Hollidays!!

[bracabric]

Well as some of you know, we (madam and I ) went to Brazil last February and liked it a lot, well tomorrow we fly down from Santiago to Osorno and pick up a rented SUV and bugger of to the Argentine for a week or so. The place we are heading for is the city of Bariloche which will be new to me but if past experience is anything to go by, there will be lots and lots of the finest meat in the world to eat! I have been to Buenas Aires and Mendoza a time or two but never Bariloche. I will post some photos on our return, YIPPEE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dick

Last one to eat their cow's a wimp!!

[GuglioLS]

Dick,
You and the Madam have a great time. Hope to see you back soon with a bunch of pictures. Enjoy all the great food.

Larry

[mariner]

Hey Bricabrac

How goeth them brazilian holidays then?

Hope you had good time - don't forget to post some pics ;D ;D ;D

mariner

[bracabric]

Well, we got back last night, journey was fine, car from Bariloche in Argentina to Osorno in Chile then plane to Santiago (about 1 hour 20 minutes).It's a wonderful part of the world (Patagonia, Argentina) mountains,lakes and green,green,green!! The first pictures show Sylvia and me with a backdrop of some lakes and then Sylvia and No.1 Daughter and then more lakes,



We had lunch at a wonderful Hotel set in the middle of a Golf course and in the lakes as well of course, although you would need a good map to find it the place was pretty much full, mostly with foreigners , I spoke to several couples from the UK and a lovely lady from New Zealand (south Island), there were a couple of folks from the US as well but I gather the state of the Dollar was hurting them. I asked what the rate for a suite was and.... the "standard suite" was USD$875 per night, I didn't bother to ask the price of a "better" suite after that, although the lunch was very good and far from expensive!


The amount of clothes shops amazed me, with superb leather stuff everywhere although not cheap, and wool and cashmere of wonderful design . The quality of the houses and shops was excellent to and although I'm sorry to say it, much better than Chile.
Our Hotel was very good ,
We had three double rooms, one for us,one for the daughter and her husband and one for my mother-in-law who also came. I was struck by the general quality, cleanliness and beauty. It was my forth trip to the Argentine and God willing won't be my last, maybe just the two of us next time,




For those of you who have thought about it, do go. It's great! and I haven't mentioned the food yet! I had a few fillet steaks over the week and the meat is wonderful all naturally reared (no fattening yards) out on the pampas and it's such a huge country (with only 38 million people) there is no shortage of land to do it!
Although the Argentine has had it's troubles this passed 50 years with corruption in politics and stuff, It's easy to see why in the 1920s it had the second highest standard of living in the world and exported Beef,Lamb and wheat to the world.
I forgot to mention the Petrol is still cheap and for those who know a little about car racing 50/60 years ago, the Petrol stations had three grades, "Standard" "Super" and "Fangio"!!

Dick

[bracabric]

Mariner, Brazil was last year all sand Islands and micro Bikinis!! this year I had the family !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dick

[3RRL]

Lucky Dick,
Those are great photos and from your writing, it sounds like you and Sylvia had a really good time. Now, does your daughter also live in Chile then? Did you bring the whole family when you immigrated there?

Argentine sure is beautiful. I've never been there but have seen many travel shows and also nature shows about Patagonia. I also worked with a guy from there many years ago. You are right about the standards there, they are excellent as far as I can tell. As a matter of fact, those cottages and hotel shots look like they might be right out of Switzerland or that part of Europe! I might make it one of the places I want to visit.

So how about the bikinis? Or is that a Brazil thing?
Rob-

[bracabric]

Rob, The Bikinis were Brazil last year although they had some down on one of the lakes, most of the Argentine folks on summer holiday come over to the coast of Chile to lay on the beach as it's a lot nearer than the Atlantic coast of the Argentine.
No didn't bring the whole family, just myself, my better half has two daughters (I have a son in the UK still) and the picture showed Sylvia and (her) eldest who is quite up in the ministry of agriculture, (she did her Masters degree in London a few years ago in veterinary medicine and epidemiology ), I just said No.1 Daughter for expediency , she has become over the years my little sister and good friend which is nice. I so agree with you about Switzerland, Bariloche reminded me very much of Geneva (on the lake).
Argentina was for many years way ahead of Chile in development and industry and was rather arrogant (I am told) but the political scandles, corruption and financial mismanagement have changed that a lot, some wonderful buildings remain of course. To add insult to injury from their point of view , as they have gone down, the poor neighbor Chile, has been on a roll with a wonderful economy, sound money a balance of trade to die for and a proper democracy ( I think I posted somewhere else that Chile is 2% of the Latin American population but 10% of the economical activity), it's just that some of the buildings in the Argentine are so quality from an other age and we don't tend to have that, we have well designed modern glass sky scrappers and such, but remember I was an Antiques dealer for many years and the quality brass doors and frames and the Corinthian columns and such mean something to me !!
Anyway thanks for taking an interest as I very much am with the host of stuff you are posting!!

Dick