The San Martin Diet

San Martín de los Andes - Lago Lácar
Originally uploaded by Sergio Madera.

I´ve just started a new diet. It´s one which I would bet a substantial amount of money that the Hollywood size 0 set will not be raving about in the bikini issues come the summer.

It goes like this:
Breakfast - Standard hostel breakfast of two or three croissants covered in honey, possibly with a bit of dulce del leche (sweet, creamy caramel that the Argentines have on everything). Milky coffee with sugar (to disguise that bitter `hostel-coffee´ taste).
Lunch - A chunky cheese and tomato sandwich with mayonnaise. Crisps. A bottle of Sprite.
Afternoon snack - Little puffed bread cake things that have been baked and then fried and are eaten hot with sugar. Another milky, sweet coffee.
Dinner - Deep fried cheese. Pizza with roquefort and olives. Chocolate fondue. A bottle of Mendozan Malbec.
Bedtime snack - A puff-pastry cake filled with dulce de leche and covered in nuts and chocolate.

Ok, so that´s a slight exaggeration for one day, but having arrived in San Martin de los Andes on Saturday I´m struggling to keep out of the multitude of chocolate shops, fondue restaurants and panderias (bakeries) that line every street. No, I´m no in Switzerland, but in a beautiful little town in northern Patagonia in the Argentine lake district. Founded in the late 19th century largely thanks to German and Austrian immigration, it´s easy to forget you´re in Argentina when confronted with the log cabin architecture, beautiful lake and surrounding mountains.

Fortunately, the scenery is at least as impressive as the cuisine, so I´ve been trying to distract myself by getting out and seeing something of the countryside. Today´s visit to Parque Nacional Lanin to see the volcano was breathtakingly beautiful to the point of being overwhelming, but you´ll have to wait for my photos as this computer was made in 1946 (or something). I´ve found someone else´s picture of San Martin to keep you going in the meantime.

Slightly homesick today as I haven´t met another English speaker for over a week now and am in dire need of some conversation without the aid of a dictionary. Thursday´s arrival in party town and favourite backpacker destination Bariloche should sort that out and I´m looking forward to a big night out. Right, I´m off to get some more dulce de leche... I mean grapes.