December 31: Ooh, Ushuaia!

Ooh, Ushuaia – it’s hard to think of a better place to celebrate the holidays as well as two important personal milestones -– turning 60 and riding solo on my sixth continent less than six years after first setting out on my own. Located at the extreme southern end of South America, this wild and quirky town is one of a kind.

With its frigid summertime air, enormous snow-topped craggy mountains rising through thick blankets of fog, muddy pothole-filled streets, and proximity to the bottom of the earth, this town defines unique.

City planners went the extra mile for Christmas and New Years, lighting up the iconic 3- D city letters in green, placing a Santa’s hat on the “U,” staging a reindeer and a sleigh in front, and festooning the surrounding streets with snowflakes, gingerbread men, and green and red bows.

Walking the bustling blocks along Avenida San Martin in the city center, restaurants and cafes offer tantalizing Argentinian food along with million-dollar views of the ships docked in the harbor and the Beagle Channel beyond.  

Life is different in Ushuaia where Ubers don’t even try to remove the mud from the back of their cars, hotels don’t loan out umbrellas in the rain because it’s too windy, visitors brave all types of weather conditions to visit the Patagonian wild and Antarctica, and penguin tours are one of the most popular tourist attractions.

There’s so much to love about this city but one of my favorite spots was a little bar called “Augusto Ushuaia.” With friendly English-speaking staff, bar seats looking out over the water, and a wide variety of savory house specials to choose from, I felt at home and welcome.

Although I’ve loved every minute here, it’s time to turn north - full of wonderful memories of a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.