Hanging out in El Calafate

We enjoy our last few days in El Calafete just hanging out.  We walk into the city center late mornings for a coffee, often sitting outside to do some people watching.  On our walk we pass one of the two gas stations in town.  It is common for there to be a line of 12-15 cars waiting to pull into the pumps.  It's clear that there aren't a lot of gas stations out in the Patagonian steppe!

Like other South American cities we have visited, El Calafete has a good number of dogs roaming or just sleeping the streets.  Unlike many of the other cities these dogs don't seem to bark a lot and very rarely are fighting.  In general they look pretty well fed and are happy.  However, we literally abide by the adage to let sleeping dogs lie and don't disturb them.

One afternoon we take a few minutes to visit the local cemetery.  Many of the grave markers are simple wooden crosses with the name of the deceased painted on them.  There are some bricked graves, a few marble graves and perhaps 15 plain family mausoleums.  We note that many of the people died in their 50's.  What a stark difference from the Ricolletta Cemetery!

The lamb in Patagonia is incredibly mild and tender, and the chefs are skilled in different preparations.  The first night in El Calafete I order the lamb goulash at Esquina Varela, just down the street from our apartment.  It is a wonderful mixture of lamb, cheese and spätzle with just the right amount of gravy.  For a treat one evening we dine at Parrilla Don Pichon, one of the nicer restaurants in the area with a great view, and I order the lamb from the parrilla while William chooses a ribeye.  My meat wins hands down.  On our last evening in El Calafate we go to one of the restaurants on Avenida San Martín with the intent to share an appetizer and one portion of the lamb.  To our delight Monday evenings they have a 2x1 special.  We are served a large plate from the parrilla and roll out of the restaurant an hour and a half later with very full bellies.

Esquina Varela has become our neighborhood restaurant.  On the days when we eat our main meal at home we often want to get out of the apartment for bit in the evening.  The 10 minute walk down the street to Esquina Varela for a beverage and maybe an empanada works well.  It's a cute place with old singer sewing machines used as part of their beer taps.  If we arrive when they open at 7pm we may be the only people in the place for 30-45 minutes, but by 8:30pm it's very busy.
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We have enjoyed our time in El Calafate but we both feel it is time to move on and we are excited to see what Argentina's Patagonia Northern Lakes region has to offer.