Bariloche is always called the "Little Switzerland of South America." Hard to beat the scenery. The Llao Llao Hotel where we're staying has two wings. The main section was built decades ago and is reminiscent of the Lodge at Yosemite. Funky. This part of Patagonia is all outdoor sports. Skiing in the winter and hiking, golf, and fishing in the summer. The views are really something and like many other places we have been, it's hard to choose among all the pictures we took during the day.

If you're not engaged in outdoor activities, there is little elseto do. Today our half day tour was s a drive around the lake, a trip into town, and a ride on a ski lift to some spectacular views. Carol and the guide went on the ski lift - I suffer from severe "do-not-like-getting-on/off/being on-chair-lifts" syndrome especially when it comes to swinging aloft in a contraption that looks like it was built with my early Erector set.

The area around Bariloche was settled by many nationalities, including Swiss and Germans. The Swiss brought with them the skill of chocolate making and the area is known for its artisan chocolates. The downtown was and still is advertised as a quaint Swiss Village. Close your eyes and picture what a quaint Swiss village might look like. Orderly. Clean. Quaint homes and little shops. Buildings covered with carefully tended flower boxes.

Then Forget It. Not even close. Now picture Aspen done up to look like Tijuana. Except for a couple of large chocolate producers (large stores selling an amazing variety of hand-crafted chocolate goodies (no, we didn't), the rest of the town specializes in five blocks, both sides of the street, of junk. The residents must shop somewhere else (we were told in Buenos Aires) but it can't be in downtown Bariloche. Apparently there are sufficient tourists to support the stores, and there are certainly lots of young people enjoying the outdoors.

We went for a walk after lunch. The back roads reminded me of West Virginia until we rounded a bend and were hit with a snow-covered mountain range or a gigantic lake.