Hostel 1004, Bariloche

From this past Tuesday until saturday, I stayed in a wonderful hostel in Bariloche, Argentina - Hostel 1004.

The hostel is located on the top floor (10th) of Bariloche´s tallest building. Although the building, itself, is not impressive - it looks somewhat like a Soviet-era office building - the view from the hostel was spectacular. I will attach some pics soon. I hope they can capture a bit of the feel for over-looking the city´s lake and the mountains surrounding it.

On Valentine´s night, there was a wine tasting party. The party was connected through a local wine store. I figured the hostel crew has the connection with the wine store and it happens to be Valentines day, so a perfect time for a little wine and cheese.

The hostel guests and others were to bring a bottle of wine and/or brings some snacks. Being the wine-less man that I am, I made banana bread for the party. What goes better with a nice cold cabernet than some banana bread?

As the ¨wine tasting¨party was getting underway, I noticed that the hostel´s music was a bit loud. I suggested to the manger that he may want to turn it down a bit so the people could hear the pros talk about the wines. He told ¨Oh, we don´t discuss the wines, we just drink them.¨

It turns out that it was a wind ¨drinking¨party not a ¨tasting¨party. And the event wasn´t all that special. They often have similar parties every 2 weeks or so - depending on the vibe in the hostel.

i guess the vibe was good because I was dancing until they shut off the music at 2:00. Argentina may party all night but in this hostel, after 2:00 is quite time.

In my costa rica hostels, quite time was 10:00. sometimes I miss costa rica.

bjm 2/16/08