ARGENTINA

Of this vast country I have only visited the three pearls: Bariloche, Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires It was during a trip in 1984 to South America from Lima to Rio with Avventure nel Mondo, a Roman and Spartan travel agency in the sense that you travel with backpacks and sleep in small hotels, eating in small restaurants, taking public transport to have a full immersion in the country visited. We had to cross the Andes to get to Argentina in Bariloche, the Curtain of South America, a beautiful place with many lakes, forests and ski slopes and lots of chocolate to taste. The group leader found a snowcat to which he attached a kind of armored van with a door in which we sat unconscious, singing as we climbed the interminable climb. At a certain point the vehicle skidded and we started screaming until they opened the door for us: there was snow three meters deep all around before the border pass with Argentina. First we had a nice snowball fight and then we crossed the border under the incredulous gaze of the customs officers. Bariloche is a beautiful place located in Patagonia. It is characterized by the presence of many lakes, woods and ski fields. The town is cheerful, many inhabitants are of German origin and in fact one of the specialties is chocolate which can be seen in the many pastry shops present. We also went dancing at the disco and had a lovely evening. Then it was the turn of the wonderful Iguazu Falls, truly a miracle of nature on the border between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil until we reached the beautiful Argentine capital Buenos Aires where we visited the Plaza de Mayo with the Casa Rosada which is the presidential palace, the square it is famous for the march of the mothers of the desaparecidos that we also saw, that is, all the Argentines made disappear by the dictator Vileda during the long dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 (coup d'état against president Isabelita Peron, Peron's wife who preceded her to the presidency after his return to Argentina in 73 and died the following year) and which ended only after the war for the Falklands or Malvinas against England which Argentina lost, but it was fortunate for the country because the Argentine government of General Galtieri's military junta resigned giving way to newfound democracy.