Jeff and Adam in Berlin
***June 8 Berlin***
Adam arrives - Berlin Tempelhof airport, around 11 am from El Paso. Jeff meets Adam and they go back to apartment where Jeff has been staying for nearly 2 weeks. Tempelhof was airport Berlin airlift took place in the late 1940s.
Not many airlines use it anymore. Took small plane from Brussels airport. Bike (still in box) is taken to apartment to assemble. Adam has lodging elsewhere and makes arrangements to get key to apartment. Adam and Jeff ride bikes to apartment where Adam will be staying. The journey takes much longer than expected due to incompetent map-reading and unfamiliarity with the city of Berlin. Adam leaves his bike and bags at the apartment where Jeff is staying.
Larry (a former roommate of Jeff's from New York- now a roommate for 2 weeks in Berlin) is invited to a show directly next door to apartment where Adam is staying.
The space is a giant former public swimming pool buliding from perhaps mid 1800s w/ 50 or 60 ft ceilings. People and the bar are on the floor of the swimming pool. Projections are showing on walls and a band is playing in a former dressing room to the side of the pool. Adam goes to bed afer a few beers and Jeff goes back to his apartment 7 stops or so away in the heavily Turkish neighborhood of Kreuzberg.
***June 9 Berlin***
The next morning, Adam is awoken by the sun and looks at clock on phone which says 11:23 am. Adam was supposed to meet Jeff at his apartment at 10. He rushes out. When he reaches the street, he finds everything very quiet with very few people, Adam looks at a street clock & realizes it's just after 6 am. Phone clock was wrong and Adam isn't wearing a watch. The sun rises at around 5 am in Germany this time of year and sets around 10 pm or later. The sky still has some light until around 11 pm. Adam takes the train to Jeff's neighborhood.
Adam has coffees and snacks & goes to an internet cafe to send off e-mails. Rings bell to Jeff's around 9 or so. Adam is wired from coffee, Jeff is sluggish.
They assemble touring bike setups. Adam bought a rack yesterday and front bike bag from Karstadt department store near Jeff's apartment. Bikes are mostly set up now.
The travelers travel around Berlin to buy bike maps of regions in which they think they will be traveling. Maps are a little pricey. Over 60 Euros for 8 detailed maps. The travelers split the cost of maps. They find it exhausting, walking around Berlin and taking trains everywhere. Adam's new friend, with whom he is staying, invites him to an art opening. It also happens to be the night of the 1st game of the World Cup. Jeff goes to watch the World Cup game and have Tandoori with friends. Germany defeats Costa Rica 4 - 2. Many Germans say Germany should have played better. Adam goes to the art opening and has some beer, wine and barbecue. He later finds his friend Henrikke, from the apartment where he is staying. They chat and have some beers. Adam later runs into a German journalist he has met before in Texas. She was a guest at the Hotel where Adam used to work.
She tells Adam that an artist from a town near the town in which Adam lives in Texas happens to be at a restaurant a couple km away.
Adam knows this artist. He is well-known for having doing some album covers for the band "The Eagles" in the 1970s. Adam says they should go and see the artist. The artist is shocked and happy to see Adam.
It is a short visit to an Italian restaurant. The journalist takes Adam around on a motorscooter. They have some white wine with the Texas artist and a couple of Scandinavian artists who created an installation in far West Texas the previous year. Adam and the journalist go to another place and drink quite a bit with she and her friends.
A photographer who worked on one of her last stories is having a birthday celebration tonite. Adam stays out until 2 am or later and gets loaded. He goes to bed at apartment.
***June 10 Berlin***
Adam wakes up and has coffee and breakfast with his gracious host, Henrikke.
Adam meets Jeff at his apartment around 11 am. The 2 travelers are both fairly hung over.
***Bike trip Day 1 Berlin to Beelitz June 10 Saturday 73.03 km***
2 pm departure. Difficult to get out of town. Berlin goes on forever. Bikes very heavy with luggage. Rest stop in thin forest.
Food- Adam- Giant potato and meat omelette
Jeff- classic German potato pancakes with applesauce
Later in evening, the travelers arrive in Beelitz. Freaky. See some people and don't really interact with them. They seem permanently negative. Deep scars here that will take a long time to heal. Perhaps 2 or more generations. They grow a lot of white asparagus in this region. Asparagus is called Spargel in German. Came across some fields covered with white plastic. Visually interesting.
Getting dark. Everything closed except for weird little party at biergarten/ kiosk place . People seemed to look right through us. Not a comfortable feeling. We sleep in the forest.
Weren't able to find a legitimate Campingplatz as they are called in German. Symmetrical planted forest. Man made. Eastern Germany, former DDR.
The travelers are a bit frightened but the forest is nice. A fair amount of mosquitos are encountered. Adam has dreams of police and villagers chasing the 2 travelers out of the forest in the middle of the night. No mercy. Thankfully, the forest is safe.
Noone bothers the travelers during the night or the next morning. Jeff takes pictures of Adam in the morning holding entire dead tree over his head.
Adam reports tree is heavy.
***Day 2 Beelitz to Trebbichau. Sunday June 11 127.67 km***
Lots of bike paths through forests and many abandoned decaying East German buildings are spotted. On the way, in Reppichau, the travelers encountered lots of wooden people celebrating unknown events from the 1200s. Went to Spargelfest in small town (Schmerwitz).
Adam has Spargel drink. Both travelers have stawberries and beer. High school band.
Encounter many sandy trails after Schmerwitz and Jeff falls over a few times w/ bike. Bike clips are difficult to get out of sometimes.
Also go through Dessau and see abandoned, decaying apartment buildings from Stalinist era.
Much farming in this part of Germany. Finally find Campingplatz as sun is setting in Trebbichau. Many wrong turns and turnarounds etc. Viciously attacked by mosquitos while desperately searching for the hidden Campingplatz.
Consume Bitburger and baked potatoes while watching World Cup. Interesting folks at Campingplatz.
***Day 3 Trebbichau to Merseberg 81.57 km. Monday June 12***
Adam talks to a German lady in her 60s or 70s at the Campingplatz this morning. She speaks no English. Ask her about camping in the woods. She says to only stay at proper camping places because the gangs go into the woods a lot. There is a lot of Neo Nazi gang activity in the former DDR evidently. Encounter first operational nuclear power plant on the ride.
In a small town just before the town of Petersburg, the travelers encounter an old castle-type building. A local man smoking a cigar tells the travelers in German and broken English that the structure was a factory the Russians destroyed in the Second World War. The man has very shaky hands and tries to tell the travelers to check out the town of Petersburg a couple km away.
On the road, the travelers run into a German bicyclist named Dietleth. Dietleth explains how to read the bike maps a little better and the travelers believe that all navigational problems will now be solved for the remainder of the trip.
At some point, perhaps today, it starts raining heavily. Adam takes shirt off. Rain hurts but Adam pedals fast and gets sort of a rush from heading rapidly into the rainstorm for 30 to 45 minutes. Jeff is wearing light-weight green rain jacket. A group of 8 or so bicyclists hunkered down in an abandoned house by the roadside cheer Jeff and Adam on with actual claps and cheers. Travelers stop in Halle (Home of Handel) for noodles and tofu. Got very lost going south out of town. Couldn't find camping outside of Merseberg so have to return and look for Hotel. Ride in the dark until lodging is found. 11:30 pm or so. It is a Pension - like a Hotel but run by a family and generally with less rooms than a Hotel. Owner accidentally gives travelers a dirty room at first then a clean one after a call is made to sleeping proprietor. Enjoy items from mini bar. Adam in heavy Jaegermeister mode.
***Day 4. Jeff - Merseberg to Apolda. Adam - Merseberg to Weimar approx. 90.28 km June 13 Tuesday ***
Much anger, many hills. Lose one another somehow. Jeff to Hotel in Apolda. Puts Sharpie signs up in little town to get Adam's attention. Adam takes photos of surroundings before and after separating from Jeff.
Adam stays in Weimar (difficult to find lodging - finds room in a Pension @ 11:30 pm). Still in heavy Jaegermeister mode. Jeff stays at Hotel in Apolda. Contact made via e-mail. Very difficult riding day. Several hills 1 or 2 km long if not more. Exhausting with heavy bike loads. Flattish roads are ok, but steep climbs with very heavy bike loads are very taxing on the body and brain.
***Day 5 Apolda/Weimar to side of road between Erfurt and Gotha. No km reading. June 14 Wednesday***
Meet at a mall with visitor information center inside. Go to Bauhaus museum and have Turkish Pizza from a Kebab place. Ridiculously routed through barely rideable trails. Travelers stop at many Shell gas stations during the journey over several days to get delicious orange vitamin drinks and other refreshments.
Make very little distance. Camp by telecommunications tower in "secret" spot. Horrible nettles stinging bodies as travelers set up tents using flashlights to see in nearly total darkness just off the highway. Adam picks giant weed leaves (approx. 2 feet long and wide each) to cover nettle plants at entrance to Jeff's tent. Car pulls up while the campers are setting up but the travelers are concealed by trees and plants. Most likely kids hanging out by the side of the road. Abandoned houses nearby. Car eventually leaves. Travelers sleep a little bit. German workers working on tower arrive around 7 am, loudly speaking and rustling the grasses around. Adam and Jeff pack up quickly and ride away.
***Day 6 Erfurt/ Gotha to Eisenach 52,68 km. June 15 Thursday***
Adam has first flat 1 km from Camping spot. The travelers change flat tire, mostly Jeff. This section of Germany is seemingly difficult to navigate w/ bikes and maps and signs. At some point during this section of the trip, heybales were seen from under a little bridge.
Adam has 2nd flat today, in town of Eisenach. It happens to be in front of a bike shop. The travelers change flat and have lunch in little park area behind bike shop.
Travelers ask bike shop guy best route to Frankfurt. He says something like 'Frankfurt is an ugly city, why do you want to go there?' He shows some routes on maps and says it will be difficult, 3 or 4 days at least. Lots of hills and heavily trafficked roads. The travelers feel defeated and are unhappy at prospects of difficult and confusing paths and possibly more roads w/ heavy traffic. Autobahns and busy roads have been used a few times as a last resort. A little scary and not so fun. Finally decide to check on trains to Frankfurt. They find a cheap fare. 15 Euros apiece. Take train.
Excited upon arrival. Travelers feel as if it is cheating but feel that better, flatter, more scenic bike paths from Frankfurt up the Rhine and into Holland and Belgium will be more enjoyable than hilly, barely navigable roads of Eastern and Central Germany. Eventually find inexpensive Hostel away from train station and all the city center World Cup action. Adam and Jeff are in a room w/ 15 or so beds. Only 1 or 2 other beds show any sign of human habitation. Giant TV screen across river w/ world cup action.
***Day 7 Frankfurt to Bingen. 85.47 km. June 16 Friday***
Wake up in morning in Hostel. Upon awakening, it is noticed that 12 or so other men/ boys are in the other beds. Breakfast is eaten in the basement. Travelers ride for awhile and evetually, an abandoned factory area just outside of Frankfurt is discovered and explored.
Nice bike paths. Bike and people traffic around towns makes it slow going. Pass through town of Mainz and take the Rhine bike paths. Frankfurt is on the Main river, the Rhine branches off from this river in Mainz.
Nice castles on river banks on both sides of Rhine.
A campingplatz is found around 9 pm or so. 1st time it is possible to set up tents with some daylight remaining. Girl at reception window says campground is mostly full and doubts if any suitable spots are available. The travelers find a spot in front of a couple of long neglected caravan campsites. Lots of rocks, but after a bit of work, area is reasonably well flattened and some sleep is had by the travelers. It is decided that the travelers shouldn't pay the camping fee because of amount of trouble and inconvenience endured. A few beers and white wines are purchased at the Biergarten however, so some revenue is earned from the travelers.
***Day 8 Bingen to Rheineck 110.59 km. June 17 Saturday***
More hilly, pretty farming countryside. The travelers encounter many Nuclear power plants and other industrial sites along the Rhine.
Eventually find Campingplatz at end of day in Rheineck. Costs travelers 8 Euros apiece. They set up tents next to a bunch of other camper's tents. Campgrounds are very different in Germany than they are in America. A bunch of tents in close proximity & a bunch of caravans and trailers w/ permanent yards taking up most of the campground. Not much privacy. There aren't as many wilderness areas in Europe as there are in the U.S. Less forests here than in area outside of Berlin in Eastern Germany as well.
***Day 9 Rheineck to Cologne. 74.88 kn. June 18 Sunday***
Much tourist traffic along Rhine. Called Anna who is friend of Adam's and former intern at art foundation in Texas town where Adam lives. She let's us stay at her aprtment in Cologne with she and her flatmate.
She and her flatmate Marie are very nice during stay in Cologne. They take the travelers to watch a World Cup match at the bar next door to their apartment. France vs. S. Korea. Game ends in 1 to 1 tie. Fun to watch. 1st World Cup game Adam has seen in it's entirety. Do laundry at Anna's place but it gets wet when travelers are out for the evening.
***Day 10 Cologne to Duisberg. 90.20 km. June 19 Monday***
Travelers wake up and pack belongings for journey. Anna leeds them to a very nice laundromat/ bar/ coffeeshop/ internet cafe.
Clothes are still wet from previous night's rain and must be dried. Establishment is called Cleanicum. Rains fairly heavily while travelers are inside. They stay awhile and consume coffees and beers and also use internet to communicate with American friends and family. Leave Cleanicum after rain has mostly stopped. Journey through Ruhr industrial river valley.
Rains more along the way and travelers stop at a cafe in the middle of nowhere and wait out the rain. Travel further until darkness sets in. Don't know exactly which town it is. Later find out town is Duisberg, north of Dusseldorf. Eventually find Hotel with rooms (1st Hotel was completely booked). Initially quoted price of 109 Euros or 99 for single occupancy. Travelers inform desk clerks that only 60 or 70 Euros can be spent for a room for the night. Clerk comes out to an area outside of Hotel near travelers and their bicycles and inform the travelers they can have a room for 70 Euros. Room is in an old apartment the Hotel is currently renovating. The shower has been torn out during the remodeling.
It is not functioning. The travelers use the subterranean swimming pool and health spa of the Hotel in order to get clean after a long day of riding. All alone - no other Hotel guests in subterranean health spa/ pool area. At the time of checkin and for a few hours before, Adam couldn't ride bike sitting down anymore, only standing up. Severe saddle sores. Hotel break is a welcome event for Adam. tavelers go to a neighborhood bar after checking in. Apartment is a pre war 3rd floor walkup.
Large apartment. Each traveler gets seperate room. The Sam Peckinpah film 'Pat Garret and Billy the Kid' is on TV late night - dubbed in German. Odd. Kris Kristofferson and James Coburn speaking German in 1880s New Mexico.
***Day 11 Duisberg, Germany to Nijmegen, Holland (Enter the Netherlands). 121.18 km. June 20, Tuesday***
More and better bike paths upon entering Holland. More laid back - people seem a bit more mellow than most German folks the travelers have encountered. More people speak English in Holland than in Germany it seems. Go to bar in Nijmegen. Later go to coffeeshop and sample their wares. Escape Nijmegen after heavy paranoia sets in. Return to Nijmegen around 10 pm. Eventually find Hotel. European guidebook says it's not wise to travel in Holland without booking Hotels in advance.
***Day 12 Nijmegen to Amsterdam 141.97 km.June 21st Wednesday***
Long nice ride to Amsterdam. Adam stops by pharmacy to get Calendula Nappy Change Cream to hopefully combat saddle sores.
Product is purchased more for packaging and name than for possible relief of pain caused by saddle sores (saddle sores are gone within 2 days). Adam crashes on way to Amsterdam. He was looking down for extended period then looked up - a man was approaching from opposite direction on a racing bike in full bike racing gear. Adam gets off path immediately to the right into the grass. He tries to get back on the path but doesn't realize path is raised concrete, higher than level of the grass until it's too late. Wheel gets caught and bike falls over. Adam falls down, face and chest first onto concrete and grass. No major injuries reported. Bruised/ sore chest, arm and right thigh. Pain gone within 2 days. No blood.
Travelers hadn't expected to make it to Amsterdam today. Arrive in Amsterdam after 10 pm. Every single Hotel room in Amsterdam is booked, Some kind of convention. Completely exhausted upon arrival. A reggae man has a Hostel and informs travelers they can sleep in bar for 15 Euros apiece. They don't go for it. A bunch of stoned people are hanging aroung the bar which happens to be open 24 hours a day. 9 people are staying in the bar that night. Mostly booths and tables are available as sleeping quarters. Around 2 am the travelers decide to sleep on a floating dock out of desperation. Door is locked with a bike chain so noone can get in. A little aftter 5 am, the sun comes up. Adam awakens Jeff. Travelers then cycle to a nearby park and then sleep under some bushes until a little bit after 10 am. There are so very many bicycles in Holland. Seems to be the most bike-friendly nation on Earth. Over 80,000 bicycles a year are stolen in Amsterdam alone. Most bicycles are Gazelle brand, a Dutch classic.
***Day 13 (Day off in Amsterdam). 22.8 km. June 22nd Thursday***
Not really a day off. Spend 22.8 km and several hours trying to find a Hotel room. Exhausted, the travelers stop into a Thai grocery store/ takeout place. Get 2 orders of green curry tofu. Proprietors take a long time to cook meals. Travelers have 5 beers while waiting for food. Great green curry tofu. Eat in the store at the only table. Beers mellow the travelers out and give them some hope for the future.
Check 10 or more Hotels looking for a room for the night. Finally find a room meant for 1 person. Bring bikes into room. Jeff sleeps on floor. Walk around city until after 2 am. Go to red light district that night. Many prostitutes in windows and many tourists exploring the area. Side streets have rougher looking prostitutes. Interesting and sleazy. The 2 travelers are fairly to heavily intoxicated. It is the 1st time the travelers get to cruise around a city free of the bicycles and gear.
***Day 14 Amsterdam to Gouda (camped at Reeuwijkbrug). 76.21 km June 23rd Friday***
Takes awhile to make it out of Amsterdam. Nice riding between Dutch towns. Signs are confusing, go in circles a couple of times. Nice roadcrossing signs for pedestrians in Holland.
1st campground the travelers try in Gouda has been closed for over 5 years it turns out. No good places to secretly camp. Too many houses, no real forest areas. 2nd Campground in Gouda also closed down. Back track and find camping in Reeuwijkbrug. The travelers inquire about possibility of having camping area with no other people around. Proprietors give the campers their own little green grass peninsula at the edge of the Campground, perhaps 50 or 60 feet long and 10 feet wide. Very intersting spot and sort of nice. Ground is super soft and a little bit soggy due to the fact that the finger of land is surrounded by water. The travelers explore the campground for awhile. There are many caravans and trailers with well-kept yards. People take immaculate care of their yards in Holland, even in the campgrounds. Many sculpted bushes, hedges and trees. Watch a world cup game between Australia and Croatia in the dingy Campground Biergarten. Smoke filled with a few handicapped people and people breathing through oxygen tanks among others. These 2 teams seem to particularly hate one another in this match.
***Day 15 Gouda to Dordrecht. 48.19 km. June 24th Saturday. End of bicycle journey for Adam. 1276.6 km covered since June 10th***
Lots of green murky water in Holland with coots, swans, ducks and cranes. Incredibly manicured bushes trees etc. The best bike paths in the world are supposedly in Holland. There are also windmills here and there, but not as many as one might expect to see in Holland .
Adam realizes the bike shops will be closed the following day. Stops earlier than planned to have bike boxed for the return flight from Paris. The 2 travelers stay in a Hotel with a particulaly green bathroom.
Cramped Hotel room, not super comfortable. Dordrecht isn't the coolest town in Holland. Bike shop guys are cool however and do a nice job of boxing the bicycle. At the end of the night, Adam gives Jeff an aluminum camping plate. He has had 2 of these plates throughout the journey. Jeff says "it's kinda like we're blood brothers but we just get a plate." The 2 have been using the plates to eat off of, cutting up cheese, making sandwiches etc. for the entire journey. They show definite signs of wear after the bike tour.
***Day 16. June 25th Sunday. Adam - Dordecht to Paris. Jeff continues his journey in Holland and will travel in Europe until the 1st week of July.***
Adam has bicycle in box and bags to carry on the trains. Difficult to move around. Heavy and awkward. 89 Euros to take train from Rotterdam to Paris. This is more than Adam wants to pay. He meant to ride into Paris and have the bike boxed there, but ran out of time. Gets Hotel across from Paris Nord train station. Hotel Richmond - a little dumpy.
***Day 17. Paris***
Adam takes train to Charles De Gaulle airport and arrives at 10 am for a 1:15 pm flight. Arrives at airport ready to get new tickets for 1:15 flight and check bicycle on the flight. Now Adam will switch to 1st person narration.
"The flight time was actually still set at 7:45 am. I spent 2 hours standing in lines dealing w/ Delta and Airfrance ticket agents then another 45 minutes making credit card calls to Orbitz.com customer service. I was finally told by the Orbitz lady to go to the Delta counter and change the ticket. The lady at the counter said there were no more flights today. She yhen told me it would cost $1010 to change the flight. Her shift ended as she was about to charge me that price. I talked to an agent I had spoken to earlier and he then told me it would be $200 to change flight. Now I leave tomorrow at 10:15 am. I asked the Sheraton in the airport how much a room for 1 person would be. They told me 239 Euros for the night incl. breakfast. I left and decide to walk/ sit around the airport until tomorrow. I got 25 Euros for $40 at the American Express change place - what a ripoff...Now I'm down to about 7 Euros. I think I'll be ok staying in my little West Texas town for a long time unless someone else agrees to pay for my travel expenses.
I have enjoyed travelling by bicycle, but day by day, minute by minute inconveniences and confusions are driving me crazy. Orbitz sent a series of emails telling me my new departure time and changes of airlines. Why wouldn't I think it was real. On June 7th, I changed my flight return date in El Paso. Orbitz didn't know I changed my departure date. Of course I thought they had been notified and Orbitz and airlines communicated. Why wouldn't they communicate. Airlines don't know what Orbitz trip locator #s are, especially in Europe. I got to the airport at 10 am for a 1:15 flight. It took me until 1:00pm talking to airline agents and Orbitz customer service people. I had to call Orbitz 4 times becuase I kept getting put on hold and the payphones kept hanging up on me after a certain period of time (different individual phones would hang up on me as I was talking to an agent after I had been on hold for 10 to 20 minutes at a time for each call). I watched a World Cup game last night in the Hotel room between Portugal and Holland. I was going for Holland because I had spent a few days there and the people were mostly pretty nice. Portugal won 1 to 0. Holland had a lot more shots on the goal and were on the offensive for most of the game. I think they played better than Portugal but they barely missed several goals. I totally could have made the 7:45 flight this morning. It's kind of a drag being in the airport but it's kind of fun having the ipod on shuffle and watching people go by and exploring all the different terminals. My sunglasses are very dark and noone can see my eyes. I am indoors, it's about 4 pm. This is a very large airport. I took the train this morning from the Paris Nord train station.
It took about 20 minutes. I had the bike in cardboard box. It's a major pain hauling the bike around in the box along with a heavy bag. If I do this again, I will buy a bike in whatever country I travel to and sell the bike or abandon it after the journey is done. Abandonment is probably best. If it's mostly flat, I don't need a great bike. Sleeping on docks and under bushes and in forests and next to highways has helped me to realize that one shouldn't take a home and friends and familiar situations for granted. I have enjoyed being completely sore and exhausted and filthy and bruised for some of the time. I haven't had a clock the entire time I've been here. I've always asked Jeff or relied on public clocks. My cell phone doesn't work over here so it never registers the correct local time. It's been off since I arrived.
It's been overcast all day, but the sun is finally out. Overcast and drizzly the last couple of days. Nothing to do but write. Won't get a Hotel room. I'll stay overnight in the terminals and maybe sleep or perhaps stay awake all night. I've spent far too much money on Hotels and other things this trip. If I had unlimited funds, I would have stayed at the Sheraton for 239 Euros and stayed at the bar till I was completely loaded then passed out in the room & had a 7 am wakeup call, then gone to the breakfast which of course would have been included in the price of the room & gone over to gate 2 in terminal 2E, paid my $100 for bike transport fee & had a nice flight to Atlanta then El Paso. Let's see how great I feel in the morning. I won't be as negative when I get back to my life in West Texas. The airport is kind of nice to look at though.
It's not that cool being stranded in a foreign, expensive place.All the books at the newsstand are in French. Maybe I'll try another Newsstand. I keep being hungry. I've had a sandwich and then a salad. Goodness, what could be next? Complete anonymity - trying too hard to kill time. People can't see my eyes. I think I'll get a slice of Pizza. I got 2 small Pizza Hut slices and a bottle of water. 5.90 Euros. Bought a book by Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down (I finally found an English language section). It's 5:30 pm. I'm sitting outside looking at the back of a bus with it's motor running. I'm now exploring terminal 2C. I've had my fill of 2D and 2E for now. Perhaps I'll explore E again in awhile. Still haven't gotten to know 2A and B yet either. What fun It'll be. Genesis 'When the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' is playing now. The bus has left. Traffic is going by, travelling along the elevated concrete road sections outside the terminal. The sun is out. There are many clouds in the sky. I'm in the shade. Haven't had any alcohol today. A homeless kid tried to get me to buy him a 1 Euro cup of coffee from a coffee machine today. He didn't speak much English. I told him in a bitter voice - ' I have 3 Euros left to last me until tomorrow.' He said something like 'sorry, no problem' & then walked away. It's an altered reality having very dark glasses on indoors with music mostly blocking out the sounds of the people and the airport. Well - back to exploring terminal 2C...see you in awhile. 2C wasn't so great. It's sometime after 6. I've found a nice spot 2 levels lower. It's a big open area overlooking trains arriving and departing. I think that now, I'm going to put this 20 something minute droning song by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp on repeat and read the book I bought. Later. I've put the book down. It's decent so far. Just wanted to comment on the spot I'm at right now. I can see trains - 4 tracks. Buses crossing a bridge above them and airplanes behind that scene. Only the large tail sections are visible.
Behind me, 3 young people are equidistant from each other and are playing a volleyball type game with a little ball and a cloth trailing behind it. Kind of like a badminton shuttlecock. It's 7:12 pm. Back to book. Now it's raining heavily. 7:14 pm. Explored terminal F. Sent Krista an email. Took some photos of some interesting architectural elements of the airport.
Had McDonald's for dinner. McChicken dinner. I'm disgusting...not too much in the airport foodwise. Had sandwich for breakfast from a kiosk + a few espressos in the airport. No matter how much I walk around the terminals, I won't burn off the amount of calories I've consumed in crap food today. the book has been ok so far. I'll return to it shortly. Now it's after 10 pm. Have been listening to the same droning, grating song for hours now. It has caused feelings of paranoia and mistrust about the people around me. Now, I have turned off the music. The airport is a lot darker inside now. The sun has set but the sky still has some light. Now I will read the book again. Good book.
The French military walks around in camouflage outfits in groups of 3 with black berets, usually all 3 with submachineguns. They walk real slow. They just walked past me as I was reading my book. They were in the train station yesterday and this morning as well. That was just an observation I had about airport/ public transportation security. I was on the phone to Orbitz today and my bags were maybe 12 feet from me. They started walking cautiously towards the cart with the bags but I got their attention & I pointed to the bags and then myself. I've sat down on some chairs kind of out of site, behind a row of potted plants. Maybe 1 or 2 people walk by every couple of minutes. A semi-shady character has come within 40 or 50 feet of me a couple of times. I think I'll change terminals soon. Oh, here he comes again from a mysterious room. I'm looking down, writing. He passed by. Probably just a passenger in a similar situation to my own.
There are 30 TV monitors on each side of me up high. Air France counters - no people at the counters. Sounds of people cleaning airport nearby. No flights in or out at this point. I'll stay up all night and try to sleep on the plane. Might be close to midnight. I'm going to go check out another terminal. 12:25 am. Terminal 2E was almost completely deserted except for cleaning people & the acoustics were freaky to where I thought the people were right by me when they were actually 50 to 100 yards away. 2C was more happening - more people pushing carts, people sleeping on benches. I've been enjoying photographing the deserted airport. People sleeping on benches and the ground around terminal C, but not so much in E.
2:06 am. Only 6 more hours to wait until checkin for my 10:15 flight. 3:40 am. Now I am going to check out terminal F. People on the way. I feel like one of the living dead in the shopping mall in Dawn of the Dead (1978 version). I have this cart with my bags and I've been pushing it along sluggishly since around 10 am. Now it's after 5 am. A big dog is barking below me, his barks echoing throughout terminal F (that's where I am). Now it's whimpering, now super loud dog barking. Was quiet for a few minutes. Horrible sound - like he's attacking a human. Probably in a cage. Sounds like it weighs at least a hundred pounds. More people are starting to show up in terminal F. I took some pix of the terminal in the night. I think some are fairly decent...
CRAP
It's only 4:53. I misjudged the time. 3 hours to go...
[I am on the plane now]
OK, got the bicycle checked in a little after 7 am. Took shuttle bus to gate - 25 minute ride or so. 2 hours early for the flight. Didn't fall asleep ever, I was sort of zombielike for a couple houre there. My boarding pass got mixed up with an Indian person's. The gate agents tried to put me on the flight that the Indian person's boarding pass was for. I convinced them that I needed to go to Atlanta and not New York...3 hours plus of the flight have passed. Think I'll stop writing now. Oh, by the way, I didn't have to pay the $100 bike fee. I've already paid $500 in ticket changing fees. I finished the book. A 257 page book, read from cover to cover in under 24 hours. Think that's a first for me. OK, now I'm done, I'm back in the states. Let's see if Jeff has something to say about his remaining couple of weeks in Europe."...................................................................................................................................................................................
Adam arrives - Berlin Tempelhof airport, around 11 am from El Paso. Jeff meets Adam and they go back to apartment where Jeff has been staying for nearly 2 weeks. Tempelhof was airport Berlin airlift took place in the late 1940s.
Not many airlines use it anymore. Took small plane from Brussels airport. Bike (still in box) is taken to apartment to assemble. Adam has lodging elsewhere and makes arrangements to get key to apartment. Adam and Jeff ride bikes to apartment where Adam will be staying. The journey takes much longer than expected due to incompetent map-reading and unfamiliarity with the city of Berlin. Adam leaves his bike and bags at the apartment where Jeff is staying.
Larry (a former roommate of Jeff's from New York- now a roommate for 2 weeks in Berlin) is invited to a show directly next door to apartment where Adam is staying.
The space is a giant former public swimming pool buliding from perhaps mid 1800s w/ 50 or 60 ft ceilings. People and the bar are on the floor of the swimming pool. Projections are showing on walls and a band is playing in a former dressing room to the side of the pool. Adam goes to bed afer a few beers and Jeff goes back to his apartment 7 stops or so away in the heavily Turkish neighborhood of Kreuzberg.
***June 9 Berlin***
The next morning, Adam is awoken by the sun and looks at clock on phone which says 11:23 am. Adam was supposed to meet Jeff at his apartment at 10. He rushes out. When he reaches the street, he finds everything very quiet with very few people, Adam looks at a street clock & realizes it's just after 6 am. Phone clock was wrong and Adam isn't wearing a watch. The sun rises at around 5 am in Germany this time of year and sets around 10 pm or later. The sky still has some light until around 11 pm. Adam takes the train to Jeff's neighborhood.
Adam has coffees and snacks & goes to an internet cafe to send off e-mails. Rings bell to Jeff's around 9 or so. Adam is wired from coffee, Jeff is sluggish.
They assemble touring bike setups. Adam bought a rack yesterday and front bike bag from Karstadt department store near Jeff's apartment. Bikes are mostly set up now.
The travelers travel around Berlin to buy bike maps of regions in which they think they will be traveling. Maps are a little pricey. Over 60 Euros for 8 detailed maps. The travelers split the cost of maps. They find it exhausting, walking around Berlin and taking trains everywhere. Adam's new friend, with whom he is staying, invites him to an art opening. It also happens to be the night of the 1st game of the World Cup. Jeff goes to watch the World Cup game and have Tandoori with friends. Germany defeats Costa Rica 4 - 2. Many Germans say Germany should have played better. Adam goes to the art opening and has some beer, wine and barbecue. He later finds his friend Henrikke, from the apartment where he is staying. They chat and have some beers. Adam later runs into a German journalist he has met before in Texas. She was a guest at the Hotel where Adam used to work.
She tells Adam that an artist from a town near the town in which Adam lives in Texas happens to be at a restaurant a couple km away.
Adam knows this artist. He is well-known for having doing some album covers for the band "The Eagles" in the 1970s. Adam says they should go and see the artist. The artist is shocked and happy to see Adam.
It is a short visit to an Italian restaurant. The journalist takes Adam around on a motorscooter. They have some white wine with the Texas artist and a couple of Scandinavian artists who created an installation in far West Texas the previous year. Adam and the journalist go to another place and drink quite a bit with she and her friends.
A photographer who worked on one of her last stories is having a birthday celebration tonite. Adam stays out until 2 am or later and gets loaded. He goes to bed at apartment.
***June 10 Berlin***
Adam wakes up and has coffee and breakfast with his gracious host, Henrikke.
Adam meets Jeff at his apartment around 11 am. The 2 travelers are both fairly hung over.
***Bike trip Day 1 Berlin to Beelitz June 10 Saturday 73.03 km***
2 pm departure. Difficult to get out of town. Berlin goes on forever. Bikes very heavy with luggage. Rest stop in thin forest.
Food- Adam- Giant potato and meat omelette
Jeff- classic German potato pancakes with applesauce
Later in evening, the travelers arrive in Beelitz. Freaky. See some people and don't really interact with them. They seem permanently negative. Deep scars here that will take a long time to heal. Perhaps 2 or more generations. They grow a lot of white asparagus in this region. Asparagus is called Spargel in German. Came across some fields covered with white plastic. Visually interesting.
Getting dark. Everything closed except for weird little party at biergarten/ kiosk place . People seemed to look right through us. Not a comfortable feeling. We sleep in the forest.
Weren't able to find a legitimate Campingplatz as they are called in German. Symmetrical planted forest. Man made. Eastern Germany, former DDR.
The travelers are a bit frightened but the forest is nice. A fair amount of mosquitos are encountered. Adam has dreams of police and villagers chasing the 2 travelers out of the forest in the middle of the night. No mercy. Thankfully, the forest is safe.
Noone bothers the travelers during the night or the next morning. Jeff takes pictures of Adam in the morning holding entire dead tree over his head.
Adam reports tree is heavy.
***Day 2 Beelitz to Trebbichau. Sunday June 11 127.67 km***
Lots of bike paths through forests and many abandoned decaying East German buildings are spotted. On the way, in Reppichau, the travelers encountered lots of wooden people celebrating unknown events from the 1200s. Went to Spargelfest in small town (Schmerwitz).
Adam has Spargel drink. Both travelers have stawberries and beer. High school band.
Encounter many sandy trails after Schmerwitz and Jeff falls over a few times w/ bike. Bike clips are difficult to get out of sometimes.
Also go through Dessau and see abandoned, decaying apartment buildings from Stalinist era.
Much farming in this part of Germany. Finally find Campingplatz as sun is setting in Trebbichau. Many wrong turns and turnarounds etc. Viciously attacked by mosquitos while desperately searching for the hidden Campingplatz.
Consume Bitburger and baked potatoes while watching World Cup. Interesting folks at Campingplatz.
***Day 3 Trebbichau to Merseberg 81.57 km. Monday June 12***
Adam talks to a German lady in her 60s or 70s at the Campingplatz this morning. She speaks no English. Ask her about camping in the woods. She says to only stay at proper camping places because the gangs go into the woods a lot. There is a lot of Neo Nazi gang activity in the former DDR evidently. Encounter first operational nuclear power plant on the ride.
In a small town just before the town of Petersburg, the travelers encounter an old castle-type building. A local man smoking a cigar tells the travelers in German and broken English that the structure was a factory the Russians destroyed in the Second World War. The man has very shaky hands and tries to tell the travelers to check out the town of Petersburg a couple km away.
On the road, the travelers run into a German bicyclist named Dietleth. Dietleth explains how to read the bike maps a little better and the travelers believe that all navigational problems will now be solved for the remainder of the trip.
At some point, perhaps today, it starts raining heavily. Adam takes shirt off. Rain hurts but Adam pedals fast and gets sort of a rush from heading rapidly into the rainstorm for 30 to 45 minutes. Jeff is wearing light-weight green rain jacket. A group of 8 or so bicyclists hunkered down in an abandoned house by the roadside cheer Jeff and Adam on with actual claps and cheers. Travelers stop in Halle (Home of Handel) for noodles and tofu. Got very lost going south out of town. Couldn't find camping outside of Merseberg so have to return and look for Hotel. Ride in the dark until lodging is found. 11:30 pm or so. It is a Pension - like a Hotel but run by a family and generally with less rooms than a Hotel. Owner accidentally gives travelers a dirty room at first then a clean one after a call is made to sleeping proprietor. Enjoy items from mini bar. Adam in heavy Jaegermeister mode.
***Day 4. Jeff - Merseberg to Apolda. Adam - Merseberg to Weimar approx. 90.28 km June 13 Tuesday ***
Much anger, many hills. Lose one another somehow. Jeff to Hotel in Apolda. Puts Sharpie signs up in little town to get Adam's attention. Adam takes photos of surroundings before and after separating from Jeff.
Adam stays in Weimar (difficult to find lodging - finds room in a Pension @ 11:30 pm). Still in heavy Jaegermeister mode. Jeff stays at Hotel in Apolda. Contact made via e-mail. Very difficult riding day. Several hills 1 or 2 km long if not more. Exhausting with heavy bike loads. Flattish roads are ok, but steep climbs with very heavy bike loads are very taxing on the body and brain.
***Day 5 Apolda/Weimar to side of road between Erfurt and Gotha. No km reading. June 14 Wednesday***
Meet at a mall with visitor information center inside. Go to Bauhaus museum and have Turkish Pizza from a Kebab place. Ridiculously routed through barely rideable trails. Travelers stop at many Shell gas stations during the journey over several days to get delicious orange vitamin drinks and other refreshments.
Make very little distance. Camp by telecommunications tower in "secret" spot. Horrible nettles stinging bodies as travelers set up tents using flashlights to see in nearly total darkness just off the highway. Adam picks giant weed leaves (approx. 2 feet long and wide each) to cover nettle plants at entrance to Jeff's tent. Car pulls up while the campers are setting up but the travelers are concealed by trees and plants. Most likely kids hanging out by the side of the road. Abandoned houses nearby. Car eventually leaves. Travelers sleep a little bit. German workers working on tower arrive around 7 am, loudly speaking and rustling the grasses around. Adam and Jeff pack up quickly and ride away.
***Day 6 Erfurt/ Gotha to Eisenach 52,68 km. June 15 Thursday***
Adam has first flat 1 km from Camping spot. The travelers change flat tire, mostly Jeff. This section of Germany is seemingly difficult to navigate w/ bikes and maps and signs. At some point during this section of the trip, heybales were seen from under a little bridge.
Adam has 2nd flat today, in town of Eisenach. It happens to be in front of a bike shop. The travelers change flat and have lunch in little park area behind bike shop.
Travelers ask bike shop guy best route to Frankfurt. He says something like 'Frankfurt is an ugly city, why do you want to go there?' He shows some routes on maps and says it will be difficult, 3 or 4 days at least. Lots of hills and heavily trafficked roads. The travelers feel defeated and are unhappy at prospects of difficult and confusing paths and possibly more roads w/ heavy traffic. Autobahns and busy roads have been used a few times as a last resort. A little scary and not so fun. Finally decide to check on trains to Frankfurt. They find a cheap fare. 15 Euros apiece. Take train.
Excited upon arrival. Travelers feel as if it is cheating but feel that better, flatter, more scenic bike paths from Frankfurt up the Rhine and into Holland and Belgium will be more enjoyable than hilly, barely navigable roads of Eastern and Central Germany. Eventually find inexpensive Hostel away from train station and all the city center World Cup action. Adam and Jeff are in a room w/ 15 or so beds. Only 1 or 2 other beds show any sign of human habitation. Giant TV screen across river w/ world cup action.
***Day 7 Frankfurt to Bingen. 85.47 km. June 16 Friday***
Wake up in morning in Hostel. Upon awakening, it is noticed that 12 or so other men/ boys are in the other beds. Breakfast is eaten in the basement. Travelers ride for awhile and evetually, an abandoned factory area just outside of Frankfurt is discovered and explored.
Nice bike paths. Bike and people traffic around towns makes it slow going. Pass through town of Mainz and take the Rhine bike paths. Frankfurt is on the Main river, the Rhine branches off from this river in Mainz.
Nice castles on river banks on both sides of Rhine.
A campingplatz is found around 9 pm or so. 1st time it is possible to set up tents with some daylight remaining. Girl at reception window says campground is mostly full and doubts if any suitable spots are available. The travelers find a spot in front of a couple of long neglected caravan campsites. Lots of rocks, but after a bit of work, area is reasonably well flattened and some sleep is had by the travelers. It is decided that the travelers shouldn't pay the camping fee because of amount of trouble and inconvenience endured. A few beers and white wines are purchased at the Biergarten however, so some revenue is earned from the travelers.
***Day 8 Bingen to Rheineck 110.59 km. June 17 Saturday***
More hilly, pretty farming countryside. The travelers encounter many Nuclear power plants and other industrial sites along the Rhine.
Eventually find Campingplatz at end of day in Rheineck. Costs travelers 8 Euros apiece. They set up tents next to a bunch of other camper's tents. Campgrounds are very different in Germany than they are in America. A bunch of tents in close proximity & a bunch of caravans and trailers w/ permanent yards taking up most of the campground. Not much privacy. There aren't as many wilderness areas in Europe as there are in the U.S. Less forests here than in area outside of Berlin in Eastern Germany as well.
***Day 9 Rheineck to Cologne. 74.88 kn. June 18 Sunday***
Much tourist traffic along Rhine. Called Anna who is friend of Adam's and former intern at art foundation in Texas town where Adam lives. She let's us stay at her aprtment in Cologne with she and her flatmate.
She and her flatmate Marie are very nice during stay in Cologne. They take the travelers to watch a World Cup match at the bar next door to their apartment. France vs. S. Korea. Game ends in 1 to 1 tie. Fun to watch. 1st World Cup game Adam has seen in it's entirety. Do laundry at Anna's place but it gets wet when travelers are out for the evening.
***Day 10 Cologne to Duisberg. 90.20 km. June 19 Monday***
Travelers wake up and pack belongings for journey. Anna leeds them to a very nice laundromat/ bar/ coffeeshop/ internet cafe.
Clothes are still wet from previous night's rain and must be dried. Establishment is called Cleanicum. Rains fairly heavily while travelers are inside. They stay awhile and consume coffees and beers and also use internet to communicate with American friends and family. Leave Cleanicum after rain has mostly stopped. Journey through Ruhr industrial river valley.
Rains more along the way and travelers stop at a cafe in the middle of nowhere and wait out the rain. Travel further until darkness sets in. Don't know exactly which town it is. Later find out town is Duisberg, north of Dusseldorf. Eventually find Hotel with rooms (1st Hotel was completely booked). Initially quoted price of 109 Euros or 99 for single occupancy. Travelers inform desk clerks that only 60 or 70 Euros can be spent for a room for the night. Clerk comes out to an area outside of Hotel near travelers and their bicycles and inform the travelers they can have a room for 70 Euros. Room is in an old apartment the Hotel is currently renovating. The shower has been torn out during the remodeling.
It is not functioning. The travelers use the subterranean swimming pool and health spa of the Hotel in order to get clean after a long day of riding. All alone - no other Hotel guests in subterranean health spa/ pool area. At the time of checkin and for a few hours before, Adam couldn't ride bike sitting down anymore, only standing up. Severe saddle sores. Hotel break is a welcome event for Adam. tavelers go to a neighborhood bar after checking in. Apartment is a pre war 3rd floor walkup.
Large apartment. Each traveler gets seperate room. The Sam Peckinpah film 'Pat Garret and Billy the Kid' is on TV late night - dubbed in German. Odd. Kris Kristofferson and James Coburn speaking German in 1880s New Mexico.
***Day 11 Duisberg, Germany to Nijmegen, Holland (Enter the Netherlands). 121.18 km. June 20, Tuesday***
More and better bike paths upon entering Holland. More laid back - people seem a bit more mellow than most German folks the travelers have encountered. More people speak English in Holland than in Germany it seems. Go to bar in Nijmegen. Later go to coffeeshop and sample their wares. Escape Nijmegen after heavy paranoia sets in. Return to Nijmegen around 10 pm. Eventually find Hotel. European guidebook says it's not wise to travel in Holland without booking Hotels in advance.
***Day 12 Nijmegen to Amsterdam 141.97 km.June 21st Wednesday***
Long nice ride to Amsterdam. Adam stops by pharmacy to get Calendula Nappy Change Cream to hopefully combat saddle sores.
Product is purchased more for packaging and name than for possible relief of pain caused by saddle sores (saddle sores are gone within 2 days). Adam crashes on way to Amsterdam. He was looking down for extended period then looked up - a man was approaching from opposite direction on a racing bike in full bike racing gear. Adam gets off path immediately to the right into the grass. He tries to get back on the path but doesn't realize path is raised concrete, higher than level of the grass until it's too late. Wheel gets caught and bike falls over. Adam falls down, face and chest first onto concrete and grass. No major injuries reported. Bruised/ sore chest, arm and right thigh. Pain gone within 2 days. No blood.
Travelers hadn't expected to make it to Amsterdam today. Arrive in Amsterdam after 10 pm. Every single Hotel room in Amsterdam is booked, Some kind of convention. Completely exhausted upon arrival. A reggae man has a Hostel and informs travelers they can sleep in bar for 15 Euros apiece. They don't go for it. A bunch of stoned people are hanging aroung the bar which happens to be open 24 hours a day. 9 people are staying in the bar that night. Mostly booths and tables are available as sleeping quarters. Around 2 am the travelers decide to sleep on a floating dock out of desperation. Door is locked with a bike chain so noone can get in. A little aftter 5 am, the sun comes up. Adam awakens Jeff. Travelers then cycle to a nearby park and then sleep under some bushes until a little bit after 10 am. There are so very many bicycles in Holland. Seems to be the most bike-friendly nation on Earth. Over 80,000 bicycles a year are stolen in Amsterdam alone. Most bicycles are Gazelle brand, a Dutch classic.
***Day 13 (Day off in Amsterdam). 22.8 km. June 22nd Thursday***
Not really a day off. Spend 22.8 km and several hours trying to find a Hotel room. Exhausted, the travelers stop into a Thai grocery store/ takeout place. Get 2 orders of green curry tofu. Proprietors take a long time to cook meals. Travelers have 5 beers while waiting for food. Great green curry tofu. Eat in the store at the only table. Beers mellow the travelers out and give them some hope for the future.
Check 10 or more Hotels looking for a room for the night. Finally find a room meant for 1 person. Bring bikes into room. Jeff sleeps on floor. Walk around city until after 2 am. Go to red light district that night. Many prostitutes in windows and many tourists exploring the area. Side streets have rougher looking prostitutes. Interesting and sleazy. The 2 travelers are fairly to heavily intoxicated. It is the 1st time the travelers get to cruise around a city free of the bicycles and gear.
***Day 14 Amsterdam to Gouda (camped at Reeuwijkbrug). 76.21 km June 23rd Friday***
Takes awhile to make it out of Amsterdam. Nice riding between Dutch towns. Signs are confusing, go in circles a couple of times. Nice roadcrossing signs for pedestrians in Holland.
1st campground the travelers try in Gouda has been closed for over 5 years it turns out. No good places to secretly camp. Too many houses, no real forest areas. 2nd Campground in Gouda also closed down. Back track and find camping in Reeuwijkbrug. The travelers inquire about possibility of having camping area with no other people around. Proprietors give the campers their own little green grass peninsula at the edge of the Campground, perhaps 50 or 60 feet long and 10 feet wide. Very intersting spot and sort of nice. Ground is super soft and a little bit soggy due to the fact that the finger of land is surrounded by water. The travelers explore the campground for awhile. There are many caravans and trailers with well-kept yards. People take immaculate care of their yards in Holland, even in the campgrounds. Many sculpted bushes, hedges and trees. Watch a world cup game between Australia and Croatia in the dingy Campground Biergarten. Smoke filled with a few handicapped people and people breathing through oxygen tanks among others. These 2 teams seem to particularly hate one another in this match.
***Day 15 Gouda to Dordrecht. 48.19 km. June 24th Saturday. End of bicycle journey for Adam. 1276.6 km covered since June 10th***
Lots of green murky water in Holland with coots, swans, ducks and cranes. Incredibly manicured bushes trees etc. The best bike paths in the world are supposedly in Holland. There are also windmills here and there, but not as many as one might expect to see in Holland .
Adam realizes the bike shops will be closed the following day. Stops earlier than planned to have bike boxed for the return flight from Paris. The 2 travelers stay in a Hotel with a particulaly green bathroom.
Cramped Hotel room, not super comfortable. Dordrecht isn't the coolest town in Holland. Bike shop guys are cool however and do a nice job of boxing the bicycle. At the end of the night, Adam gives Jeff an aluminum camping plate. He has had 2 of these plates throughout the journey. Jeff says "it's kinda like we're blood brothers but we just get a plate." The 2 have been using the plates to eat off of, cutting up cheese, making sandwiches etc. for the entire journey. They show definite signs of wear after the bike tour.
***Day 16. June 25th Sunday. Adam - Dordecht to Paris. Jeff continues his journey in Holland and will travel in Europe until the 1st week of July.***
Adam has bicycle in box and bags to carry on the trains. Difficult to move around. Heavy and awkward. 89 Euros to take train from Rotterdam to Paris. This is more than Adam wants to pay. He meant to ride into Paris and have the bike boxed there, but ran out of time. Gets Hotel across from Paris Nord train station. Hotel Richmond - a little dumpy.
***Day 17. Paris***
Adam takes train to Charles De Gaulle airport and arrives at 10 am for a 1:15 pm flight. Arrives at airport ready to get new tickets for 1:15 flight and check bicycle on the flight. Now Adam will switch to 1st person narration.
"The flight time was actually still set at 7:45 am. I spent 2 hours standing in lines dealing w/ Delta and Airfrance ticket agents then another 45 minutes making credit card calls to Orbitz.com customer service. I was finally told by the Orbitz lady to go to the Delta counter and change the ticket. The lady at the counter said there were no more flights today. She yhen told me it would cost $1010 to change the flight. Her shift ended as she was about to charge me that price. I talked to an agent I had spoken to earlier and he then told me it would be $200 to change flight. Now I leave tomorrow at 10:15 am. I asked the Sheraton in the airport how much a room for 1 person would be. They told me 239 Euros for the night incl. breakfast. I left and decide to walk/ sit around the airport until tomorrow. I got 25 Euros for $40 at the American Express change place - what a ripoff...Now I'm down to about 7 Euros. I think I'll be ok staying in my little West Texas town for a long time unless someone else agrees to pay for my travel expenses.
I have enjoyed travelling by bicycle, but day by day, minute by minute inconveniences and confusions are driving me crazy. Orbitz sent a series of emails telling me my new departure time and changes of airlines. Why wouldn't I think it was real. On June 7th, I changed my flight return date in El Paso. Orbitz didn't know I changed my departure date. Of course I thought they had been notified and Orbitz and airlines communicated. Why wouldn't they communicate. Airlines don't know what Orbitz trip locator #s are, especially in Europe. I got to the airport at 10 am for a 1:15 flight. It took me until 1:00pm talking to airline agents and Orbitz customer service people. I had to call Orbitz 4 times becuase I kept getting put on hold and the payphones kept hanging up on me after a certain period of time (different individual phones would hang up on me as I was talking to an agent after I had been on hold for 10 to 20 minutes at a time for each call). I watched a World Cup game last night in the Hotel room between Portugal and Holland. I was going for Holland because I had spent a few days there and the people were mostly pretty nice. Portugal won 1 to 0. Holland had a lot more shots on the goal and were on the offensive for most of the game. I think they played better than Portugal but they barely missed several goals. I totally could have made the 7:45 flight this morning. It's kind of a drag being in the airport but it's kind of fun having the ipod on shuffle and watching people go by and exploring all the different terminals. My sunglasses are very dark and noone can see my eyes. I am indoors, it's about 4 pm. This is a very large airport. I took the train this morning from the Paris Nord train station.
It took about 20 minutes. I had the bike in cardboard box. It's a major pain hauling the bike around in the box along with a heavy bag. If I do this again, I will buy a bike in whatever country I travel to and sell the bike or abandon it after the journey is done. Abandonment is probably best. If it's mostly flat, I don't need a great bike. Sleeping on docks and under bushes and in forests and next to highways has helped me to realize that one shouldn't take a home and friends and familiar situations for granted. I have enjoyed being completely sore and exhausted and filthy and bruised for some of the time. I haven't had a clock the entire time I've been here. I've always asked Jeff or relied on public clocks. My cell phone doesn't work over here so it never registers the correct local time. It's been off since I arrived.
It's been overcast all day, but the sun is finally out. Overcast and drizzly the last couple of days. Nothing to do but write. Won't get a Hotel room. I'll stay overnight in the terminals and maybe sleep or perhaps stay awake all night. I've spent far too much money on Hotels and other things this trip. If I had unlimited funds, I would have stayed at the Sheraton for 239 Euros and stayed at the bar till I was completely loaded then passed out in the room & had a 7 am wakeup call, then gone to the breakfast which of course would have been included in the price of the room & gone over to gate 2 in terminal 2E, paid my $100 for bike transport fee & had a nice flight to Atlanta then El Paso. Let's see how great I feel in the morning. I won't be as negative when I get back to my life in West Texas. The airport is kind of nice to look at though.
It's not that cool being stranded in a foreign, expensive place.All the books at the newsstand are in French. Maybe I'll try another Newsstand. I keep being hungry. I've had a sandwich and then a salad. Goodness, what could be next? Complete anonymity - trying too hard to kill time. People can't see my eyes. I think I'll get a slice of Pizza. I got 2 small Pizza Hut slices and a bottle of water. 5.90 Euros. Bought a book by Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down (I finally found an English language section). It's 5:30 pm. I'm sitting outside looking at the back of a bus with it's motor running. I'm now exploring terminal 2C. I've had my fill of 2D and 2E for now. Perhaps I'll explore E again in awhile. Still haven't gotten to know 2A and B yet either. What fun It'll be. Genesis 'When the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' is playing now. The bus has left. Traffic is going by, travelling along the elevated concrete road sections outside the terminal. The sun is out. There are many clouds in the sky. I'm in the shade. Haven't had any alcohol today. A homeless kid tried to get me to buy him a 1 Euro cup of coffee from a coffee machine today. He didn't speak much English. I told him in a bitter voice - ' I have 3 Euros left to last me until tomorrow.' He said something like 'sorry, no problem' & then walked away. It's an altered reality having very dark glasses on indoors with music mostly blocking out the sounds of the people and the airport. Well - back to exploring terminal 2C...see you in awhile. 2C wasn't so great. It's sometime after 6. I've found a nice spot 2 levels lower. It's a big open area overlooking trains arriving and departing. I think that now, I'm going to put this 20 something minute droning song by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp on repeat and read the book I bought. Later. I've put the book down. It's decent so far. Just wanted to comment on the spot I'm at right now. I can see trains - 4 tracks. Buses crossing a bridge above them and airplanes behind that scene. Only the large tail sections are visible.
Behind me, 3 young people are equidistant from each other and are playing a volleyball type game with a little ball and a cloth trailing behind it. Kind of like a badminton shuttlecock. It's 7:12 pm. Back to book. Now it's raining heavily. 7:14 pm. Explored terminal F. Sent Krista an email. Took some photos of some interesting architectural elements of the airport.
Had McDonald's for dinner. McChicken dinner. I'm disgusting...not too much in the airport foodwise. Had sandwich for breakfast from a kiosk + a few espressos in the airport. No matter how much I walk around the terminals, I won't burn off the amount of calories I've consumed in crap food today. the book has been ok so far. I'll return to it shortly. Now it's after 10 pm. Have been listening to the same droning, grating song for hours now. It has caused feelings of paranoia and mistrust about the people around me. Now, I have turned off the music. The airport is a lot darker inside now. The sun has set but the sky still has some light. Now I will read the book again. Good book.
The French military walks around in camouflage outfits in groups of 3 with black berets, usually all 3 with submachineguns. They walk real slow. They just walked past me as I was reading my book. They were in the train station yesterday and this morning as well. That was just an observation I had about airport/ public transportation security. I was on the phone to Orbitz today and my bags were maybe 12 feet from me. They started walking cautiously towards the cart with the bags but I got their attention & I pointed to the bags and then myself. I've sat down on some chairs kind of out of site, behind a row of potted plants. Maybe 1 or 2 people walk by every couple of minutes. A semi-shady character has come within 40 or 50 feet of me a couple of times. I think I'll change terminals soon. Oh, here he comes again from a mysterious room. I'm looking down, writing. He passed by. Probably just a passenger in a similar situation to my own.
There are 30 TV monitors on each side of me up high. Air France counters - no people at the counters. Sounds of people cleaning airport nearby. No flights in or out at this point. I'll stay up all night and try to sleep on the plane. Might be close to midnight. I'm going to go check out another terminal. 12:25 am. Terminal 2E was almost completely deserted except for cleaning people & the acoustics were freaky to where I thought the people were right by me when they were actually 50 to 100 yards away. 2C was more happening - more people pushing carts, people sleeping on benches. I've been enjoying photographing the deserted airport. People sleeping on benches and the ground around terminal C, but not so much in E.
2:06 am. Only 6 more hours to wait until checkin for my 10:15 flight. 3:40 am. Now I am going to check out terminal F. People on the way. I feel like one of the living dead in the shopping mall in Dawn of the Dead (1978 version). I have this cart with my bags and I've been pushing it along sluggishly since around 10 am. Now it's after 5 am. A big dog is barking below me, his barks echoing throughout terminal F (that's where I am). Now it's whimpering, now super loud dog barking. Was quiet for a few minutes. Horrible sound - like he's attacking a human. Probably in a cage. Sounds like it weighs at least a hundred pounds. More people are starting to show up in terminal F. I took some pix of the terminal in the night. I think some are fairly decent...
CRAP
It's only 4:53. I misjudged the time. 3 hours to go...
[I am on the plane now]
OK, got the bicycle checked in a little after 7 am. Took shuttle bus to gate - 25 minute ride or so. 2 hours early for the flight. Didn't fall asleep ever, I was sort of zombielike for a couple houre there. My boarding pass got mixed up with an Indian person's. The gate agents tried to put me on the flight that the Indian person's boarding pass was for. I convinced them that I needed to go to Atlanta and not New York...3 hours plus of the flight have passed. Think I'll stop writing now. Oh, by the way, I didn't have to pay the $100 bike fee. I've already paid $500 in ticket changing fees. I finished the book. A 257 page book, read from cover to cover in under 24 hours. Think that's a first for me. OK, now I'm done, I'm back in the states. Let's see if Jeff has something to say about his remaining couple of weeks in Europe."...................................................................................................................................................................................
posted by biketrip2006 at 4:27 PM
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