Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes... Lake Tahoe like area of Argentina?

Last week  I got sidetracked with the amazing scenery on our bus trip from the Atlantic coast to the Andes and the Lakes District.  We stayed in Bariloche in a small cabin  for 6 days, then another amazing bus ride and 6 more days, including Christmas, in San Martin de los Andes.  Down the hill from our cabin in Bariloche was the lake and the highway, with a bus running every 20 minutes. This year's weather has had everyone baffled, as instead of mild summer days, we had torrential rains, grand wind storms , followed by sun... all in an hour or two....

(Dave's words in italics)         

this place is kind of lincoln city, pretty dressy, lots of rentals, lots of things for tourists to spend on, pretty spendy.  gorgeous mountains and forests and huge deep lakes.  like the high cascades except our trees are bigger and our mountains are but speed bumps along side the andes.  but, moving on.

downtown bariloche, sidewalk table, 90% tourists.  that doesn't mean foreigners but people from buenos aires taking their drawn out summer break in the mountains.  like i intimated, good stuff ( the food ), very dressy, and a bit more expensive than it warrants.  hell with it, we're vacationing too.

the classiest buildings in the city, real stone, real log construction are all government spots.  the fancy hotels, restaurants etc. have the look without the constructivist detail and necessary skilled dudes.  this government takes care of itself first!

the tiny cabin at the very top middle right below the ridge line was our place.  little fridge, two burner gas cooker with one cubic foot oven and a view that most people would try to buy immediately.  300 feet sbove the lake, another 500 feet to snow level ( this was, after all, the first day of summer ) and about 20 kilometers from the city center. - the bus comes by every 20 min.,  two kilometers in each direction encompasses maybe a dozen restaurants.  all for us, the bloody tourist life blood of this naturally brilliant place.

next stop, san martin de los andes, christmas eve.  a capella quartet, really excellento, performing christmas tunes in the street.  german, italian,  english, spanish - all that they sang was in the language in which it was writ, terrific.  we are on the terrace of an ok restaurant across the street and the music turned the meal into a very special treat.  the day after next, we go fishing at the foot of a volcano, but more about that later.    

And here was our best holiday meal ...it knocked my socks off.... everything beautifully done that this region is famous for... roasted wild boar and  patagonia lamb.. subtle yet rich sauces, fantastic.