Villa La Angostura, Argentina.

Kara says: Villa La Angostura. As in the bitters. Slightly disappointed to find out they don't make the bitters here and so the street's not lined with bars trying to outdo each other in the use of bitters in outrageously cheap cocktails. But a nice town all the same. Angostura means a narrows or narrowing (here it's the thin bit at the top of a peninsula) so maybe that's where the bitters get their name - 'cause they make your mouth temporarily narrow. There is a cheery snowman who greets you at the bus station who looks like he might have had the need to add some bitters to whatever he's been drinking to keep him warm and cheery.

We arrived after dark in a blizzard and so saw nothing but the welcoming lights of our hotel. Then the next morning I looked out the windown and saw this!



Beautiful view of the lake and peninsula, snowy mountains in the distance, a little boat harbour and pier just beside us. So gorgeous. We spent a lot of time looking out the window 'cause it's not like us to be in a hotel like this. See photo of me peering out our window - it's just a great big log cabin with lots of wood inside and satisfyingly creaky floorboards. It's a manly hotel with a liberal sprinkling of stuffed deer heads, fish and animal hides on the walls. Even the chandeliers are made of antlers. I think Karl began to doubt his manhood not having killed anything bigger than a fly.



So we went for a walk, as you do. It snowed for a while but we've toughened up now and that only added to the exhileration. Photo of Karl, exhilerated. Got to a forest of Arroyen trees. No idea what they are, I think they only grow here, a bit like gums but with a nice orangey-brown colour. And then found myself a nice rock for a cup of coffee and to take in the view.