Quotidian Thoughts

For those raised in a country founded by Puritans, the Argentine schedule is an anathema. On a recent Sunday we decided to visit the local “Colonia Suiza”. A community settled by the Swiss who emigrated to Bariloche via Chile in the 1900s. Twice weekly, they serve a local specialty called curanto—a stew initially made with seafood and fish, but adapted to the mountain environment. The chef spends the morning heating melon-sized stones with a wood fire. The fire is extinguished when the rocks reach some 140 C. Various meats and a few token vegetables, such as sausage, lamb, chicken and potatoes are piled on top, whereupon it is covered with a heavy tarp and dirt. The entire concoction is smoked/baked for an hour or two and served piping hot.

We arrived shortly before noon and toured the artisan stalls. Other than a fire and the slicing of meats, not much appeared to happening at the curanto site. Since we breakfasted at 8:00, we were quite hungry by noon. Many of the restaurants were still closed. The day was fiercely windy and quite cold, so we opted for fondue in a lovely 1920 Art Deco style round building built of wood. The fondue accoutrement seemed a mix of traditional fondue and raclette with some Spanish influence thrown in for good measure: a large basket of various breads, pickles, carrots, onions, olives cucumbers and sliced sausage. The children loved it and I ate the pickled stuff and mushrooms. We left the restaurant at 1:30 and meandered back to check on the curanto. On the way back we noticed that many of the restaurants had filled. The curanto was still cooking and the hall filled with folks awaiting their lunch.

With the afternoon stretching before us, we decided to visit the Dinosaur park. It’s a park filled with some 20 replicas of the most popular dinosaur—we’d driven by earlier to make sure it was open. And now to our surprise-- it was closed! I guess they break for lunch. The majority of the restaurants open at 8:00 for dinner. I am not sure what time the average Argentine goes to bed, but when in Buenos Aires we saw tons of people wandering around the city at 9:30 with their children. How do they all manage to get up and be at school at 8:30? I feel like we are two hours too early for everything.

So instead, we opted for a ride on the Cerro Companero Aerosilla (chairlift). Everyone in the area proudly relates that it was listed as the second most scenic site in the world (in National Geographic magazine) after a location in Switzerland. One can see why…the view affords a series of isles in the foreground set against snow capped jagged mountains of the Cordoba. It’s truly spectacular.