With 120,000 residents, the city of San Carlos de Bariloche is the largest in the Patagonian Andes. Homes with a distinct European look crowd together with larger modern buildings, all sloping to the edge of Lake Nahuel Huapi. A conventionally attractive urban area, it is the city’s natural location, surrounded by breathtaking mountains, lakes, and forests, that transforms it into a place of bewitching beauty. Astrid and I were bewitched.
A bit of history:
Centro Civico
The name Bariloche derives from a Mapuche Indian word for ‘people on the other side of the mountains.’ For centuries the region saw little more than scattered Amerindian tribes and the occasional adventurous priest like Nicolás Mascardi. In the late 1800s, a German immigrant living in Osorno, Chile, set up shop here, and soon fellow German and Austrian immigrants joined him. In the 1930s, a railroad connected Bariloche with the rest of Argentina, and the city center was redesigned to give the appearance of a South American Switzerland. Bariloche became a skiing and mountaineering mecca for Argentina’s rich and/or famous.
Following World War II, the city entered a darker period. Its German population and remote location made it a relatively safe haven for Nazi war criminals, and some suggested that Hitler himself hid out nearby. Meredith Hoffman wrote an interesting article about this in A Visit to Bariloche for Tablet Magazine.
In recent years, Bariloche has become a mega-tourism destination, welcoming more than a million visitors annually. Its location within the Nahuel Huapi National Park has earned it the title of Argentina’s Capital of Adventure Tourism, offering everything from sailing to ice climbing to skiing. Among the many ski resorts is the southern hemisphere’s largest, Cerro Catedral. The European heritage has given it another distinction as Argentina’s chocolate capital. Shops abound along Avenida Mitre, nicknamed the Avenue of Chocolate Dreams. Sail or ski by day, eat chocolates at night — not a bad life.
More fine dining:
The city also has a vibrant nightlife, known for its variety of restaurants, small clubs, pubs, and themed bars. When Astrid and I arrived at the Hotel Edelweiss in the city center, tired but hungry after our CruceAndino journey, we set out in search of a restaurant on Astrid’s list of Bariloche’s best. Passing by small outdoor venues featuring jazz musicians and DJs, we reached Cerveza Manush (yes, more beer.) The place was packed, with people milling about, waiting for tables. By some miracle, we were led to two bar seats, where Astrid had lamb chops Patagonian style, and I had a veal stew, both served with mashed potatoes. Hearty and very tasty.
Boliche de Alberto
The next day, we breakfasted on coffee, croissants, and cookies at Mamuschka, a pleasant café in the back of one of the city’s well known chocolate shops. For lunch we visited Parrilla Juaja, and, in a contemporary setting of wood and glass, enjoyed venison in escabeche and venison and beef empanadas. Continuing with the Argentinian meat experience, we dined at another dauntingly crowded restaurant, the famous (to quote one of the waiters), somewhat quirky El Boliche de Alberto. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, and we ordered blood sausage, a cheese/tomato/onion melt, entrañas (the Argentinian word for churrasco), and, by mistake, a full order of tenderloin. A take-home box was needed.
By the lake:
A costanera parallels Lago Nahuel Huapi along the city center. To burn off a few of the calories we were consuming, we followed it in both directions. The sweeping lakeside views change with the eyes’ focus — jagged snow-tipped Andean peaks to the west, rolling mountains straight ahead, and mounded hills to the east. Reaching the lake edge, I dipped in my hand. Chilly! Due to its high elevation, the water averages 45° F., and swimmers must be careful to avoid hypothermia. Up-close, some of the lakeside attractions have been neglected, most notably an old swimming pool now filled with graffiti instead of water.
Up the hill, the well maintained, neo-gothic Cathedral of Our Lady of Nahuel Huapi towers over lovely grounds. Constructed in the 1940s out of white stone, it takes the shape of a Latin cross. Inside, beautiful stained glass windows light up the spacious sanctuary. One of them represents the martyrdom of Father Nicolas Mascardi, mentioned in a previous post.
Cerro Otto:
After browsing through two open-air craft markets set up in city squares, we boarded a bus to take us some three miles west of downtown, to the lower station of the Cerro Otto Cable Car. After a long wait due to large crowds of students and erratic cable movement, a car whisked us up the mountainside to the 4,600 feet high summit. The views here — of the city; the peninsulas, islands, and peaks surrounding Lago Nahuel Huapi; and the lower Andes Mountains — are inspiring, but the facility itself seems rundown. I imagine it gets spruced up in the winter, as the mountain is a popular place for cross-country skiing. Certain intriguing nearby sites, such as the Habsburgo Rock and the Berghof Refuge, seemed off-limits to us. Noting a large group of students making their way to the cable cars, we rushed ahead to avoid another long wait, saving the revolving cafeteria and museum of replicas of Michelangelo statues for another day.
Mother and daughter at the summit