San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

Fri, Feb 17th: Our 10 Year Anniversary Day! :) What's a better way to celebrate than to go on our own brewery tour?! So we did. The weather was even colder and windier - 30mph winds and 50 degrees. It wouldn't be so bad, but the winds were super cold and strong (some gusts even pushing you). We opted to rent a car for the day which only cost us about $90 USD. I of course was a nervous wreck about this (always playing the "what if" game) but Chad was cool as can be as usual with it. The car was stick shift, so luckily Chad had no issue with it and even conquered a steep hill and difficult left turn into traffic to start (my heart pounding the whole time worried we would crash into another car).

We first started off at a local brewery called Kuntsmann. Bariloche has a pretty strong craft beer scene and this one was rated well. We enjoyed some English Pale Ales and some empanadas (another food we can't get enough of),

After that we set off to go to the Aerosilla Cerro Campanario which is a chair lift that takes you up Campanario which overlooks the city and the area lakes and other peaks. The views were amazing and the winds were CRAZY! Luckily the chairlift was protected well by the large trees (hardly felt the winds on it suprisingly) but when you got to the top, hold onto your hat (and your friend!). Elevation at the top is about 3400 ft above sea level, and the chair lift brings you up about 900 feet.

We then set off to check out the Circuito Chico (Small Circuit). There are a number of spots you can stop at on the way to check out the views. One of the earlier stops we wanted to check out was the Llao Llao Hotel, which is THE hotel in Bariloche. This is the same hotel that past presidents have stayed at (Obamas stayed and Bill Clinton). It has beautiful views and is secluded - honestly why we didn't want to stay there, as we wanted to be able to be on foot most of the time. But we had to check it out and it is just beautiful!

Next, we continued on the Small Circuit and stopped at some sites along the way until we got hungry and thirsty - time for more beer. :) We stopped at Cerveceria Patagonia which is AWESOME. They have multiple outdoor spots to hang out (which no one was due to weather) and it is just a great hang out for friends and families. Chad and I are both sad we don't have this at home. It is a huge place! They have great food and great service. We love breweries and this is hands down the best one we have ever been to...for real. We may just go back all the way to Bariloche again just to hang out at this place more! If you visit Bariloche, this is a MUST.

We ended our little brewery tour at Cerveceria Berlina. This was also a cute little place that was very cozy inside and had lots of wood work and windows.

We ended our day with another nice steak (and proveleta and mashed potoatoes - because at this point it was a competition for all of the places we were visiting) dinner at Jauja Restaurante. This was very good food, not as cool of an atmosphere as the other two places (but I am fairly certain we had visited two of the best restaurants in town!).Read more