April 1,

We awoke to cloudy, rainy conditions. I heard the wind howling last night, so some front moved in. We readied for the day and had our Javas with breakfast of oatmeal and split the last Huemul that the Italian couple gave us. It was a “fruit” filled (like a jam) one. We had the other one last night – it had the dulce de leche in the middle of two wafer/cookies then the whole thing covered in dark chocolate. They are sweet. The one we had in the oatmeal went well, spreading out the sweetness. We watched some YouTube videos, blogged, read, and waited out the rain.

Morning gave way to early afternoon. Around 1300, we noticed the rain had stopped, and some intermittent sun. We were finishing the blog when we lost power! Jeff checked the breakers – no issue – so he texted our host. It seemed to be throughout the city, our host responded. We didn’t even have an internet connection! So we headed out. The skies over near where the Glacier was, were cloud covered. We decided to go to the Glaciarium, basically a museum on glaciers. As we were arriving our host texted us that the power was back on. Yeah! Anyway, we entered the museum and paid 25,000 ARS, ($18) each.

Wow! This museum was so informative and well done. We enjoyed it immensely! The very first defining statement of a glacier, I saw: “This is a surreal place of dazzling whites, deep azure blues and celestial torrents of crystal.” I loved that description! We were led through the making of glaciers- ‘From Snow to Ice’ – and through 12 more sections that were as descriptive and educational. I feel like I could write a whole essay on Glaciers, and like doing it!!! 😂 The blue coloring of the glacier was explained as:
   “White solar light as being- a spectrum of colors. The blue light color has more energy than red and yellow light, which means blue photons penetrate further into the ice than other colors. And the deeper the light travels, the bluer the ice looks, which explains the shades of blue, turquoise and even indigo”!
I was fascinated the most by this concept, but there were so many more…shapes of sculptures in/on glaciers. The formation of icebergs and the calving process:
    “A roar as ice calves from the glacier. This breaking away happens strangely slow, as if it is not quite real. The ice sinks and then resurfaces like some enormous, precious stone – full of blues- indigo, crystal, lapis lazuli, turquoise; and so begins the journey towards its watery end…”
The writing of the descriptions of well, everything in here, puts you right there – seeing the glacier. There were also timelines of people researching glaciers, people discovering glaciers, and people exploring glaciers. One section showed the glaciers all around the world, including Antarctica; which led to the section of Patagonian ones with a huge topographical relief built in the floor of a room. There was a short 12 minute video presentation on the “Voice of a Glacier,” that was also nicely done. We missed a full-length film in the movie theater room. Of course there was a whole section on Global Change. Lastly I’ll mention a hall of art that had a QR scan code. Once scanned you could bring certain paintings to life through an AI generated program, That was cool!

With that we left the Glaciarium, very impressed, but hungry. When we arrived in town we went to Merino, fuegos de patagonia (which means fires of Patagonia), Asador-Parrilla-Resto. There were great reviews on their lamb here. We ordered Almuerzu: Cordero a la Estaca p/2 personas; ensalada; papas fritas; and postre, which is Lunch: Spit-roasted Lamb for two people; salad; French fries; and dessert (a dish of blended berries and cream). We also had a bread plate they gave us, water, and a bottle of Gran Reserva Fin Del Mundo, a Patagonian red wine maritage. We enjoyed watching the showcased spit roasting the lamb almost as much as the meal. 👍🏻 We paid 152,240 ARS, or $109.81 for the meal and “show”.

We left – with a bit of leftovers; went to a grocery store for a few things; and then back to our place, settling in for the night.

     April 2,

We awoke to rain, which was forecasted. We readied, leisurely, and had our Javas with breakfast of oatmeal with a fruit/nut mix and shared a plum. Then we watched some YouTube, I blogged and Jeff read. Morning gave way to afternoon, and it was still raining. I started a sewing project as this place had a larger sewing kit than I have been carrying. I bought a new shirt, but it was too small and I had a shirt that is stained, but will piece together nicely.

Anyway, when we were finally hungry around 1600 we made a pasta dish with the leftover lamb, and heated the fries in the oven. The meal turned out superb! We had it with a nice Malbec. When we finished the rain had let up some so Jeff went to a store for sandwich items for brunch tomorrow. Then we watched more videos on YouTube. We plan on going to bed early, as we will have to set an alarm for tomorrow morning…we have plans.