Today is our 2 year anniversary! It is appropriate that we should spend it in Ireland, as we spent our 1 year anniversary in Spain last year. My paternal relatives were from Ireland, and David's paternal ancestors lived in Spain.
We enjoyed a breakfast of pastries on the beach in Killiney. Ireland is so much colder than all the other European cities we have visited on this trip; even David has been chilly on the beach! I have taken my warmer clothing out of the bottom of my backpack (David's still in shorts). Today, though, was unusually warm and sunny; the Irish clouds parted to reveal a brilliant sun on our anniversary.
Our original plan was to rent bikes locally and ride around Killiney, though once again we had to resort to Plan B. We could not reach anyone at the local bike shop, so we had to go into Dublin to rent bikes. It was an interesting language and cultural exchange at the bike rental garage, due to the fact that the guys working there were Italian and spoke no English. I got a brand new silver bike from the rental shop, necessary for the novice rider. David sought the advice of the bike shop owner of where to ride our bikes (glad he didn't listen to me). Based on the recommendation, we made our destination coastal Howth.
Getting there was the challenge. Dublin professes to be a cyclist-friendly city, with cycling lanes in the heart of the city. However, I don't think anyone informed the buses and taxis that they are there. The buses came within inches of me, and David swears one bus brushed his sleeve. This freaked me out since I, unlike David, have never been riding in inner city traffic. David, on the other hand, regularly rides to work and in Manhattan. I eventually found my cycling legs, though, and trusted David, my bike, and most importantly, myself.
We rode out to Howth (guided by GPS). There was a really picturesque park there that reminded us of the Hudson Greenway in our Washington Heights neighborhood. Best of all, it has a BIKE path! So I got out of traffic and felt a lot happier. We followed the bike path along the water out to a pier. Despite the fact that it had a sign showing a line through a little cyclist, we followed a few cyclists out onto the pier. We saw a cute little beach area, religious statue, lighthouse, as well as mountains rising in the distant sea. We rested a little at a bench on the end of the pier, and then it was back on the bikes.
From the pier we headed further North, where David spotted a park. We decided to stop there, and were so thrilled we did. The park is named St. Anne's Rose Garden, for the gorgeous roses that fill it. This was the most incredible rose garden David and I have ever seen...beyond beautiful. Miniature roses, red roses, tall roses, yellow roses, rose trellises...every type you can imagine. This hidden gem did not appear in any of our guidebooks...glad we were out on the bicycles and discovered it!
Eventually we cycled back to Dublin and returned the bikes. For dinner we got veggie takeout from Juice, a veggie restaurant in the trendy Temple Bar district. We had a mini-picnic in St. Stephen's Green, under sunny skies. We sampled many different veggie dishes, including Indian veggie kebabs and veggie sushi. David's favorite part of the meal was the 1.5 liter Orange Fanta! Our vegetarianism brought us together originally at Columbia, and now, as we each celebrate a decade of being vegetarian, we continue to share so many things (vegetarianism among them) in common. Including our love of backpacking!
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Monday, August 02, 2004
Dublin, Past and Present
Our final destination on this backpacking trip is Dublin. We've visited 8 countries in 4.5 weeks, which has given us a taste of each place we've visited. In so many cities we've wished we had more time, though the snapshot we have gotten of each place has enabled us to visit a variety of places in both Western and Central Europe, showing us the similarities and differences between them and compared to life in the United States.
We decided to take a bus into Dublin instead of a train, since we had already used up our 10 trip Eurail train pass. By taking the bus, we saved 70 euros! It was about a 4 hour bus ride, though the time passed quickly as we gazed at the lush green rural Irish countryside. While on the bus, I was reading the 'Dublin and Surrounding Area' section of our Lonely Planet Ireland book. I was reading about this picturesque wealthy seaside town called Killiney (south of Dublin), where the Irish elite like Bono of U2 and Enya live. I was telling David that we would defintiely have to visit Killiney during our stay. Turns out that the hotel we are staying at IS IN KILLINENY! I did not even realize that when I made the Internet booking! Everything has just fallen perfectly into place on this backpacking trip...
Upon arriving in Dublin, our first stop was dinner at Cornocopia, another veggie buffet. David thoroughly enjoyed it-especially the portion sizes! We walked along Grafton Street, south of the River Liffey, and from there we decided to embark on our Southern sojourn to Killiney. We were happy to learn that the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) had a stop at Killiney, though we had to station hop to actually find a DART station with trains departing. Thank goodness we chose southern lodgings instead of northern ones, because it turns out that the DART has no northbound weekend service this summer. Our Irish luck continues!
The DART ride was really gorgeous; we traveled right along the coast and got a lovely view of the Irish sea. David and I both spent our childhood summers seaside, so we both love being in close proximity to the sea. The train dropped us off in Killiney, and then it was like, so where do we go from here? The hotel we were planning to stay in is actually a CASTLE (we decided to live it up the end of our backpacking trip and for our 2 year anniversary), called the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel. As such, it has no address, so we were a bit stumped as to where it was located in Killiney. We exited the train station, headed up the hill (which seemed logical), and took in our surroundings (named estates enclosed by high walls!) David took out the GPS unit, which had only limited success up to this point in the trip. It did find the castle though, and we headed in that direction. Not trusting advanced technology, we decided to ask a passerby, who ended up turning us around and leading us to a dead end! So much for human technology! We stopped a car, and spoke to the woman driver...we must have made quite a sight with our backpacks strapped on, asking for directions to a castle! She offered us a ride, so we ended up hitching a ride to the castle! (kinda like when we took the cab to our campsite!)
The castle has perfect accomodations for the end of our European backpacking trip...our room is enormous, equipped with tea service and a modern bathroom. The best part, according to David, is that it is PRIVATE...no sharing bunks with hostelmates or bathroom facilities with fellow campers! Sharon's favorite part is the balcony with a view of the Irish sea. We both went out on the balcony and witnessed a beautiful Irish sunset.
The next day we spent touring Dublin. Our first stop was Trinity College, which was founded by Elizabeth I in 1592 to spread Protestantism, though her efforts in that regard can be considered largely unsuccessful because 88% of the student body at Trinity is Catholic. The main attraction at Trinity College is the Book of Kells, which contain some of the oldest writings in existence, dating from around 800 AD. We got to see the illuminiated manuscripts from the gospels acoording to Luke and John. We also saw the Long Room of the Old Library, which houses 250,000 of the Library's oldest volumes. The Long Room's length, adt 65 m, makes it the longest library in the world. A midafternoon rainshower greeted us while we were having a picnic lunch at St. Stephen's Green, though we found a bench under a tree that kept us dry. From there we snuck into some churches (for free!) at closing time and joined a tour of Dublin Castle (13th century), where we saw the remnants of a moat. Dinner was at Taste of India, where David was brave enough to try the very spicy vegetable madras (the waiter kept coming over to check on David and make sure steam was not coming out of his ears!) David always loves to spice things up a bit!
We decided to take a bus into Dublin instead of a train, since we had already used up our 10 trip Eurail train pass. By taking the bus, we saved 70 euros! It was about a 4 hour bus ride, though the time passed quickly as we gazed at the lush green rural Irish countryside. While on the bus, I was reading the 'Dublin and Surrounding Area' section of our Lonely Planet Ireland book. I was reading about this picturesque wealthy seaside town called Killiney (south of Dublin), where the Irish elite like Bono of U2 and Enya live. I was telling David that we would defintiely have to visit Killiney during our stay. Turns out that the hotel we are staying at IS IN KILLINENY! I did not even realize that when I made the Internet booking! Everything has just fallen perfectly into place on this backpacking trip...
Upon arriving in Dublin, our first stop was dinner at Cornocopia, another veggie buffet. David thoroughly enjoyed it-especially the portion sizes! We walked along Grafton Street, south of the River Liffey, and from there we decided to embark on our Southern sojourn to Killiney. We were happy to learn that the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) had a stop at Killiney, though we had to station hop to actually find a DART station with trains departing. Thank goodness we chose southern lodgings instead of northern ones, because it turns out that the DART has no northbound weekend service this summer. Our Irish luck continues!
The DART ride was really gorgeous; we traveled right along the coast and got a lovely view of the Irish sea. David and I both spent our childhood summers seaside, so we both love being in close proximity to the sea. The train dropped us off in Killiney, and then it was like, so where do we go from here? The hotel we were planning to stay in is actually a CASTLE (we decided to live it up the end of our backpacking trip and for our 2 year anniversary), called the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel. As such, it has no address, so we were a bit stumped as to where it was located in Killiney. We exited the train station, headed up the hill (which seemed logical), and took in our surroundings (named estates enclosed by high walls!) David took out the GPS unit, which had only limited success up to this point in the trip. It did find the castle though, and we headed in that direction. Not trusting advanced technology, we decided to ask a passerby, who ended up turning us around and leading us to a dead end! So much for human technology! We stopped a car, and spoke to the woman driver...we must have made quite a sight with our backpacks strapped on, asking for directions to a castle! She offered us a ride, so we ended up hitching a ride to the castle! (kinda like when we took the cab to our campsite!)
The castle has perfect accomodations for the end of our European backpacking trip...our room is enormous, equipped with tea service and a modern bathroom. The best part, according to David, is that it is PRIVATE...no sharing bunks with hostelmates or bathroom facilities with fellow campers! Sharon's favorite part is the balcony with a view of the Irish sea. We both went out on the balcony and witnessed a beautiful Irish sunset.
The next day we spent touring Dublin. Our first stop was Trinity College, which was founded by Elizabeth I in 1592 to spread Protestantism, though her efforts in that regard can be considered largely unsuccessful because 88% of the student body at Trinity is Catholic. The main attraction at Trinity College is the Book of Kells, which contain some of the oldest writings in existence, dating from around 800 AD. We got to see the illuminiated manuscripts from the gospels acoording to Luke and John. We also saw the Long Room of the Old Library, which houses 250,000 of the Library's oldest volumes. The Long Room's length, adt 65 m, makes it the longest library in the world. A midafternoon rainshower greeted us while we were having a picnic lunch at St. Stephen's Green, though we found a bench under a tree that kept us dry. From there we snuck into some churches (for free!) at closing time and joined a tour of Dublin Castle (13th century), where we saw the remnants of a moat. Dinner was at Taste of India, where David was brave enough to try the very spicy vegetable madras (the waiter kept coming over to check on David and make sure steam was not coming out of his ears!) David always loves to spice things up a bit!
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Cork, Future European Capital of Culture
David and I took the ferry to Cork City, Ireland. Cork, you ask? You MUST know Cork!!! It will be the European Capital of Culture in 2005!!! Actually, the reason David and I decided to visit Cork was because my paternal relatives lived in Cork. A brief history of the Collins name...there were 2 main families from which the Collins name is derived: the O'Coileans from Limerick and the O'Cuilleains from Cork. Both families eventually settled in Cork, so I wanted to see it with my own Irish eyes.
So anyway, we arrived in Cork early in the morning, as people were starting to head to work (blissfully not us!) We did the walking tour recommended in the Lonely Planet book, culminating in some freshly baked scones (delicious!) and smoothies in Bishop Lucey Park. Cork has a very small town feel to it; the walking tour alone gave us a very good feel for the city. Plan B once again became necessary when we found out we could not check into our B&B until 14:00!
We decided to have 2nd breakfast (more like brunch) at Quay's Co-op, this awesome vegetarian restaurant in Cork. It is a very spacious restaurant occupying the 2nd and 3rd floors of the store. There, I enjoyed a full Irish (vegetarian) breakfast, and David had some potato cakes and fake sausage. I began enjoying the custom of drinking Irish tea with breakfast, a tradition I extended to most of my other meals in Ireland!
With our backpacks on, we walked down the famous St. Patrick's Street and then Grand Parade, where we discovered Prince Street indoor market. David bought some delicious homemade Cork fudge there. We noticed lots of construction going on around Cork, which David figured out was Cork City getting ready to be the European Capital of Culture next year. We also walked by the Opera House (very modern and small, though probably a necessary element to be deemed a cultural capital), and I spent some time in the Municipal Art Gallery viewing some Irish landscapes by Helnwien. Meanwhile, David sat outside babysitting the backpacks, while enjoying the music of the bagpipe player right around the corner.
Eventually 14:00 came and passed, so we started the scavenger hunt along B&B row to find Crawford House. Lonely Planet misguided us, and we ended up having to call Crawford House to get directions. The proprietors must have been laughing at us, because we were literally just a few yards away. We splurged on our B&B after our month of hostels and camping, and got the room with a jacuzzi (I think that's what kept me going in the Pyrenees!)
After checking in, we headed to St. Anne's Church, which is famous its Shandon Bells. The proprietor bragged about the view at the top of the tower, saying we would be able to see clear to the Statue of Liberty (!) When we got inside we actually got to play the Shandon Bells. David played 'Happy Birthday' and 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina', I played 'You Are My Sunshine', and working in concert we played 'Three Blind Mice'. So all over Cork City they could hear us playing the Shandon Bells...hope it sounded melodic! The view at the top of the tower was impressive; David joked with the proprietor that he could actually see all the way to California!!!
Dinner consisted of veggie options at Ky's Kafe (chosen by David for its great use of the letter 'K'). The place actually closed after we left at around 19:00, which we found difficult to believe because the menu said they were open "Very Late". Since when is 7 pm very late??? One thing New York City has on every other city we have visited thus far on the trip is that nothing closes; it is truly the city that never sleeps.
So anyway, we arrived in Cork early in the morning, as people were starting to head to work (blissfully not us!) We did the walking tour recommended in the Lonely Planet book, culminating in some freshly baked scones (delicious!) and smoothies in Bishop Lucey Park. Cork has a very small town feel to it; the walking tour alone gave us a very good feel for the city. Plan B once again became necessary when we found out we could not check into our B&B until 14:00!
We decided to have 2nd breakfast (more like brunch) at Quay's Co-op, this awesome vegetarian restaurant in Cork. It is a very spacious restaurant occupying the 2nd and 3rd floors of the store. There, I enjoyed a full Irish (vegetarian) breakfast, and David had some potato cakes and fake sausage. I began enjoying the custom of drinking Irish tea with breakfast, a tradition I extended to most of my other meals in Ireland!
With our backpacks on, we walked down the famous St. Patrick's Street and then Grand Parade, where we discovered Prince Street indoor market. David bought some delicious homemade Cork fudge there. We noticed lots of construction going on around Cork, which David figured out was Cork City getting ready to be the European Capital of Culture next year. We also walked by the Opera House (very modern and small, though probably a necessary element to be deemed a cultural capital), and I spent some time in the Municipal Art Gallery viewing some Irish landscapes by Helnwien. Meanwhile, David sat outside babysitting the backpacks, while enjoying the music of the bagpipe player right around the corner.
Eventually 14:00 came and passed, so we started the scavenger hunt along B&B row to find Crawford House. Lonely Planet misguided us, and we ended up having to call Crawford House to get directions. The proprietors must have been laughing at us, because we were literally just a few yards away. We splurged on our B&B after our month of hostels and camping, and got the room with a jacuzzi (I think that's what kept me going in the Pyrenees!)
After checking in, we headed to St. Anne's Church, which is famous its Shandon Bells. The proprietor bragged about the view at the top of the tower, saying we would be able to see clear to the Statue of Liberty (!) When we got inside we actually got to play the Shandon Bells. David played 'Happy Birthday' and 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina', I played 'You Are My Sunshine', and working in concert we played 'Three Blind Mice'. So all over Cork City they could hear us playing the Shandon Bells...hope it sounded melodic! The view at the top of the tower was impressive; David joked with the proprietor that he could actually see all the way to California!!!
Dinner consisted of veggie options at Ky's Kafe (chosen by David for its great use of the letter 'K'). The place actually closed after we left at around 19:00, which we found difficult to believe because the menu said they were open "Very Late". Since when is 7 pm very late??? One thing New York City has on every other city we have visited thus far on the trip is that nothing closes; it is truly the city that never sleeps.
Friday, July 30, 2004
London, in two hours or less
Yesterday was a crazy transportation day, in which we spent the early morning hours in Spain and by late evening we were in Irish waters. You see, we were traveling to Ireland by super ferry from Wales. Adding a boat to all our other modes of transportation rounded out the already long list: train, bus, zipper train, metro, U-bahn, walking, hiking, biking, taxi, S-bahn, overnight train, plane, and now ferry.
Here is the jam-packed transportation schedule we followed:
6:30 Ryan Air Flight to Paris
13:04 Eurostar (Chunnel) ride to London
17:00 Eurail ride to Swansea
21:00 Swansea Super Ferry to Ireland
The ride through the Chunnel was interesting. First off, we rode on the Eurodisney train (Mickey and Minnie went with us across the English Channel!) Secondly, we got discounted passes based on our Eurail pass, which entitled us to ride in the noisy luggage car (what a rip-off!). This meant we had to sit on the flip down seats...we tried to get the 'good' seats, but the train was packed. Quite a contrast to the 1st class comfort we had gotten used to!
We took a brief break from this day of traveling to meet up with our friend Nick in London, who is working there now. We had slightly under 2 hours, so Nick gave us the lightning speed tour of London. We saw and photographed the major sights: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Parliament Square. It was great to see a friendly face in the midst of the backpacking trip; we had a lot of fun having lunch and hanging out with Nick.
We barely made our train to Swansea; the ticket guy had closed the door to the nearest car, which he thankfully opened up again when he saw us. We hopped on, and literally before we took our seats, the train started moving! Our trip to Ireland was almost postponed! A friendly London businessman David sat across from us, and gave us advise on how to get to our super ferry. He said we could walk, though it was raining cats and dogs when we got into Wales. So we hopped into a cool, spacious cab (lots of room for bodies and backpacks!) and made it to the ferry as boarding began. It was cool to travel to Ireland by boat, and the rain stopped just in time for us to see a beautiful sunset on deck.
Our intense travel day was exhausting; we slept well in our cabin last night. We were probably dreaming of Ireland, our final travel destination on this backpacking trip...
Here is the jam-packed transportation schedule we followed:
6:30 Ryan Air Flight to Paris
13:04 Eurostar (Chunnel) ride to London
17:00 Eurail ride to Swansea
21:00 Swansea Super Ferry to Ireland
The ride through the Chunnel was interesting. First off, we rode on the Eurodisney train (Mickey and Minnie went with us across the English Channel!) Secondly, we got discounted passes based on our Eurail pass, which entitled us to ride in the noisy luggage car (what a rip-off!). This meant we had to sit on the flip down seats...we tried to get the 'good' seats, but the train was packed. Quite a contrast to the 1st class comfort we had gotten used to!
We took a brief break from this day of traveling to meet up with our friend Nick in London, who is working there now. We had slightly under 2 hours, so Nick gave us the lightning speed tour of London. We saw and photographed the major sights: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Parliament Square. It was great to see a friendly face in the midst of the backpacking trip; we had a lot of fun having lunch and hanging out with Nick.
We barely made our train to Swansea; the ticket guy had closed the door to the nearest car, which he thankfully opened up again when he saw us. We hopped on, and literally before we took our seats, the train started moving! Our trip to Ireland was almost postponed! A friendly London businessman David sat across from us, and gave us advise on how to get to our super ferry. He said we could walk, though it was raining cats and dogs when we got into Wales. So we hopped into a cool, spacious cab (lots of room for bodies and backpacks!) and made it to the ferry as boarding began. It was cool to travel to Ireland by boat, and the rain stopped just in time for us to see a beautiful sunset on deck.
Our intense travel day was exhausting; we slept well in our cabin last night. We were probably dreaming of Ireland, our final travel destination on this backpacking trip...
Friday, July 23, 2004
Relaxing in Lake Geneva
After being stranded in the Alps till around 17:00, we arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, after 23:00 (our train car only contained us in 1st class and a nun in 2nd class). Due to the late hour, we ended up taking a taxi to our campsite(!) Thank goodness David speaks French fluently; he was able to communicate to the clubber cabbie exactly where we wanted to go above her loud house music. We had to put up our tent after midnight in complete darkness. David is the expert camper, so it got put up very quickly. All our attempts at quietness in this family campground were foiled when drunk German kids arrived back at their tent (right next to ours!!!)
We spent the next day in Geneva relaxing by the lake, which was much needed therapy after spending time in L'Alpe d'Huez for Le Tour. We were thrilled that the campsite had shower and bathroom facilities, after using a Port-a-potty for 3 days and going several days with no shower! We had breakfast by the lake (cereal bars and soy milk), Sharon went swimming, David watched another Tour stage on TV, and Sharon read some Kate Chopin short stories lakeside. Relaxation was priceless...Our picnic dinner was once again...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! We have been eating them almost every day of the trip, and David has been carrying around a huge tub of peanut butter! Sharon can't wait to eat real food in Paris-she doesn't know if she can stomach another PB&J sandwich. In the evening we played chess on a huge life size chess board at the campsite.
Our trip has shown us at so many turns that Plan B must be put in effect. It happened the next day, when we were supposed to depart for Paris by train in the early afternoon. We could not get a reservation for the earlier train because it was booked (everyone heading to Paris to see the last day of Le Tour), so we were stuck in Geneva until late afternoon. It was fine with us, though, because we still had Swiss francs to spend and touring to do. Our first stop was McDonalds, and we were THRILLED to find the first McDonalds we went to in Europe that had Veggie Macs!!! It tasted like a curry burger and was delicious! We then walked across the Pont Mont Blanc; saw the Jet d'eau, famous flower clock, and St. Peter's Cathedral. We then took a long walk along the lake to the beautiful Botanical Gardens. Breathtaking, in a word...a great way to spend an afternoon in Geneva! Before departing by train for Paris, we stopped off for some famous Swiss chocolate and a McFlurry for David!
Switzerland delivered the right dose of required relaxation...now, off to Paris, the city we have visited every summer since our honeymoon!
We spent the next day in Geneva relaxing by the lake, which was much needed therapy after spending time in L'Alpe d'Huez for Le Tour. We were thrilled that the campsite had shower and bathroom facilities, after using a Port-a-potty for 3 days and going several days with no shower! We had breakfast by the lake (cereal bars and soy milk), Sharon went swimming, David watched another Tour stage on TV, and Sharon read some Kate Chopin short stories lakeside. Relaxation was priceless...Our picnic dinner was once again...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! We have been eating them almost every day of the trip, and David has been carrying around a huge tub of peanut butter! Sharon can't wait to eat real food in Paris-she doesn't know if she can stomach another PB&J sandwich. In the evening we played chess on a huge life size chess board at the campsite.
Our trip has shown us at so many turns that Plan B must be put in effect. It happened the next day, when we were supposed to depart for Paris by train in the early afternoon. We could not get a reservation for the earlier train because it was booked (everyone heading to Paris to see the last day of Le Tour), so we were stuck in Geneva until late afternoon. It was fine with us, though, because we still had Swiss francs to spend and touring to do. Our first stop was McDonalds, and we were THRILLED to find the first McDonalds we went to in Europe that had Veggie Macs!!! It tasted like a curry burger and was delicious! We then walked across the Pont Mont Blanc; saw the Jet d'eau, famous flower clock, and St. Peter's Cathedral. We then took a long walk along the lake to the beautiful Botanical Gardens. Breathtaking, in a word...a great way to spend an afternoon in Geneva! Before departing by train for Paris, we stopped off for some famous Swiss chocolate and a McFlurry for David!
Switzerland delivered the right dose of required relaxation...now, off to Paris, the city we have visited every summer since our honeymoon!
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Off to the Tour!
The trip to l'Alpe d'Huez was to be check-mark on the "things to do in life" list for David. Perhaps the Tour de France's most feared climb in recent years was to be the site of an uphill time trial for the first time ever. So this is the year to go!
Starting in Berlin, though, was not going to be easy.
An overnight train to Paris put us at the Gare du Nord with all of an hour and ten minutes to travel across town to the Gare de Lyon for a train to Grenoble (closest city to l'Alpe d'Huez). While in New York, a glance at the Paris subway map made it look quite possible.
From Berlin, with the overnight train leaving late... it looked a little different!
Fortunately, the train made-up the time so we arrived in Paris as scheduled. We were further enheartened when informed by one of our cabin-mates, a very Parisian young film director, that the trip across town not only could be completed in time, but time would remain for a croissant breakfast.
David had wisely reserved seats on the train to Grenoble -- this Tour stage was estimated to have over one million spectators! On the train we met two of those one million: a couple of American cycling nuts named Rob and Keith. Former bike racers living in Arizona, they too were pursuing a life-long dream by going to l'Alpe d'Huez. Rob and Keith were very happy to meet us, because we not only had experience attending Tour stages (last year), but also had some good information about what to expect when we arrived in Grenoble.
What we had in mind was to take a bus to Bourg d'Oisans (at the base of the Alpe) or to l'Alpe d'Huez itself, and find a place to camp for the next two nights. David's French was very handy in arranging the bus, but the ride was much longer than expected because of the insane number of cars, RV's, motorbikes, and bicycles on the road, both stopped and moving. Countless amateur and semi-pro cyclists were attempting the very same climb the pros would suffer on the next day, and even more fans were already settled in for the event (for as long as three days before we arrived, as we soon discovered!).
In the end we took the bus (with Rob and Keith) all the way up to l'Alpe d'Huez itself (which, by the way, is a very popular resort with skiing available through August (!) ). We walked down to the 3km-to-go mark and found a (mostly) flat spot next to the road which became our home for the next two days.
Lance Armstrong's greatest rival, Jan Ullrich, is German. Our little campsite was surrounded by Germans -- Ullrich fans! Fortunately, Manfred ("Manny") and his son Stefan, two of the people who had been there for three days already, befriended us so all was good. The night passed uneventfully, though noisily (Germans ==> much beer and singing).
The next morning began with a sense of anticipation more so than any other of the trip, and before we knew it, the famous Tour publicity caravan arrived, complete with free souveniers, water bottles and snacks tossed to the crowd. Soon after, the first of over 150 riders rode past us as we stood by the side of the road. Others followed at approximately two-minute intervals (they begin two minutes apart but rarely finish that way). The quality of riders increased as the day wore on, as they begin the time trial in inverse order of placement.
It is impossible to describe the atmosphere on the slopes of the Alpe. Seeing the suffering and the emotions on the faces of the best bicycle riders in the world on this legendary climb was an incredible experience. It more than lived up to expectation. In fact, it was so far past David's level of expectation that he doesn't remember what he had hoped to see. The stage ended (for us) in spectacular fashion, as our man Lance flew past us, moments before catching his two-minute man Ivan Basso.
With the excitement of the stage past us, reality eventually set in, as the challenge getting off the million-fan mountain presented itself. Apparently, the first bus to leave the slopes was schedulded to do so roughly 24 hours after the end of the stage. We passed the time quite pleasantly chatting with our (disappointed) German nieghbors and our good buddies Rob and Keith. Also, Rob and Keith went with us on a little hike the next morning which put us high above the ski resort, offerng spectacular ("scary" -- David) views of the feared 21 switchbacks up to l'Alpe d'Huez and the surrounding mountains.
Eventually we caught our bus, and began our curiously long trip to our next stop, Lac Léman, a.k.a. Lake Geneva.
Starting in Berlin, though, was not going to be easy.
An overnight train to Paris put us at the Gare du Nord with all of an hour and ten minutes to travel across town to the Gare de Lyon for a train to Grenoble (closest city to l'Alpe d'Huez). While in New York, a glance at the Paris subway map made it look quite possible.
From Berlin, with the overnight train leaving late... it looked a little different!
Fortunately, the train made-up the time so we arrived in Paris as scheduled. We were further enheartened when informed by one of our cabin-mates, a very Parisian young film director, that the trip across town not only could be completed in time, but time would remain for a croissant breakfast.
David had wisely reserved seats on the train to Grenoble -- this Tour stage was estimated to have over one million spectators! On the train we met two of those one million: a couple of American cycling nuts named Rob and Keith. Former bike racers living in Arizona, they too were pursuing a life-long dream by going to l'Alpe d'Huez. Rob and Keith were very happy to meet us, because we not only had experience attending Tour stages (last year), but also had some good information about what to expect when we arrived in Grenoble.
What we had in mind was to take a bus to Bourg d'Oisans (at the base of the Alpe) or to l'Alpe d'Huez itself, and find a place to camp for the next two nights. David's French was very handy in arranging the bus, but the ride was much longer than expected because of the insane number of cars, RV's, motorbikes, and bicycles on the road, both stopped and moving. Countless amateur and semi-pro cyclists were attempting the very same climb the pros would suffer on the next day, and even more fans were already settled in for the event (for as long as three days before we arrived, as we soon discovered!).
In the end we took the bus (with Rob and Keith) all the way up to l'Alpe d'Huez itself (which, by the way, is a very popular resort with skiing available through August (!) ). We walked down to the 3km-to-go mark and found a (mostly) flat spot next to the road which became our home for the next two days.
Lance Armstrong's greatest rival, Jan Ullrich, is German. Our little campsite was surrounded by Germans -- Ullrich fans! Fortunately, Manfred ("Manny") and his son Stefan, two of the people who had been there for three days already, befriended us so all was good. The night passed uneventfully, though noisily (Germans ==> much beer and singing).
The next morning began with a sense of anticipation more so than any other of the trip, and before we knew it, the famous Tour publicity caravan arrived, complete with free souveniers, water bottles and snacks tossed to the crowd. Soon after, the first of over 150 riders rode past us as we stood by the side of the road. Others followed at approximately two-minute intervals (they begin two minutes apart but rarely finish that way). The quality of riders increased as the day wore on, as they begin the time trial in inverse order of placement.
It is impossible to describe the atmosphere on the slopes of the Alpe. Seeing the suffering and the emotions on the faces of the best bicycle riders in the world on this legendary climb was an incredible experience. It more than lived up to expectation. In fact, it was so far past David's level of expectation that he doesn't remember what he had hoped to see. The stage ended (for us) in spectacular fashion, as our man Lance flew past us, moments before catching his two-minute man Ivan Basso.
With the excitement of the stage past us, reality eventually set in, as the challenge getting off the million-fan mountain presented itself. Apparently, the first bus to leave the slopes was schedulded to do so roughly 24 hours after the end of the stage. We passed the time quite pleasantly chatting with our (disappointed) German nieghbors and our good buddies Rob and Keith. Also, Rob and Keith went with us on a little hike the next morning which put us high above the ski resort, offerng spectacular ("scary" -- David) views of the feared 21 switchbacks up to l'Alpe d'Huez and the surrounding mountains.
Eventually we caught our bus, and began our curiously long trip to our next stop, Lac Léman, a.k.a. Lake Geneva.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Biking in Berlin
Berlin is an interesting city...kinda searching for a new identity since the Wall came down. We actually spent more time in East Berlin than West Berlin, due to there being more interesting sights there. We arrived in Berlin via the overnight train around 9 am, and the first thing our eyes spotted was a Dunkin Donuts (chain stores are everywhere in Berlin!) David had his jelly donut (in reference to JFK's supposed gaffe), we figured out how to get to our hostel, and we were off. It tooks us 2 U-bahn trains and 1 bus to get to our hostel on the outskirts of town (Ernst Reuter), and David was sad to find out we would be in gender separated bunks but happy with free Internet!
I wanted to visit Germany because my mother's heritage was German. We started our touring by walking down the famous avenue Unter den Linden, up to the Brandenburg Gate. It was very interesting to read about the history of this place, and to see the Reichstag off to the right. We attempted to go up to the glass dome of the Reichstag (free!), but the line was way too long and not moving. So instead we went up in a hot air balloon!!! It gave us an incredible view of the city, including the famous Alexanderplatz Radio Tower. David's fear of heights snuck up but did not prevent him from going up with me. Our ascent to high places continues!
In the afternoon we went briefly to a museum on Berlin history (all in German), then headed to the Radio Tower. We met there for the infamous 'Fat Tires Bike Tour', which David found out about in our hostel in Rome (the tour exists in Paris and Barcelona also). Now remember, David is the avid cyclist and I have not been on a bicycle since my teens...so I knew it was going to be interesting. It was great to be on a bike again, and weird for David to not be on his Lemond road bike. This was the only real organized tour we went on our whole trip, and it was worth it. We learned lots of Berlin and German history on the tour, focusing on the period from WWII to the coming down of the wall in 1989. We biked around to various sights, where our Texan tour guide Mike explained to us the history or significance of the place. The highlight of the tour was biking to Checkpoint Charlie, and seeing the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall. I also had a lot of fun biking through the Brandenburg Gate a few times, and David enjoyed playing real life Mario brothers when we attempted to bike across some intermittent fountains before the water shot up into the sky (success, with some slight cheating!)
Now, on this backpacking trip, David and I have been seeking out vegetarian restaurants (not an easy thing to do in Europe). We read in Lonely Planet about this veggie place in Berlin named Searose, and decided to try to find it (if it still existed). We figured out how to get their after our 5 hour bike tour, and actually found the place. It was another vegetarian buffet place, owned by an Iranian, and we had a good veggie dinner at a cute 2 person table upstairs. After we finished dinner, we encountered pouring rain streaming down outside (so many times during the trip it has briefly rained). We didn't find out till our bike tour that it rained most of June in Berlin, so we had no rain gear with us (so much for the 'Be Prepared' motto). So we made a mad dash to the U-Bahn to get back to the hostel (we got wet, though not dripping wet).
Our 2nd day in Berlin had a much more relaxed pace. We spent the morning doing David's stinky laundry at our hostel (very necessary!), and then headed out for more touring. We went back to the Reichstag to ascend the glass dome (David chilled in the park watching the backpacks while Sharon waited on line). It was worth the wait, and Sharon got to spiral up the glass dome and get a great view of Berlin (for FREE - no Euros!) From there, hunger drove us to follow signs for a vegetarian restaurant we had spotted earlier. The place ended up being closed on Mondays! Uggh!! Hunger continued to drive us down the street to a German Asian restaurant that was thankfully open and not crowded. We ate a spicy tofu dish, egg drop soup, and had a heaping bowl of rice! David went off grocery shopping across the street at Ullrich (!) and Sharon waited around in the restaurant with both backpacks. The waitress kept checking up on Sharon, afraid she was going to run off without paying the tab. Sharon found this hysterical...there was no way she could wear her backpack, carry David's backpack (80+ pounds total), and run at a fast enough pace before the waitress tackled her! We've encountered this 'backpacker prejudice' in quite a few places...
Berlin ended the luxurious part of our trip...off to 4 days of camping!
I wanted to visit Germany because my mother's heritage was German. We started our touring by walking down the famous avenue Unter den Linden, up to the Brandenburg Gate. It was very interesting to read about the history of this place, and to see the Reichstag off to the right. We attempted to go up to the glass dome of the Reichstag (free!), but the line was way too long and not moving. So instead we went up in a hot air balloon!!! It gave us an incredible view of the city, including the famous Alexanderplatz Radio Tower. David's fear of heights snuck up but did not prevent him from going up with me. Our ascent to high places continues!
In the afternoon we went briefly to a museum on Berlin history (all in German), then headed to the Radio Tower. We met there for the infamous 'Fat Tires Bike Tour', which David found out about in our hostel in Rome (the tour exists in Paris and Barcelona also). Now remember, David is the avid cyclist and I have not been on a bicycle since my teens...so I knew it was going to be interesting. It was great to be on a bike again, and weird for David to not be on his Lemond road bike. This was the only real organized tour we went on our whole trip, and it was worth it. We learned lots of Berlin and German history on the tour, focusing on the period from WWII to the coming down of the wall in 1989. We biked around to various sights, where our Texan tour guide Mike explained to us the history or significance of the place. The highlight of the tour was biking to Checkpoint Charlie, and seeing the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall. I also had a lot of fun biking through the Brandenburg Gate a few times, and David enjoyed playing real life Mario brothers when we attempted to bike across some intermittent fountains before the water shot up into the sky (success, with some slight cheating!)
Now, on this backpacking trip, David and I have been seeking out vegetarian restaurants (not an easy thing to do in Europe). We read in Lonely Planet about this veggie place in Berlin named Searose, and decided to try to find it (if it still existed). We figured out how to get their after our 5 hour bike tour, and actually found the place. It was another vegetarian buffet place, owned by an Iranian, and we had a good veggie dinner at a cute 2 person table upstairs. After we finished dinner, we encountered pouring rain streaming down outside (so many times during the trip it has briefly rained). We didn't find out till our bike tour that it rained most of June in Berlin, so we had no rain gear with us (so much for the 'Be Prepared' motto). So we made a mad dash to the U-Bahn to get back to the hostel (we got wet, though not dripping wet).
Our 2nd day in Berlin had a much more relaxed pace. We spent the morning doing David's stinky laundry at our hostel (very necessary!), and then headed out for more touring. We went back to the Reichstag to ascend the glass dome (David chilled in the park watching the backpacks while Sharon waited on line). It was worth the wait, and Sharon got to spiral up the glass dome and get a great view of Berlin (for FREE - no Euros!) From there, hunger drove us to follow signs for a vegetarian restaurant we had spotted earlier. The place ended up being closed on Mondays! Uggh!! Hunger continued to drive us down the street to a German Asian restaurant that was thankfully open and not crowded. We ate a spicy tofu dish, egg drop soup, and had a heaping bowl of rice! David went off grocery shopping across the street at Ullrich (!) and Sharon waited around in the restaurant with both backpacks. The waitress kept checking up on Sharon, afraid she was going to run off without paying the tab. Sharon found this hysterical...there was no way she could wear her backpack, carry David's backpack (80+ pounds total), and run at a fast enough pace before the waitress tackled her! We've encountered this 'backpacker prejudice' in quite a few places...
Berlin ended the luxurious part of our trip...off to 4 days of camping!
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