Sojourns

Day Trip to Fire Island, New York (Long Island)

2009-07-18T17:08:00.001-04:00

Kirsten in front of Fire Island Lighthouse

Kirsten and I went to Fire island today. I did a little research about it on someone else’s blog and it helped me decide how I was going to do this little sojourn so this blog entry is to return the favor to those out there wondering about how best to get to, and enjoy Fire Island.

I was fortunate enough to be able to have weekend access one of my Luzzo’s cycling team mate’s car equipped with roof racks. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be more affordable to drive there or take public transportation. So I did some research.

Costs of getting there

Turns out if your party is 2 or more people and you have a car, I think driving there is the most affordable (and fastest) option
Round Trip Car Expenses from Manhattan: $28 (Tolls $11.00, Gas $10, Parking $7)
Round Trip Using Public Transportation (per person): $26 (Rail: $12, Ferry:$14)

Fire Island

I had heard that there is extremely limited automobile access to Fire Island. Being a cyclist, I got excited about this thinking it could be a possible cyclist’s paradise. Since we had the roof racks on the car, I loaded up our road bikes with tires fit for riding on dirt surfaces.
The road to Robert Moses across the bay.

We drove from our place in Northern Manhattan to Robert Moses State Park where there are at least 3 huge parking fields with convenient beach access. We made a point of leaving by 8:30am on Saturday morning to ensure we were beating most of the hung over city-dwellers that may have had the same idea. We got there in about 50 minutes – no problems with traffic. Easy.

There was plenty of parking at Robert Moses State Park. We parked, and took off on the bikes north. Riding was easy at first – hard-packed dirt roads which passed the lighthouse.

However, shortly after the ranger’s station (about 10 minutes from the parking lot) the road gets too sandy to even ride a mountain bike. We had to walk the bikes for about 10 minutes until the edge of Saltaire, the first town north of the parking area. No cars, other than the local’s, are allowed here.

(above) Sandy roads not suited for a bikes - this is one of the barriers the locals use protect their towns from annoying bikers, I guess. The other is not to allow bikes aboard the ferries.

Saltaire

Walkway to a quiet beach in Saltaire

A modest-looking abode in Saltaire

Fences protecting the dunes on quiet beach in Saltaire. I can't believe we are less than 1 hour from the city!
Looks like it's time to clean the camera's sensor.

We spoke with one local who had been there for some time to get some perspective on what living on Fire Island is like. He loved it. Said that getting on and off the island was a little bit of a bother, though. During peak tourist seasons, residents are only allowed to come on and off the island one time per day with a car (minus some exceptions such as a woman with a child needing an excessive amount of chauffeur service for her daughter who was being educated at a private school on the “mainland”. In Saltaire I only saw about 2 cars, though.

Brian being awkward with his bike in "downtown" Saltaire

Although I am not sure, judging from the number of boats on the bayside, I think that most of the residents have their own boat transportation to/from the island and park their cars on the mainland. We did a little tour of the docks and found some pretty impressive boats.give me 1/4 of what this boat costs and I'll get more positive utility from it than its owner. Below are shaded, wooded walkways of Saltaire.

Houses in Fire Island seem modest relative to how much they actually cost. Some of the pictures show that “simple” seems to be the common theme around Saltaire. I perused the local grocery store and didn’t see anything truly gourmet and the small restaurants seemed to be geared for day tourists. Most of the locals may shop inland. A good number of the homes that we saw were for rent.

The Beach

After checking out Saltaire, we headed back to field 5 where the car was parked, went to the beach and enjoyed the larger-than-usual waves and sun.

Kirsten relaxing on the more crowded beach of "field 5", Robert Moses State Park

Some decent waves at Robert Moses Beach

Our return trip home wasn’t as fast. We left at 3:30pm and it took us about 2 hours to get home; we got stuck in a little traffic. Before heading home, I recommend that you stop by an Italian Ice Cream shop in West Babylon called “Ralph’s Italian Ices” – great, lighter ice cream with a ton of flavors to choose from (1363 Deer Park Ave North Babylon, NY 11703). I read that this is a ice cream chain but I have never seen any others.

Truly, a great trip and hard to believe this place is less than an hour away from our little apartment hidden in the concrete jungle of Manhattan. Next time we go, however, I’ll leave the bikes at home and enjoy the island on foot.

For more information about fire island click the link below:
History
Detailed cost information

If you have any information to share please post it for us! Thanks.

Last Rambles Walk, La Boqueria, Museu d’História de la Ciutat

2009-06-27T06:50:00.004-04:00

Last walk down the Ramblas and visit to La Boqueria

Yesterday I took my final walk down the rambles to check out the Mercat St. Josep (a.k.a. La Boqueria). This market was first opened in the early 13th century and primarily sold meat. Today, however, the market sells just about everything. Strolling through it I saw fish, fruits, vegetables, pastas, wine, cheese, eggs, and meat of all kinds.

My Brazilian grandma would love this salted codfish

Here are some Croquetes which remind me of my grandma. She made the best ones.

There are also small bars where visitors can eat and drink with the larger bars actually having tables on the perimeter of the market, which is essentially the size of a medium-sized block. When I come back and spend more time here (and when my Spanish is a little stronger) I would like to ask some of the vendors about their perspective of the market and how it has changed in their lifetime.

On the way down to La Boqueria, I took a few pictures on Las Ramblas. I caught a photo of illegal street vendors selling bootleg items.

a paranoid seller

These guys open up their sheets and sell items for as long as they can before the police pass by. When the police come, they make a Santa Claus escape by grabbing the four corners of their sheets and running off with what looks like a large, white sack. It would be cool to get the police’s perspective on these characters.

Although too touristy for my tastes, the Ramblas has street performers which are entertaining to watch and imagine what they must be thinking day to day.

what's the shelf-life of a street performer?

As one makes his way down the Ramblas, there are definitely genres of merchants clustered together. I am not sure the meaning of this - seems like it would promote unwanted competition. First there are clusters of pet stores then flower shops and then (expensive) tapas restaurants.

pet shops on Las Rambles (above); flower shops (below)

The Cathedral

The next stop was the city’s old Cathedral, which seems to be essentially dedicated to a young girl named Eulalia (Barcelona’s patron saint) who was tortured and crucified by the Romans at the age of 13 for her faith. Her body remains in an elaborately decorated sarcophagus below the high altar of the church shown below.

Old mixed with modern conveniences

Carvings in the Cathedral

I also got a chance to go up to the roof of the Cathedral and check out the views from above. There also seems to be a lot of construction and renovation going on.

The roof of the cathedral overlooking the mess of the old city

Replacement of the old roof with newer material

Celebrity shot: Rick Steves taking pictures for his new guide.

Museu d’História de la Ciutat
The final stop of the day was my favorite - the Museu d’História de la Ciutat (City History Museum). The tour started with an elevator, which descended to ruins discovered under the street level, some of which appear to be still in the process of excavation.

outside of the city museum, which consists of multiple levels - the lowest ones dating back to 14 B.C.

I wasn't allowed to bring my camera into the museum but I recorded some interesting facts:

Interesting fact 1: The Domus
The wealthiest homes in the city (those of nobles) were called “Domus(es)” – which is a closed, inward-facing home. These homes were built with an Atrium and the Peristylum (garden), both that were open to the sky and contained inward slanting roofs to collect rainwater.

Interesting fact 2: Urine, ash, and lime to wash clothes
Laundry facilities in ancient Barcelona were influenced by the Romans. Outside the clothes washing facility would be a place where locals were encouraged to urinate. Urine was combined with lime and allowed to decompose to form ammonia (bleach). This was used with ash to clean clothes.

Interesting fact 3: Fish cleaning and processing facilities
Similar to laundry facilities, fish would be processed (chopped and washed) in their own facility. Fish blood and intestines were placed into a vessels called maceration tanks and allowed to ferment for 2-3 months. The product was called garum, which was a tasty, very expensive sauce enjoyed by the wealthy. Sounds pretty gross to me.

Interesting fact 4: ½ to ¾ liters per day!
Wine making was a huge deal here in and adults and children consumed it in large quantities (½ to ¾ liter per person per day). It was thought to have medicinal properties so I guess that made it all the more acceptable to drink. Much of the ruins unearthed (600 sq. meters), which were included in the museum, were that of wine making and storing facility.

Kirsten goes home, Brian to cheap hotel

2009-06-26T16:54:00.000-04:00

Bellvitge Hotel Stay

On Friday Kirsten left me for the United States – a sad day for me. I wanted to fly home with her since the program was canceled but couldn’t find a reasonable price on a ticket; peak vacation time creates the lack of coach seats immediately available. So prices are better for Monday or Tuesday of next week. If I flew out earlier, I would have paid nearly $1,650 one way.

So, I decided to stay in Barcelona for 4 nights at the cheapest, reasonable hotel I could find: The Heperia Fira Suites which was $64/night located near the second to the last stop on the L1 metro. This is about a 15-minute ride into the heart of the tourist district (The Ramblas). In short, the place is like a little one room apartment in Manhattan, with a separate bedroom and bathroom and one larger room containing the kitchen and living room. The shower is super fancy with multiple sprayers coming out of the wall. The hotel's location is strange, though; it's located in a working-class neighborhood.

The living room

Bathroom - wow. I dig the multiple shower heads

Balcony - Pretty cool... but it does look over the front walking space of a large

electronics store (like Best Buy).

I am staying right under the Large "M" in the "Media" sign on the roof.

The neighborhood - boring but quaint, practical and safe

And a boring but practical dinner - Ravioli with veggies and meatballs.

Wasn't I eating out last week? What the $%&* happened here?

What's that above the fruit shop?

Staying on the edge of town, which has allowed me to see what life is like outside of the rich, tourist-infested center of Barcelona. Here are some observations (some of which parallel those I have noticed between different socioeconomic areas in Manhattan):

First: gone are the small apartment buildings with cute balconies and windows. Apartment buildings here have an industrial look and feel to them that suggests utility is the number one concern.

typical residences in this area. Reminds me of the projects in Manhattan but this area feels safe

Living institutionalized

Second: In the city center there are many fit, young men and women walking around in stylish clothes. Here, there are mainly older people and families. Lots of children fill the open park spaces on the weekend and men frequent the “real” tapas bars at night. Also, over-weight people are more prevalent here.

Third: No clubs, fancy restaurants, or neat shops. Grocery stores, bakeries, odds and ends shops, working class tapas bars, and schools make up what is around here. This place is really community focused, not tourist-focused.

Friday Morning: retired men playing in the park

Saturday fun: A family picnic in the park - roped off to create sense of cozy party space?

One other family did this roping off thing as well; wish I were invited

The community feel, makes this place feel safer. I heard families outside of my apartment with small children playing until 12:30am. Otherwise, it’s quiet.

Day 6: Fundacio Joan Miro & Arrival in Sitges

2009-06-23T15:31:00.004-04:00

Joan Miro Fundacio

[Kirsten]
We decided we’d squeeze one last activity out of our stay in the city before heading to the beach in Sitges. It seemed simple enough to us – we’ll wake up relatively early (just so you all know, we are living on Barcelona time now, which means our days really get going around 10am and wind down around 2am – quite a change from our normal 6am – 10pm, eh?), grab some café and head over. Well. Nothing ever quite works out how you imagine it when you’re traveling. We forgot (whoops!) that we had to pack, and check out, and think about what we were going to do for lunch after the museum, and think about the train schedules for travel to Sitges, etc., etc. THEN we realized we would have to walk a good chunk of the way to the museum up a gigantic hill.

On the way up to Joan Miro's Fundacio - a view from the Catalan Museum of Art

So, when we finally arrived at the museum, it was well into the early afternoon hours. I couldn’t help but think about all the beach time I was missing.

[Brian] Yes, she wanted to get to the Joan Miro museum as quickly as possible – I knew I couldn’t convince her to walk a couple metro stops. However, once at the museum, both of us savored and meditated on the art inside and the rush went out of style for around 2.5 hours.

So, Joan Miró (1893-1983)...

This man was not only a painter and sculptor but a ceramist. He is, perhaps, the biggest rebel artist of his time. He tried his best to “assassinate” what he considered conventional methods in established painting, which supported pleasurable visual elements and balance as well as the established form of cubism (mastered by Picasso in the latter part of his career). He considered the stiff, structured, defined artistic methods to perpetuate and promote the propaganda and cultural identity of the wealthy. So, Miró was actually laying the hammer down on Picasso’s art form, as well. So I guess Cubism was cool when Picasso discovered it but once it was established (about the time when Miro came around) it became lame (to Miro, at least).

Views from the roof of Joan Miro Museum were easing. The museum sits close to the Olympic stadium in Montjuic. Brian is thinking,"Both Miro and Picasso lived to over 90 years (Picasso: 92 and Miro:100). Is there a medical study on this? Maybe I should drop the bike and pick up paint brushes"

[Kirsten]

Once inside, though, all thoughts of that order vanished. The museum was incredible. Although she looks bored here, Kirst is actually having a great time.
We are a little tired, though, and beach time is needed

Unbeknownst to me at the time of my entry into that building, I am actually a fan of abstract art. I’m not sure if you are all familiar with Joan Miro’s work, but I’m sure you’d recognize it immediately if you saw it – lots of bright, primary colors and thick lines used to draw shape. Thank goodness we had an audio guide, because otherwise his pictures might not have made sense. However, with the guide, we were able to make some sense of what we were looking at and it became….quite fun. In the words of Rick Steves…. ‘Miro believed that everything in the cosmos is linked – colors, sky, stars, love, time, music, dogs, men, women, dirt, and the void. He mixed childlike symbols of these things creatively, as a poet uses words. It’s as liberating for the visual artist to be abstract as it is for the poet….Miro would listen to music and paint. It’s interactive, free interpretation. He said, ‘for me, simplicity is freedom’. What a cool guy. He painted lots of pictures of women and stars especially, often on the same canvas – they always looked different, but the themes and messages were always similar.

[Brian]
I won’t lie. Most of this work went over my head. Thank God for the 4 euro audio cliff notes guide. I was so dependent on the explanations that I wouldn’t study a work without them; I knew this isn’t what a true connoisseur of fine art would do but that’s why I am not one. One of Miro’s works consisted of three huge canvases (so big they needed their own room), each with a free-handed, non-connecting, single line running across them... and nothing else. This is art? No, I think this is what happens when an artist is so respected that he can get away with anything he claims he spent years trying to conceive; anything is often accepted and accommodated for such people. Much of his stuff, however, is quite decent but for a few of his works, even he must have been quietly laughing after selling them.

[Kirsten]
We weren’t able to take pictures inside the museum, but there was a rooftop exhibition of some of his sculptures and we snapped some photos there. As I mentioned before, the building WAS located on the top of a hill, so we had great views of Barcelona behind us.

Okay, after the museum we hustled back down the hill (I was starving, and we really did hustle), headed back to our hotel via subway, made a quick stop at the grocery store for bocadillo ingredients, grabbed our suitcases, bought tickets for the next train to Sitges, and ran down the ramp and just barely made the train. We were proud of ourselves but somewhat exhausted and as I mentioned before, starving.

So, from the grocery store we had bought bread (a long baguette) and cheese. There were basically three problems: the bread was, obviously, in one long, continuous piece and it was extremely crumbly; third, we were on a crowded European train, which means you always sit facing the people seated directly behind or in front of you (it makes for a lot of awkward knee and foot touching). There was a kind old man across from Brian and a mom across from me (her daughter sat next to me). In order not to cause crumbs to fly every which way like sparks from a from a crackling fire, Brian devised a plan: cut the bread over – and semi-inside – his backpack. What a genius – no crumbs flew anywhere, except directly into his backpack. He created our cheese bocadillos and we ate them like there was no tomorrow. We felt better right then and there.

Sitges

[Kirsten]
We felt even better when we began to see the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Man, it’s like a jewel – layers of blue and green upon other layers of blue and green. We hopped a bus which drove us almost to the door of our hotel.
After we checked in and had our first glimpse of our hotel room (during which our jaws literally dropped, this place is soooo nice!) we took a few minutes to get to know the space. The room is beautiful, and we are completely self-sufficient in here – we have a kitchenette, a washing machine (!), a really, really big balcony, and the most comfortable bed perhaps in all of Spain. We absolutely LOVE it here and are enjoying every second!

the view from our balcony in Sitges

[Brian]
The Hotel Sunway Playa Golf was about US$105 per night and it was worth it. It is not only new but it’s well designed and well managed. Our apartment had a laundry washing machine, and a drying rack, which we could place on our balcony. They also provided us with dishes, knives, cutting boards, etc. and the means to clean them. This allowed us to cook our own food, cut a variety of fresh fruit, which saved us a lot of money on eating out, since restaurants in this area are pricey.

Dinner in at our place (complete with ice cold Estrella Spanish beer)

We also got bikes (and locks) with our room which made up for the 1 mile distance the hotel was from the town’s center.

Kirsten mastering clothes washing... Euro-style

Heavy chill-time

first stroll through the town's center

Sitges is probably one of the most gay friendly towns I have ever been. Walking through the town's center, shown above, there were more same-sex couples than hetersexual ones.

International Study Program Last Minute Cancellation

I got bad news from the program director of the international education program I was supposed to start working for this summer. Due to some last minute key staff pull out, the program was canceled. This means that I’ll be heading home much earlier than I thought. Kirsten and I were having such a great time in Sitges, we decided to stay here for another night, for a total of 3 nights. Although I am bummed about not being able to work here and continue my learning process of running international education programs, I am glad to return back to NYC, spend time with Kirsten and work on my proposal.

Day 5 – Montserrat and Flamenco Show

2009-06-22T04:04:00.004-04:00

Montserrat

(Brian)

For 21 euros per person, we got tickets that covered travel to and entrance fees for Montserrat. Montserrat, or “Serrated Mountains” are located east-north-east from Barcelona. It is Catalunya’s most important pilgrimage site for hundreds of years and contains a monastery with amazing views at 4,000 feet. You can read more about the history of the place online.

The tickets we bought included the metro ride to the train station, the train to the base of the cable car, the cable car up to Montserrat, and all funiculars (steep-track rail trains), which trucked people up and down the most difficult routes to the most significant parts of Montserrat.

Brian in the funicular

There were more expensive tickets, which included a museum and a meal (would have cost us about $15 more) but the museum was nothing to write home about and I thought we could get cheaper food en route. Turns out I was wrong about the food; I ended up paying about US$3 for one of Kirsten’s 16 oz. Coke Zeros. If you’re planning a trip here, bring your own food or pay dearly.

We did about a 2.5-hour, round trip hike to the highest point as soon as we got there. Since we caught one of the first trains in, we got to experience a less crowded trail. The views were great and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Brian and Kirsten doing Superman at a rest stop on the way to the peak. Wineries in the background.

We reached the peak; it took us a little over an hour.

(Kirsten)

Oh, hiking. Did you ever think you could do such great hiking in Barcelona, Spain? I sure didn’t. I remember reading about Montserrat (one of Rick Steve’s recommended ‘day trips’) in bed in our apartment in New York and being REALLY excited about it. I was NOT excited, however, when I found myself in the cable car climbing up the sides of successive rocky cliffs. The car held about 20 people, had open windows, and climbed probably about 3,000 feet in 5 minutes.

Yep, that small speck of a building down there was the starting point of the cable car climb. Yikes!

It was terrifying, and apparently I am afraid of heights.

The hiking was spectacular, really breathtaking, as you can see by the photos. It was fun just to be so ‘far up’ – everywhere you turned you had an incredible view of something. And the mountains – I’ve never seen anything like them! Plus, the monastery was really beautiful - tucked snugly into the mountains, as you can see.

The monastery complete with small, singing children (for 10 min. each day) which tourists go crazy about.

In front of the old monks' cloister. Note the 4 trees the monks plant, hoping to harvest only their symbolism:

(from left to right): palm = martydom, cypress = eternal life, olive = peace, laurel = victory

Brian is enjoying taking pictures of windows for some reason

Kirsten in the courtyard of the Basilica

These mosaics lined the walls for our viewing pleasure as we waited to get our hand on La Moreneta (in the next picture)

La Moreneta is the patroness of Catalunya; pilgrims touch her orb with one hand and make wishes or seek her blessings.

After we touched this we washed our hands.

Lunch was expensive. And we were hungry, so we didn’t use too much discretion – not a good combination.

After lunch we traveled to the ‘sacred cave’, listed as such in every publication we had read till that point BUT – don’t be fooled – it’s really not a cave at all. It probably used to be, and there was maybe one wall in there that looked cave-like, but it’s basically a house built into the side of a cliff.

(Brian): Although I am writing home about this, I shouldn't have. This is more of an indent in the mountain than a cave.

Now they have made it 5 percent natural, 95 percent man-made.

Oh, well, the walk to the cave was beautiful. Constructed by Gaudi and co., it featured a handful of striking statues and sculptures on the way to the cave, and it literally was built into the side of the cliff. With a low wall protecting you from falling (mom, try not to think about it too much!).

Holy lawsuit! Look at how low this wall is which lines the path to the sacred cave.

On the other side is vertical drop of about 50 meters. One could easily trip over this.

After dealing with the terror of the cable car one last time, we caught the 4:38 train and headed back to town. I totally slept on that train!!

Flamenco at Los Tarantos

(Brian)

Kirsten’s persistence to see Flamenco brought us to the Placa Reial to a club offering 30-minute Flamenco performances for 12 euros (for two people).

Brian enjoying cava in Plaza Reial before the performance

It featured an amazing Flamenco band of 6 men playing for 20 minutes before an amazing flamenco-dancer graced the stage. She wasn’t dressed up too stunning but the colors that she lacked in her dress were made up by the skill of her dancing; she was part metronome. She clacked her heels with nearly perfect timing and played the part of an instrument as well as a dancer.

Kirsten at the Flamenco venue - a great mosaic lined one of the walls!

(Kirsten)

She really was something. So beautiful, with her hair back in a bun at the nape of her neck and her hair combs perfectly placed….she was clacking all over the place but was the epitome of gracefulness. I also loved the venue – it was small and intimate, which meant that everyone who paid for entry got a good seat. Also, the band was amazing. They started with just the guitars playing, then a violinist and two vocalists entered the scene. The two vocalists were incredible, like nothing I’ve ever heard (live, anyway) – the way they sang sounded Arabic. Everything about the performance was great and I didn’t want it to end. One of the best parts of the performance was seeing how much Brian enjoyed it. I had seen flamenco before when I studied abroad in Madrid, but this was his first time. He was really impressed, which made me really happy.

Another great day in the city!

Day 3: Museu Picasso, Barri Gotic, Barri Ribera, Catedral de Barcelona

2009-06-21T05:02:00.008-04:00

[Kirsten]

I realized today that I have become something of a Rick Steve’s fanatic, which kind of means that I am turning into my mother and father. For those of you who are not familiar with Mr. Steves, he is a travel writer based in Edmonds, WA, who has brilliantly made a career out of traveling ‘through the back door’ in Europe and, consequently, has produced a series of amazing guide books. Seriously – the way he writes, I feel like someone is telling me secret after secret about this city, and it has become addicting.

Anyway, poor Brian, he’s such a good sport - almost every step we took today was orchestrated by Rick Steves. Each time either of us would propose any inkling a of plan (or we walked into a new room at the Picasso museum), I felt myself reaching for the book, until finally, over café con leche and a discussion during which I literally opened the book 7 times, I verbally instructed myself to stop. I’d like to try to lighten up on the book tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’m ready yet – he’s just so good!

[Brian]

While waiting to get into the Picasso Museum, we listened to one of the many, high quality musicians on the street; he was Brazilian.

I notice there are a lot of Portguese and Brazilian singers performing here. I always make a point to support them with a few cents because they add so much to the auditory experience of being in BCN. If they are exceptional, we'll buy a CD.

Today, at the Picasso museum I ran into a great guide. His name was José Cabello García all the security guards at the museum seemed to know him. He was giving pretty explicit details about some of the art to an Italian group and kept the discussion lively. I think I would like to try and get him working for our program next year.

The Picasso Museum included some new, erotic pieces of art which were amongst the pieces I found the most interesting in the collection – very graphic stuff which is the kind of thing he may have painted on bathroom stalls as a young art student. I wasn't allowed to bring my camera in so I can't grace this blog with his sketches.

The museum did a great job at showing the different stages of his life and how the art reflected those stages (example: during a two year period of depression most of his works were painted in blue tones)

One of our favorite plazas of the day - Plaza de Sant Felip Neri - which doubles as a playground for an elementry school.

[Kirsten]

One of the greatest things that happened to us today occurred unexpectedly. We were on our way home (we like to come home to ‘recover’, as Brian says, before tapas) and had just arrived at the South End of the Ramblas to catch our train when we heard some wonderful guitar music. Not too amazing at that point, as we had been hearing wonderful guitar music all day in front of various tourist hot spots. However, there was obviously some accompaniment, and a small crowd was gathering to see what was going on. So why wouldn’t we? We joined the crowds just as a regular-looking young man (not more than twenty) dressed in comfy khakis and a brown t-shirt began to wave at people to come closer. As we stepped a few feet towards him, he lifted his arms and suddenly we realized – a ha! Flamenco! He proceeded to do a solo flamenco dance as the music played. He did a fantastic job, and Brian and I both really enjoyed the music as well. We’d really like to see more flamenco, so we’re going to try to find a show for either tomorrow or Monday evening, before heading down to Sitges.

June 19, 2009:Montjuic, Pedrera, Sagrada Familia, and Palau de Pedrables

2009-06-20T19:13:00.029-04:00

[Kirsten]

Bus Tourístic

Surprisingly, I was really amped for the tour bus – although I can’t tell you how many times I have privately made fun of people sitting atop those awkward, lumbering vehicles, for some reason it just seemed like the ONLY thing that made sense to do first. And I’m happy to report, this gut feeling turned out to be correct!

[Brian]

I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about riding a tourist bus. Tickets were about $30 for the day but after consideration I figured this was the best way to get the layout of the city quickly. It was worth it – but barely.

[Kirsten]

Brian and I bought our tickets (good for one full day of bus riding) in the morning and promptly walked outside to wait for the next bus to pick us up. We had gotten a later start than we wanted to, and we weren’t sure how much that was going to affect our bus-riding experience (i.e., would all the seats on the top be full?) Sure enough, the next bus to pull up was….completely full on top. We were bummed, but we boarded anyhow and took our backwards-facing seats inside. We began to tour. Two stops later we had had it – we decided to disembark and take our chances that the next bus would be less crowded. As it turns out, that was the right decision. We got the two very last seats on the top and were happy as clams.

Brian and I enjoy the bus tour - note the cool teal earpiece that came as part of the audio guide

We first rode up to Montjuic, saw the Olympic Stadium and took in some great views of Barcelona and its environs. We descended on the opposite side of the hill and had our first look at Barcelona’s harbors; it was kind of a magical moment, what with all the sun sparkling off the water down below our perch on the rooftop bus. We drove past the famous statue of Columbus pointing to the New World (although he’s really not) which is perched at the base of the Ramblas, then took a detour to the piers which divide one harbor from the next.

[Kirsten]

After this we explored the outskirts of the southern parts of Bari Gotic and the neighborhood of Ribera as we headed for Barceloneta, which is the city’s recently spoofed-up and now somewhat overcrowded public beach. We learned on our audio guide that only recently was this beach paid any serious attention – in the early 90s, impending Olympics activity drove the government to clean up and renovate the beach to accommodate tourists. We turned north, drove through some fantastic plazas, turned left again to go back towards Ribera and drove down the side of it. This rode was bi-sected by tons of long and narrow streets. As I remember it, this was our first view of Barcelona’s tiny little streets, which really make this city the unique place that it is. We then took a rode that sliced through the Bari Gotic – we endured a few more stops before we got off ourselves, at one of the many famous Gaudi attractions in the city – Casa Mila, or La Pedrera.

[Brian]

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

I got some great pictures in the Casa Mila, where I almost busted my ass on the numerous, randomly placed steps which navigated the undulating rooftop. Gaudi’s work makes taking pictures, especially macro-shots, pleasant. You can check out some pictures below.

Different Chimneys

A couple of windows facing the interior

Lunch was awesome as usual. It included tortellini with goat cheese, steak and fries (wow, I think I am eating too much fried food but the tannins in the red wine may make up for part of it). These huge lunches are really pleasing but it would be nice to have our hotel in an area of town close enough so we could enjoy the delights of the siesta.

[Brian]

Sagrada Familia

This is one of Barcelona’s landmark sites but it’s not even completed yet. It’s over 100 years old (construction started in 1883); I felt like I was visiting a construction site at times: One of the reasons construction isn't complete is that it has been constructed with all private funding. The 2.50 euro tickets we bought for a ride to the top as well as the entrance fees of around 10 euros were our contribution. Lines for the escalators are up to 1.5 hours long; what a miserable tourist experience. Instead of waiting so long, we opted for the slightly lower of the two escalators, which cost the same, didn’t face the ocean, and had a wait time of only 5 min.

We wrapped up the day with a nice, unexpected visit to Palau de Pedrables where there was a fantastic park in which to unwind.

Day 4: Gracia, Park Guell, and bike riding

2009-06-19T17:24:00.001-04:00

[Kirsten]
Day 4 was the first day where I was completely in love with this vacation. Everything we did, everything we saw seemed to be straight out of a postcard, like someone had planned things just so, just for our enjoyment. Our first task of the day was to ‘explore the neighborhood of Gracia’; a rather vague description, which gave us a whole bunch of freedom as to how to spend our morning. We had heard great things about Gracia, (especially about it’s ‘beautiful little plazas’) from various websites, especially during our initial hotel search. Rick Steves devoted only a few lines to it, so we were, essentially, plan-less. I liked this.

So Brian found what we thought was the most centrally located Gracia metro stop, we hopped on the train (groggily, at least in my case. I can’t believe it but I’m STILL fighting off the jet-lag!) and arrived in the late morning. We hadn’t had our café con leche yet, so that was the first item on our agenda. We meandered along a rather busy street, no plazas in sight. Brian suggested we go uphill (that Brian, always wanting to climb hills) so we tried it – still no plazas – no nothing, really. So we turned left and went back down….and down some more, and then some more. We suddenly found ourselves in the most beautiful little plaza. For an early morning Sunday, the place was bumpin’. There had to have been at least 4 cafes with 20+ tables for outdoor seating, but there was no space free. Brian and I actually had to wait awkwardly on the sidelines until one party left. We enjoyed our (teeny) coffees in the shade of a big church, which sat on the north side of the square. It was a beautiful, beautiful setting. Right before we got up, we pulled out our map – because that’s what we do – and identified about 5 other plazas in the general vicinity that we wanted to hit before heading uphill to Park Guell. We were soon up and on our way.

Our cafe con leche spot in a Gracia plaza

The other plazas were just as beautiful as the first. In the second plaza we found some kind of anarchy rally going on (we think). It was interesting to see it because we had been noticing, in the last couple of days, a specific kind of ‘sub-culture’ that exists in Barcelona. Not sure what they stand for, but the look is very grungy-ish – hair is mostly in dreads or a mullet, or sometimes a combination of the two. Anyways, many of these folks were in attendance at the rally.

We continued on our journey and began to look for a market at which to buy some food for a picnic in Park Guell. There was just one problem – it was Sunday, and everything was closed. We did have some success though – I’m going to let Brian write about it because our food findings left quite an impression on him J.

[Brian]
Kirsten spotted a nice bakery and suggested that we grab a loaf. We did and they closed for siesta right after we walked out. This bread turned out to be the best bread I’ve ever had – or at least the one I enjoyed the most in my life up to this point. We then stumbled across a fruit and vegetable shop where we picked up some nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots and fresh pineapple and papaya juice. Finally, we picked up some Edam cheese and bee-lined it to the Park de Guell.

Brian with the juice

"Bicing" Rental Bike, which seem to be very popular in Barcelona.

The park was one of my favorite things we had done yet on this trip. Despite being an incredibly touristy place, the architecture and colors were delightful. In the lower 1/3 of the park musicians were about as plentiful as squirrels in Central Park. Every trail or set of stairs we walked had its own soundtrack – in one part, beautiful Spanish guitar. In another part, an annoying electric guitar player playing Beatles and Sting covers (fortunately, there were less of the latter).

Me with the best loaf of bread I can remember. This was our picnic lunch in Guell.

The day was hot and we came upon an oasis of cool shade under a cave of rock pillars with a gentleman playing the most amazing classical music. His name: Miguel Aldunce. We soaked up the music for several songs and got his CD (which most of the musicians in the park have on display for sale [10 euro]).

Window in Gaudi's home, which was located in Park Guell

(Kirsten)

One other thing about the park – we had a great picnic. We climbed up to about the third tier (the park includes about 4, the 4th consisting of hiking and running trails and some great overlooks) and sat on a bench and totally chowed. Unfortunately, we had to listen to the electric guitar guy mentioned above for most of it, but, luckily, we were seated by a section of the pathway characterized by ‘loose rocks’ – this caused many, many people to slip. It was hilarious. By the end of lunch we were predicting who would slip – so much fun!

Kirsten on upper lever in Park de GuellMosaic ceiling in Park de Guell

absolutely crazy woman singing (and blowing into a harmonica) for change in Guell.

a welcome bathroom in Guell

Bike Rental in Barcelona

(Brian)
Kirsten was hip on renting a bike and riding to explore two places:

1) Parc de la Ciutadella – this has been described as the ‘Central Park’ of Barcelona but it’s quite small and not really central.

on the way to Ciutadella

hippies in Ciutadella

2) The Beaches of Barcelona (mainly along the road: Pg. Marítim Barceloneta) – these beaches are incredibly crowded and equally lively.

Kirsten on Maritim Barceloneta

(Kirsten)
What a busy day! We were exhausted. Since we were so tired and our goal was to wake up early the next day, we decided we’d return home, drop off our stuff, and find someplace local to eat. We ended up eating at a cheesy, Chinese-run restaurant on some busy street, so we ate a variety of fried foods to the tune of motocicletas – not our best restaurant pick by any means. But we were full, tired, and that was what counted – we fell right to sleep!

Day 1: Travel to and 1st day in BCN

2009-06-18T19:23:00.001-04:00

(Kirsten)

Later that night, Brian and I went on a walk. We didn't really know where we were (or where we were headed) but we figured we'd explore the area. We found what looked like a main street and followed that down until we came upon this gigantic sculpture which sat in the middle of a traffic circle.

View of Plaza de Cataluyna (with the Historical Museum of Catalunya in the background)

We continued in the same direction and eventually found ourselves in front of the Historical Museum of Catalunya, which faces back to our hotel from the top of a pretty big hill. Directly in front of the museum were these incredible fountains. When we approached, we saw the fountains were actually performing - there was a good crowd watching the fountains, which were spraying in synch with some music that was playing. It was a neat show to catch - and completely unexpected, which is always fun!

Alpine Hill Climb Time Trial

2009-05-16T15:12:00.011-04:00

This morning I rolled out to the Alpine Hill Climb. My legs felt heavy despite a generous amount of rest ordered upon me by my coach, Greg Choat, after Sunday's Bear Mountain suffer-fest (see previous post).

My stomach was upset and I am coming down with a cough so my spirits weren't high. Despite this, I put on my 12/27 cassette and started with a very slow 20 min. warm up across the bridge and onto 9W. I alternated between ramping up my power and returning to an easy rest pace about 4 times; each time I ramped up the power, it was to a higher wattage. I concluded the warm up with a 4 min. steady effort at around 330W; for me it helps to introduce this effort to my legs and heart so the TT wouldn't be my body's first daily exposure to it.

I checked in and after getting help pinning my number on, I had about 10 min. to roll around the parking lot where I introduced my legs to the high cadence (about 110-120) I was intending to employ in the effort.

I was sandwinched between two strong Adler riders (Matt Cuttler and Chris Chaput) in the start-time roster. We started 1:30 apart. Tron Witt got me situated at the line and I took off fully seated. My girlfriend, Kirsten, was waiting about 3/4 the way up; she enjoys coming to my races and helping me any way she can. I asked her to watch for Chaput (who started before me) and time the distance between the two of us. When I passed her, she yelled out 1:30 exactly; Chaput and I were going up at the same pace.

I knew I had to step it up so with about 150 meters of climbing to go and another 150m of flat, I got out of the saddle, shifted several times, and put forth a moderate sprinting effort I could hold for 300m and didn't let up until the line. I didn't leave the small chain ring the entire time.

Out of breath and at the line, I was told my finishing time was 5:04 and that I most likely got 2nd place, behind Chaput. I rode home content but was later called and told that I actually won it with a time of 4:56 (unoffical). Good news and $75 in my pocket to take my girl out for dinner tonight.

Kudos to the Jonathan Adler Racing Team for making this an enjoyable TT experience and especially to Kirsten for giving me the information I needed to encourage the extra effort at the end.

P/1/2, 2009 Bear Mountain Spring Classic Race Report

2009-05-11T15:40:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was my first P/1/2 race after upgrading 2 weeks ago. I learned first hand that the difference between Cat 3 and the Pro/1/2 field is tremendous. 8-9 hours a week of training just isn't going to cut it to finish in the top 20 in a field like yesterday's.

The Course

The Bear Mountain race course is located in Harriman State Park, NY, and is a loop of 14 miles with about 900 feet of climbing per lap. 101 riders started the race. Big names in the New York world of cycling were included in the roster such as Heredia, Barrows, Aspholm, Freyre, etc. Most notable was Jon Chodroff, of OUCH/Maxxis; probably the most "pro" of anyone and 2008 National Time Trial Champion. Many of these riders I only recognized by name, not sight.

The Race

Our race started easy. It was nearly conversational pace for the first lap. However, things got hard starting on the climb of the 2nd lap. Each time around the pace picked up. Half-way through the 4th lap I looked around and saw none of the other freshly upgraded Cat 2 riders that I knew; nearly half the field had been shelled.

I made the awful mistake of being a too aggressive for the shallow depth of my legs; I attempted to get into a break chasing what I thought was a small group which included Freyre. Once I started putting in this effort (at 68 miles into the race), I felt the beginning of cramping in my legs. I immediately toned it down and found shelter in the pack and tried to recover enough for lap 6.

When we hit the bottom of the climb on the 6th lap, I lasted about 400m before I started to fade back and watch the support car pass me (never a good feeling). The group appeared to stay pretty well-together going up and I was clearly the first to get dropped.

Having given up foolishly in the Penn State Road Race last weekend, I was haunted all week by the feeling of quitting and was determined not to give up. I kept up a reasonable pace and time-trialed solo for the rest of the race, passing the remnants of several fields.

I finished 44th, 16:23 behind the first place finisher and about 5 minutes before a dead last group of 7 riders in my field rolled across the line. I was the 10th Cat 2. 52 racers finished 49 dropped out. Not a great result but better on my conscience than dropping out.

Lessons Learned
I need to focus more on nutrition - eating and drinking more. I took about 8 rice/egg/soy sauce balls bars with me which, I don't think, provided enough of and the right kind of energy needed for the 4000+ Kcal effort. Also, I need focus on restraining myself from being too aggressive when my legs can't back it up.

Full results of the day can be found here:
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/05/10-Bear-Mountain-Spring.asp