Bariloche. On Friday afternoon, we took the bus to Bariloche. The trip is a little more than 20 hours by bus, but it somehow ends up being less painful than an airline flight half as long. Long-distance bus rides in Argentina are comfortable. There are 3 and sometimes 4 different classes of buses available, and you can take a 'semi cama' (half-bed) or 'cama' (bed - which is a misnomer because the seats don't recline all the way; there is a 'super cama' where they do), its like being in business or first class on an airline (minus the china and silverware). The seats are big and comfortable, there's air conditioning, food, drinks and movies ... August Rush and Pride and Prejudice in spanish and I can´t remember what else. The ride to Bariloche cost about $70. Distance wise, its probably the equivalent of going to Denver from San Francisco. Bariloche is beautiful, a bit like Tahoe ... beautiful snow capped mountains, blue lakes, pine trees and hiking trails. The city itself is kind of a tourist trap. There are chocolate shops, restaurants, hotels and lots of stores that sell tshirts that say ¨mis papas fueron a Bariloche y no me trajeron mas que esta remera¨ (which means my parents when to Bariloche and all they brought me was this tshirt). There are great berries, chocolate, micro brew beer and smoked meats here. Odd combination, but there were a number of Germans and Swiss who came here. We are staying in a b&b type cabin that is made entirely of wood. When you walk on the slats or up the stairs, the whole house creaks. It´s beatiful ... two levels, two bedrooms, stocked kitchen, nice open living area. All that for less than the price of a motel 8. 'Bunglow of the Forest of the Elves' if you come. I recommend it. They seem to be fascinated with Elves and Dwarfs in this part of the country. They sell them in town (the tshirt and chocolate shops), and today we hiked to ´the waterfall of the dwarfs´. Last night Rosana had nightmares about evil dwarfs, and I heard her talking, though I didn´t know they were drawfs at the time. We rented a car and have been cruising around the area, hiking and eating. There´s not that much to do in Bariloche itself. It´s the surrounding mountains and lakes that are the draw. Fortunately we came a couple weeks before high season. There aren´t that many people here yet, so it was easy to find a place and the trails and such aren´t that crowded. Tomorrow we are going an hour or two south to a town called El Bolson, which is supposed to be nice. We may spend the night there, depending on how much there is to do, and then come back to Bariloche on Wednesday, and probably head back to Buenos Aires on Thursday or Friday in time for the weekend. There is a big soccer game this weekend. Boca Juniors (Diego Maradona´s old club) was in first place, but tied or lost the last two games, and Tigre and San Lorenzo both won their last 2, so there is a 3 way tie for first. Since we live in the neighborhood of San Lorenzo, it should be a fun weekend. That´s all for now. If I don´t post pics before the end of the week I will this weekend.