Day 54
Bariloche, Argentina
Merry Christmas Eve! And Merry it is! We finally made it to Bariloche two days ago (with hassel free boarder crossings!) and it was worth every bit of angst to get here.
Starting with the drive here from Puerto Montt. It is just spectacular. Green fields, bridges, flowers, mountains, lakes and waterfalls never stop the entire six hour ride.

And then we got to our house! Its unreal. Its just so beautiful. Bryce calls it the "Christmas House" and he´s right. Its this log cabin style mansion on Lake Moreno and it just feels like Christmas. They has even hung stockings by the fireplace and set up a Christmas tree for us.
Of course the view is not bad either....
White cap mountains, blue water....I can live with it. We are are our own little Lake you have to cross a bridge to get to. We had arranged for the house to have no staff....but our first morning a local woman showed up at the door offering maid services for $2.50 per hour (gotta love Argentina)..... being us......we hired her on the spot!

The big building across the lake is Llao Llau...we are told its the finest resort in Latin America and we plan to check it out for lunch.

As far as the house.....Uncle Davey and Rich´s favorite part is definately the Jacuzzi. And I don´t think Bryce has been out of the indoor pool since we got here! No bad living for a bunch of people with no jobs!
Bariloche itself is also inherently charming. This is kind of Argentina´s version of Aspen. Its a hot ski area with great food, adventure activities, and huge lodges dotting the lakes. But, keep in mind the seasons are reversed.....so its like summer in Vermont. We have spent the last two days running around town in seach of last minute Christmas presents and food shopping for Christmas brunch and dinner. The town looks very German. Its filled with chocolate shops, crafts, and all the trappings of home including good fondue and popular shops. You walk in and out of the charming stores feeling awesome because your dollar is three times stonger than at home, the sun is shinning, and its 65 degrees in December! Just cold enough not to feel too wierd for Christmas....without all the freezing cold suffering stuff. Plus we can see snow capped mountains. I´ll call that a white Christmas!