kind of- it was called Finca de las Moras). The portions were huge, and the food was delicious. The steak on my plate is a HALF portion of sirloin, and Alejandro got Vacio, which is a flank steak. With a salad, an empanada, and a bottle of wine, the grand total for dinner was… $40 USD. A little more than we usually spend backpacking, but a fantastic deal for what we got. Though we were stuffed, I really wanted to try what is suposedly one of the best ice cream places in Argentina called Juaja, and as my dad says, “There is always room for ice cream!”
Travel Fun With Cassie and Alejandro 
Cassie and Alejandro:
I’m loving evreything evrey place is better than the one before. The views are magnificent. Love the arrayanes.
The food looks just fenomenal and was the Mora wine good? All the best wishes and my love.
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The Moras wine was delicious!
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