To the End of the World (and Back)
I spent most of November aboard the MS Zaandam, sailing from Buenos Aires, south to Montevideo, Uruguay, further south to the Falklands, even further south to Punta Arenas, Chile, and still further south to Ushuia, Argentina: the southernmost inhabited land on the planet. Any further south and you're in Antarctica. Then around Cape Horn, and back up North to Puerto Montt, and finally to Vailparaiso and Santiago, where I caught the first of three planes which would take me back home again. Won't you join me on my adventure? I promise there will be yarn.
Part One: Buenos Aires
If you leave in Portland, Oregon, stop in Los Angeles, then continue to Lima,Peru, and then to Buenos Aires, you can do it all in around 17 hours. Whew!
At the hotel in Buenos Aires, the knitters began to converge. I found Sally Melville; the other teacher on the trip, and the only person in the group whom I'd met before. Later we were joined by Joji Locatelli, who stayed to knit with us, even though the hotel experienced a power outage that night. I was amazed at how long the knitters kept on, chatting and laughing and knitting, as it got darker and darker with the setting sun. After we finally gave up, I ate pizza Margherita by the light of my i-phone.
In the morning the power was back on, but we had too much to do to hang around. Buenos Aires has its very own yarn district (I swear, I am not making this up) which covers several city blocks, and is chock full of yarn stores:
Moussa Lanas, the oldest yarn store in the district
Color much? Yes, please!
Most of the yarn stores also sell swimwear. Obviously, these people understand how sexy knitters are.
The next day we visited the famous La Recoleta Cemetary, where Eva Peron is buried:
Not Evita's tomb; just one I liked.
After that was a city tour:
Town Square, Buenos Aires
And a fantastic public handicrafts market:
Of COURSE you can walk and knit at the same time!
Next Time: Anchors Aweigh!