After a great night´s rest, I head into the center of Bariloche on the bus with Alisa for her 8 am shift on Monday at Tango Inn hostel. We share a yerba mate (herbal tea served in a gourd) and scrambled eggs with other staff and hostel guests. Then, I set out to explore the town.
Bariloche is a cute tourist town which must be bustling in the winter during ski season. Now, during the summer months the tourists seem to like the chocolate shops and souvenir shops. The lake is beautiful; the town is quaint with its Saint Bernard dogs posing for photo ops and a few pesos.
I hunt through the bookstore looking for a Argentinean vegetarian cookbook. But, of course, Argentinean vegetarian is an oxymoron, so no luck there. But, I manage to snag the obligatory telephone booth photo with Nate and Alisa in them.After a nice dinner of quesadillas, homemade salsa and guacamole from veggies bought at the market two doors down from Alisa and Nate´s apartment, we make plans to visit El Bolson where there is an artisans´market on Tuesdays.
We wake up early on Tuesday, but can´t get seats on the 9:30 bus but are lucky to get on the 11:00 bus. It´s packed for the two-hour drive. We are rewarded with magnificient views of northern Patagonia and arrive in lively El Bolson.
At the bus station, we wait on line and, luckily, we're able to buy tickets for the few last seats on the 6:50 return bus. In between, we have a full day to enjoy the market; Nate got a haircut; we found a natural food store; I bought a beautiful mate gourd and bombilla (see photo).
The market kept us occupied checking out the artisan crafts and foods. 
For dinner, we made delicious empanadas and a hearty soup.
On Wednesday, we're off to Chile.
PRW
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