The Search for Andres Frohman, Sausage King of Bariloche

We arrived in Bariloche on Saturday eager to spend the next two weeks in Spanish school and to explore our new town. The school had arranged a hostel for us to stay in for the first week and then we would be with a local family for a week. When we got to the hostel, we found out that we did not have a private room like we thought we would. Also, it seemed kind of dirty, but that might have just been because there were bloody boogers on the pillow and sheets of one of the available beds. We left our bags there and went to find another hostel.

Morgan, one of the guys we met trekking in Torres del Paine, had recommended a place called Freedom. He had also told us about a guy that sold sausage and steak sandwiches, for one and two dollars respectively, at the park. We found the hostel, but no sausages. The first two days were kind of cold and rainy and the first few restaurants we went to kind of sucked. On top of all this, no matter how many times we walked around the park, the Sausage King of Bariloche was nowhere to be seen. We decided we didn’t want to spend two weeks here and cancelled our plans for the Spanish school. (Now we are going to do that in Santiago, Chile starting next Monday.)

Yesterday, the crappy weather ended and we actually had some decent food for a good price. While I was having siesta time, (something that should be embraced worldwide and I plan to implement wherever I wind up after this trip), Stef went out and wandered around the town. She came back with reports of a chocolate museum, a chairlift, and the elusive sausage king. So we walked down to the chocolate museum. They didn’t have any more English tours for the day, so we skipped it. From what we could tell it was kind of like going to a brewery. They take you around and show you how different chocolates are made and tell you a little about the process. Unlike brewery tours in the US, this was something you had to pay for.

Next, we rode the chairlift up to a lookout and had a couple of Irish coffees. Actually, we ordered Irish coffees. We were served coffee with cognac in it. The café offered a nice view of the lake and mountains, which can be seen in the pictures for Bariloche. Also pictured are the gnomes of the magical gnome forest. This forest was part of the adventure park that included the chairlift, gnome forest, toboggan gigante, a non-functioning water-slide and a tiny gift shop or museum. I couldn’t tell which it was. The highlight was a ride on the toboggan gigante, which is kind of like a bobsled course, but a lot slower. Admission to the adventure park was 10 pesos or a little over $3.

After our awesome adventure park date, we went to buy sausage sandwiches to tide us over until dinner. The Sausage King of Bariloche turned out to not be exactly that. He sold hamburgers and steaks. So I guess Abe Frohman doesn’t have to worry just yet.

We went out for St. Patty’s Day, but there wasn’t much going on here for that. There are three Irish pubs in town, only one of which had much going on. We did have some Guinness, some sort of “Irish” stew, and of course cochebomba irlandes (Irish Carbombs). Plus we had two free green beers because we wore green clothes.

Today we are taking yet another long bus ride. This one is only about 15 hours, so maybe it won’t be so bad. We are going to San Rafael, hopefully for whitewater rafting and winery tours. After a few days there we will take another bus to Santiago, Chile for Spanish school. Right now it is time to go buy some chocolate, sandwiches and vino for the bus.