vacation

Back from the south. What a ton of good it did for me. I am seriously so much healthier for having done. It was a very different trip form last year's. First of all I was alone, not with the lovely Noah
Rosenblum nor the incredible Nicholas Hayes.

I went to the Neuquén lake region, San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura. All green mountains, all brilliantly sparkling water. It was amazing to be alone. I felt so safe and it was filled with vacationing Argentines.

On the recommendation of a friend I treated myself to a birthday auto-regalo (probably 506th) and went to a Relais & Chateaux called Las Balsas with a view of the bay with the mountains in the not-to-far distance. Beautiful. Treated myself to the té completo, which is really meant for at least 3 people, maybe 2 hungry people. I went for it. It was exquisite. Finished it off with a scotch and sat there for more than two hours as the sun went down. Treated like a queen for a few hours while bumming around out of one bag and two pairs of pants.

I made sure to bring one nice silk shirt, knowing that I would be attending such a posh place. My shirt, as expected, had gotten quite wrinkled after a few days of sitting in my bag. My mother taught me that if you take a hot shower and hang a garment in the bathroom, it's like steaming your clothes for free. Unfortunately the hostel bathroom was very small and the water didn't exactly stay in the shower stall, so my shirt ended up wrinkle-less and sopping wet. So I ended up 15 km from the hostel, but really in a different world all together, with a damp shirt...at least it wasn't obvious and I was sure to disguise my travel fatigue with make-up. A beautiful day of luxury.

The next day went to go hike to the Bosque de los Arrayanes, this forest of strange trees (although they may technically not be trees, but whatever, flora of some type with trunks and branches). Beautiful.

So much more of Patagonia to see, such a long country. So much more of Argentina to see. What a beautiful, beautiful place. I felt such inner-peace and determination as to what my goals are, what I am striving for. It wasn't like I resolved anything, more like everything was clarified.

My camera broke...second one since I've been in Argentina.