Friday 17th July, separation day
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not Euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsey recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same. It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up ( I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on TV. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several Kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Le Tour Continued
As might be expected slept well and decided not to leave early. Plan A was to drive some 40km to Cluses and see if I could ascend the Col de Romme which was the second last climb of the day, however this was to be reviewed once I got there and I was tired. However the morning rest helped and I left at about 12 and got to the base of the climb easily, I guess a lot of spectators would have gone to the final climb.
The Col de Romme was however the steepest and I figured would be the one where all the action was and when I got there I was feeling pretty good so went for the top, some 8.8 km at an average grade of almost 9%. At the base I sought directions from a gendarme and when he pointed out the mountain to me I was in disbelief as it just looked like a cliff face. In fact the first 3 or so Km was in fact cut into the cliff face and seemed to be well over the 9%, which is apparently true. When I came to the 5 Km to go marker, 3.8 Km up I was a bit deflated as it had been hard work, but once there I was committed. It rained on and off for the first hour or so but cleared for the second hour, I took 2h 15m to climb.
Stopped several times to talk to Aussies and walked several Km with three young people who it turned out were from Brisbane, one of whom lived in The Gap “off Payne Road”, would you believe in Kalimna Street at the corner of Barrabooka Drive. Six degrees and all that!! Several small villages once the cliff face was ascended and some open fields the rest of the way. The grade eased off a little to just steep.
As I neared the summit the caravan passed and I found out about the cycle shirts. Actually T shirts from sponsors one of which I collected together with caps, glasses cloths, sugar bears, cheezels, cloth bags etc. I can now understand what Ian meant by leaving space in the bag for souvenirs’.
Ian is constantly in my thoughts.
Made the top about 30 minutes before the riders and like yesterday I decided to watch from a little lower where you could see also them on curves lower on the mountain. I was right it did sort them out big time and I have never seen so many distressed faces as the passed and all this with another similar climb to come. Amazing, strength, fitness and willpower. The real disappointment was Cadel who was way back and looked quite ashen when he passed.
Again a long walk down and I actually jogged a bit (shuffled really with short steps) on the theory that I would use muscles slightly differently. Again missed a turn near the car and took a little while to find it.
Back to the hotel tired but again well satisfied and it is amazing how well you feel after a shower and a change into fresh clothes. Great steak washed down with half a bottle of Hermitage.
Thursday was time trial day and again I did not leave all that early, and arrived at Annecy at about 11.00 paid the toll only to be sent back from whence I came by the gendarmes, two tolls in 100m!!
Tricked the buggers though as I turned off at a village and came in the back way, where a nice gendarme directed me to a paddock to park the car and to a bus.
I really made sure this time of not only the route to the bus stop but also where to catch it back from!
Annecy was different, the whole place was in carnival mood and people everywhere. Saw a few starts, the field where the team busses were, huge crowd around the Astana bus even though the stars were hours away from warming up, and soaked up the atmosphere.
The finish was a bit constricted but I manage to get into a small compound at the line for a while and then wandered down the final kilo or so. The crowd thinned out as you git further along. Back to the finish where I saw Matt Lloyd cross, but bailed out at 3.30 for two reasons. Firstly I had to return the car to Geneva by 6.00 and secondly because it looked stormy. In fact the storm hit just as I reached the car and it rained heavily most of the way back to Geneva (although as I understand it not all that much fell on the course.
Other than a lack of directional signs near the centre of town got back OK and returned their car with only a broken mirror and a scratch on the wheel!
Tended to domestic chores, coin laundry, and sank a couple of beers and a kebab at the shop next door, I only mention this because the laundry was in the middle of the red light district and nothing was discrete. One on offer even took me by the arm and attempted to lead me across the road, all with a bag of washing over the shoulder. I have decided that Geneva is not the clean banking and UN centre it appears in the brochures, at least not in the vicinity of the railway station.
Off to Paris (on the TVG) and to be reunited with Michele as I type this.
The reason we came, the river cruise tour, starts in Paris this arvo, but have we had some fun and experiences on the way.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Thursday 16th July
Visited the Prado today, not just an impressive collection but also an impressive building and very easy to navigate, particularly with the audio guide. I decided that El Greco was my favourite, way ahead of his time, however the range of artists and the quality of work to our uneducated eyes was all good.
After siesta (we learn quickly) and bubbles drinks, took Lesley to the market we found the other day beside the Plaza Mayor, it really buzzed at night and we bought some of the special ham off the bone and ate it for dinner whilst talking to a range of locals and fellow tourists. It really is a very social place and quite an experience.
Friday 17th July, separation day
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsay recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same (trip). It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up (I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be over two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on tv. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Visited the Prado today, not just an impressive collection but also an impressive building and very easy to navigate, particularly with the audio guide. I decided that El Greco was my favourite, way ahead of his time, however the range of artists and the quality of work to our uneducated eyes was all good.
After siesta (we learn quickly) and bubbles drinks, took Lesley to the market we found the other day beside the Plaza Mayor, it really buzzed at night and we bought some of the special ham off the bone and ate it for dinner whilst talking to a range of locals and fellow tourists. It really is a very social place and quite an experience.
Friday 17th July, separation day
(please excuse spelling and format errors, as not only do we have key board problems but I have also lost temporally my proof reader who picks up my dyslexic errors)
Today we went our separate ways for a week, so separate posts (if Michele has the facility to do so).
I took the plane to Geneva for my tour de France experience, and arrived to a wet and cool city, quite a contrast to Madrid. For a banking centre with plenty of “private banks” it has very few ATM’s as I discovered. I walked for miles and got thoroughly drenched in the process before I found one and had was able to get the currency of the country (Switzerland still has francs and not euros, although you seem to be able to use both). The weather broke in the early evening and I took a walk along the lake.
I was surprised by the population mix, it may have been the district I walked in but the overwhelming proportion was Middle Eastern and Muslim, with a smattering of sub continentals and North Africans. In an hour I only passed one European family and one European girl, until I got back quite close to the hotel.
The Tour Experience
I will merge the next few days into one blog.
On Saturday I picked up the car (this time from Europecar) and drove from Geneva into France to Besancon, some 180 km to see the finish of stage 14. Not an easy drive as it was still wet and cool, thankfully clearing up as I arrived. It turned out that the finish was well on the other side of town so rather than having to navigate through the town and then finding somewhere else to park I decided to walk part of the way and catch a bus.
It became very evident what having the tour pass through your town or city means to them, quite a major event. Finally found the finish (after missing the stop as the driver did not announce it as promised) which was located in a cutting in the freeway which gave it an amphitheatre like feeling.
A real carnival atmosphere, lots of noise, caravans selling memorabilia and clothing, and sponsors handing out caps, whistles, balloons, and product samples. I positioned myself 150 metres from the finish so that I could watch the big screen located there.
Ian Murray had told me about the caravan, however I had really not appreciate how lengthy and carnival like it would be.
I just so wish Ian could have been here with me as we had planned. It really makes one realise you should live life to the full whilst you have the chance.
As I fully expected, the arrival of the riders was almost an anti climax as today there was no real sprint due to the breakaways. It was exciting enough though.
I managed to get a view of the presentations albeit through a security fence. A minor highlight, or incident anyway, was that an interloper managed to get back stage and present himself on stage as a guernsay recipient, to great cheers, before being virtually thrown off the stage.
A bonus when I got back to the car and went looking for a WC before the long drive home, in that I came across the hotel where the teams were staying and walked amongst the busses and watched the mechanics at work (and the clothes been washed). The buses are a very interesting set up, part work shop and part laundry and I guess massage station. I gather the riders have a mini bus for transport.
The drive home was easier as the weather was now fine and warm, but 360 km in one day left me pretty tired and when I got back and finally found a car park I was too buggered to think about dinner.
Transferred to Chamonix on Sunday morning, a pretty easy drive, and found my hotel without too much fuss (I may have taken the wrong exit). It’s on the edge of town but clean comfortable and very friendly.
In the early afternoon crossed back into Switzerland to Martingy to see the tour pass through. A different atmosphere to a finish as most of the spectators were locals and it was naturally less crowded. I noticed an Aussi flag on a bridge so went there and saw the tour pass with a South Australian couple who, like me, were staying in Chamonix with a view of travelling each day to see the stage and moving on to Paris on Friday. Great minds think alike. Walked into the centre of town where the sprint had been and there was a big screen there so I saw all the final climb, which I gather no SBS watchers did form the blogs.
Similarly at dinner I sat next to two 30 something Americans also doing the same (trip). It transpired they had been room-mates at college and as both were bike riders were using the experience to get re acquainted.
Monday was a rest day so I spent it sightseeing, which is not difficult as the scenery here is so magnificent that it’s almost indescribable.
Due to a communication error I went up a cable car to a mountain top east of town thinking I was going to a glacier, no matter as it was fantastic anyway.
Next took the train (you would reckon I would know the difference between a train and a cable car) to the glacier, which has retracted considerably and was a bit of a letdown.
Finally made it to the Midi cable car which takes you up to a mountain top where you can ogle Mount Blanc closer up (I can see it from my bedroom window). Once we got there they told us it would be over two hours before we could descend again, however this did not matter as it was quite a complex with multiple viewing platforms. It was also the stopping off point for those who were going to climb the mountain and I was surprised about the number who set off so late in the afternoon, obviously to camp over night so as to get an early start. There were a group of Aussies on one of the bikestyle tours (but not the one I bailed out of) on the gondolier who it turned out when I got back to my hotel, were staying in the hotel next door. Although it has a bar it is apparently it is not as good as mine.
As it was a lovely fine day the views were spectacular and I took over 100 photos, I will be able to get my own back on Phil when I return and Insist he look at every one of them.
Tuesday was always to be my big day as I intended to see the top of the final climb at the Col de petite Bernard.
This involved going through the Mont Blanc tunnel, some 11.4 km between France and Italy. The return toll was 41 euro, and it is regulated so that each vehicle is about 300m behind the one in front. This is achieved by a series of lights on the sides of the tunnel and you have to keep two blue lights behind.
Again my google maps instructions let me down and I missed my exit just outside the tunnel, and the next one was some 40 k down the motorway. However sometimes it all comes together and I found that to get back to where I wanted to, was in fact the tour route for the day. So I got to “ride” the route.
As I hoped I was able to get as far as La Thuile before they closed the road, which left me 13 km or so short of the summit (and an extra km or so from where I was able to park the car).
It took about 2 ½ hours, and a climb of 700 m before I reached the top. The closer I got the more spectators there were. I have never seen so many cyclists in my life. There must have been over ten thousand (or at least it seemed so).
Many rode to the top and then down again to where they wished to see the race from. Thousands also like me walked and thousands more had driven up either the day before, or possibly very early in the morning (I believe they closed the rode at 8.00am). I now know why you have to book a campervan at least a year ahead.
I had not expected the top to be a small ski lift site with several hotels. Bit of a bugger that, as I had chosen to carry food rather than my binoculars.
Once I made it to the top (there is Photo evidence) I decided to await the race back about a km where from a hillock you could see about 2 km of approach including, right in front, one of those zig-zag bits so popular on tv. By chance two guys from Brisbane came and sat behind me.
Again the caravan took about 40 minutes to pass, plenty of noise, car horns, car chimes (in the tour jingle form), bells ringing, crowd shouting and cheering (some of whom by this stage really full of cheer). Many are dressed up and I actually photographed the devil on the way up. Some of the cow bells were massive and on huge belts and must have weighed 30 kilos or so. As usual it was gen y who dress up the most, including a couple in life savers right below me. Cars also passed out chalk so that the road can have the names of the riders written on it. I have never seen so many cycle shirts on non cyclists, it a bit like the footy at home with the spectator wearing team jumpers, only more so.
You can see when the race is getting close due to the proximity of the helicopters, and a great cheer went up when the riders came into sight.
Today they were strung out and took quite some time to pass, to both the enjoyment and encouragement of the crowd. It was quite strange to be able to get so close, and to see how young some of them looked. I resisted the temptation to reach out and touch one (naturally) but I was within a metre or so.
Discretion suggested I begin to make my way down before the hordes and I had in fact gone more than a km before the last rider passed, but it didn’t help much as very soon there were cars and vans going both ways and bikes everywhere. Bloody dangerous for a walker so I took to the fields and followed a very rough track under some power lines, as did most of those on foot. Whilst rough and steep at least it was shorter and I only took 1.5 hours to get back to the car (once I found it). As expected there was a lot of traffic on the road and for several kms before the turn off, (either left to France or right, further into Italy), we went at snails pace. This time I went the right way and arrived in the proximity of the tunnel to find that there was a 2 hour queue, good thing I had brought my book.
Home again very tired but totally exhilarated not only the race but the achievement of the climb.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday July 14th
Different city different language different climate. Actually found the airport OK from Oxford, it was well signed and Rebecca’s map spot on.
Hertz! Returned the car with the minor scratch on the plastic strip attached to the door, put through the third degree like a criminal and then told the charge would be 125 UK pound. Suggested this was ridiculous as it was not the door just the protection strip. Made to look argumentative as it was all in the computer. This required a phone call which went unanswered (obviously to put us under pressure, although and from our first experience we knew calls went unanswered for ½ an hour). In the end we just with a warning that we disputed it and for them not to just put it on our card. Won’t be using Hertz again!
The Plane‘s business class was not much above Qantas domestic cattle when the middle seat is free.
As soon as the plane flew over the Spanish border it was obvious that it was hot dry and brown and the taxi ride confirmed this.
As we had booked an apartment without a lobby we had to wait for ¾ hour for the girl to come and let us in and first impressions were average at the best. The complex only had a door way entry which although freshly painted was bland and the cafe next door, outside where the taxi drew up and where we went into to catch a bite whilst we waited; was dingy, greasy and full of smoke. Silly us, on leaving the café, I noticed the deli on the other side of the door way, clean neat full of wholesome food and a smoke free zone.
Senorita (pretty) arrived and showed us inside and up to our attic apartment; astonishingly well appointed roomy and almost brand newly renovated. Michele was amazed and Geoff again took all the credit. Kitchen, living room, bathroom, and generous outdoor patio (too big to be called a balcony), down stairs and large mezzanine bedroom upstairs. The only minor dilemma is the head height, or lack of, Geoff’s side of the bed.
Had a walk around the centre of town, we are close to both the main downtown plaza’s, Sol and de Mayor. Time is different here as the afternoon seems to start at 4.30 pm and runs to 9.30 pm after which everybody goes out to dine. So our 4.30 start rather than being late-ish was spot on. A lot of construction work underway including the Plaza de Sol, just like King George Square. A number of the streets running off the square are malls and most of the others are traffic constricted, it all very pedestrian friendly. Dined (early as it turned out at 8.30) in the Plaza, de Mayor, which reminds us of the Plaza san Marco in Venice for size and arrangement of restaurants.
Wednesday July 15th
Slowish morning and made use of the pasteria next door for breakfast and awaited Lesley’s, Michele’s sister, arrival from New York. Quick dash upstairs for the cab fare as she did not have any Euros (*!*for those who know Lesley).
By the time she settled in it was 3.30pm before we ventured out and we quickly learnt about siesta time, it was bloody hot and nothing was open. We won’t make that mistake again.
As Lesley went to bed early Michele and I ventured out to dinner looking for all the al fresco restaurants we had passed on the way home the night before. Where were they? All we could find was a few open. Lesson two, at 9.00pm precisely, tables and chairs materialised out of nowhere and the streets (laneways really) quickly filled. Tomorrow night we will dine later.
Found Madrid fascinating, all the windows with wrought iron balustrades, and enormous wooden or metal doors at building entrances. Impressive public and commercial buildings and a generally happy and carefree atmosphere. You have to watch for cars creeping up the laneways and streets and also for the scooters some of which are actually bigger than the motor bikes.
Different city different language different climate. Actually found the airport OK from Oxford, it was well signed and Rebecca’s map spot on.
Hertz! Returned the car with the minor scratch on the plastic strip attached to the door, put through the third degree like a criminal and then told the charge would be 125 UK pound. Suggested this was ridiculous as it was not the door just the protection strip. Made to look argumentative as it was all in the computer. This required a phone call which went unanswered (obviously to put us under pressure, although and from our first experience we knew calls went unanswered for ½ an hour). In the end we just with a warning that we disputed it and for them not to just put it on our card. Won’t be using Hertz again!
The Plane‘s business class was not much above Qantas domestic cattle when the middle seat is free.
As soon as the plane flew over the Spanish border it was obvious that it was hot dry and brown and the taxi ride confirmed this.
As we had booked an apartment without a lobby we had to wait for ¾ hour for the girl to come and let us in and first impressions were average at the best. The complex only had a door way entry which although freshly painted was bland and the cafe next door, outside where the taxi drew up and where we went into to catch a bite whilst we waited; was dingy, greasy and full of smoke. Silly us, on leaving the café, I noticed the deli on the other side of the door way, clean neat full of wholesome food and a smoke free zone.
Senorita (pretty) arrived and showed us inside and up to our attic apartment; astonishingly well appointed roomy and almost brand newly renovated. Michele was amazed and Geoff again took all the credit. Kitchen, living room, bathroom, and generous outdoor patio (too big to be called a balcony), down stairs and large mezzanine bedroom upstairs. The only minor dilemma is the head height, or lack of, Geoff’s side of the bed.
Had a walk around the centre of town, we are close to both the main downtown plaza’s, Sol and de Mayor. Time is different here as the afternoon seems to start at 4.30 pm and runs to 9.30 pm after which everybody goes out to dine. So our 4.30 start rather than being late-ish was spot on. A lot of construction work underway including the Plaza de Sol, just like King George Square. A number of the streets running off the square are malls and most of the others are traffic constricted, it all very pedestrian friendly. Dined (early as it turned out at 8.30) in the Plaza, de Mayor, which reminds us of the Plaza san Marco in Venice for size and arrangement of restaurants.
Wednesday July 15th
Slowish morning and made use of the pasteria next door for breakfast and awaited Lesley’s, Michele’s sister, arrival from New York. Quick dash upstairs for the cab fare as she did not have any Euros (*!*for those who know Lesley).
By the time she settled in it was 3.30pm before we ventured out and we quickly learnt about siesta time, it was bloody hot and nothing was open. We won’t make that mistake again.
As Lesley went to bed early Michele and I ventured out to dinner looking for all the al fresco restaurants we had passed on the way home the night before. Where were they? All we could find was a few open. Lesson two, at 9.00pm precisely, tables and chairs materialised out of nowhere and the streets (laneways really) quickly filled. Tomorrow night we will dine later.
Found Madrid fascinating, all the windows with wrought iron balustrades, and enormous wooden or metal doors at building entrances. Impressive public and commercial buildings and a generally happy and carefree atmosphere. You have to watch for cars creeping up the laneways and streets and also for the scooters some of which are actually bigger than the motor bikes.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Ps to previous post.
Totally over looked the bus loop tour of Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon, with a very knowledgeable older guide. It proved to be an interesting perspective to NY outside of Manhattan Island. The guide’s historical knowledge was informative and interesting.
Friday 10th July
The trip to the airport was an experience in a black (as opposed to the normal yellow) cab. We believe that the doorman called the black cab and then told us a yellow would be hard to get at that hour. The cabbie agreed to take us for the same price (fixed to JFK at $45 from Manhattan). Michele then saw notes change hands through the back window. Boy what a ride, the driver who was from the Dominican Republic, must have been the world champion weaver and mover. Despite the size of his Lincoln Town car, even when the freeway traffic was stopped or at a crawl, he managed to change lanes every few seconds, any available space at any time. Then when the freeway became a car park he left it and rat ran along all sorts of back streets through the suburbs, turning into a new road at the prospect of any blockage. How he knew where he was or more to the point how to get back to where we were going was anybodys guess.
The bonus for us was that we got to see suburbs of NY and a range of houses from very average to very nice.
In the end he got us there on time and we gave him a tip which more than made up for the “discount fare”, it was worth it for the entertainment value and for the geography tour alone.
The flight to London was interesting only for the Z arrangement of the business class full flat seats. Michele and I sat in reverse to each other communicating over a low screen. The full flat arrangement made it easy to sleep and although it was only a 6 hour flight we got about four hours sleep and were reasonably fresh and jet lag free on arrival.
Don’t use Hertz! Firstly we had to queue for the car for over half an hour and then the insurance cost more than the car hire. Tricky buggers, you have to complete the booking over the net before they give you the insurance options and prices. Although the wait was not overly bothersome to us, it was to others on the queue, some who obviously had enjoyed little sleep, it showed a total lack of interest in service. A lengthy queue for pre booked cars but only two staff on duty? Made worse when some of the bookings in front of us apparently had not gone to plan. To top it off, the photocopy plans of how to exit the airport and return the car were well out of date, and the guy had to draw on it to show you where to go. More on Hertz later.
Nottingham
Found the M1 OK but after that it was all downhill. Firstly I had entered the wrong “Woollaton Street into google maps and we ended up in Hucknell or “ooknal” as they call it there.
Finally found the hotel after getting instructions from a parking warden (apparently they have one for each street and they are deadly), but then had trouble finding the “nearby” car park on a one way street and had to do a 1 mile round the block to get back, and then scratched the car door, or more precisely the plastic strip attached to the car door (see also Hertz later), lining up the smallest car spaces I have ever seen. Finally got the car parked only to find I could not get out of it. No joking we had a Merc 180 and there was only 150mm either side, and our mirror clashed with the car next doors mirror. Had to drive out and reverse in to get the mirrors to clear each other just so I could squeeze out of the car.
We went to Nottingham as Michele had based herself there in 75-77 whilst on her European sojourn and has friends there. Some may remember Lee and Rachel who were at her 60th and came to Brisbane again last year. They had a Barrabooka Drive conceived baby three weeks ago so our first objective was to visit said baby. Bloody Nottingham; has no street signs and a maze of one way streets so the three mile journey was a nightmare, but at least we found the house, which was better than we did on our ten mile return journey to the hotel.
Travis is gorgeous with his father’s red hair. Many photos and a walk in the park, then after returning to the hotel (see above), it was decided that Lee would pick us up in the evening to avoid our causing total meltdown on Nottingham Roads. In fact put the car into the car park for 24 hours.
Spent Saturday morning doing the down town, which has changed remarkably since our last visit and is as good as any revitalization scheme I have witnessed. Did not help with the navigation though as we got lost again, walking the 600m back to the hotel. Nottingham has not been one of Geoff’s best efforts! It is howerer a very interesting and historical city, Robin Hood apart, and well worth a visit if you wish to see a good example of a very old English city.
Sunday lunch with the extended Creasey family, where old times were discussed and revisited. The Creasey’s are as close as extended family to Michele as you can get and it was a lovely day topped off by the two of us having dinner at a French cellar restaurant.
The hotel was noisy as it was located right in the middle of the night club district and was 2 star at best. But at least it was central.
Visited Joanne Creasey on Sunday morning and then departed for Oxford to visit Geoff’s niece Rebecca and her husband, Alex who some may remember spent quite a deal of time with us a couple of years ago when completing his PhD.
The main attraction was however their son Mark who is now 14 months old. Surprisingly we found Oxford and the suburb they live in quite easily even if we could not quite find the house. However in this instance we do believe the last ¼ mile was not our fault!
Again we found Oxford fascinating, the river, the town, the history, the university. Good walking town with plenty of interesting pubs, and in our case with a delightful toddler to fuss over. Also a couple of home cooked meals, quite a bonus.
Rebecca and Alex seem well settled.
Totally over looked the bus loop tour of Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon, with a very knowledgeable older guide. It proved to be an interesting perspective to NY outside of Manhattan Island. The guide’s historical knowledge was informative and interesting.
Friday 10th July
The trip to the airport was an experience in a black (as opposed to the normal yellow) cab. We believe that the doorman called the black cab and then told us a yellow would be hard to get at that hour. The cabbie agreed to take us for the same price (fixed to JFK at $45 from Manhattan). Michele then saw notes change hands through the back window. Boy what a ride, the driver who was from the Dominican Republic, must have been the world champion weaver and mover. Despite the size of his Lincoln Town car, even when the freeway traffic was stopped or at a crawl, he managed to change lanes every few seconds, any available space at any time. Then when the freeway became a car park he left it and rat ran along all sorts of back streets through the suburbs, turning into a new road at the prospect of any blockage. How he knew where he was or more to the point how to get back to where we were going was anybodys guess.
The bonus for us was that we got to see suburbs of NY and a range of houses from very average to very nice.
In the end he got us there on time and we gave him a tip which more than made up for the “discount fare”, it was worth it for the entertainment value and for the geography tour alone.
The flight to London was interesting only for the Z arrangement of the business class full flat seats. Michele and I sat in reverse to each other communicating over a low screen. The full flat arrangement made it easy to sleep and although it was only a 6 hour flight we got about four hours sleep and were reasonably fresh and jet lag free on arrival.
Don’t use Hertz! Firstly we had to queue for the car for over half an hour and then the insurance cost more than the car hire. Tricky buggers, you have to complete the booking over the net before they give you the insurance options and prices. Although the wait was not overly bothersome to us, it was to others on the queue, some who obviously had enjoyed little sleep, it showed a total lack of interest in service. A lengthy queue for pre booked cars but only two staff on duty? Made worse when some of the bookings in front of us apparently had not gone to plan. To top it off, the photocopy plans of how to exit the airport and return the car were well out of date, and the guy had to draw on it to show you where to go. More on Hertz later.
Nottingham
Found the M1 OK but after that it was all downhill. Firstly I had entered the wrong “Woollaton Street into google maps and we ended up in Hucknell or “ooknal” as they call it there.
Finally found the hotel after getting instructions from a parking warden (apparently they have one for each street and they are deadly), but then had trouble finding the “nearby” car park on a one way street and had to do a 1 mile round the block to get back, and then scratched the car door, or more precisely the plastic strip attached to the car door (see also Hertz later), lining up the smallest car spaces I have ever seen. Finally got the car parked only to find I could not get out of it. No joking we had a Merc 180 and there was only 150mm either side, and our mirror clashed with the car next doors mirror. Had to drive out and reverse in to get the mirrors to clear each other just so I could squeeze out of the car.
We went to Nottingham as Michele had based herself there in 75-77 whilst on her European sojourn and has friends there. Some may remember Lee and Rachel who were at her 60th and came to Brisbane again last year. They had a Barrabooka Drive conceived baby three weeks ago so our first objective was to visit said baby. Bloody Nottingham; has no street signs and a maze of one way streets so the three mile journey was a nightmare, but at least we found the house, which was better than we did on our ten mile return journey to the hotel.
Travis is gorgeous with his father’s red hair. Many photos and a walk in the park, then after returning to the hotel (see above), it was decided that Lee would pick us up in the evening to avoid our causing total meltdown on Nottingham Roads. In fact put the car into the car park for 24 hours.
Spent Saturday morning doing the down town, which has changed remarkably since our last visit and is as good as any revitalization scheme I have witnessed. Did not help with the navigation though as we got lost again, walking the 600m back to the hotel. Nottingham has not been one of Geoff’s best efforts! It is howerer a very interesting and historical city, Robin Hood apart, and well worth a visit if you wish to see a good example of a very old English city.
Sunday lunch with the extended Creasey family, where old times were discussed and revisited. The Creasey’s are as close as extended family to Michele as you can get and it was a lovely day topped off by the two of us having dinner at a French cellar restaurant.
The hotel was noisy as it was located right in the middle of the night club district and was 2 star at best. But at least it was central.
Visited Joanne Creasey on Sunday morning and then departed for Oxford to visit Geoff’s niece Rebecca and her husband, Alex who some may remember spent quite a deal of time with us a couple of years ago when completing his PhD.
The main attraction was however their son Mark who is now 14 months old. Surprisingly we found Oxford and the suburb they live in quite easily even if we could not quite find the house. However in this instance we do believe the last ¼ mile was not our fault!
Again we found Oxford fascinating, the river, the town, the history, the university. Good walking town with plenty of interesting pubs, and in our case with a delightful toddler to fuss over. Also a couple of home cooked meals, quite a bonus.
Rebecca and Alex seem well settled.
Tuesday 7th July (continued)
Now beginning to see what everyone loves about New York, the hustle and bustle of the crowds, the noise, the architecture , the theatres the signage and Times Square which should be called Times Intersection. That it has a grandstand for people to sit in watching people watching other people is amazing. Who supplies the chairs and banana lounges?
Dined earlyish at a restaurant with a Hawaiian Theme which certainly did not have an anti discrimination policy when it came to waitresses. Bikinis with small scarves around the waist and high heels, not that I noticed. We find the labour system in the restaurants intriguing, a girl welcomes you and allocates a table, the waitress takes the order, some on else sets the table, a different person delivers the drinks and another sometimes the meal, someone else clears the table and at each level there is a supervisor. Tonight’s restaurant also had no less than four management people drifting around. Everyone asks if everything is OK. No wonder you have to tip so much, but the service level is so high.
Wednesday 8th July
Michele now loves New York! Today the weather is glorious, sunny and warm.
Rose earlier (rather than early) and took the subway to Battery Park to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Just as well as thousands of others had done likewise but we guess it is holiday season in America.
By the time we had walked around the statue, (did not bother to go up and anyway the queue was lengthy) and toured Ellis Island it was well after lunch time. You really do need to set aside a full day.
Geoff had always been interested in the Ellis Island story and took the audio tour whilst Michele, followed the exhibits. It is amazing that the US took so many displaced people for so long and coped with the influx, and to an extent still does. We are constantly amazed and intrigued by the racial mix, particularly here in New York.
Caught the Red Bus to Seaport South and walked around for a while in the sunshine. There must be one of these places in almost every modern city, the redeveloped, dock area, but most that have just that little bit of individuality and weather wise we picked the right afternoon to visit this one.
On the way home decided to go theatreing again and got tickets to see the 39 steps, a satirical (and slapstick) re-visit of the Hitchcock movie where four actors played 146 parts, well one played the principal role and three played all the rest. The play was very innovative and quick moving with the use of shadows to show people where they were none, there was even a shadow of Hitchcock in one scene. We had a good laugh which is what everyone needs to do. As we had had not had dinner that night Geoff went out and had something and Michele retired for the night.
Thursday 9 July
We were leaving New York this evening so started off not too late. We find that we don’t hurry in the mornings as once we go on our ramblings we are away and on the move the whole day, that is after we have done the blog, skyped Aerlyn and chatted about this and that, it’s not early anyway.
We headed off to visit the Guggenheim Museum on foot. It was a fair way and this very entrepreneurial young lad offered us a ride in his pedicab, so we did deal with him to take us through Central Park and then up to the Museum. The poor sod, peddling us two up all these hills, he must have been a fit, if he wasn’t before, he is now. Anyway, got to the Museum only to find it was closed Thursdays!!
It looks the most amazing building from the outside, shame we couldn’t see in it. So decided to walk back through Central Park, the people of New York are very lucky to have it. It is a huge place and it took us quite some time to wend our way back.
Now beginning to see what everyone loves about New York, the hustle and bustle of the crowds, the noise, the architecture , the theatres the signage and Times Square which should be called Times Intersection. That it has a grandstand for people to sit in watching people watching other people is amazing. Who supplies the chairs and banana lounges?
Dined earlyish at a restaurant with a Hawaiian Theme which certainly did not have an anti discrimination policy when it came to waitresses. Bikinis with small scarves around the waist and high heels, not that I noticed. We find the labour system in the restaurants intriguing, a girl welcomes you and allocates a table, the waitress takes the order, some on else sets the table, a different person delivers the drinks and another sometimes the meal, someone else clears the table and at each level there is a supervisor. Tonight’s restaurant also had no less than four management people drifting around. Everyone asks if everything is OK. No wonder you have to tip so much, but the service level is so high.
Wednesday 8th July
Michele now loves New York! Today the weather is glorious, sunny and warm.
Rose earlier (rather than early) and took the subway to Battery Park to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Just as well as thousands of others had done likewise but we guess it is holiday season in America.
By the time we had walked around the statue, (did not bother to go up and anyway the queue was lengthy) and toured Ellis Island it was well after lunch time. You really do need to set aside a full day.
Geoff had always been interested in the Ellis Island story and took the audio tour whilst Michele, followed the exhibits. It is amazing that the US took so many displaced people for so long and coped with the influx, and to an extent still does. We are constantly amazed and intrigued by the racial mix, particularly here in New York.
Caught the Red Bus to Seaport South and walked around for a while in the sunshine. There must be one of these places in almost every modern city, the redeveloped, dock area, but most that have just that little bit of individuality and weather wise we picked the right afternoon to visit this one.
On the way home decided to go theatreing again and got tickets to see the 39 steps, a satirical (and slapstick) re-visit of the Hitchcock movie where four actors played 146 parts, well one played the principal role and three played all the rest. The play was very innovative and quick moving with the use of shadows to show people where they were none, there was even a shadow of Hitchcock in one scene. We had a good laugh which is what everyone needs to do. As we had had not had dinner that night Geoff went out and had something and Michele retired for the night.
Thursday 9 July
We were leaving New York this evening so started off not too late. We find that we don’t hurry in the mornings as once we go on our ramblings we are away and on the move the whole day, that is after we have done the blog, skyped Aerlyn and chatted about this and that, it’s not early anyway.
We headed off to visit the Guggenheim Museum on foot. It was a fair way and this very entrepreneurial young lad offered us a ride in his pedicab, so we did deal with him to take us through Central Park and then up to the Museum. The poor sod, peddling us two up all these hills, he must have been a fit, if he wasn’t before, he is now. Anyway, got to the Museum only to find it was closed Thursdays!!
It looks the most amazing building from the outside, shame we couldn’t see in it. So decided to walk back through Central Park, the people of New York are very lucky to have it. It is a huge place and it took us quite some time to wend our way back.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Monday July 6th
Rose in plenty of time to get the cab to Buffalo airport, which was just as well as despite doing the USA immigration thing on the internet we had to do the finger and photo thing at the border which took about 20 minutes.
Short flight to NY, Michele having to readjust to average class, then a cab to the hotel, our first experience of NY traffic. The hotel is really well located only about 50 metres from the Duffy Square end of Times Square.
Boy was NY a shock, the noise, smells, traffic, people everywhere, bus touts, comedy club touts, Obama condom sellers (see below). We wondered why we had come! Michele in particular was less than impressed on first impression.
Spent the arvo booking theatre tickets and taking in the atmosphere and getting used to the bustle. Michele was most taken by the young guy selling the Obama condoms (1 for 5, 2 for 7, 3 for 10), his spiel was “Obama condoms, election erection protection”, Obama condoms, the ultimate stimulus package, were just two I can remember. He was selling them on the corner just up from us, I stood and listened, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I thought it was hilarious. Just as an aside, I love the way Geoff says, I had to adjust to cattle class from Buffalo to New York (he didn’t of course, he liked the sharp end of travel as much as I did. Ho Hum!)
After an early dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel (tapas style and much better than chain steak house), went to see Avenue Q at The Golden Theatre. Really fantastic, a contemporary musical involving puppets as well as actors. It seems that most of the theatres here are pretty old and dated, the Golden held 800 (in old style narrow seats, don’t know how many Yanks fit in them), but seemed smaller than the old Suncorp Theatre, for those who remember it.
Despite all our good intentions after ogling at the crowds in Times Square and having a drink or two it was after midnight before we hit the sack.
We have decided that the only way to really cover the territory will be by the open top bus.
Tuesday 7th
Really slow morning, after sleeping in, breakfasting, attending to the washing it was noon before we ventured out. Caught the Red Bus and got off at the Empire State building (loved the marble) and re-queued. We hadn’t appreciated that once off it was impossible to get a top level seat again, and after letting three buses passed settled for a lower seat (upgraded in little Italy). Also had not appreciated how slow the tour would be due to traffic and the surprising distances between everything. Having decided that it was not worth get getting off at ground zero (still a massive construction site), but really developing a feel for the immensity of what happened, then found out we were too late for Ellis and the Statue of Liberty we stayed on the bus for the full circuit, under ponchos as it began to rain.
(to be continued)
Rose in plenty of time to get the cab to Buffalo airport, which was just as well as despite doing the USA immigration thing on the internet we had to do the finger and photo thing at the border which took about 20 minutes.
Short flight to NY, Michele having to readjust to average class, then a cab to the hotel, our first experience of NY traffic. The hotel is really well located only about 50 metres from the Duffy Square end of Times Square.
Boy was NY a shock, the noise, smells, traffic, people everywhere, bus touts, comedy club touts, Obama condom sellers (see below). We wondered why we had come! Michele in particular was less than impressed on first impression.
Spent the arvo booking theatre tickets and taking in the atmosphere and getting used to the bustle. Michele was most taken by the young guy selling the Obama condoms (1 for 5, 2 for 7, 3 for 10), his spiel was “Obama condoms, election erection protection”, Obama condoms, the ultimate stimulus package, were just two I can remember. He was selling them on the corner just up from us, I stood and listened, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I thought it was hilarious. Just as an aside, I love the way Geoff says, I had to adjust to cattle class from Buffalo to New York (he didn’t of course, he liked the sharp end of travel as much as I did. Ho Hum!)
After an early dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel (tapas style and much better than chain steak house), went to see Avenue Q at The Golden Theatre. Really fantastic, a contemporary musical involving puppets as well as actors. It seems that most of the theatres here are pretty old and dated, the Golden held 800 (in old style narrow seats, don’t know how many Yanks fit in them), but seemed smaller than the old Suncorp Theatre, for those who remember it.
Despite all our good intentions after ogling at the crowds in Times Square and having a drink or two it was after midnight before we hit the sack.
We have decided that the only way to really cover the territory will be by the open top bus.
Tuesday 7th
Really slow morning, after sleeping in, breakfasting, attending to the washing it was noon before we ventured out. Caught the Red Bus and got off at the Empire State building (loved the marble) and re-queued. We hadn’t appreciated that once off it was impossible to get a top level seat again, and after letting three buses passed settled for a lower seat (upgraded in little Italy). Also had not appreciated how slow the tour would be due to traffic and the surprising distances between everything. Having decided that it was not worth get getting off at ground zero (still a massive construction site), but really developing a feel for the immensity of what happened, then found out we were too late for Ellis and the Statue of Liberty we stayed on the bus for the full circuit, under ponchos as it began to rain.
(to be continued)
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Saturday June 4th Continued
Arrived at the hotel at about 8pm booked in and went to the room. I had booked a room which promised views of the falls, but I must confess that I was skeptical.
Wow!!
Fourteenth floor right opposite the Canadian (horseshoe) falls. The evening was sunny and clear and the views magnificent. Even Michele thought the boy had done well.
All this on American Independence day and they chose to welcome our arrival by putting on a fireworks display over the falls just after dark (10pm!!). Right in front of our room, almost.
In fact from our elevated position, all we could see across the horizon were fireworks displays, literally if not 100’s, far more than we could count, some of which went on for well over 30 minutes. Disappointedly those they put on for our benefit only went for 15 minutes or so and paled by Riverfire comparison. However it is the thought that counts and it was nice of them.
Unfortunately the welcome dinner at Honeybees was a downer, these chain steak houses are to be avoided. However beggars can not necessarily be choosers at 10.45 and it was next door to the hotel.
Sunday June 5th
You would think we would learn, breakfasted at another of the chain type for breakfast, all you could eat for $6.99, except for any of the things one would normally have such as cereal (not on the menu). Also drinks extra (two teas, one OJ and one very ordinary coffee), which we found out when the bill came. Final tally, $31.50 before tip, which here is customarily equal to the taxes which are for food about 15%.
We have had a bit of trouble with all the prices being before tax, even tickets to the museum are quoted before tax.
The day however has been really good, ride on the Maid of the Mist , lunch over looking the falls, Journey Behind the Falls, relaxing in our room overlooking the falls, life is tough.
We intend to avoid steak houses for dinner, have an early night, and head off to the big apple tomorrow. Remembered today that we forgot to get tips from Barb and Rick so we will just have to wing it.
Arrived at the hotel at about 8pm booked in and went to the room. I had booked a room which promised views of the falls, but I must confess that I was skeptical.
Wow!!
Fourteenth floor right opposite the Canadian (horseshoe) falls. The evening was sunny and clear and the views magnificent. Even Michele thought the boy had done well.
All this on American Independence day and they chose to welcome our arrival by putting on a fireworks display over the falls just after dark (10pm!!). Right in front of our room, almost.
In fact from our elevated position, all we could see across the horizon were fireworks displays, literally if not 100’s, far more than we could count, some of which went on for well over 30 minutes. Disappointedly those they put on for our benefit only went for 15 minutes or so and paled by Riverfire comparison. However it is the thought that counts and it was nice of them.
Unfortunately the welcome dinner at Honeybees was a downer, these chain steak houses are to be avoided. However beggars can not necessarily be choosers at 10.45 and it was next door to the hotel.
Sunday June 5th
You would think we would learn, breakfasted at another of the chain type for breakfast, all you could eat for $6.99, except for any of the things one would normally have such as cereal (not on the menu). Also drinks extra (two teas, one OJ and one very ordinary coffee), which we found out when the bill came. Final tally, $31.50 before tip, which here is customarily equal to the taxes which are for food about 15%.
We have had a bit of trouble with all the prices being before tax, even tickets to the museum are quoted before tax.
The day however has been really good, ride on the Maid of the Mist , lunch over looking the falls, Journey Behind the Falls, relaxing in our room overlooking the falls, life is tough.
We intend to avoid steak houses for dinner, have an early night, and head off to the big apple tomorrow. Remembered today that we forgot to get tips from Barb and Rick so we will just have to wing it.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Saturday June 4th
Again a somewhat lazy start and breakfast at about 10.00am. Decided to check out a restaurant just down the road. Good choice a place called The Richtree! First we could not find the door and the signs on all those facing the street telling us to enter via the building lobby. It turned out the building which we had assumed was just an office block in fact contained two floors of shops in an atrium with the lower floor being part of Toronto’s underground walkway system and also housed the Hockey Hall of Fame (which seems very popular).
The Richtree turned out to be a market style eatery with thirteen stations (bakery, grill, fish, fruit, pasta, coffee, juice, salad, liquor, etc etc), where you chose what you wanted and they cooked or prepared it for you and swiped your card, credit card style. All the produce was fresh and the choice seemed endless. Its open from 7.30 to late (2.30am on Friday and Saturday). I had bircher muesli and juice and Michele fruit salad and eggs.
Checked out of the hotel and then visited the main municipal square, simply named Dundas-Yonge Square after the two streets it is on the corner of. Interesting signage on all the adjoining buildings. A Mexican festival was taking place with entertainment and market stalls.
Walked west a few blocks to the AGO, the art gallery of Ontario, recently remodeled by Frank Geary. This is the same architect who designed the Getty centre in LA we were taken with in 2006. Admired it from the outside and lobby and then went north for about a mile to the ROM, the Royal Ontorio Museum, also recently remodeled. Our reason for doing so was that they currently are running an exhibition on the Dead Sea scrolls and have actual pieces on display together with some relics of the Temple of Jerusalem and other buildings of the period. We found it quite interesting.
Late light lunch and back to the hotel via the underground to pick up our cases and catch the train to Niagara, which we are on as I write. This train has wi-fi although it seems to have a hiccup at the moment.
Having some trouble with the new net book which seems to have a mind of its own and keeps jumping all over the page which makes typing difficult, but we will persist until we get home and give it back to Toshiba to be repaired.
Again a somewhat lazy start and breakfast at about 10.00am. Decided to check out a restaurant just down the road. Good choice a place called The Richtree! First we could not find the door and the signs on all those facing the street telling us to enter via the building lobby. It turned out the building which we had assumed was just an office block in fact contained two floors of shops in an atrium with the lower floor being part of Toronto’s underground walkway system and also housed the Hockey Hall of Fame (which seems very popular).
The Richtree turned out to be a market style eatery with thirteen stations (bakery, grill, fish, fruit, pasta, coffee, juice, salad, liquor, etc etc), where you chose what you wanted and they cooked or prepared it for you and swiped your card, credit card style. All the produce was fresh and the choice seemed endless. Its open from 7.30 to late (2.30am on Friday and Saturday). I had bircher muesli and juice and Michele fruit salad and eggs.
Checked out of the hotel and then visited the main municipal square, simply named Dundas-Yonge Square after the two streets it is on the corner of. Interesting signage on all the adjoining buildings. A Mexican festival was taking place with entertainment and market stalls.
Walked west a few blocks to the AGO, the art gallery of Ontario, recently remodeled by Frank Geary. This is the same architect who designed the Getty centre in LA we were taken with in 2006. Admired it from the outside and lobby and then went north for about a mile to the ROM, the Royal Ontorio Museum, also recently remodeled. Our reason for doing so was that they currently are running an exhibition on the Dead Sea scrolls and have actual pieces on display together with some relics of the Temple of Jerusalem and other buildings of the period. We found it quite interesting.
Late light lunch and back to the hotel via the underground to pick up our cases and catch the train to Niagara, which we are on as I write. This train has wi-fi although it seems to have a hiccup at the moment.
Having some trouble with the new net book which seems to have a mind of its own and keeps jumping all over the page which makes typing difficult, but we will persist until we get home and give it back to Toshiba to be repaired.
Thursday July 2nd
We went up the CN tower, which was owned by the railways but is now owned by “somebody else “. It was the highest tower in t he world except for the unopened one in Dubai. So it is still the highest. I had a bit of trouble, the height gets me. I didn’t go on though glass floor, I had trouble even looking over it, all these little kids were jumping on it, didn’t bother them, (I hate them) Geoff wasn’t bothered though. They said that the weight that the glass floor could take was 20 hippos, don’t know how they would get them up there to measure them though. Great view, on a clear day you can see Niagara falls, so they say, of course it was hazy, so limited it a bit. We went to Eaton Square which was a shopping centre, between Sears & Hudson Bay Company. Geoff then went off and did the washing, I had a sleep. We had dinner at a lovely French Restaurant that night and went home in the daylight, love these long daylights.
Friday July 3
We went down to St Lawrence markets for breakfast. This was a fun experience, bought some rolls and things to go in them for lunch, then headed off to the Distillery, which is like the Rock s in Sydney. Walked around there for a while and then headed down to the Harbour and had an hour cruise around the islands in the harbour, found a spot after then and had our lunch, walked some more and then back to the hotel.
At the moment there is a strike of people who empty bins around the place, so they are all overflowing. They have covered some of them with plastic so you can’t put any more in them.
We went up the CN tower, which was owned by the railways but is now owned by “somebody else “. It was the highest tower in t he world except for the unopened one in Dubai. So it is still the highest. I had a bit of trouble, the height gets me. I didn’t go on though glass floor, I had trouble even looking over it, all these little kids were jumping on it, didn’t bother them, (I hate them) Geoff wasn’t bothered though. They said that the weight that the glass floor could take was 20 hippos, don’t know how they would get them up there to measure them though. Great view, on a clear day you can see Niagara falls, so they say, of course it was hazy, so limited it a bit. We went to Eaton Square which was a shopping centre, between Sears & Hudson Bay Company. Geoff then went off and did the washing, I had a sleep. We had dinner at a lovely French Restaurant that night and went home in the daylight, love these long daylights.
Friday July 3
We went down to St Lawrence markets for breakfast. This was a fun experience, bought some rolls and things to go in them for lunch, then headed off to the Distillery, which is like the Rock s in Sydney. Walked around there for a while and then headed down to the Harbour and had an hour cruise around the islands in the harbour, found a spot after then and had our lunch, walked some more and then back to the hotel.
At the moment there is a strike of people who empty bins around the place, so they are all overflowing. They have covered some of them with plastic so you can’t put any more in them.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Wednesday July 1st Canada Day
A public holiday which made no difference to us, except for the special celebration cake for afternoon tea.
All day travelling through Ontario. From the border to Toronto is further than Brisbane to Melbourne, and the scenery hardly changed. Scrub and small trees, conifers, beech and the like and water in swamps, lakes, channels, streams and rivers. The whole province seems to be waterlogged. The topography is fairly flat which explains all the water and this part populated by very small settlements mostly with small wooden or fibro clad houses on untidy lots. Plenty of pick-up trucks.
Each day has been very different scenery wise and geographically. The weather was also bleak today and Michele did not get off the train at the only stop, the railway town of Hornepayne. Although somewhat repetitious, both today and the whole journey have been an interesting experience, it makes you realise just how big Canada is. The food and service have been good as has the company and we have enjoyed both the journey and experience. Toronto in the morning.
Arrived Toronto 9.30am. We had booked an hotel supposedly 200m from the station, probably a bit more but not too bad. When we got there, No BOOKING!! Apparently Bookings.com hadn’t forwarded booking!! They will be hearing from us. Fortunately, they had one room left, and we have to move to another room tomorrow, but at least we have a bed.
On the first day in Vancouver, we walked past two men having a look at the footpath and a discussion, we looked at their shirts they were, Gum Busters!!.
Everybody spits their chewing gum onto the footpath and everywhere there are lumps (dirty blotches) of old gum, (what pigs) and it is hard to believe that people are employed to remove it. Ban all gum, I say!!
Geoff has just headed off down a few blocks to do the washing at a Laundromat, while I add to the blog. It’s a challenge typing on this tiny notebook, I keep hitting the wrong keys, that’s my excuse anyway.
We stopped for a few hours in Winnipeg which was interesting. There was no commercial area, just streets and streets of office buildings or apartments, we couldn’t find anywhere anything that looked anything like a café or the like. So we turned around after walking for a couple of Kms and headed for the river, where we found a fast food outlet on a bridge over the river, which could have been a lovely restaurant, but it was a cruddy place a bit like Hungry Jacks, so we had a dreadful coffee and sat for a while and then went back to the station and sent emails and talked to Aerlyn on Skype. Everywhere seems to have wi fi so easy access to the internet, not like last time we went away. The days are really long, the other night it was still light at 11pm. Wasn’t awake for the sun to come up so don’t know what time that was.
The train looked really old when we got on and I thought it would be a bit of a trial. The first night I was so tired I only remember turning over once during the night, It was a really smooth ride and amazingly quiet, much more smooth than The Ghan which my sister Lesley and I went on a couple of years ago.
The food was good, you seemed to eat all the time, and if you wanted to you could. They had tea & coffee and muffins or sweet biscuits available all the time. So all and all it was a good experience and we chatted to some lovely people, as you sat at every meal with someone different.
Actually I think I am still rocking, strange feeling.
We have a couple of days here and then off to Niagara. Staying quite near the falls for one night, then off to New York from Buffalo airport.
A public holiday which made no difference to us, except for the special celebration cake for afternoon tea.
All day travelling through Ontario. From the border to Toronto is further than Brisbane to Melbourne, and the scenery hardly changed. Scrub and small trees, conifers, beech and the like and water in swamps, lakes, channels, streams and rivers. The whole province seems to be waterlogged. The topography is fairly flat which explains all the water and this part populated by very small settlements mostly with small wooden or fibro clad houses on untidy lots. Plenty of pick-up trucks.
Each day has been very different scenery wise and geographically. The weather was also bleak today and Michele did not get off the train at the only stop, the railway town of Hornepayne. Although somewhat repetitious, both today and the whole journey have been an interesting experience, it makes you realise just how big Canada is. The food and service have been good as has the company and we have enjoyed both the journey and experience. Toronto in the morning.
Arrived Toronto 9.30am. We had booked an hotel supposedly 200m from the station, probably a bit more but not too bad. When we got there, No BOOKING!! Apparently Bookings.com hadn’t forwarded booking!! They will be hearing from us. Fortunately, they had one room left, and we have to move to another room tomorrow, but at least we have a bed.
On the first day in Vancouver, we walked past two men having a look at the footpath and a discussion, we looked at their shirts they were, Gum Busters!!.
Everybody spits their chewing gum onto the footpath and everywhere there are lumps (dirty blotches) of old gum, (what pigs) and it is hard to believe that people are employed to remove it. Ban all gum, I say!!
Geoff has just headed off down a few blocks to do the washing at a Laundromat, while I add to the blog. It’s a challenge typing on this tiny notebook, I keep hitting the wrong keys, that’s my excuse anyway.
We stopped for a few hours in Winnipeg which was interesting. There was no commercial area, just streets and streets of office buildings or apartments, we couldn’t find anywhere anything that looked anything like a café or the like. So we turned around after walking for a couple of Kms and headed for the river, where we found a fast food outlet on a bridge over the river, which could have been a lovely restaurant, but it was a cruddy place a bit like Hungry Jacks, so we had a dreadful coffee and sat for a while and then went back to the station and sent emails and talked to Aerlyn on Skype. Everywhere seems to have wi fi so easy access to the internet, not like last time we went away. The days are really long, the other night it was still light at 11pm. Wasn’t awake for the sun to come up so don’t know what time that was.
The train looked really old when we got on and I thought it would be a bit of a trial. The first night I was so tired I only remember turning over once during the night, It was a really smooth ride and amazingly quiet, much more smooth than The Ghan which my sister Lesley and I went on a couple of years ago.
The food was good, you seemed to eat all the time, and if you wanted to you could. They had tea & coffee and muffins or sweet biscuits available all the time. So all and all it was a good experience and we chatted to some lovely people, as you sat at every meal with someone different.
Actually I think I am still rocking, strange feeling.
We have a couple of days here and then off to Niagara. Staying quite near the falls for one night, then off to New York from Buffalo airport.
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