| Route: Buffalo, (Las Vegas), Buffalo,
East Aurora, Alfred, Hornell, Finger Lakes, Syracuse, Uthica, Scotia,
Troy, Bennington, Brattleboro, White River Junction, Randolph, Waterbury,
Rutland, Manchester, Bennington, Berlin, Poughkeepsie, Port Jervis,
Delaware Water Gap National Park, Palmerton, Harrisburg, Baltimore,
Washington DC, New York |
| |
| 330. Weekly Report 18.09.- 27.09.2009
Route: Buffalo, Las Vegas, Buffalo
|
| |
 Marie-Anne
and Ray: As we decided to take just one bike to the bikeshow we
asked Mary-Anne and Ray, Warm Showers members, if we could stay with
them before and after the bikeshow and if we could as well store one
bike and some gear at their place in the meanwhile. We feel pretty
bad as we ask for so much, but Mary-Anne receive us with open arms.
They are both lawyers and life in a very beautiful old house in Buffalo.
While we're busy al day long to arrange everything for the bikeshow
we get treated with an awesome dinner and some lovely conversations
until late at night. As this would not be already enough their son
Dan (who dedicates his time Capuera the Brazilian form of martial
arts) gives us a ride to the airport! |
| |
 Ondirt
Demo: Vaude, the company who supported us with their waterproof
panniers since the beginning of our trip and now also with a tent
and some clothes, invited us to join them at Interbike in Las Vegas
(the second biggest bikeshow in the world). As we're right now already
in the east of the USA they paid for the flight to Las Vegas and our
hotel room and so we're now for a couple of day back in Nevada (on
our trip we've been here already 7 months ago). the first two days
we join them with Nadines fully packed bike during Ondirt Demo, the
test days of the show. Nadines bike receives a lot of interest and
so we even end up with a small photo in the Magazine published during
the show. We also set out on a small testride and are impressed from
the new Suspensions and Discbreakes from Magura. there happened certainly
quite a bit during the last 6,5 years. |
| |
 Interbike:After
the two test days everybody shifts into the convention center. Besides
our packed bike we also have a worldmap, showing our route, and some
photos of our trip with us. While Nadine is busy all day long answering
all the questions about our trip I'm busy to explain the dealers the
features of the Vaude panniers ad backpacks (Good luck that I worked
in an outdoorstore for a couple of years so that I felt quite familiar
with all the features). After we show we grab a quick shower and then
we set out together with the people from Vaude, Magura and Uvex for
dinner. On the first evening we end up in the Hofbräuhaus, a
funny imitation of German beerfestival culture, but quite a shock
for us. Back in Our hotel we are always pretty busy as we either have
to prepare the map or arrange some photos Cd's so that I'm always
busy until 02:30 am or even 03:30 am! We're so busy that we even find
no time to jump into the pool in our hotel. The reaction to our trip
form the visitors and even the other exhibitors is huge. All of the
500 postcards we printed for the show found happy new owners and even
some companies approach us and ask us if we would like to test their
gear. As Uvex and Magura are at the same booth as Vaude we also get
some new helmets, new Hydraulic breaks and Nadine a new front fork.
On the photo you can see us with Ruthie Matthews (the super friendly
MTB racing legend). |
| |
 Flying
back to Buffalo: When we check in Nadines bike on our way back to
Buffalo the Check In guy from Continental Airlines packs out is measuring
tape and tells us, that the linear length (length + width + height)
is once 1 inch (2 cm) and once 4 inch (10cm) too big,. When I offer
him to pack it a bit smaller he asks me: "You really would do
that?!" "For sure! To save the 100,-$ surcharge I certainly
would repack it!". The guy at the check in considers the mess
I would create at his Check In and agrees to take it without any surcharge.
Completely exhausted from he bikeshow we sleep most of the time on
our way back but awoke just in time to see the Niagara Falls before
we land in Buffalo. Reclaiming our bags one of the bikeboxes is ripped
completely open. The box was checked by the airport security and they
didn't bother to reseal it properly. While the "friendly"
people from TSA accuse the airline for the damage the airline people
accuse TSA. We decide to check all our gear right t the airport and
good luck: nothing is missing. |
| |
 Recovering
and a great surprise: Thanks to Mary Anne's and Ray's hospitality
we can stay until Monday in Buffalo. Nadine is so tired that she falls
asleep for 17 hours after the show. As we're not used to so many people
around us, the bikeshow was pretty exhausting for us. So we use our
days of to recover, to catch up with our journals while we also enjoy
Dan's lovely homebaked cookies. Finally we check our webstatistics
just to find out, that the visitors of our website jumped from 230
a day to nearly 700 on the Monday after the show. So nearly everybody
who got our postcards also checked our website. :-) |
| |
| 331. Weekly Report 28.09.- 04.10.2009
Route: East Aurora, Alfred, Hornell
|
| |
 The
Palmer House:Instead of camping during our first night back on
the road we got invited by Palmer and Sharon. The bought the old Mansion
which once belonged to Abbot Griggs 120 years ago. They worked hard
for a couple of years and now opened the house as a lovely B&B.
They accommodate us in the Roycroft Room, named after the artist community
founded by Elbert Hubbard in East Aurora. At the moment Sharon and
Palmer restore the Fisher Price room, named after the local toy company.
The Fisher Price room will probably be a special treasure as they
plan to decorate it with a lot of old toys. Besides the guestrooms
also the entire house and especially the saloon and the dining room
are real treasure. Not only that we spend the night in this lovely
house but we also get treated with a great tour around the house,
a lovely dinner and a great breakfast. www.palmerhouseea.com |
| |
 Bicycleman:
Scott and Becky told us about a recumbent bike testcenter located
in Alfred Station NY. As it is almost on our way we stop by, but as
it is raining we can't test anything. Instead Peter the bicycleman
allows us to pitch our tent in the still empty house which is supposed
to be the new bikestore next spring. Very convenient as it is pouring
outside. Debra, who works for Peter, also invites us for dinner. The
rest of the evening we spend in on a comfortable couch in a cozy cafe
in Alfred. |
| |
 Recumbent
Bike Test: Next day we're surprised by the blue sky, so nothing
can stop us now to test the recumbent bike. first we check out the
trikes and are surprised, how fast they are. I think they are a really
great option for people who have trouble to balance a normal bike.
Then we check out some of the recumbent bike and while Nadine prefers
the ones with a long wheelbase (they run smooth straight ahead) martin
prefers the ones with a short wheelbase (they are more agile). But
at least we agree, that the underseat steering is what we really prefer.
Though we still prefer our normal bikes as they give us more options,
we now can see why other people love their recumbent bike. Recumbent
bikes and trikes are even pretty good for touring as Scott and Becky
showed us. Though they are slower on the uphill they are much faster
on the downhill and probably even on flat ground, thanks to their
better aerodynamics. But check the out for yourself! www.bicyclman.com
(Peters recumbent bike test center), www.linear.com
(Peters own recumbent bikes. Good handling and not as expensive as
many similar bikes) |
| |
 Gary
and Kathy: As we wanted to use the sunny day we said good bye
to Peter and Debra. But Just 13 Km later we stop in front of a supermarket
where we chat wit Gary. Gary cycles back home but returns a couple
of minutes later to invite us. Eliot and Sam, Garry's and Kathy's
two boys are pretty exited about us to stay with them and as it is
supposed to rain again on Sunday we decide to stay another day. On
Sunday afternoon their family comes over and so we show our small
slideshow on their TV. Eliot, first a bit shy warms up with us and
besides many hugs Nadine even gets as kiss from him. |
| |
| 332. Weekly Report 05.10.- 11.10.2009
Route: Hornell, Finger Lakes, Syracuse, Uthica
|
| |
 Highschool:
Kathy is an English teacher at the local Highschool and so she
asks us, if we could talk to her students about our trip. So I again
shorten our slideshow as we have only 45 minutes for presenting it.
The school is super modern and so we have no trouble to connect our
camera to the dataprojector in the classroom. I need exactly 35 minutes
to present our last 6,5 years, but for this I have to speak very very
fast! I was very interesting to see, that most of the younger kid's
(8th grade) have been still very interested and curious while the
older student's (11th grade) were mostly already too cool for it.
After the fifth show I'm finally exhausted and Nadine has to take
over for the last presentation. As we finally leave school in the
afternoon it's already a bit too late to start cycling and so we stay
another night with Gary and Kathy. |
| |
 Finger
Lakes: Gary decides to take a day off and cycles with us through
the Finger Lakes region. Of course he also has to testride one of
our bikes and as he is very strong he has no trouble with my heavy
bike. Fall is presenting itself from it's best side with lots of sunshine
and so we have a great day until Gary gets picked up by Kathy and
the kids in Penn Yan. |
| |
 Indian
Summer: Though being on our way to Vermont for some Indian Summer
it's already pretty beautiful here. |
| |
 Camping
next to a church: Syrause is much bigger than expected and on our
way out it's getting already dark. Around sunset Jim stops in his
car and suggests that we could sleep next to the church. We just pitched
our tent in a small forest next to the church when Jim returns with
about 25 kids and some of their parents. Of course they are curious
the hear something about our trip and so we show them our map and
some photos with our flashlights . |
| |
 Scott
Mott: It's just not raining for awhile when Scott, offers us a
dry place for the night. Scott is commuting everyday 20 miles one
way to his work. It's already impressive during summer, but Scott
even cycles all winter long with temperatures down to -15° C .
As he work starts early for him he's pretty often out on the road
even before the snowploughs are out. That way he cycles about 13000
Km a year, which is not much less than we cycle though he still has
a normal job! |
| |
 Sculpture
garden: Next morning, after Scott returned from work, he shows
us the nearby sculpture garden. Off all the sculptures we especially
enjoy the bookshelf which is growing out of a tree. Scott is not yet
tired from cycling today and so he joins us for a couple of kilometers
on our way towards Vermont on this beautiful and sunny day. |
| |
| 333. Weekly Report 12.10.- 18.10.2009
Route: Scotia, Troy, Bennington, Brattleboro, White River
Junction, Randolph
|
| |
 Invitation
week: This week we just slept two night in our tent. First we
got invited by Audra and Kevin, two very good friends of Gary and
Kathy from Hornell. Audras and Kevins kids have lots of energy and
so we spent and lovely and exiting evening before we fall asleep in
a cozy bed.
|
| |
 David,
Tony and Laura: Though he himself stayed with his friends Tony
and Laura David invited us to sleep in their Garden. We pitch our
tent under the trees, but it got so cold that it is frozen in the
morning. Before we set out again we quickly visit the primary school
across the street where Tony and Lauras son attends first grade. On
a huge worldmap an the wall we show them our trip and they especially
like our photo from the Urang Utans in Indonesia. |
| |
 Indian
Summer: Due to the many invitations we're now a bit late for the
Indian Summer , but there are still enough leaves on the trees in
Vermont.
|
| |
 Paul
and Kathy: We just picked up some parcels from the post office
in Brattleboro and are looking for a good campsite as a snowstorm
is supposed to come when we got invited by Paul and Kathy. They live
in a lovely loghouse and with ha hot chocolate next to the wooden
oven we warm up quickly. As we're not used to the modern world any
more Nadine sips in the shower, injures her knee and is bleeding quite
a bit. Afraid of the big snowstorm we stay another day and spend the
evening playing with their kids. |
| |
 Jan:
While we cycled all day long through pretty remote areas wit's
getting quite built up in the evening. It would have been pretty difficult
to find a campsite, but just around evening Jan stops in her car and
invites us.. Jan works for the school authorities taken care of kids
with special needs. Originally she also studied classical flute and
so just as we are ready to depart the members of her flute choir come
in to practice for their concert. |
| |
 Frosty
nights: Slowly the nights get more frosty and it's getting even
so cold that the water is frozen in our water bottles. Unfortunately
the sun needs quite long to melt the frost from our tent which makes
our short days even shorter. |
| |
| 334. Weekly Report 19.10.- 25.10.2009
Route: Waterbury, Rutland
|
| |
 Magura:After
the Interbike Magura USA decided to support us with hydraulic brakes
and Nadines bike also with a front fork. so they shipped all the stuff
to Aaron, who used to work for Magura. Right now Aaron is on vacation
and so he helps us (or more exactly we help him a little bit) to put
the breaks and the fork onto our bikes. While we had no trouble at
all with Martins bike it was a bit tricky to get Nadines new fork
(Magura Menja) in and also to connect her lowrider (front rack). We
solve our first problem with a new headset and the second as we drill
bigger wholes into the connection plates and while bending them a
bit. I thought it would take may be 1-2 hours to replace the breaks
and the fork but in the end it took us 1,5 days and this even though
Aaron helped us so much! What would we have done without him? Finally
everything is done and the difference is tremendous. Nadines front
wheel is stable again and if we pull our break levers our bike slows
down immediately. Seems that our old stuff was already a bit too old. |
| |
 Aaron
and Shannon: We come along pretty well and so we spend two nights
with Aaron and Shannon. Aaron really loves bikes and so he owns about
20 of them. Every bike is a small treasure and I especially like his
touring bike which has a titanium frame. The weldings are so good,
that I can hardly see them even though the frame is not painted! On
our second day Aaron and Zilla (his dog) take us out for a bikeride
into the mountains. The trails are really cool and so we have a lot
of fun cruising through the colorful forests. Aaron rides his 29er
singelspeed and even though he has just one gear (therefore it's named
singlespeed and 29er means that the tires are 29 inches big) we have
no change to keep up with him on the uphills! Also on the downhills
we can't follow Aaron as he used to compete in professionally in MTB
races. We spend the evenings in front of the warm oven
(here we're as good as Aaron) and if reason wouldn't have won at 01:30am,
Aaron and Martin would have chatted until sunrise. Thanks Aaron for
everything! We're looking forward to welcome you and Shannon at our
place in Germany, so that we can check out the trails in our region.
(But is is true for nearly everybody whom we met in the last couple
of years though we did not always write it onto our website). |
| |
 Vermont:
Vermont with its mountains, forests, valleys, small villages and rivers
is a real treasure!
|
| |
 Rainy
day: Finally the rain came back but as we have been prepared we
found a pretty good campspot and spent the day translating the missing
parts of our English journals. We also started our new baby, the Photo
of the Week and the Photo of the Month. |
| |
 Union
for Touring Cyclists: We think that it's getting time to establish
a Union for touring cyclists. Here our program: 1 Flat bikepaths (even
in the mountains). 2. Unlimited supply with chocolate and ice-cream
(even though our members who are concerned about their health won't
like it, but Martin insists on it!) 3. No flat tires! 4. Constant
sunshine while cycling (for taking photos storms and thunderstorms
are temporary allowed as they add some drama). Tailwind for everybody
(Even if two cyclists cycle on the same road in opposite directions).
Initially we also wanted to add "Never ending downhills"
but this would degrade our bicycles to rollerbikes and also couldn't
exist alongside #1 (flat bikepaths). I also planned to ban "slave
drivers" but Nadine instantly used her Veto right, so that she
can continue pushing me to work harder. If someone has another good
idea which should be added to our program then please send us an email
or even better put it into our Guestbook.
|
| |
| 335. Weekly Report 26.10.- 01.11.2009
Route: Manchester, Bennington, Berlin, Poughkeepsie, Port
Jervis
|
| |
 Indian
Summer: Suddenly the sun breaks through the clouds and shines
straight on this hill with its colorful trees!
|
| |
 Invitation
for breakfast: Shortly before sunset Julie, riding her roadbike,
stops and starts talking to us. As it's already too late for us on
our heavy bikes to make it to her house she suggests that we should
come over next morning for breakfast. Heavy fog delayed our departure
next morning for quite a while ad so it's nearly noon, when we arrive
at Julie's house. Julie is working from home and has to attend a telephone
conference and so we have to enjoy the lovely homemade pancakes together
with her husband. Though we wouldn't have minded to stay a bit longer
Julie is very selfless and insists, that we should use this beautiful
sunny and warm day for cycling. |
| |
 Nearly
home: After we arrived in Alemania in September 2007 (in Argentina)
we already made it by now to Berlin. So if we keep up this pace we'll
be in Limburg in probably 2-3 years :-).
|
| |
 Schuyler,
Colby and Huck: After a frosty night we're just warming up in
a gas station and are updating our website, when Schuyler and Huck
start talking to us. we talk for quite a while but finally they leave.
About 15 minutes later they return, as Huck, with his 2,5 years, wanted
to invite us to his place. As Huck is pretty shy and so finally his
mom invites us. Huck, Schuyler and her husband Colby live just 3 Km
south of the gas station and so our speedometer just shows 5,93 Km
when we arrive at their house. We spent the afternoon comfortably
right next to the warm oven while it is raining outside. After Schuyler
made a lovely Quiche for dinner and after Huck was already sleeping
we have been so busy talking, that it was suddenly shortly before
midnight. Their house is pretty small and as it is also by far too
hot in there for us we sleep in the now unused "partyhouse".
After a long breakfast we finally had to say goodbye with. |
| |
 Tony:
We we just hiding from the rain in a gas station, when Tony came
in, saw us and suggested, that we should spent this wet day in his
house. Though Tony still has to work during the afternoon he is sending
us to his house. Tony, originally an architect, now creates beautiful
designer furniture. A couple of years ago he also built a cello, following
the model of a cello built by Stradivarius. Tony's cello was so good,
that many Luthiers came to see ad to hear it. Unfortunately Tony made
the finish with some special coatings from Germany and that we the
cello lost a lot of its great sound. Tony's next project is to build
a sailing boat. Not that Tony wants to have a sailing boat, but he
wants to make one. As he says: "It's all about the process and
not about having it!" |
| |
 Walkway:
Just four weeks ago the longest footbridge in the world was opened
here in Poughkeepsie across the Hudson River. No wonder, that the
entire town is out to see the new footbridge. while we walk across
the bridge we even meet Fed Schaeffer, or better said he met us. Fred
Schaeffer is the one who finally put the project of converting the
old railroad bridge into a footbridge into action. The photo was taken
from the bridge over the Hudson Valley. |
| |
 Halloween:
During Halloween all the kids are supposed to walk in costumes
from house to house, where they ring the bell and say "Trick
or Treat". As nobody wants to see their tricks they generally
collect a lot of sweets. Bus except of two families, where the kids
are are still so small that they have to be carried around, we se
nobody out on the street. |
| |
 Decorated
gardens: Many gardens and parks are lovely decorated during the
fall like here in Wutsboro. |
| |
| 336. Weekly Report 02.11.- 08.11.2009
Route: Port Jervis, Delaware Water Gap National Park, Palmerton,
Harrisburg
|
| |
|
 Delaware
Water Gap National Park:We assumed, that it would be flat along
the Delaware River but we couldn't have been more wrong. While the
river flows peaceful in the valley while we're climbing up one hill
after another and after just 74 Km´s at the end of the day
it all accumulated to 1630m in elevation gain. We didn't even come
close to this while cycling through the Rocky mountains in the USA
and in Canada. The last time we climbed more in one day was about
1,5 years ago in Colombia where we climbed 1700 m in one day in
the Andes. But as I said we expected to follow a river!
|
| |
|
 Hunting
Season:Its hunting season and so hunters with their rifles or
with bow and arrow are everywhere. To avoid that they kill each
other they have to wear bright orange clothes. as we don't have
that nice orange gear, camping gets a bit more exciting it you hear
the shooting all around you!
|
| |
 Mudcap:
This beautiful mudcap was given to us by Aaron in Waterbury. I finally
mounted it to Nadines bike and it looks great. unfortunately it didn't
fit to my one as I would hit it all the time with my feet.
|
| |
 POSTED:
One of the many American dreams: a house on one acre of land.
Of Course the land then has to be protected from everybody and though
we are happy that there are no fences around in the northeast of the
USA the constant POSTED signs are ale not really nice. We're really
looking back to Germany where everybody is allowed to walk through
every forest and over every mountain.
|
| |
 Patty
and Rich: On Saturday morning we met a big group of cyclists who
invites to their pumpkin feast on a parking lot. After lots of very
tasty pumpkin dishes we get invited from Patty and Rick to stay at
their house for the night. Their house is not strictly on our route
towards Baltimore but then also not really far out of the way. At
their house we not only enjoy a great hot shower but also get treated
by a lovely dinner and some even better pancakes before we go back
to the road next morning. |
| |
| |
| 337. Weekly Report 09.11.- 15.11.2009
Route: Baltimore, Washington DC
|
| |
 2ndWeekly
Report: Unfortunately closed our completely written weekly report
without saving it and so everything was lost. as she was not too motivated
anymore now the new version is a bit shorter :-)
|
| |
|
 Visiting
Diana and Jochen: Martins cousin Diana and her Baltimore was
not really on our route but as Martin hasn´t seen diana in
over 9 years we didn´t mind to cycle the extra 500 Km's.
|
| |
 Sightseeing
with Diana: After we relaxed during the rainy week Diana showed
us a bit of Baltimore during the weekend.
|
| |
|
 Fort
McHenry: During the war with England in fort McHenry was attacked
in 1814 from the English Navy. the fort was bombed with 1500 1800
shells and rockets for 25 hours. Finally the English Navy figured
out that they cant win the battle (only 4 people had died during
the battle) and retreated. not a really special battle but Francis
Scott Key, a captive on a British boat during the battle, wrote
a poem an a hymn about it which is now the nation anthem of the
USA, the "The Star-Spangled Banner"!
|
| |
 Shopping:
Having had no chance to go out for shopping for about one year,
Nadine was pretty happy when Diana took us to a mall with many outlets!
|
| |
 Arlington:
On Sunday we went together with Jochen and Diana to the Military cemetery
in Arlington (Washington DC). Here rest over 320.000 soldiers and
their relatives from most of the wars of the USA. Still there are
about 27 funerals daily. But Arlington is also quite a tourist attraction
and especially the grave of John F. Kennedy and the change of the
guard at the tomb on the "Unknown soldier".
|
| |
| 338. Weekly Report: 15.11.-22.11.2009
Route: Baltimore, Washington
|
| |
|
 No
ID Card no train ticket:As we didn't carry our passports with
us we haven't been allowed to buy a train ticket at the ticket counter.
Instead, for a 40% surcharge, we had to buy our tickets on the train.
Somehow the media learned about us coming to Washington DC, but
we managed to pass them undiscovered :-)
|
| |
 The
White House: Being in Washington DC we also had to visit the White
House. But to join one of the guided tours you have to reserve about
3 months in advance and so we just marveled at the beautiful building
from outside.
|
| |
 Lincoln
Memorial: The Lincoln memorial and Nadine. Guess: Who is who?
|
| |
 Washington
Monument: The Washington Monument is 169,3m high and thanks to
an elevator one can ride to a viewpoint to enjoy the great view over
Washington. George Washington was the first President of the USA.
|
| |
 National
Air and Space Museum: The Air and Space Museum hosts quite a
couple of really cool airplanes and spaceships. Of course the first
airplane made by the Wright Brothers is also shown here, but what
we liked especially was the information that the Wright Brothers actual
business was manufacturing bicycles!
|
| |
 Dinner
at Diana's place: Diana was hosting the applicant dinner for her
hospital and so we cooked a Chili for about 20 People. The evening
was pretty nice but as we didn't want to interfere into the conversations
about the program of the hospital we made friends with Nithin, on
of the applicants husband. We had quite a good conversation and so
Nithin invited us for dinner. Nithin is originally from India and
so we enjoy of course some great Indian food.
|
| |
 The
last breakfast: Enjoying out last breakfast in a small cafe in
Baltimore.
|
| |
 Saying
good bye: Hard to believe but we stayed already two weeks at Diana's
and Jochen's place. As we enjoyed our time very much saying good bye
is especially hard this time. But as Diana and Jochen are family members
well definitely see them again. :-) |
| |
| 339. Weekly Report 22.11.-29.11.2009
Route: Baltimore, Newark, New York City
|
| |
 Beaver
trees: For the first time on our trip we see some trees nearly
cut down by a beaver. Seems that the beaver was recently active, though
somehow it seems to be a bit late in the season as all the leaves
are gone.
|
| |
 Warmshowers:
In Newark we stay with Pat and his wife Karen, two Warmshowers,
who treat us with a delicious dinner, lovely pancakes for breakfast
and even better conversations in between.
|
| |
 Taking
the train: From Newark (Delaware) through Philadelphia and Newark
(New Jersey) straight to New York we would have to cycle though one
city after each other with no space in between. Not knowing which
suburbs are best avoided we vote for the commuter train. In general
bicycles are allowed on the train, but as there is no real space for
them they end up at the place for wheelchairs, while the front wheel
has to go onto the seat.
|
| |
 Apartment
on level 33: When we met Werner during our stay with Seppel in
Vancouver, he invited us to visit him in New York. Werner (originally
from around Frankfurt in Germany) and his wife Laurene (from Ireland)
have a great apartment just 2 blocks away from Times Square with a
great view from the 33rd level from their livingroom down to 42nd
Street. |
| |
 Thanksgiving
Parade: The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York is the biggest
parade in the USA and so the streets are already crowded a couple
of hours before the parade actually starts. We manage to sneak through
Central Park and find a pretty good spot. The main attraction are
the big balloons which are hovering high up in the air so that even
people who stay far away can see them. For the balloons being able
to glide through the streets all the traffiklights along 7th Avenue
have been removed, which is quite an undertaking.
|
| |
 Central
Park: Central Park is the quite oasis in the middle of noisy Manhattan.
Central Park is 50 blocks long and boosts even two lakes. We start
missing our bikes and so we take them out for a ride through the park
on Saturday afternoon. |
| |
| 340. WeeklyReport 30.11.-04.12.2009
Route: New York City
|
| |
 Chinatown:
Chinatown in New York is supposed to be the biggest Chinese settlement
outside of China. We wander around the busy streets, wonder about
the frogs which are supposed to get eaten and enjoy a huge pot of
noodle soup in a small Chinese restaurant.
|
| |
 Manhattan:
To get a view of Manhattan we take the ferry to Staten Island. As
the ferry also passes by the Statue of Liberty we're not the only
tourists on this free ferry. We enjoy to view of Manhattan so much,
that we do the trip twice, so that we could see the Skyscrapers during
sunset and also at night. |
| |
 Statue
of Liberty: As we learned from our guidebook in Egypt, the Statue
of Liberty was originally planned to stay besides the Suez Canal.
Due to the lack of money the order was canceled and so the statue
was built right here in front of New York.
|
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 Meeting
Manon: Manon graduated Highschool together with Martin and works
nowadays for the UN as a lawyer. Just before Christmas the UN is always
pretty busy and so we're very happy, that we manage to meet her. Manon
takes us out for dinner and while we enjoy a lovely Pizza we tell
each other the most important news from the last 17 years.
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 Lunch
with a view: Werner is working for Allianz, a German insurance
company, and as their canteen has a great view, he invites us one
day for lunch. Unfortunately it is raining when we arrive at the canteen,
but the view over Central Park is still great. As we forgot to take
a picture topdown here one bottomup.
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 Werner,
Laurene and Chester: Our hosts in Manhattan.
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 New
York: Before Christmas many stores have great window decorations
and quite often people have to queue in to see it. But besides all
this wealth New York has also another side. Homeless people sleep
in front of churches just covered with some cardboard. Quite often
the garbage is not in a bin but everywhere and if one would close
his eyes he would assume to be on a garbage dump but not in one of
the worlds most famous cities.
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 Hair:
Werner and Laurene's place is just two blocks from Broadway, and so
we decide to see the musical Hair. Unfortunately taking pictures is
strictly forbidden (probably because once all actors are completely
naked on the stage), so we have no photo for this article. Really
cool is, that sometimes some of the actors race straight through the
audience while singing. For the gran finale everyone is welcome to
join the actors on the stage (we went down) and so everyone is singing
and dancing together.
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 Apple
Store: We just bought an Apple laptop and as we also bought the
one year one to one training we spent quite some time in the Apple
Store at Fifth Avenue to learn how the programs are working. Nearly
every day we, and especially Martin, spent some hours at the Apple
Store and Werner is already joking if we would get already some wedding
invitations. Well, we got no wedding invitations, but at least the
people working at the store started to know us by name.
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 Pedestrians:
Not quite typical for the USA, but in New York one finds more
pedestrians than cardrivers. All the sidewalks are completely crowded
and also traffic lights are not taken too seriously. As soon as someone
sees a gap in the traffic he starts crossing the street and of course
everybody else follows, so that the cars have to stop even though
they have a green light. Even the fact that policemen stay at many
traffic lights, trying to control cardrivers and pedestrians alike,
doesn't change anything at all. |
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 Christmastree:
The original plan was to join the lightening ceremony for the
Christmastree in front of the Rockefeller Center, but as thousands
of people had the same idea we couldn't even come close enough. We
either could hear the music or see the tree from far away, and as
it was raining we went "home" to watch the show on TV. Most
of the artists playing during the show used to be famous way too many
years ago and so the show was, as Laurene put it, "pretty cheesy". |
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 Feuerzangenbowle:
Werner and Laurene invited some of their coworkers to our small
slideshow. They also decided to treat their guests with something
very special and made a Feuerzangenbowle. The Feuerzangenbowle is
an enriched hot wine. As the wine is enriched with rum, which is poured
over a loaf of sugar, and the lightened, the Feuerzangenbowle is burning
and therefore pretty cool to see. But be careful, as the alcohol is
hot and also thanks to the rum, the Feuerzangenbowle is really really
strong! |
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 Leaving
the Americas: In total we spent more than 3 years in South- and
Northamerica and during he last 12 months we cycled through the USA
and Canada. Saying goodbye is pretty hard, but slowly home starts
calling. But before we can cycle from Spain back home to Germany we
first had to catch our flight to Madrid, and this was a very close
one. As we haven't been allowed with our bikes in neither the Metro
nor in the Shuttlebus we had to take a Taxi. But flagging down a Taxi
during Rush-hour on Friday is quite an undertaking. First the Cabdriver
didn't want to take our bikes as well, but for an extra 20,-$ it was
ok. As we spent the first 45 Minutes moving slower than walkingspeed
in the big trafficjam in Manhattan, we already assumed that the plane
would leave without us. But then traffic started moving and so we
made it to the airport just in time to check in our luggage. Fortunately
we had done the online check in or we would have missed our flight!
During the security check the officer finds a big pair of scissors,
which we unfortunately had forgotten about, and so we arrived at our
Gate just when they started boarding the plane. Europe here we come |
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