August 2010
8 posts
3 tags
Rhine Trip Day 6: Basel, CH to Erstein, FR [126km]
Pretty big day today. Luxuriated in the relative comfort of the hostel. Did Laundry. Went.
Traveled back through the old town of Basel.
Crossed the river a few times.
After some monkey business, we find the route and, suddenly, were deluged with francophone signposts and advertising. We had arrived in France.
We were now in Andrew’s World.
To fit the occasion, we stopped and...
Rhine Trip Day 5: Küssaberg to Basel [79km]
Remember this day being a bit more comfortable in the morning.
Most of the riding was on shaded paths along the river.
We got to Basel by the afternoon. Had another Psssssss flat right as we got into Basel. Gave us time to clean up the bikes. Using Andrew’s gps phone, we found a nice hostel. The hostel was really, really nice, despite being called a YMCA. Very modern.
Andrew and I...
2 tags
Rhine Trip Day 4: Steckborn to Küssaberg [77km]
Woke up at campsite along the Rhine/End of the Bodensee. Went swimming in the early morning after watching one coot punk out two ducks.
After a slower start, we rolled on into a green, rolling countryside and one muggy day. We reached Stein am Rhein early in the morning.
The whole main square was filled with beautifully painted buildings.
We could see the monitor of the secretary in the...
4 tags
Rhine Trip Day 3: Hard to Steckborn [86km]
Having spent the last two nights outdoors, it was luxurious to sleep in inside. And so we did. Yet another step on the path towards Comfort. After enjoying the hostel breakfast and limitless coffee, we lazily geared up to go around 11am. And then there was the dreaded *PSSSSssss* sound of a flat tire that would become the Vuvuzela of Defeat that would become a leitmotif throughout the trip.
But...
4 tags
Rhine Trip Day 2: Carrera, Switzerland to Hard,...
Much more comfortable night.
We woke up and had a leisurely breakfast, having met the Frenemies the night before.
We’d lamented not having a TV to watch the Netherlands-Brazil World Cup game. Turns out, there was a Dutchman camping in Carrera who’d had a radio in his RV. D’oh. He was excited to tell us that Holland had won.
We decided to push hard today and try to reach the...
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Rhine Trip Day 1: Andermatt to Carrera (78km)...
So part one featured the Ascent, which lasted from about 8pm to 10pm. On top of the pass, we had a coffee and a snack and then started the Descent. But first, Andrew got to fulfill his childhood/adulthood dream of a headstand atop a mountain. His yoga teacher’s critique? Keep the ankles together.
And, of course, it started to rain lightly as we started to descend.
Foreground:...
4 tags
Rhine Trip Day 1: Andermatt to Carrera (78km)
A cold night with a glorious awakening. Andrew, who’d risen earlier to wander about Andermatt, woke me up as the sun was rising over the hills.
Here’s the view from my tent door.
Warning: I took many photographs this day.
After breakfast and a warm-up and a quick check of our bikes by this bridge:
We started the Big Climb. Theoretically, after this climb, it would all be...
2 tags
Rhine Trip: The Prelude
So me (Andrew), Andrew and Andreas bicycled the Rhine River, more or less. It went something like this:
It ended up being about 1000 to 1100 miles over 18 to 21 days - depending on how you look at it - through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium and The Netherlands.
A slightly more detailed map is here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3934489
Since it got started...
June 2010
3 posts
4 tags
3 tags
“Fühle mit allem Leid der Welt, aber richte deine Kräfte nicht dorthin, wo du...”
5 tags
Back in the 10th century, a group of vikings led by this guy named Rollo were tearing up the area around the Seine in modern-day France. The Franks were spending all of their money trying unsuccessfully to defend themselves from these raids. So Charles the Bald, their leader, comes up with a brilliant solution: invite Rollo to become one of his kiss ass dukes (~4:00 in this song) so Rollo would be...
May 2010
11 posts
3 tags
Maybe you could hum eight bars of what...
4 tags
Danube Day 8: Linz to Vienna
A short breakfast with my hosts followed by thanks and well-wishing, immediately followed by a second breakfast in a cafe near Hauptplatz Linz. The sun was out and shining and the Hauptplatz was filled with an open air bazaar where bright and shining people sold and bought eccentric bric-à-brac.
While crossing over the ever-wider Danube, my mind was on Melk, the small town roughly halfway between...
4 tags
Danube Day 7: Passau to Linz
Finally time to return to home sweet Austria. On top of the hill that my host called home was a castle from which we could see most of Passau.
The left hand side of this photo shows the Drei-Flüsse-Eck where three rivers, the Danube, Inn and Ilz converge.
A view of the Dreiflüsseeck.
As I crossed over the river(s) to the Austrian side, it was tempting to ride down the Inn to my former...
4 tags
Danube Day 6: Regensburg to Passau
Was around 160km or 99.5 miles. Wish I’d done another half mile for roundness’ sake.
The day began at Phil and Ingrid’s, yet another intensely friendly and draining couchsurfing experience ending with the standard, intensely friendly farewell.
Filled with caffeine and various pastries, I compared this morning-lit Regensburg with the nighttime version Phil had shown me the night...
Danube Day 5: Ingolstadt to Regensburg
Did I mention that the day I took a train it was sunny? By the same iron logic of psuedo-irony (Is “It’s like rain/on your wedding day” actually ironic?) attendant to all travel, Day 5 began with rain. My generous host said I could stay as long as I wished but I had to proceed like a free ride/when you’ve already paid.
The rain, at least, caused the general mass of...
1 tag
New Ratatat Album Streaming Online →
First Impression: Self-titled > Classics > LP4 > LP3
2 tags
Danube Day 4: Ulm to Ingolstadt - 20km of Pure...
The previous night’s Raspberry schnapps bore bitter fruit in the addled vineyards of my morning mind and a remnant of conversation from the ‘welcome dinner’ brought forth from Dieter rhapsodies over Ulm’s Cathedral over the farewell breakfast.
And, with that, postcards were promised, hands were shaken, a flickering faith in human decency was rekindled and the road was once...
Day 3: Simaringen to the Outskirts of Ulm...
The relative feeling of luxury that arises when you go from sleeping on frozen tundra to a soft bed almost makes it worth alternating between torturous and normal sleeping arrangements.
Almost.
I could only be a monk in order to render my return to normal niceties all the sweeter.
But after a great sleep and a methodical breakfast of toast and jam, eggs and fruit, muesli and milk - undertaken...
2 tags
Day 2: Donaueschingen to Sigmaringen
For the first time in my life, I woke up not from a sudden sound or a bad dream. The night’s cold came in stages. My tent was an elevator descending into a glacier and as each progressively colder floor was reached, I would wake up numb, groggily accept that I might die and shiver back to sleep.
So, yeah, it was cold.
Unzipping the tent sent ice crystals from the rain fly flying onto the...
2 tags
Day 1: Zürich to Donaueschingen
Today was about getting from Zürich to the start of the Danube at Donaueschingen.
While Mom prepared for the long flight back home by sleeping in, I was downstairs in the hotel’s restaurant “making the buffet breakfast count.’ On a bike trip, ‘making a meal count’ is a euphemism for eating until you can’t eat anymore and then topping it off with a few more...