Argentina

This big, furry, Russian-style gorro (lit: "beanie") was purchased this morning, due to my previous beanie's whereabouts being unknown. I tried it on the slopes today, for my final day of snowboarding, and I can attest that it is very warm. Quite stylish, as well. The emblem on the front reads: "Patagonia Argentina" (Patagonia is the name of the region encompassing southern and Andean Argentina).

All good things gotta come to an end, and what a lovely end it was. Today was my 7^th and final day of snowboarding, here at the alpine resort of Cerro Catedral. Considering how crap the weather's been all week, I wasn't expecting much this morning: but I was rewarded for my week of perseverance — the sun was shining down on me today! Lovely weather, slightly less crowds, and the best snowboarding so far, all combined to make this about as good a finale for the week as I could have hoped. Got some great piccies today, did plenty of runs that I've never ventured down before, and finished the week with enough bruised body parts to keep me sore for a while, but luckily with no broken bones.

Just a quick note about the unbelievable, too-good-to-be-true wine situation here in Argentina. I was talking to someone on the bus today, and they told me that apparently Argentina produces 5% of the world's wine, and that it consumes 5.2% thereof! That is, despite producing a colossal amount of wine, Argentinians nevertheless drink more wine than they make. This would explain why you don't see that much Argentinian wine anywhere else in the world. It doesn't make it out of the country, and into the global export market. It's too good to let the rest of the world get it's hands on — the locals drink the lot! And considering how even the most basic, US$2 supermarket bottle of red tastes absolutely divine around here, I can believe that fact, despite how economically crazy it may sound.

The sensational midnight parrilla that I had at Alberto's a few nights ago was simply too good — I had to get me some more! Tonight, a massive group of us had an evening exodus out of Patanuk, and so it was that I went to Bariloche's finest steak house one more time. Our table was piled high with platters of juicy beef cuts, with several pyramids of french fries, and with enough bottles of red wine to sink an aircraft carrier. Needless to say, this was a most satisfying night of gluttony in its most carnivorous form.

My first day of not snowboarding alone: yay! Today, I caught the bus up to the mountain with Ed (who managed to rise from bed this morning) — we also met up on the bus again with Paul, and his Brazilian friend — and together, we all went up the slopes on our funky snowboards. Sadly, the weather was once again pretty shoddy today: snowing / raining all day, and the mountain was a white-out / blizzard by the afternoon. Nevertheless, we had plenty of fun, and we didn't get too soaked in the process.

For dinner at Patanuk tonight, Finlandia spoiled us rotten, by cooking a delicious (and huge) dinner of ceviche (raw fish soaked in lemon juice). Of course, this being Finlandia, it was ceviche chileno — so not quite up there with ceviche peruano (nobody does it like them peruanos); but pretty daym fine nonetheless. Served with bread, salad, and quiche; and (of course) washed down with generous helpings of red wine.

Ahhh, the Oiyrish — gotta love 'em after the first few beers, gotta be ready to catch 'em after a few more. Ed's no exception: he's just like the rest of his kinfolk. Ed's part of the Patanuk crew for this week, and he's a really fun mix in the collection. Always got a joke or two up his sleeve; always got room for another beverage in that Irish stomach of his; and occasionally got the capacity to get up of a morning, and to go snowboarding. A great ambassador of his fine nation.

Paul's a ragged hippie backpacker, from that place in Oz where you go if there's a wedding or a barmitzvah (aka "Melbourne"), and who (like myself) is doing the South America thing solo. I first met Paul while hiking in the Colca Canyon, in southern Peru, about 2 months ago. Today, I bumped into him again, while snowboarding up at Cerro Catedral. Funny guy, and always up for a beer or two.

My fifth day of boarding down the runs of Cerro Catedral was the best day so far. The weather cleared up a bit today — it was still overcast as hell, but at least it wasn't raining or snowing — and my skills on the board are only getting better. Yesterday was the first day that I really started feeling confident on the board — so today was all about having fun! I tried going down some "red" runs (an Argentine special — they're basically hard blues), and even a few blacks ("chicken style" all the way, for now). It's still really hard doing proper turns on those steep bits, but I'm getting there.

Sarah cooked up a beautiful stew tonight, here at Patanuk, which a whole lot of us devoured in its entirety. Lovely big hunks of meat, fat roasted vegetables, and a thick and juicy gravy-like sauce. Perfect dish for a cold, rainy night in Argentina. And went great with the standard several bottles of red wine (goes without saying, really :P).