Nice to have a relaxed place to go to at the start of a trip. Today we took a walk with the dogs, ate fruit and relaxed for the rest of the day, the perfect thing for getting used to another summer…
RobvanEde.nl Blog
Traveler, there is no path, paths are made by walking – Antonio Machado
Feb 03
Alajuela to San Jose
The hunt for an ATM that would accept my bank card took me a bit under 2 hours this morning. Just when I thought about giving up, the cash machine of Banco National started producing the glorious sound that a banknote-counting mechanism makes when counting 70.000 Colones. Mission one was accomplished and breakfast could be bought!.
The bus on the route from Alajuela, where the main international airport of Costa Rica is situated, to San Jose, the capital city, could not be classified as ‘as good as new’: There was no working instrument to be seen on the dashboard (speedometer showed “0” during the whole trip) and the door would open halfway when crashing through the many holes. The one part on the bus that seemed to be in a perfect condition was the horn: it did it’s job beautifully…
Feb 02
Dinner stop in the USA
En-route to Costa Rica, I had a spare hour in Houston, Texas, and did what you have to do when visiting the USA: eating a hamburger. The one I got was not as tasty as I remembered another Wendy’s hamburger that I had a few years ago (this one was only slightly better than the one from the big M), but after a 12-hour long flight and 1 hour in lines for immigration and security checks, anything will do really. Only 4 more hours to go on the next flight…
Jan 04
Looking back and looking forward
It is that time of the year: the time for looking back on the year that has come to an end, and the time for looking forward into the year that is rushing in…
The looking back part is easy:
What went well in 2012?
2012 has been a fantastic year for me. The year started with a new career-step: I said goodbye to my previous job and started in a very interesting new job with TNO, a company that has been on my short-list for a long long time. With the old job, I also said goodbye to having a car at my front door; Over the last few years, I had always had one but used it so little that it felt more and more like a thing I was pouring a lot of money into, but that gave little in return.
From the first of January, my main mode of transportation has been the bicycle. I rode about 12.000 kilometers on my bikes this year and I have only missed the car a couple of times. The only thing that I would consider getting one for is when I need to transport large things during a longer time period. A camper would be a really neat thing to have as well…
After my first trip to awesome Scotland in June, another thing that I had been dreaming of for a long time (actually, since I met an interesting bunch of cyclists in Vilnius, Lithuania in September 2011) became reality: A big tour on my recumbent bicycle that brought me from Ulm in the South of Germany to Istanbul in Turkey. Over the course of 6 weeks, this awesome 3066 kilometer trip took me through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. It was difficult at times, but mostly a very pleasant trip. By travelling slowly, I managed to experience the countries in a more in-depth way than ever before; I’ve seen rural areas and smaller cities in most of the countries I visited and met so many colourful individuals.
The short winter-escape trip to Portugal in December turned out pretty well too: I was walking past palm-trees in a sunny Portugal while snow fell from the sky back home…
What went not so well in 2012?
Paragliding:
Most of the flights that I did get were good, but the total airtime this year has been less than I had hoped for:
– 11 flights
– 5 starting locations
– 4 landing locations
Throb audio:
Because too much time was spent on preparations for trips and actual trips, I only managed to deliver 3 sets of loudspeakers. The 3 sets did come out very good and are certainly something to be proud of. Some prototypes still need some attention…
–
And now the difficult part: Looking forward, the course for 2013:
2013 will be about flying high and far, both on planes and under a para-glider.
February will be largely filled with a winter-escape trip to Costa Rica with a stopover in New York on the way back.
Shortly after the return from Central America, my new para-glider should arrive, a wing with so much more performance than the one I have been flying for the last three years. It will probably take some time to get used to, and that is why the plan is to fly it as often as possible: in the Alps during some weeks in spring and summer and preferably in a place where it is sunny and warm after that…
Dec 09
Thank you Ryanair
For delaying my return flight for 2.5 hours, giving me and my 180 or so fellow-passengers a wonderful extra afternoon in the Portuguese sun. The sunset above the clouds was awesome too.
And then the most amazing part: All of this without having to pay extra. No need for apologies at all!
Dec 08
Half a day in beautiful (O)Porto
My getting-up-early plan worked out well: Directly after breakfast, I walked to the bus-station through a foggy and still sleeping Lisbon and managed to get a ticket for the coach to Porto, which would be full not much later. After 3.5 hours and without any delays from the strikes, we rolled into a sunny and warm Porto, where a big strike manifestation was going on: people with flags, purpose-made shirts, lots of noise and lots of police.
This city was spared from the 1755 earthquake destruction that flattened most of Lisbon, and therefore still has a fantastic area of narrow alleys and ancient buildings. Beautiful to walk trough, but apparently not very popular amongst the people here: when old people die, the houses are abandoned and nobody wants to take them. The result is that most buildings are empty and in a very bad state of repair. A real shame for such a beautiful area. A bit understandable though, as people washing their clothes in buckets next to the local tap (apparently no water inside the house) is a normal sight in this neighborhood…
The food was both good and bad: The Little French Girl (Francesinha, a very famous local dish from Porto) in the take-away version (the restaurant itself was full with a queue waiting out in the street) came in a plastic bag, the sauce packed separately and not very hot. Without cutlery as well. Eating a meal like this with bare hands turned out to be not so easy, but was managed without spilling the sauce. It was OK-ish, but not more than that…
Dec 07
Lisbon, second chance
How much better today: 20 degrees and sunshine, a whole new perspective. After many kilometers of walking, I can say that Lisbon is certainly very high on my list of most beautiful cities: It is old, green, not crowded with tourists, the food is good, the language sounds nice (although I can not understand most of it), the people are relaxed.
After a guided free-tour in the morning, I walked to the top of all three hills and the river, covering most of the city. Unfortunately no time for a place like Sintra, which is just a bit further away.
On the bus again tomorrow, as apparently there will be no trains at all then…
Dec 06
Lisbon
Because of announced strikes of railroad personnel here in Portugal, it is advised not to take the train at the moment. No-one knows exactly where problems will arise, but one thing is for sure: alternative transportation will not be provided for those who get stuck somewhere. Knowing this, I chose not to take chances on my 280 kilometer trip North: The coach was the best option for my trip through the rain today. Raining it did, with proper rivers running through the streets of Lisbon.
Om my short run (5 minutes was enough to get drenched) around the historical Rossio train-station, that I can also call my home for two nights, I noticed one thing: The Portuguese certainly know about sweet pastry…
Dec 05
The perfect office day
Because the weather forecast for tomorrow is pretty bad, but fine again on Friday, I have decided to postpone my trip to Lisbon for one day and stay in the beautiful, sunny, South for one more day. Rain while sitting on a long-distance coach or train is no problem, it would make a day’s stroll through Lisbon less pleasant though…
Now, what to do with an extra day down here? Since I still had some digitization work left on the travel notes that I wrote during my big cycling trip a few weeks ago, I walked the 5 kilometers to the South-coast, took a path to the top of a cliff and set up the best office I have seen in a long, long time. Only the seat could have been more comfy, but the view of the Atlantic Ocean, the sound of crashing waves below and the sunshine more than made up for that. For sure a very pleasant way to get office-work done. It must be possible to arrange a setting like this more often…
Dec 04
Cabo de São Vicente
I was at the most South-Eastern point of the European continent about 7 weeks ago and reached that by cycling for 28 days from Ulm. Today, I walked for 6 hours from Raposeira to the most South-Western point of the continent, Cabo de São Vicente. I wonder how much more difficult the Northern edges of the continent might be to reach…
The dark clouds on the horizon (and much closer later) were quite worrying, as there was nowhere to find shelter for bad weather, but they caused no problems: the rain came only in the evening, about 10 minutes after I got home. Brilliant. Now some nice food and rest for the feet. Probably moving Northwards tomorrow.
Dec 03
The real coastline
After about 15 minutes westward on the train from Faro, hills grew larger and larger, draped with trees full of oranges and other fruit: completely different from yesterday’s views. The town of Lagos was as bad as expected: people with backpacks were promptly asked if they (we) needed a hostel, right after getting off the train. Luckily, the plan was to head West a bit further, to Raposiera, a place close to the real surf beaches and much more quiet.
Right after arrival, after about one more hour on the bus, I could immediately join on a short off-road trip to the coast, as the Goodfeeling-Hostel crew was going for some surfing in the afternoon. A brilliant way to see a beach a little bit more out-of-the-way.
Dec 02
First day in Portugal and familiar faces
Waking up this morning was magic: Blue skies and such strong sunshine that the sunglasses were absolutely needed. A quick stroll around the center of Faro was enough to decide that this town is not big enough for a day’s walking around.
So, the decision was made to visit some family members who are smart enough to spend two months of the winter in this region instead of the cold Netherlands: Some messages were sent and off I went on the 1 hour and 10 minutes train-ride to Monte Gordo. This turned out to be another reasonably touristy town, but the train-ride was nice, as was the afternoon spent with family under the sunny Portugese sky.
One interesting thing: fishing boats are still used here to make a living for the fishermen. They are dragged out to sea through the sand by a tractor, also a good way to make sure all algae are ‘sanded’ off the bottom…
Nov 20
Ulm – Istanbul trip: the story in a nutshell
You meet some interesting cyclists at a hostel in Lithuania.
You cannot get the idea of a serious cycling trip out of your mind.
You start preparing the bike.
You book a single plane-ticket back from Istanbul.
You pack all you need and leave.
You get off the sleeper train in Ulm in the middle of the night, sit on a bench and wait for the first daylight to appear.
You wait for a farmer to arrive in his car with fresh eggs after you ordered a meal at a restaurant.
You are given apples, pears and tomatoes at the side of the road.
You eat in a German hotel, surrounded by hundreds of firemen, and some Australians that you share desert with.
You are directed to the only open restaurant by a shepherd in a field.
You try and succeed in buying sunscreen from a mini-market by pointing at the sun and showing your red skin.
You cook on a campfire, eat, sing and sleep in a Hungarian corn field with 9 of the nicest strangers who you have just met.
You are unsure about what to expect in Serbia. No, you are not unsure, you are properly concerned from all the bad stories you’ve been told by the media.
You wash your face with water that smells of iron.
You are offered beer and raki by truck drivers at 7:30 in the morning.
Your wheels sink in mud so deep that they stop turning – this goes on for 8 kilometers. Why didn’t you have that raki?
You eat ice-cream.
You watch out for holes that could easily swallow you on the Pancevo Bridge near Belgrade.
Your bike breaks down at dusk in an industrial town with a fully booked hostel and you repair it in the dark in front of a doner-outlet. Just after you washed the grease off your hands, your strange bike is spotted by a French couple who offer you their spare bed for the night. A terrible prospect of camping next to some chemical plant is turned into a a very nice evening with some fellow-travelers.
You are offered a drink by some older men as you refill your water bottles at a tap next to a restaurant. They all explain which road they would take to the Romanian border. All roads are different.
You wait for hours for a ferry to leave, as the crew is drinking beers and sleeping at a nearby terrace. The view is brilliant.
You are scared to death by a apparently light-less car in a tunnel that turns out to be much further away than it sounded.
You ride through the most spectacular Danube-gorge there is and even on the right side: there is shade and there are beautiful views of the river.
You curse at yourself for riding on this side of the river: The road is far too steep for riding and it is bloody hot.
You are sad to leave Serbia, as you have been received in such a nice and honest way everywhere you went.
You ride through Romania with a fantastic tail-wind, returning high-fives and greetings from almost everyone you pass. Some even stop their car to shoot some video.
You learn from other cyclists who just came from Turkey what the air-horn on their bike is for: In Turkey the one with the loudest horn has the right-of-way.
You get up early and ride through the rain for the 9 A.M. Nikopol ferry-crossing, to be told by the border guard that the ferry will leave at 10:30 today. They do offer shelter for the rain and free coffee for you and the waiting Turkish truck-driver though.
You are accompanied by a Bulgarian local on a bike to the road you lost and pointed in the right direction. This all without having a common language to speak.
You sleep on the floor of a hostel because it is fully booked for Bulgarian Independence Day, are invited for dinner the next day and decide to stay for four days. You have time to sleep-in in the mornings, which is a good thing as the quantities of wine and raki at dinner are larger than what you are used to by now.
You repair the lowest gear om the bike using tie-wraps and tape.
You are unsure of your capabilities for climbing over the only serious mountain on the route. Luckily the railroad is closed for maintenance so there is no alternative but trying it. After 1,5 hours of climbing you reach the top and celebrate at the restaurant.
You are almost there, only 600 kilometers to go.
You ride 30 kilometers over a deserted highway in Greece.
You can talk at length with the director of the Turkish border crossing, as the computer system is down and no-one can get into-or out of the country for an hour.
You read a book in the cool and serene courtyard of a large mosque.
You are chased by a pack of dogs. The Turkish ones are much larger than those in Romania.
You eat watermelons in one field and camp in another.
You relax with chay in a park filled with backgammon playing Turkish men and German fellow-cyclists.
You swim in the Black Sea with locals. Between some floating bottles yes, but in the blue, refreshing sea none the less.
You eat baklava for lunch.
You are afraid of riding into the supposedly very bike-unfriendly Istanbul and postpone arrival to very early in the morning on a Sunday. The patience pays off and you have the most spectacular and quiet views along the way. You arrive in the heart of the city at 10 in the morning, where even a hostel is easily found.
You eat the best kebab ever: Iskender Kebab, originally from Bursa.
You buy six meters of bubble-wrap and tape to pack the bike for the plane-ride back.
You say goodbye to all your new friends and cycle to the airport.
You arrive in your rainy and cold home-country that you secretly have been longing for every now and then.
Your adventure is over – this one…
Oct 14
And back home
As soon as the plane was halfway over the Netherlands, the rain welcomed all passengers on board. What a change: from 25 degrees and sunshine to 6 degrees and rain.
The bike has survived the flight without damage and is in need of some serious cleaning and parts replacement now: The cassette is completely done, especially on the lower gears. The extra weight of the luggage, bad roads and hilly route must have given it a hard time over the last six weeks.
For now: this is the end of the Ulm-Istanbul trip, a great trip to look back on. Back to normal life tomorrow morning…
Oct 13
Cycling to the airport
Last week I discovered a bicycle path along the coast to the East. I asked about it at a bicycle shop and they told me that the path continues for 45 kilometers from Kadikoy. This made me decide not to take a shuttle bus to the Sabiha Gocken airport but to take the ferry to Kadikoy and cycle from there on my own power. The path did continue all the way to the start of the motorway to the airport, although at some parts there certainly was a wall or fence and then the only solution was to turn around and find a way to the main road, follow it for a kilometer or two and then find the bicycle path on the coast again. The path was very beautiful for most of the way. Certainly a pleasant way to get out of getting out of Istanbul.
While talking to some other Dutchies at the airport, it turned out that cycling to the airport (which is about 50 kilometers from the city center) was about as fast as a bus-ride in the afternoon: they had been sitting in the traffic jams for two hours…
Oct 12
Last night in Istanbul
This was the beautiful view of Aya Sofya from the rooftop bar of awesome Cheers Hostel. The Iskender Kebab we had at at backstreet eatery in Taksim (Bursa Kebab) was the most tasty kebab I have ever tasted: flatbread soaked in tomato sauce and white cream, covered with extremely thin slices of meat, roasted peppers and roasted tomatoes and that sprinkled with hot butter. According to a review it must be the Camaro V8 of kebabs.
Last night tonight and then back home tomorrow…
Oct 11
Visit to Prince’s Island Heybeliada
The island Heybeliada is one of the four Prince’s Islands that is reachable by ferry and the second-largest. The 1.5 hour ferry trip made it clear to me how incredibly big the city of Istanbul really is (it doesn’t feel extremely big from the center): The other side of the water was full of buildings when the ferry left, and still full of buildings as far as the eye can see when we were at the dock at the end of the trip. Of course the 13.5 million people must go somewhere…
The island was beautiful and an excellent place to get some rest after all the traffic and people from the city. These islands are free of cars, and many of the streets are so steep that they made them like stairs.
Oct 09
Trip to the Asian side
The ferries are an excellent way to get over to the other side: out of Europe and into Asia in only 20 minutes. Things of course don’t look too different over there, but there surely are less tourists and there is more space. I also succeeded in finding a restaurant where they served real rice-based meals, instead of a kebab dish with some rice on the side. It was so good (and a bit small) that I had two meals 🙂
Oct 08
Food, food and more food
They have so many delicious and beautiful things over here. This Turkish Delight is just one of the examples from the Spice Bazaar.