Random Thoughts and Observations

Here is a collection of random thoughts and observations from our trip.

If you're ever in El Bolson and want to listen to great music, visit the restaurant "El Rey De Sandwich" between 1:30 and 2:30 PM on weekdays. Then, they have a special segment called "Planeta Ochenta." Spanish speakers will be able to ascertain the genre of music played during this time from the title of the segment. For everyone else, we heard a Michael Jackson medley, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," a Rick Astley tune, Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise," and the Bangles' only hit. Yep, "ochenta" means 80, and they didn't disappoint. It was commercial-free during that hour as well. The really funny thing is that the restaurant was a complete dive that served really cheap empanadas, and no one older than us was in the restaurant. Go figure.

Argentines really like their 80's music. In addition to that episode, it seems like everywhere we've been has frequently had 80's music on the radio. On one of our bus trips, they played a DVD that was a series of videos from about 1981 to 1993 or so, and heavily leaned toward the 80's portion of that time frame. It's already quite a privilege to hear Michael Bolton's voice in "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?," but quite another when that voice is immediately followed by an image of Freddie Mercury with his classic moustache and yellow spandex tanktop belting out "We Will Rock You."

The Lake District of Argentina has the best ice cream I've ever tasted. We especially recommend a little nameless place right outside of Lago Puelo NP's entrance, but all the shops in El Bolson we tried were ridiculously good.

In Puerto Madryn, we saw a guy driving around with a dog on top of his car. It was bad enough that we saw it on the first day we were there, but at least then we could (naively) dismiss it as a fluke. However, we saw it again the next day. Poor collie. I asked our waitress that night at dinner about it, and she said that while it's not normal at all, that guy has done it for a while now. I'm thankful that PETA doesn't want me to eat a steak, but they're nowhere to be seen when a guy drives around with a dog on top of his car.

That's all for now. I'm sure we'll have more to say later.

Rob