The last flight of three from Ottawa – this is Buenos Aires. It’s nice walking outside to the plane, smelling the fuel, listening to the engine and walking up the ladder. I’ve flown on Copa, LAN and Aerolineas and the service on all is excellent.
I spend another couple of days in BA, since I’m here and unlikely to return.
In Bariloche there was a biker rally the day after I arrived back. Here was the poster
Which was inaccurate but who cares
They were very friendly. This was a change from the generally aloof ways of Chilean and Argentinina motociclistas so far. More on this another time.
As you may have noticed, German WWII helmets are the big thing. This isn’t a surprise, because of all places in the world you might find them, Bariloche might be it. Here’s a chunk copied from Wiki:
In 1995, Bariloche made headlines in the international press when it became known as a haven for Nazi war criminals, such as the former SS Hauptsturmführer Erich Priebke. Priebke had been the director of the German School of Bariloche for many years.
In his 2004 book Bariloche nazi-guía turística, Argentine author Abel Basti claims that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun lived in the surroundings of Bariloche for many years after World War II. Basti said that the Argentine Nazis chose the estate of Inalco as Hitler’s refuge.
Grey Wolf: The Escape of Adolf Hitler, published by British authors Simon Dunstan and Gerrard Williams, proposed that Hitler and Eva Braun hid at Hacienda San Ramon, six miles east of Bariloche, until the early 1960s. Both these accounts are disputed by historians, who generally believe that Hitler and Braun died in the last days of World War II.Some credence to the theory of Hitler’s alleged survival may be drawn from the fact that there are no photos of the dead Eva Braun, and the few photos of the “dead Hitler” appear to be dubious snaps of a different person, albeit with a “Hitler moustache”.
About 200 of us went for a ride like this
Met up with Santiago at the hostel start point out of town. I wasn’t sure if he was coming or not. Some photos below from my Contour video
First the cops talk to the organizers
Cool kid on his 50cc chopper came to see us off
The passengers pull out cell phone cameras
Into town. Every bike and car hard on the horn, bikes revving the engines. The sound was intense!