TravelStream™ news feed for member jmanc2 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jmanc2 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:41:17 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jmanc2/1/1218571803/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jmanc2/1/1218571803/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jmanc2/1/1218571803/tpod.html Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:41:17 -0400 Summer of 08

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Los Angeles, California, United States

Ok, so I was up late last night watching Heroes on my laptop thus waking up late this morning. We grabbed all my bags and dashed off down the tiny, endless stairwell and put into the noisy construction ladden street in search of the car. Once loaded, my three bags barely leaving room for the three passengers, we were off in a flury of dust and paper scraps, headed for the airport. Once at the airport, my sister helped me haul my luggage in from the area they call the kiss and go so she could help me find the ticket counter and such since it can be really confusing as you may remember from an earlier post. There was no line so I was checked in, said my tearful goodbyes and through security within 20 minutes! One of my bags was overweight by 3 kilos. There was no way I was going to find room for 6+ pounds of clothing in another bag so I pulled out my wallet, prepared to pay the $50 overweight fee. Somehow, the ticket agent forgot to charge me, even after he pointed out the amount I was over and asked if there was any way I could transfer stuff into my other bag so as to avoid the fee. Sweet, so smooth! I grabbed some gifts and a croissant then proceeded to the gate. All the seats were full so I found a nice comfortable spot on the carpet to settle in for the 20 minute wait before boarding. "Ding Dong, due to the airport baggage handlers strike, flight operations may be delayed." What? While waiting for my flight, they decided to strike? There were no announcements until I had been sitting there for a half an hour so apparently, they just went on strike right before my flight departed... Thankfully, we weren't already on board cramped in our tiny seats without any air movement waiting for the bags to be loaded... After two hours of no action outside on the tarmac, it was a funny sight to look out the terminal window and see several people wearing suit and tie pushing and pulling levers, trying to figure out how to use the loading equipement ss well as hauling bags back and forth. Finally, we were off and only 2 1/2 hours late. The flight was ok, just make sure when you are picking out your seats online to never intentionally choose seats right in front of a bulkhead, even if its in the middle of the plane and an international flight. They don't recline! An 8 hour flight without a reclining seat, what a way to learn that lesson! My arrival into Chicago was fine but, of course, I missed my connection so had to wait in line, only to be placed on standby for the next 3 flights to LAX. My luck was holding out, I made the first one and actually arrived about the same time as I was originally scheduled to since my original itinerary had an additional plane change in St. Louis.
Ahh, I am finally home after two months on the road! Hmm, I'm already thinking about where I am going next...
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Brussels, Belgium

Ok, I am not a fan of Brussels airport! But I will get back to that. I got up late because I was up so late showing my trip pictures to Marius' girlfriend. I actually was woken up at about 7:30 by German revelers whom, I assume, were on their way home from a pub. They were singing German drinking songs at the top of their lungs while stumbling down the quiet side street that Marius lives on. Fortunately, I fell back asleep for another couple of hours after tossing and turning for 30 minutes. When I woke up, I took a shower and then packed for my flight back to Brussels. On our way to the train station, we stopped for lunch at a decent Thai restaurant which really hit the spot. As soon as we finished eating and resumed our walk, it started to rain. The train was well marked and easy to follow, even through Alexanderplatz which, I believe, is the largest train station in Berlin. I said my farewells and we parted ways. The train went straight to the airport where I had a 5 minute walk to the terminal. Everything was well marked and easy but the queue was at least an hour long. Several people were in the back of the line with me worriedly wondering if we would make our flight. European airlines are apparently very strict and cut off check-in 40 minutes before the flight. Fortunately, they opened a new queue for the Brussels flight with about 10 minutes to spare and I made it through with about 5 minutes to wait before boarding. Easyjet is not too bad for a discount airline, they are clean and fairly spacious, even for me at 6'1". They do however charge for everything including handbaggage. My arrival in Brussels was hectic. I flew in late afternoon on a Sunday. Everything was closed, hardly any airport personele around to ask directions and when there were signs, they often led to dead ends or abandoned areas. It was kinda like one of those nightmares where you find yourself at school in nothing but your underwear... I eventually wondered, against the arrows pointing to where I was supposed to go, and stumbled upon a couple of busses with random destination names, neither of which was mine since I was supposed to get off in the middle of a route. I walked up to the first one to ask the driver where I was supposed to go but as I walked up, he shut the door and drove off. I walked over to the second bus where there was a line boarding and looked at all the signs and maps for a hint as to if this might be the correct bus. Finally, all the other people are boarded so I can approach the driver. Upon asking, he replies that yes, this is indeed the correct bus. Whew, that only took an hour from disembarking to finding the bus. Good thing I didn't have luggage to retrieve and schlep around on my self-guided tour of the airport and all its closed amenities. I made it the rest of the way to my sisters house without further delay. I had to pack all my bags because I was flying home to the USA the next morning. Whew, why does it seem that everything grows twice as large and heavy when you are packing to return home? Off to bed late again...
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Berlin, Germany

Ahhh. Today, I have embarked off on my own to meet up with an old high school buddy of mine in Berlin. I have found that everyone I spoke with in the airport spoke English. Whew, good thing cuz my dumb ass, having almost an hour to kill after getting through security and following totally unclear signs through the entire airport, got to my gate only to discover that I had misplaced my boarding pass. I probably lost it while sitting around waiting for them to announce the actual gate number because all they do is print the terminal letter on the boarding pass and then assign the actual gate about 20 minutes before boarding which is displayed on monitors in only a couple of locations. Weird system but it does make a little sense. I'm guessing they probably don't assign the gate until the plane lands. This would help reduce departing gate changes due to delayed flights. Upon arrival at the Schoenfeld airport in Berlin, I had to make my way to the train that would take me into the city. This was clearly marked (unlike Brussels) and, in the baggage claim area, there was even a giant sign with pictures, lines and arrows showing how to get your ticket, how much to pay, where to go and even when each train leaves (which was displayed on an lcd screen directly overhead). I proceeded to buy tickets at a ticket counter right next to the tourist information booth. The train station was about a 5 minute, well marked, walk from the terminal. It couldn't be much easier unless they had some incredibly hot woman actually hold your hand all the way through...
Hit the ground running! My buddy met me at the train station. We dropped my luggage off at his car and then proceeded across the street to an outdoor club along side the channel. Really cool place! It caters to working professionals so was packed with people, mostly in their 30's and 40's. What a relief to be hanging out with a buddy, drinking beer and have people in our own age group milling about. We met up with a couple of Marius' co-workers, had a couple of beers and then returned to his 1970ish Volkswagen van for the drive to his home. We got to his neighbourhood, where he parks about 4 blocks away in an underground garage, and walked to his flat through an old red brick brewery that is now a bunch of bars and restaurants. We grabbed one more beer in a Portuguese cafe on the street before going up to his apartment. Marius' flat is huge compared to others I have seen in Europe. About 180 square meters (I think that's over 1700 square feet) with huge bedrooms, giant bathrooms (with a stand up shower!) and a large office where I slept.
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Bayonne, Aquitaine, France

Zubiri to Bayonne

The tent kinda sucked! When they measure tents to figure out how many people can fit, the engineers must actually start with a can of sardines as a working model. We, of course, didn't really plan on using the tent and camping except in an emergency like if we were unable to find vacancy or if we had a bike problem that took too long to fix so we didn't even being sleeping pads in our effort to reduce weight. Picking the softest looking grass doesn't work. I think both my hips are bruised, both shoulders and neck hurt because my blow-up pillow went flat and when I tried to sleep on my stomach, the hard ground pressed on my thighs which didn't bode well for the aching muscles, a boy so gentle reminder of the torture they were being out through for the last two weeks. Today was the last stretch of riding bikes for a few days. We only had a short 8k ride down to the next town where we could hop on a train to Bayonne so we could run a few errands and buy a shipping bag for the bikes. We will catch a larger train to Paris in the morning. While waiting for the train, we had time for breakfast. Woohoo, we have now upgraded from the Spanish coffee and a cigarette to add some bread and jam here in France. I am so happy. Huevos rancheros smothered in green chile with a side of bacon, where are you? So lucky the major part of the ride is over. I have another project for you. Don't worry, there is no blender involved this time. If you haven't been to the zoo lately, I recommend you go to refresh your memory: go to the orangatain cage. Look at their butts. Imagine how it would feel if your butt looked like that. Fortunately, mine doesn't look like that Unfortunately, it does feel like it... The train was uneventful. We got a hotel right next to the station because our train for Paris leaves at 7am. We have gotten several different stories about how to take bikes on the train, from the train officials themselves. We unloaded our bags from the bikes at the hotel and then went on a wild goose chase around Bayonne in search of a bike shipping bag that would fit the tandem. No luck so we bought two bike covers for 40 euro, tape and then scrounged some cardboard bike shipping boxes from a sports store. You should have seen is hauling the boxes on bicycle across town! After we got back to the hotel, my sis took a nap, I got a little internet time and Leo went back to the train station to try and find the real story about taking bikes on board. Turns out, after another hour of inquiry, you can take bikes on board, fully assembled, for an additional 10 euro. Our 15k journey all over Bayonne was for naught! Damn, coach Leo strikes again!
Dinner was a stroke of luck. I pointed out the busiest looking place that didn't appear to have lots of tourists and we sat down at a place called Le Bistrot Sainte Cluque. We had some of the best paella I have ever had. Ironically, this is in France, not Spain. Apparently, paella is a southern delicacy which is why I didn't see it one time in the two weeks we were in Spain. Off to bed now...
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Brussels, Belgium

Testing, 1,2,3
Shit, after all my troubles finding internet cafes on my trip through Spain, I find this feature...
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Noyon, France

Paris to Noyon

Long day. We had a late start today. Regretfully , we left the beautiful house and friends in Paris about 10am. After packing our bikes up, we rode down the steep hill to the train station. We rode the train across Paris to the north side, having no desire to fight Paris traffic all day, especially in the hot sun. The train took forever to get to Cairn, our last stop. We hopped off the train and rode into town to pick up lunch. Thankfully, we found a farmers market just before the vendors stared packing up and got some decent fruit. Then, right across the street, we found a bakery that had some decent sandwiches. Don't confuse European sandwiches with those found in the US... Here, a sandwich consists usually of a 12" to 16" fresh baggette sliced open lengthwise with a tiny amount of either meat or cheese placed in the opening. If your lucky, you might find crudite which includes a tiny amount of lettuce and maybe 2 or 3 slices of tomato and hard boiled egg as well. It was a hot day. Luckily, we found a pleasant route that took us through what Europeans call a forest. This is an area designated as forest land which is basically a manicured park with paved trails and trees planted almost in rows. The undergrowth is even kept to a minimum probably to help prevent forest fires. following a roadside map, we rode through the forest to a small town that had a Gite in it. A gite is generally an old farm cottage that has been converted into a rental (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gîte). This farmer apparently was on holiday. After asking around, we found that not only was there no other option for accommodation, but there was also no store or restaurant in town either. We rode up a long, steep hill to the next town. Here, we found that there was no where to stay either and the only store/bar/cafe was no longer serving food, but there was definitely a gite in the next town... This went on for almost 4 hours and over 20k. By the time we made it to Noyon, we were tired, hungry and cranky! We found the only open hotel in town and then walked around, trying to find food. This is definitely not Spain where people are just sitting down for dinner at 10pm. All the restaurants were closed or closing. We stumbled into a Japanese restaurant that still had a table finishing their dinner and after a ouple minutes of talking to them, they must have seen our desperation so they let us stay, even re-opening the kitchen.
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Fayt-lez-Manage, Belgium

LONG DAY! Over 130 Kilometers!
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Brussels, Belgium

Its finally over!

Todays ride was from Leo's brothers house to his parents house on the outskirts of Brussels. It is finally raining and cool!
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St-Quentin, Picardy, France

Hot!!!
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Champigny-sur-Marne, France

Today's train travel from Bayonne to Paris was uneventful. We had to get up s little after 6am in order to catch the 7am train to Bordeaux where we had an hour and a half layover and changed trains. My sis and I walked down the street in Bordeaux in hopes of buying sandwiches for lunch for cheaper than was offered in the station. No luck, we paid the same price. After leaving Bordeaux, it was foggy which created some cool light and ***siluettes of trees so I had to grab my camera. Upon arrival in the greater Paris area, we had to change over to the local metro system. This was fun, carrying our bikes and baggage up and down stairs. The metro was relatively easy to navigate so, even with having to change trains in the center of Paris, it went smoothly. When we got to our stop, it was fun getting our luggage and bikes through the turnstile to get outside. Once there, we clipped all our luggage back on the bikes and rode about 15 minutes, mostly uphill to my sisters friends house in Champagny which is in the southeast outskirts of Paris. The house is amazing! Built in 1902, it has been in the family since the 20's. It is on top of a hill, overlooking Paris. You can even see the Eiffel tower from the top floors. The house sits on about 2 acres of land with a pool, two gardens, an old tennis court, several garden sheds, a beautiful caretakers house and lots of old growth trees, many of which were planted by the family when they first moved here from Switzerland over eighty years ago. Woohoo, we will be here for three days. I will actually be able to do laundry, recharge all my batteries and maybe even regain some of the feeling in my fingers as we go to museums and such around the Paris area. I am really looking forward to being here with some locals. It should make for a much more rich experience. The last time I was here, about 5 years ago, not able to speak any French, we were intentionally dropped off at the wrong places by the taxi's and treated very poorly by wait staff on a regular basis. My hopes are up.
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