La vida nueva de Van Gogh

Our snow-white stray has been washed and fed some more. Today, after a quick snip-snip at the local vet, we bought him a bed and took him bollockless to the animal shelter at the school we studied at, where they hope to find Van Gogh a new home.

Stray Cats

We haven`t agreed a name for our latest acquisition yet, but he has been washed, given milk and cat food, fed good quality red meat (hope it doesn`t give cats cancer too) and seems to have adopted our cabaña as a home.

Update: we chose "Van Gogh" in homage to his damaged ears and the Spanish band we are listening to.

Propiedad Privada

Bariloche´s lake (Nahuel Huapi) has "beaches" but as we found out Sunday, access is not always that easy. We walked for more than two kilometres before finding a road that led to a track between two large properties which was an unmarked route to the lake.
Though I was fuming at the time, when we walked a few km further on the road we saw signs of resistance to this, including a meeting that had taken place the previous day, citing the Argentine Constitution.
It does not seem a uniquely Argentine problem if our experience outside Santiago, Chile is anything to judge by. Sometimes we in Britain don`t realise how successful our efforts have been (New Labour defended the right to roam (just not for Iraqis)).

Bariloche

Yesterday we went looking for a short-term let (33 days) in Bariloche, in Argentina´s Lake District, where Jun will take formal Spanish lessons and I will study less formally (at first at least). We found a beautiful little place with a view of the lake (Lago Nahuel Huapi) and are paying the equivalent of half of a hotel´s price. The town (of 100,000 or so) is managable and we went to a cool bar last night called "The Map Room", with loads of framed maps (go figure) on the wall. It was an eclectic selection that deserves further perusal. There are also a healthy number of microbreweries in town that merit taste-testing. Finally, I hope to do some paragliding if the cost is not prohibitive.
On England´s south coast, Watford lost 2-1 at Plymouth (Tommy Smith scored again) and despite their recent run, will drop back to nineteenth as Argyle and Nottingham Forest rise above them (though each has played two more games). We go to bottom club Charlton on Saturday (who lost at home to Doncaster today, how times have changed) and host Forest a week today. Seems there is plenty of opportunity for teams to save themselves, though the Addicks seem doomed, nine points off second-bottom and eleven from safety.