October 9: Rest day in El Calafete
Not much to do today: it's a good opportunity to do some laundry, no bike or route things to do. Taking it easy to recover from yesterday's ride is probably the main job!
I'm trying to do some more tourist things and the big attraction here is the glacier, so I've booked a trip to see it. It's not cheap. In fact the whole town is not cheap. I had some lunch at a cosy but not classy cafe while I was out doing the chores, and it cost about the same as it would in Amsterdam.
From left to right: Still so cold I need a fleece. Flamingo statues! No sign to explain the significance of this old cart - maybe in a hundred years, the broken-down old cars in peoples front yards will get the same respect. This is the nice cafe with the high prices.
This is a bit of a tourist town. I noticed that the laundromat had its name on the windows, in English first and Spanish second. All the cafe staff, waiters, and shop assistants I've encountered spoke some English. In other places it's Spanish or nothing.
The main street has a lot of upmarket tourist shops: immaculate, expensive, selling things only tourists would buy. There's expensive looking holiday houses with views of the lake, and the restaurants are substantially more expensive than in other places I've been recently. Not quite matching Amsterdam prices - but not far away.
There might be gravel roads and run-down areas a few streets from the center but if those holiday homes and hotels keep appearing, they won't stay long.
From left to right: Two views of the mountains around here. And two views of the lake - these are as close as I could get. The river is high, maybe snowmelt? Tonight’s dessert!
