Final entry: Back home again

"Now there are seven kinds of Coke, 500 kinds of cigarettes, This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy" -- John Doe and Exene Cervenka, "See how we are"

We arrived home one week ago, Sunday night, 25 May. The long leg from Copenhagen to Newark was on board a half-empty Continental jet with great coach seats: individual flat screen displays, a choice of 25 movies, shows, games, etc, and a power outlet. I watched "Dr Strangelove" and "Fraulein", a Bosnian movie with English subtitles. I worked on the text for the last few entries of this blog, played a few games of chess against the video console (won one, lost two, with one unfinished because we landed). I pondered the potential negative reaction of the passengers if they had been forced en masse to watch "Dr Strangelove", and I celebrated, in my own way, the illusion of choice in modern capitalism. It's good to be home.

Stopping by Copenhagen on our way home

On Saturday, we left Italy, and flew from Bologna back to Copenhagen. The illusion of permanence is the source of all human suffering, and so it also goes for semi-permanence. While we were in Italy, Anna moved from one Copenhagen neighborhood to another; from suburban Fredriksberg to the more urban Amager ("farther from the University, but closer to the beach", she explained). We met her at Amagerbro train station and walked to a nearby bistro for a slightly belated birthday dinner. Then we left her, in the Metro station, and took the short train ride back to the airport Hilton, to the airport, across the seas, and back to the states....

Last ride and last night in Italy

On Friday, Rosanna and I were back on the tandem. Besides our usual guide Edy, the Borge e Castelli group was accompanied on this ride by Stefano Giuliodori, the Director of Hotel Dory. Stefano is a very experienced cyclist, and also served as our tour guide with a lot of intimate knowledge about our destinations. First we climbed to the castle at Montefiore, where we had a cappuchino before circling around the castle and hearing the legend of the ghost who wanders the grounds. I found out later that the castle contains an old deep well inside that has such unique acoustic properties it has been used as a jazz recording studio.

Then we descended most of the way down at 10-12%, only to climb again to the peak of the day at Montescudo (elevation, 1230 feet) where we enjoyed the amazing view, and saw a giant, rock-lined hole in the ground which, when filled with snow, served the ancients as a refrigerator. A little later we viewed the ruins of a church that was bombed out during World War II, when this area was the front line for a major battle during the invasion of Italy. Finally, we stopped one last time at a church whose cornerstone was laid in 800AD (and where Stefano was married) before heading back to the hotel for one last night. After dinner, there was a slide show of photos from the week's rides, and an little awards ceremony. Heiki won the award from our group; she had only recently started cycling, and she rode like a pro all week.

Overall, we rode in four guided rides, covering a total of about 160 miles, over 10000 feet of climbing, and a multicultural experience non pariel.

Olive Oil and Wine Tasting Tour

Thursday, Rosanna had some computer work to do, so I rented one of the available Scott CR1 carbon solo bikes (What a great bike!) and rode on the "Olive Oil and Wine Tasting Tour" with the "Borge e Castelli" group. We had a different leader, Drelli, who is also the expert mechanic at the hotel. Probably because of the subject matter (food and drink), this was the most popular “Borge e Castelli” ride of the week, with ten participants; everyone from Monday plus Michaela, Wolfgang, and a few others. The ride entailed the usual beginning of 10 miles in the flat, followed by a 10 mile climb to about 1200 feet so where we visited the cafe in the fortress of Mondaino for a cappuchino. I wandered around the fortress while the others finished their coffee, saw a paleontological museum that would be interesting to spend some time in someday. After another 5 miles, we deviated from the usual itinerary by stopping again, this time at Renzi Giovanni's olive processing facility in Montegridolfo, where we viewed the olive pressing and refining operation, learned about the olive oil manufacturing process, and had a fantastic lunch. I bought a big can of freshly pressed olive oil and some local wine to bring home. Finally, we climbed a little more before descending back to the hotel.

Aside: The wine made it all the way back to Newark, NJ and through US customs in a checked bag before the sloppy bag handlers at Continental Airlines broke two of three bottles. They also severely dented the olive oil can, but not so much that it leaked. That would have been a mess. Luckily, the broken bottles were white wine, and the other stuff in the bag was not dyed red. Also luckily, it was the bottle of red wine that survived; it’s healthier anyway.

Visits to Republic of San Marino and to Rimini

Tuesday was the guides' day off, so we relaxed in the morning. In the afternoon, the hotel offered bus transportation to the nearby Republic of San Marino, a landlocked enclave completely surrounded by Italy, and the third smallest state in the EU (in area). Larger only than only the Vatican City and Monaco, it was founded in 301 AD by Marinus of Rab, a Christian stonemason in Rimini fleeing religious persecution by Roman Emperor Diocletian. The entire nation consists of San Marino city on top of a mountain, and several cities around the foot of the mountain. We visited only San Marino city on Tuesday, having biked through the larger, more industrial (and lower altitude) Dogana as part of Monday’s bike ride.

San Marino city is an odd juxtaposition of ancient buildings occupied mostly by souvenir vendors selling a wide variety of goods: clothing, leather, food, wine, liquor, including absinthe, cameras, electronics, weapons (knives, swords, guns), along with the same plethora of plastic crap that one can purchase in any tourist trap worldwide.

The architecture, however, is often amazing, and well worth a stroll through the moneychangers. After climbing the steep pedestrian-only streets to the top of the mountain, we spent an hour or so wandering around the towers preserved by the Musei de Stato, some of which were built in the 11th century. What a view!

On Wednesday, the group riding itinerary was a climb halfway up Mount Cartegna to 2200 feet or so to watch the Giro D’Italia pass through. The more ambitious riders (not our group) continued to climb to the 4500 foot summit. Still recovering from Monday’s climbs, we opted out of this (maybe next year)and instead took two of the hotel's loaner "townie" bikes out on our own, riding the flat 10 miles or so up the coast to Rimini, mostly on bike paths. We looked around the harbor area for a while, spent some time in and around a beautiful old cathedral, and finally rode through the town center, which is highlighted by a large stone archway from Roman times.

First two rides in Italy

The rides at Hotel Dory are organized into weekly programs, with everyone being offered five group rides over six days. The riders are divided into four groups by experience and ability. Not knowing what to expect, we decided to start with the slowest of the four, the "Borghe e Castelli" (Villages and Castles) group. This turned out to be a good decision since, unbeknownst to us, this was also the week of two major Italian bike races: (1)the Giro D'Italia and (2) the smaller Nove Colli. A number of people at the hotel were actually racing in the Nove Colli, so we were severely outclassed, cycle-wise. Nevertheless, everyone was very nice, and it was nice to meet so many people from all over the world.

Having biked around Charlotte and the surrounding rolling hills, we thought we were ready for the climbing we would encounter. But the terrain around Riccione is significantly different than Charlotte. The area near the coast is mostly completely flat, but if one rides inland for 12 miles or so in any direction, mountains are encountered. All of the rides we went on were about 40 miles long and involved climbing at least one, and usually more than one, mountain at least 1000 feet high. The climbs take place over distances of 6 miles or so, so that the average grade is around 3 or 4%. We found the climbs to be more than adequately challenging, the views breathtaking, and the descents exhilirating. The other three groups (Cappochino, Cappochino plus, and Limonchino) rode longer distances (60-80 miles) and climbed more and taller mountains, not for us, not this time anyway.

On Sunday, we rode the "Strada Panoramica" route with our guide Edy, two women from Germany (Gudrun and Heiki), and a man and woman from Sweden (Ivan and ???). Between the two climbs (1000 feet and 500 feet), we enjoyed a cappochino at a seaside cafe in Pesaro.

On Monday, the group changed a little bit, a recurring theme. The Swedes moved up to one of the other groups, and were replaced by John from Australia. The route was entitled "Falciano-Mulazzano-Montescudo-Vecciano". After the first climb (about 1000 feet), we stopped for cappuchino, another recurring theme, in the village of Ospidaletto. After another 1000 foot climb and a very hairy (for me) descent with some 18% grade and some Flintstone braking, we stopped again for a well-stocked barbecue at Hotel Dory's farmhouse in Vecciano.

Even though the climbs were challenging for us, I cannot stress how much we enjoyed and appreciated the services at the Hotel Dory. The food was constantly fabulous, with extensive breakfast and lunch, and full multi-course dinners every night. A bike mechanic was on duty every day with expert advise and whatever tools were required to do whatever needed to be done. Bike clothing was laundered every afternoon and returned in the mid-evening, well in time for the next ride. The promenade of Riccione and the Mediteranean beach were both a few steps away from the front door. Loaner "townie" bikes and motorscooters were available for running errands around town. There are many other services, too numerous to name them all: jacuzzi, ping pong, swimmming pools, workout room, aromatherapy, massage, etc etc. So even though we were sometimes physically spent from riding and climbing, we were always extremely comfortable, if that makes any sense.

Arrival in Italy

On Saturday afternoon, Rosanna and I flew from Copenhagen to Bologna. I had been worrying about the myriad issues of the bicycling phase of this trip, but one by one, the details fell seamlessly into place. This was due partly to careful planning and, no doubt, partly due to luck.

First, our driver Mauricio met us immediately at the gate with a sign that said "Hotel Dory". No luck involved here; Hotel Dory is a very professionally run operation. The hour drive to Riccione was without incident. When we arrived at Hotel Dory, we found our rented Cannondale tandem bicycle waiting for us, along with the helpful staff from the rental agency Bike Rentals Plus. They quickly installed the pedals we brought from home and set up the bike to our specifications while we checked into the hotel.

We changed, took the bike out for a quick spin, and encountered the first snafu of the trip; a rear blowout. The tube was changed, and voila, immediately another blowout. It turned out that the back tire was totally worn out. No worries however, since a new tire was quickly installed by the rental agency staff. Rule #1: No matter how exhausted you are, thoroughly check out the rental bike.

With our bike ready, we took a short stroll around Riccione, bought a few items at the grocery store, and headed off to bed to get some rest before our Sunday morning ride.

Last two days in Copenhagen

OK, it's been really busy, and this blog has not been updated since Thursday. I now am sitting at a hotel in Italy on Monday afternoon, seeking to reconstruct the events of Friday and Saturday based on my fading memories and a few photographs. So here goes.

Friday morning took us to the northern part of the city by the harbor. We saw all three "little mermaid" statues, the "original", which we had seen on the canal tour, the larger "fake", created to promote a restaurant, and the "modern", in a harborside sculpture garden where we hung out for a while with the yachts and cruise chips. Guess which one is in the accompanying photo?
Then we visited the "Kastellet", a star shaped fortification built in the 17th century, with a castle, a church, and a windmill. We hung out for a while next to the windmill, watching some large wading birds, and getting chastised by a security guard for the faux pas of walking our bicycles into the "no bikes" zone. I sincerely promised to never do this again.After the windmill, we rode downtown, encountering a column of royal guards marching in the bike lane along the way. Lunch was at Restaurant Barock in Nyhavn, then we walked to the museum at Amelienborg palace, the winter residence of Queen Margaret II. The museum contains a variety of historical artifacts concerning the Danish monarchy, including a number of photos of the recent wedding of Prince Frederik to an Australian woman. Australian royalty? Who knew! We went inside Frederik's Church next door, and viewed the spectacular dome, decorated with frescoes of the twelve apostles, with Judas having been appropriately replaced by Paul. Finally we climbed the spiral brick walkway to the top of the Round Tower and enjoyed the panoramic view of the whole region before descending again. From the top of the Round Tower, the new bridge from Denmark to Malmo, Sweden can be clearly seen. Friday was capped with a nice Mexican dinner in Fredriksberg.

Saturday morning, Anna met us for breakfast and a few photos before Rosanna and I headed off to the airport for our next adventure...

Biking in Copenhagen

Wow! After biking around Charlotte, Copenhagen offers a whole new experience in urban cycling. Bicycles are literally everywhere! There are as many or more of them on the road as cars, and besides well maintained and ubiquitous bike lanes, they have their own traffic signals. Rosanna and I went this morning to Baisikeli, where we met the proprietor Henryk, and rented a couple of city bicycles.

I told Henryk how much I envied the bicycle culture in Copenhagen, where automobiles, pedestrians, and bicycles coexist in seemingly balanced numbers and peaceful respect. When I mentioned that I do some urban riding in Charlotte, but I do not always feel safe, he told me that the situation was much the same in Copenhagen in the 1980s, but a few devout cyclists and the rising price of fuel gradually created the cycle utopia they have now. So maybe, as gasoline in North Carolina approaches $4 per gallon, there is hope for an evolving bicycle culture in Charlotte.

All Danish bicycles have an engraved serial number. After stolen ones are recovered by police, and long after the owners have been reimbursed by insurance, Baisikeli refurbishes them. Initially they are rented for use around the city, by people like us. But eventually, the bikes are converted for transportation, farm vehicles, and even ambulances, before being sent to Africa. We saw a photo of one of the ambulances, basically a bicycle with a stretcher for a trailer. Not coincidentally, "Baisikeli" is the Swahili word for "bicycle". Proceeds from the bike rentals are used to for the African relief effort. It's a real win win win situation.

After Anna got out of class, we all took a bike trip to Rosenborg castle and walked around the gardens. There are a number of statues, including one of a Danish queen named Caroline Amalie. Someone at the bike shop told us a story about one of the kings hiding a key for his lover underneath the lion's tongue outside the castle, so Rosanna looked for the key, but it was not there. Lucky for her, since a stern looking guard was on duty. We had a nice lunch at a sidwalk cafe, Pussy Galore's Flying Circus, named after the character in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger".

After lunch we took a bike trip to Christiania, a utopian alternative community that started when some hippies in 1970 took over an abandoned Danish army base. I shudder to imagine what would have happened in the good old U.S. of A. if hippies had taken over an abandoned U.S. Army base; I certainly don't think their descendents would still be living there in 2008. But that is the case in Christiania. We first walked our bikes down the main street (Pusher Street), past rows of street vendors and bars with live music (including a sort of a bluegrass band). Moving out of the "business district", we rode our bikes all the way around the lake (or it it a bay), pausing for photographs before heading back and cycling through the "residential district". As much as I admire the pretext, it seems on first glance to be a disorganized jumble of "interesting" people, and randomly constructed housing, from the sublime to the ridiculous. It's as if there was a rock festival and noone ever went home. I wouldn't really want to live there, though I might have thought so when I was a little younger. Still, it seems like there should be some kind of middle ground between the consumer-driven capitalism run amok that we live in and the fairly extreme utopian vision of Christiania.

Finally, we had a wonderful dinner at Spiseloppen, a surprisingly normal restaurant in a loft on the edge of Christiania. What an amazing day this was! Thanks Anna!

Made it to Copenhagen

OK, so after an overnight delay and a few hours on the phone with the airline "help desk" (Ha !), we managed to skip London and book a flight directly from Newark to Copenhagen, as originally planned, only 24 hours late. Rosanna and I did not reserve seats next to each other; we both wanted a window seat so that we could lean against the window and sleep. Rosanna slept a little bit on the flight. However, seated next to an innocent looking but unpredictable elbow monster in a seat that would not recline, Ed was up most of the night. Finally we landed a little before 8AM in Copenhagen, where customs was a breeze. Anna met us at the concourse. The mother and child reunion was only an ocean away. We took the train to the Hotel Sct Thomas in Fredriksburg, a "suburb" (do they use that word here?) of Copenhagen. Anna went to her class at the university while Rosanna and I took a short but needed nap at the hotel. In the afternoon, we had a wonderful lunch at Riz Raz, a favorite vegetarian Mediteranean buffet of Anna's. We walked around Copenhagen for a while, then took a boat tour from Nyhavn (pronounced "Newhaven") of the Copenhagen canals, seeing all the old & new parts of the city from the comfort of our seat, important, since we were still pretty jet-lagged. Particularly impressive was the waterside Copenhagen Opera House.
It is early evening now. Anna has now gone off to orchestra rehearsal, where SymfUni: The Symphony Orchestra of Copenhagen University, conducted by Frederik Stovring Olsen, is preparing for a performance of operatic pieces.

Rosanna and I went out looking for a bite to eat. We ended up getting a Kronenberg 1664 draft beer at Cafe Viggo on Værnedamsvej which, as the reviewer says, is a "a seriously nice place to hang around". The cafe is full of wonderful, large wall drawings of the great Belgian comic strip character Gaston Lagaffe. Then we grabbed a sandwich and chips at a blast from my past, one of the 7-11 convenience stores that seem to be on every corner in Copenhagen. And we headed off the hotel, and the first full night's sleep in a while. ZZZZZ.....

First post: All stoked up and nowhere to fly

Our long awaited european vacation got off to a sputtering start this afternoon when the initial leg of our trip, a flight to Newark, was delayed beyond our connection time. So, we are now booked on a series of flights tomorrow, first to Newark, then to London (Heathrow), and finally on to Copenhagen.