Saturday, February 18, 2023

Today was our second day in Bariloche. Since it’s Saturday, Tory and Aden’s friends were out of school back home and able to FaceTime. So, we let the kids veg this morning and catch up with them on screens. Meanwhile, Andi and I took turns getting massages in town.

Later that afternoon, the four of us walked into town for a German history tour about Bariloche. I was really excited for this! Walking around the city streets, it’s easy to see Bariloche has a rich German heritage. Many of the buildings are made with wood and stone, and have detailed trim and windows like you’d see in Europe.

We met our guide, Diego, in the Centro Civico town square to start the tour, but there was a big festival with live music happening there for Carnival. I don't know how this 4-day holiday weekend always seems to take us by surprise when we’re traveling. I’ve got the Lenten season on my calendar, just not the gigantic party that takes place before it. We had no idea Bariloche would be hosting so many visitors this weekend for the celebration.

The five of us walked a few blocks away from the music so we could hear Diego speak. He started our German history tour by explaining how the city of Bariloche was founded. Thousands of Europeans (including Germans) migrated to Argentina in three waves: first in the late 1800’s, then between WW1 and WW2, and finally post-WW2. In Argentina, most European immigrants migrated through the port in Buenos Aires and settled north of the city there. Similar to what took place with the United States’ Homestead Act of 1862, the Argentinian government gave immigrants conditional land grants in exchange for developing and maintaining the land they were given. The country of Chile did the same, giving land to European immigrants to improve about 180 km west of present-day Bariloche. These are the German immigrants who would eventually migrate to the Argentinian side of the Andes Mountains & found the town of Bariloche in 1895.

After Adolf Hitler came into power in the early 1900’s, more Germans migrated to places like Argentina to escape his rule. They found refuge in already-established German towns like Bariloche. There’s a 10-block radius in existing downtown Bariloche where buildings erected at that time still stand today.

In 1934 with the arrival of the railroad, Bariloche expanded access with the rest of Argentina. This connectivity with other parts of the country put the northern Patagonian town of Bariloche on the map for winter mountains sports and activities. The mountaineering organization, Club Andino Bariloche, was established during this time period and is still in existence today. One German, Otto Meiling, was passionate about skiing and ascended many of the area’s most challenging mountains. He also used his construction skills to create “refugios,” or huts, in the mountains for hikers and skiers to stay at while adventuring.

It’s no secret that Argentina was a safe-haven for Nazi Germans post-WW2. President Juan Peron was an ally of Hitler and Mussolini, and arranged for the safe passage of many high-ranking German officials to Argentina in the years following the war. Many of those individuals found refuge in Bariloche and surrounding Patagonian towns. Diego, our tour guide, was mum about confirming specific Nazi Germans who lived in Bariloche other than Erich Priebke, an SS commander responsible for over 300 civilian deaths in Italy during WW2. Priebke escaped Italy before being tried for his crimes and went on to live in Bariloche for many years. It wasn’t until 1994 when Sam Donaldson, an ABC News Reporter, interviewed Priebke on the street outside the German school that he was discovered and arrested. Priebke is one war criminal known to have found refuge in Bariloche, but rumors say there were many others.

It was very fascinating to learn about the city of Bariloche and its strong German roots. After the tour, we thanked Diego for his time and the information he shared with us.

We ended our tour at the park, so Tory and Aden asked if we could stay and plan on the playground. They monkeyed around on the equipment while Andi and I sat nearby and people-watched around us. One thing that’s neat about Argentinians “mate culture” is that it brings people together. There were dozens of groups scattered around the park, sitting in the grass, passing back and forth a gourd of mate.

Aden and I needed to use the restroom, so we went to the same ice cream shop next to the park that we visited yesterday. Andi ordered an espresso and we sat at a table in the cafe for a few minutes before making our way to Alto el Fuego for our evening dinner reservation.

On the walk there, Aden noticed a sign celebrating Argentina’s 2023 World Cup win. “Look, Mom, there’s Messi again. They are really proud of their futbol team here,” Aden said. There are team signs posted everywhere in Argentina; even packaged goods like our herbal tea is branded.

Andi thought it was time we try real Argentinian BBQ, so he made us dinner reservations at Alto el Fuego tonight, one of the best steakhouses in Bariloche. The restaurant was just opening its doors when we arrived for our 7:30pm reservation — people eat so late here in Argentina.

We were seated at a table inside the restaurant and brought fresh bread with chimichurri. Andi took the liberty of ordering for our table — a chorizo sausage, lamb, filet, grilled vegetables, and French fries. We heard before arriving here that most Argentinians cook steak well-done, so Andi made sure to order our meat medium-rare. Our waiter spoke perfect English, so we got exactly what we ordered and all the food was excellent. We especially loved the house-made chorizo and the filet which was so tender.

There’s something to be said for 7:30pm dinner reservations! We were the first table served, and the first table finished. We were out the door and on our way home by 9:00pm.

The kids wanted ice cream for dessert, so we stopped at a rolled ice cream shop called Meraki on our walk to the airbnb. The menu said “rollos x 3” — perfect. Tory chose strawberry, mint chocolate chip, and chocolate for her three flavor selections. When I placed the order at the counter, the store employee responded with a quizzical look, “tres?” (three?) Yes, I responded.

For the next 15 minutes, a team of ice cream shop employees pounded and rolled three flavors of ice cream on frozen metal slabs. I quickly realized that “x3” on the signage didn’t mean three different flavors of ice cream; it meant three rolls of the same flavor in one cup. I wished the guy would have told me that. The teenage store employees were smiling from ear to ear when they finished making our ice cream. I’m sure they were laughing because we placed such a big order.

Regardless, the four of us ate the ice cream and the kids were happy.

After ice cream, we continued on our walk back to the airbnb & came across a Carnival parade happening in downtown Bariloche. I just love parades! This one was neat to see — there were women dressed in bedazzled bikinis with big, colorful feather headpieces and a band of drummers following behind keeping the beat. Tory and Aden were embarrassed by how little clothing the women were wearing in the parade. They were shaking their uncovered bottoms to the rhythm of the music. Nothing was inappropriate though, just a little more skin than the kids are used to seeing.

We watched the parade for 10 minutes or so, and then continued our walk back to the airbnb.

Today was a really fun day in Bariloche. The city itself is beautiful nestled in Andes Mountains on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi. It’s way busier here than Andi and I imagined, but some of that may be attributed to the 4-day Carnival weekend. Unfortunately, we’ll never know since we’re leaving town before Carnival ends.