So Bear and I are 2/3 through our journey.. it has been quite a trip :) We started in London, where the weather was, unremarkably, not sunny, and headed to the south of France (Nice/Valbonne) to visit Yann and his parents in their villa. We stayed there a few days- had a crazy bachannalian evening to celebrate Bastille day with the locals (ended up dancing to Micheal Jackson songs at 3 AM and getting in a good-spirited shouting match with some manic french people), and we spent a lot of time laying out in Yann's backyard. The French are interesting people; very proud. Yann's dad, who runs an IT firm and has been in charge of over 5000 people at one time or another kept on repeating (whilst downing a bite of extremely stinky cheese) that his home is paradise, and that he couldn't think of living anywhere else. Truly, he was not lying :) The food was excellent- stewed duck, lamb, all the cheese and fruit and wine we could handle. On the third day we took out the bikes and did a downhill cruise to Antibes and Cannes, and went swimming in the ocean there. The Mediterranean is warm, calm, and the weather is excellent. On the last day we took a hike through Nice and walked up to a local castle that had one of the coolest fountains I've ever seen. It was this giant waterfall that overlooked the entire city- truly amazing. We saw some rambunctious seagulls perched on top of the waterfall, and for a while I was lost, watching the birds leap out over the cliff and glide through the city down below. I'll only say it once, but Nice is nice. I hope to venture back sometime- Yann and his friends will always be welcome in Cali :)
All too soon we had to move on- our next stop was in Biarritz in the southeastern part of France. Atlantic seaside, stormy weather, huge waves. At first we thought we were making a mistake- we arrived in the middle of a squall and literally jogged between downpours over to our hostel. The first night Bear and I grabbed a brew and had tapas by a lake. Before this we wantered through town and looked at some cool surf art, and watched the waves from the side of a cliff. The architecture in Biarritz is amazing; the town has been there for well over a thousand years and some of the buildings are a testament to the ancient nature of the place. At any rate, sleep in the hostel was good- Bear and I quickly learned how valuable a couple of good earplugs are. the next day I woke up, did yoga, went running by the ocean, and prayed the storm would calm so I could get in the waves, if only for a moment. We packed our bags and left them in the hostel, grabbed our boardshorts and took a bus back into the city, where to our pleasant surprise the weather let up, the sun came out, and we spent the afternoon on the beach. I rented a surprisingly cheap (and surprisingly decent) surfboard and hit the waves while Bear kicked it on the beach (apparently there were more than a few nudists, so this was not a boring pursuit). The swell was 6-7 feet, every 8 seconds. Took me about half an hour to get out (forgot how to properly balance myself on a board). But once I was out past the break it was bliss.. I remember how much I miss surfing, and how eager I am to be back in Newport beach catching the morning break. I managed to catch a 6 footer back in; the perfect high point of what turned out to be a very nice day. Bear hit up the body boarding and reported the waves were less than friendly. I think I'm in love with Biarritz. I will DEFINITELY be back (mwhahaha).
That night we took the night train to Paris. If you've never traveled by night train, I suggest you don't try it. The bunks are always too hot, the noise is incessant, and the damn train keeps rocking while you try to get to sleep. We found that 3 beers + earplugs helps more than a little. We arrived in Paris at 7 AM and headed over to my friend Andre's apartment. I know Andre from LSE- he's a cool Brazillian dude who was doing a 2 year masters. Andre lives about 2 km from the Eiffel tower in a cozy little apartment with his wife. We spent two days with him, and toured Paris, which is the most well-kept city I think I've ever been to (sorry Salt Lake). The boulevards are huge, the architecture is clean and well-patterned, the trees are well-kept, and the people are beautiful. The only problem with Paris is the people know what a good thing they've got, and tend to be a little proud. Also the cost of food- 5 euros for a small coffee? Ah well, the crepes were amazing, and the touristing was good. Bear and I climbed the Eiffel tower (I had no idea how huge that damn thing is) and rented bikes (only 1 euro a piece!) for a day-trip to the Louvre. We saw the Mona Lisa (of course) which sucked because it was so damn small. The interesting thing is there's a 30 foot painting of the last supper in the same room that is a lot more impressive, but that people never seem to comment on. One final thought- we checked out the local McDonalds to see whether there truly is a royal with cheese (as opposed to a big mac- ref: Pulp Fiction) and found there was. The most surprising thing was the bouncer at the door keeping the boombox-carrying street kids out.
From Paris we sojourned by night train to Rome (Roma). To be honest, I don't have very much positive to say about Rome. All my gay friends tell me the city is amazing, but I found it hot, dirty, unkept, and.. well.. Italian ;) Then again Italian is in my blood, so it wasn't too bad. Bear and I took a look at the Vatican, which was gargantuan beyond belief. The roof is over 100 feet high, and everything is polished marble. I don't think I've ever seen such an architectural feat; even the Eiffel tower was put to shame. We also saw the Colisseum, though we passed on the tour because they wanted 12 euros each from us (looking at it was enough). Instead we snuck into some old Roman ruins and napped with the bugs under some old tree that overlooked the old city. Rome was a lot of walking, some good gellato, and a LOT of dirt under our feet. We didn't get a chance to try the night life, which I've heard is INCREDIBLE (hence my gay friends singing about how lovely the city is), but on the whole the two days we spent in Rome were interesting, if not a tad expensive.
From Rome we traveled to Italy, for the (pun notwitstanding) high point of the trip for me: The Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos. I've been training for this race the last three months. More will be said about the race in the next post, but for now let me say I made it through in five hours (which is actually a respectable time- I was in the top 300 finishers of 800), and the experience was unforgettable. I will honestly never forget those mountain vistas, and how I felt running down that mountain pass somewhere in the third hour.. Incredible. Bear and I stayed with my friend Brian (another colleague from LSE- this guy was in my econ class and runs marathons for fun) who was responsible for my taking up the marathon in the first place. The setting was bucolic beyond belief- green meadows, tall mountains, and everything proper, clean, functional; in a word Swiss. The food was excellent as well- Brian's parents treated us to pasta and Black-nosed sheep, both of which were experiences in and of themselves. During the marathon Bear had a great time renting a bike and touring the local mountains. We rested the day after the marathon at the local village pool (which was, again, incredibly detailed to the point of having a climbing wall next to the diving board so you could climb up and jump off into the pool below), and then took off the next afternoon for Munich.
That brings me to today. Bear and I spent the night in a crazy hostel called the Jaegger, and Bear had his first bar experience ever last night. We toured a beergarden and drank one of those liter-sized mugs of beer, and had a decent time running around after that. Bear met some locals and I, being the tired old man I am, decided to pass out early. Today we are hanging out, a little exhausted, about to go meet another LSE comrade from my dorm in London. His name is Andreas, and he's a really cool environmentally-minded guy. I believe we'll be touring the Alps with him, and hanging out a bit at the family pool. More to come later, and pictures to follow. For now, Best Wishes to all, and feel free to hit either Bear or myself up on Facebook- we've been doing pretty well finding free wifi lately.
All too soon we had to move on- our next stop was in Biarritz in the southeastern part of France. Atlantic seaside, stormy weather, huge waves. At first we thought we were making a mistake- we arrived in the middle of a squall and literally jogged between downpours over to our hostel. The first night Bear and I grabbed a brew and had tapas by a lake. Before this we wantered through town and looked at some cool surf art, and watched the waves from the side of a cliff. The architecture in Biarritz is amazing; the town has been there for well over a thousand years and some of the buildings are a testament to the ancient nature of the place. At any rate, sleep in the hostel was good- Bear and I quickly learned how valuable a couple of good earplugs are. the next day I woke up, did yoga, went running by the ocean, and prayed the storm would calm so I could get in the waves, if only for a moment. We packed our bags and left them in the hostel, grabbed our boardshorts and took a bus back into the city, where to our pleasant surprise the weather let up, the sun came out, and we spent the afternoon on the beach. I rented a surprisingly cheap (and surprisingly decent) surfboard and hit the waves while Bear kicked it on the beach (apparently there were more than a few nudists, so this was not a boring pursuit). The swell was 6-7 feet, every 8 seconds. Took me about half an hour to get out (forgot how to properly balance myself on a board). But once I was out past the break it was bliss.. I remember how much I miss surfing, and how eager I am to be back in Newport beach catching the morning break. I managed to catch a 6 footer back in; the perfect high point of what turned out to be a very nice day. Bear hit up the body boarding and reported the waves were less than friendly. I think I'm in love with Biarritz. I will DEFINITELY be back (mwhahaha).
That night we took the night train to Paris. If you've never traveled by night train, I suggest you don't try it. The bunks are always too hot, the noise is incessant, and the damn train keeps rocking while you try to get to sleep. We found that 3 beers + earplugs helps more than a little. We arrived in Paris at 7 AM and headed over to my friend Andre's apartment. I know Andre from LSE- he's a cool Brazillian dude who was doing a 2 year masters. Andre lives about 2 km from the Eiffel tower in a cozy little apartment with his wife. We spent two days with him, and toured Paris, which is the most well-kept city I think I've ever been to (sorry Salt Lake). The boulevards are huge, the architecture is clean and well-patterned, the trees are well-kept, and the people are beautiful. The only problem with Paris is the people know what a good thing they've got, and tend to be a little proud. Also the cost of food- 5 euros for a small coffee? Ah well, the crepes were amazing, and the touristing was good. Bear and I climbed the Eiffel tower (I had no idea how huge that damn thing is) and rented bikes (only 1 euro a piece!) for a day-trip to the Louvre. We saw the Mona Lisa (of course) which sucked because it was so damn small. The interesting thing is there's a 30 foot painting of the last supper in the same room that is a lot more impressive, but that people never seem to comment on. One final thought- we checked out the local McDonalds to see whether there truly is a royal with cheese (as opposed to a big mac- ref: Pulp Fiction) and found there was. The most surprising thing was the bouncer at the door keeping the boombox-carrying street kids out.
From Paris we sojourned by night train to Rome (Roma). To be honest, I don't have very much positive to say about Rome. All my gay friends tell me the city is amazing, but I found it hot, dirty, unkept, and.. well.. Italian ;) Then again Italian is in my blood, so it wasn't too bad. Bear and I took a look at the Vatican, which was gargantuan beyond belief. The roof is over 100 feet high, and everything is polished marble. I don't think I've ever seen such an architectural feat; even the Eiffel tower was put to shame. We also saw the Colisseum, though we passed on the tour because they wanted 12 euros each from us (looking at it was enough). Instead we snuck into some old Roman ruins and napped with the bugs under some old tree that overlooked the old city. Rome was a lot of walking, some good gellato, and a LOT of dirt under our feet. We didn't get a chance to try the night life, which I've heard is INCREDIBLE (hence my gay friends singing about how lovely the city is), but on the whole the two days we spent in Rome were interesting, if not a tad expensive.
From Rome we traveled to Italy, for the (pun notwitstanding) high point of the trip for me: The Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos. I've been training for this race the last three months. More will be said about the race in the next post, but for now let me say I made it through in five hours (which is actually a respectable time- I was in the top 300 finishers of 800), and the experience was unforgettable. I will honestly never forget those mountain vistas, and how I felt running down that mountain pass somewhere in the third hour.. Incredible. Bear and I stayed with my friend Brian (another colleague from LSE- this guy was in my econ class and runs marathons for fun) who was responsible for my taking up the marathon in the first place. The setting was bucolic beyond belief- green meadows, tall mountains, and everything proper, clean, functional; in a word Swiss. The food was excellent as well- Brian's parents treated us to pasta and Black-nosed sheep, both of which were experiences in and of themselves. During the marathon Bear had a great time renting a bike and touring the local mountains. We rested the day after the marathon at the local village pool (which was, again, incredibly detailed to the point of having a climbing wall next to the diving board so you could climb up and jump off into the pool below), and then took off the next afternoon for Munich.
That brings me to today. Bear and I spent the night in a crazy hostel called the Jaegger, and Bear had his first bar experience ever last night. We toured a beergarden and drank one of those liter-sized mugs of beer, and had a decent time running around after that. Bear met some locals and I, being the tired old man I am, decided to pass out early. Today we are hanging out, a little exhausted, about to go meet another LSE comrade from my dorm in London. His name is Andreas, and he's a really cool environmentally-minded guy. I believe we'll be touring the Alps with him, and hanging out a bit at the family pool. More to come later, and pictures to follow. For now, Best Wishes to all, and feel free to hit either Bear or myself up on Facebook- we've been doing pretty well finding free wifi lately.
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