Bike Trip Day 3 ... Las Terrazas

Last stop, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

By the third day we all though we were insane but the cycle trip, though longer (about 65 km), it was an easier cycle from Vinales to San Diego and then we bussed to Las Terrazas. Las Terrazas is a project set up by Castro of sustainable rural economy based on the rational use of its natural resources for tourism. The buildings were designed to blend with their surroundings. Many of the people that live there are farmers whose fields are located a short distance away and others are artists. Before checking into the hotel we went swimming in the natural waterfalls at Banyos de San Juan. The pools and waterfalls was used as a spa when the Spanish first came to the island. There is only one hotel in the city and it was gorgeous.

The Hotel Moka was 4 star and deservedly so. We ate that night at a converted coffee plantation on the top of a nearby mountain.

it is huge

tam_starmore4
Originally uploaded by knit_north

oooooooooooooooh traditional tammy you have forsaken me - you are sooo big! massive in fact (yes roll out the big scottish head jokes by mike myers and yeah i have a big head!) oh woe such beautiful wool, perfect gauge, lovely motifs but alas not for me - i may try felting it down ... but not sure how much that will help

oh well have started a new one - smaller and more me .. i have chosen the patterns (and dramatically altered the length) rather than religiously following the pattern

Bike Trip Day 2 ... a few more pics

Just thought I would add a few more pictures.. I can't find them on flickr.. but will post them anyway
here..
once I upload them...

UPDATE! I think there should be more but I can't seem to find them.. I think they weren't scanned in?? oh well, follow the link for some more pics.

moooooo, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

La Palma - Martyrs Remembered, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Lunch Stop - The kindness of strangers, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Bike Trip Day 2 ...Outside of La Palma

Outside of La Palma (day 2)
Originally uploaded by girl from finito

a little video shot while i was cycling along the road in the hills just outside of La Palma.

Bike Trip Day 2 ... La Palma and back

Tobacco field, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

The next day we did a round trip from Vinales to La Palma and back that was about 60 km. There were massive hills to climb up in the morning half of the cycle and I had trouble with all of them. The first was steep and "short" (read "shorter"), the second was "flat" and long (read "not quite as steep") and the last was steep and long (this mother of a hill is what everything else was compared to.. and it was horrid). When we stopped in the main square in La Palma they actually laughed at us when we told them what direction we were traveling in.
At midday we stopped at a farmer’s home at the top of the longest steepest hill and had the most delicious lunch. Pork rinds, pork stew, chicken soup and yucca, rice and beans and white cake. There seems to be only one cake recipe in Cuba, something we learned at the Blau. This food was miles above anything else we ate in Cuba. The family feeds the farmers that work on the land nearby and take it upon themselves to feed travelers and passers by. They were the most lovely inviting family.
After that we cycled very quickly downhill to a river where we went for a quick swim and then back to the hotel.

my traditional tam

starmore_tam
Originally uploaded by knit_north

so at the moment I'm obsessively knitting a traditional tam for me - using mom's book Alice Starmore Fair Isle Knitting and wool right from Scotland (see below)

MONSTER JAM! .. go us!

MONSTER JAM! .. go us!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

My friend Naseem is one of the best people I know. She's always suggesting weird fun things to do. Last weekend was a monster truck jam/ demolition derby. We sat way high up in the rogers centre and watch cars hit each other.. and had so much fun. I sat there alternatly knitting and yelling (note the earplugs-- essential).

Ladies!, originally uploaded by chipzdarsky.

Afterward we headed to a friends birthday party at a gay bar in town. Running serendipitously into our good pal Chip we followed him to a pan sexual club for a night of dancing. Oh did I mention Chip was writing a story for the National Post and so was dressed in drag? yeah, he was.

awesome!

starmore yummy wool

starmore3
Originally uploaded by knit_north

i have just received wool right from the Scottish Hebridies (yes Fair Isle 2 ply wool!) it is so lush - the colours are really rich and heathered - i'm knitting myself a tam. yes, i know ..... i've been knitting tams non-stop but this is the real deal