We are now famous TV stars in Argentina

On a sunny Sunday morning, we visited the almost sister towns of Viedma and Carmen de Patagonia, facing each other on the banks of the Rio Negro. We walked along the river bank, enjoying the shaded park and then rode our bikes to the other city. It had more colonial buildings like its beautiful church, an old fort tower and little stairs going down to the river walk. It was nice to visit the two cities before getting back on the road in the early afternoon. We actually did not make it as far as we hoped to that day and stopped in Tornquist, which would be close enough however to hike in the Parque Provincial Ernesto Tornquist the next day. The town was small and pretty, with a lot of cars driving around on the avenues, with music as loud as can be.

The best ice cream in the world
For our first night in Tornquist, we treated ourselves to a huge Parilla, the big pile of meat we had a couple of times before, and a bottle of red wine. Meat cooked on the a big grill and seasoned the right way is always a treat in Argentina given the quality of the meat itself. We could barely walk out since we were so full. However, given the quality as well of the artisanal ice cream in the region of Buenos Aires, we still made it to the nearby Ice cream store. There is always room for a little desert! As we entered Anly Ice Cream, it was like stepping into paradise with all the wonderful flavors they had. After tasting a few, we settled for Chocolate Rocher Bombon and Nuez con Cognac, both amazingly tasty. While enjoying our treat, we were chatting with Antonela, whose family owned the store and who was making the ice cream, and her mother, Liliana. In the conversation came up our trip and we told them a little more about it. Liliana loved the story and said it was incredible, so incredible that we should be interviewed by the local TV. She took her cell phone and called someone. After a brief conversation, she asked if we would still be in town the next day and have time for the interview. We stared at each other in surprise and said that we would be of course honored.

As we woke up the next day still full from the Parilla (and a little from the ice cream), we took a bike and drove to the nearby Parque Provincial Ernesto Tornquist. We wanted to hike that day and hopefully get some of these calories off from the night before. As we arrived at the ranger station, we asked about the path the climb to the summit of the Cerro Ventana, a 1,134 meters high mountain. It would be a 5-hour hike where the first part was of course all uphill. The ranger asked us if we were in good physical condition and if we understood that if we had not reached the summit by 1:30pm, we had to start coming back as the park closed at 4pm. He warned us once more time that this was a strenuous hike before explaining us the path we had to take. As we started walking, it was 10am. We were a little scared by all the warnings we had received but the nice weather lifted our spirit and we knew we could always turn around at any time. In addition, the path was marked with posts from 1 to 10 to tell us how far we were from the summit. It would be a good indication for how we are doing timing wise.

First, we went through a pine forest with a very steep hill and a very rocky path with lots of roots to watch for. We were taking it slow as it was a long climb and at the top of the forest, we were already at post 1. The grassy and open area we walked through for a while gave us unending view of the fields and the pampa at the bottom of the mountain. You could see how vast this area was, with crops and fields for the cows to feed as far as the eye could see. No other mountain in view except the one we were on. At post 4, we had a good view of the end of our hike: the summit of the Cerro Ventana with an opening in the rock that looks like a window. Now you know why this mountain is called Ventana, which means window in Spanish. After post 5, the hike became really hard and technical: the hill was very steep and the path made of rocks only, some very big that we had to climb. We arrived exhausted at station 8, after a couple of breaks to drink water, but so happy to have reached the only flat part of the hike. We could also now see on the other side of the Cerro Ventana, which revealed more fields. At station 9, we started the final climb to the Ventana. Again, pretty difficult but short as station10 was our final stop: the window! The view there was really incredible, despite the wind that was rushing through the window... We stayed there for a while before descending to the flat area in order to enjoy our picnic. It had only taken us two hours to reach the summit and we were back by 3pm at the ranger station. It was definitively not as hard as he had made it sound and it was a good hike after all the food we had eaten the night before.

Becoming the famous motorcycle riders in town

Back at our hotel, we found a note: we were expected at the Ice cream store at 11pm for an interview. After a lighter dinner, we walked to the store where Liliana and Antonela were waiting for us. The journalist and camera man were on their way so we could enjoy an ice cream in the meantime. Wonderful, just what we had hoped for:) They both arrived a few minutes later, asked us some questions about our trip and set up the video camera for the interview. They were both super friendly so we felt at ease when they started the interview. For 20 minutes, we answered their questions, all in Spanish. We were quite surprised how easy it was. We probably sounded very funny to Argentinians though:) After the interview, we drove to the hotel and they filmed us and the bikes again. At 12:30am, we were done and they told us that we would be on the news then next day at 12:30pm. We could hardly believe it.

Shortly before noon, we were back at Liliane's store as she had invited us to stop by for a last ice cream before leaving. She welcomed us to her house next door and showed us a lot of pictures she had prepared for us and related to the conversation we had the day before. She aslo had a few gifts for us: a bag of the typical Argentinian tea called Yerba, postcards of the Che who had also traveled the Ruta 40 and a belt made by indigenous people from the north of the country. We could not believe how nice she was and to top it off, she invited us for lunch, sharing empenadas with her entire family. At 12:30pm, the news started and after a few minutes, we were on. There we were, on the screen, for the full twenty-minute interview! It was so strange... The whole family congratulated us on how good we looked and teased us that we were now famous. After a while, another guest came in: the president of the local motorcycle club. He had seen the interview and wanted to come and congratulate us and offer us the T-shirt of the club as well as stickers. We all were sitting in Liliana's salon, talking and laughing before going out to take pictures of the bikes.

We both were a little overwhelmed by all the attention and kindness that we were given. As we stepped into the ice cream store for a last one before leaving, a local told us that he had seen us on TV and that what we were doing was awesome! It is a indescribable feeling when strangers look and smile at you, and tell you nice words about what you are doing. All this thanks to the amazing kindness of Liliana who knows everyone in town. Actually, she did even more. She told us that she had called the nearby town of Pigue, founded in the 19th century by French people, and they were waiting for us if we wanted and would put us on TV as well. Really, we asked her if she was not joking and that if this was true, we would go. She laughed and said that the people of the local French association would be waiting for us at the main plaza. We had a hard time leaving but said our goodbyes to everyone, promising that we would try to come back one day. It had been such an experience... and all this thanks to ice cream!