Well here I am in Copenhagen! I am on a knitting cruise. That mainly involves being with a group of knitters, and we have knit-ins after dinner, and knitting classes on the at-sea days. And yarn crawls in port.
We left from Amsterdam - I had two days in Amsterdam before the boat left, which I mostly used to work on my jet lag. I did walk around town quite a bit, which I have never done - I think that was the first time I have actually stayed in Amsterdam, I usually went straight to the Hague when I came there on business. I did go to the Hague to P.W.Akkerman, a legendary pen store which I wanted to check out. It was pretty warm, in the 80's, and very sunny, so I got pretty steamy on the walks. Laundry. I also went to Penelope Craft, a yarn store in Amsterdam which was small but nice.
Friday the 17th we embarked - it was a BIG operation, a big terminal, and it took probably an hour or more for the whole process of security, passport check, and then just having our group called to board. The room is very nice - I have "obstructed view" which means I have a big window, but it is right in front of a life boat- so I get sun, and I can see out, but I can't see much. The bathroom is bigger, the bed is bigger, and there is a little couch and desk - all more than we had on the Voyages to Antiquity tour, probably because this is a MUCH bigger boat. The Holland America Eurodam. And of course all the staff is super friendly, gracious and helpful. The internet is available but not so great because it's all satellite - so very slow, but at least I can send and receive e-mail.
Today we are in Copenhagen, and the big stop for our knitting group was the yarn store Somerfulgen (I hope I spelled that right!). They had opened the store for us, and had a special trunk show of a local designer. And a special gift of a hat kit! The store was full of really nice things - all kinds of yarns that were not available in the US. Hanne Falkenborg kits, very special and adorable clay buttons for baby sweaters, lots of beautiful samples. I needed needles, and really didn't intend to buy anything else... but I did buy a kit from the designer - a really cool sweater vest that looked really nice on, and of a very nice shetland-ish, very light wool yarn. So yeah, I got all that. *sigh*.
The store was 2+ km from the boat, and most everybody else was taking a taxi, but a small group of us decided to walk, and it took us about an hour, examining the map at every intersection. And I walked back. Very scenic - palaces, museums, shopping streets, beautiful squares and statues, and the waterfront. My knees are not what they used to be. They are really sore from the walking in Amsterdam, and now today. But nothing an Advil and an overnight sleep won't fix.
Yesterday we did have our first lace knitting class with Galina Khalemva (I really don't think I have spelled that right), Russian Orenburg lace goddess. She is really funny and interesting, and we knit a sampler of Orenburg lace.
More later!
Hi Susan,
Knitting cruise of the Baltics?!! Sounds fabulous. I look forward to seeing your knit sample of Russian Orenburg Lace and I hope you will describe the technique with your best Russian accent! Keep up the walking. Walk whenever you can to make up for sitting and knitting and eating fabulous sour cream or mustardy herring and, excuse me while I drool...just take that Advil. Have fun!
Cindi
Posted by: Cindi | August 19, 2012 at 05:12 PM
Knitting crawl.... not that sounds like a party.
Posted by: Larry | August 19, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Now that sounds...
Posted by: Larry | August 19, 2012 at 05:29 PM