No post is complete without at least one photo of a bike. Saw this one in Rome. Check out the integrated brake levers.
Nice stencil too. We went by one day and then again the next. It appeared overnight.
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…….. It’s been awhile in part because I’ve been gone and busy. Phew! I’ve, finally, had the chance to slow down for a bit.
However… the short list:
A week in Italy on vacation with the in-laws
Too much work
Germany getting to #2 in the European Championships
Locking myself out of the house while Kera was in England
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So….
First: A week in Italy on vacation with the in-laws
Very enjoyable. My in-laws Dee and Don are just really cool people. After a week in close quarters we were still happily speaking to each other and doing things together. We started on Friday heading through Switzerland (St. Moritz to be exact). Man… beautiful. I now understand why people love it. Kera and I will have to go back and ride there sometime. We then wen to Cinque Terre. It’s an amazing collection of cities that hang on the side of the cliffs bordering the Mediterranean Ocean. If you’re ever close, check ‘em out. Take the train from La Spezia though it’s far, far easier than driving.
After Cinque Terre, we headed towards one of Kera and my favorite places on the planet… Volpaia. It’s just so easy for us to relax there. Not to mention excellent food and wine. While there we visited quite a few of the local cities. From there we headed toward Rome to visit with some of Dee and Don’s friends (Di and ? who were wonderful). We got the grand tour around town and kept running across the filming of the next installment of the Dan Brown based movies “Angels and Demons”. Di had seen the stars throughout town.
Rome was never a place that I’d wanted to visit as I’d built it up in my mind to be overrun with tourists and just not worth the bother. Honestly, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Rome is a beautiful, vibrant city with a lot of cool areas away from the zillions of (American tourists while we were there) visitors. There’s lots of art, cool shops, things to see, etc. everywhere you go. The restaurants aren’t crazy expensiveand outside the really hot temperatures while we were there everything was great! We’ll definitely go back again.
Next: Too much work
I was crazy busy which, thankfully, has slowed a bit. I was working 3 or so nights a wee plus everyday as well. It’s now down to 1 or so night (if I don’t substitute) and everyday at least 1/2 day. The slowdown has given me a bit more time to ride. I did get some great news in that I should be getting a 25% raise starting Aug. 1. Woohoo!
Then: Germany getting to #2 in the European Championships
Well, that about says it. I know most Americans could give two hoots about soccer. For the most part, I often feel that way as well. However, when you live here, the fever is easy to catch during both the European Championships and the World Championships. I wasn’t too impressed with the way that Germany played but I’m not an expert either. Maybe next time.
Last: Locking myself out of the house while Kera was in England
Kera had to go to England for work for a few days. On her very first day gone I went out for a semi-long run. As I walked out of the house I put on my iPod and grabbed what I thought was the apartment key. After running around the Oktoberfest grounds and getting back to home I pulled out my key only to realize that it was the wrong key. I stood there trying to figure out what to do. It occurred to me that I’d just given Christian our house key back the night before. He and Sara live not too far away up the hill in Giesing. I couldn’t take the subway since my pass was in the apt. as was my cell phone. My only chance was to either call a locksmith or run up the hill, get my key and run back. That’s what I ended up doing.
I got back home after running another 40 minutes in addition to the 45 that I’d previously run. Needless to say I was tired that night as well as glad that I’d given Christian our key back. Phew!
Other than that, I’ve been to the Ministry concert (photo link) with Christian and finished my tattoo (just last night). We’ve also been to our friends Susanna and Matthias’ wedding which was quite nice.
Here’s the link to photos from our Italy trip and other things. More photos yet to be loaded as well.
At the end of next week I’m off to Italy for a week to do the Dolomiten cross. It’s 6 days of riding, lots of miles and lots of elevation. I’ll take lots of photos and share them with you later.
