Visiting home
Posted by Anya in Uncategorized on October 29, 2009
I just got back from a couple of weeks in Europe. BIG thanks to everyone who put me up and fed me. It was great to catch up with so many friends and to spend a tiny slice of life with so many of them. It just highlighted how fast time flies – the babies I saw last time are now toddling and talking and generally turning into human beings and someone rearranged the whole of Cambridge town centre in my absence. What was once so familiar has been playing musical chairs in my absence.
It ended up being a bit of a gastronomic tour (Oh how I miss good food) but of all the wonderful meals, the ones that most stuck in my mind were both very simple and somehow caricatures of nationality:
Afternoon tea at the Westminster Inn, London
Bavarian Breakfast overlooking the Rathaus in Munich
Early outdoor advertising – that still works today
Posted by Anya in Activities on September 12, 2009
Early print ads
All around lovely Steamboat Colorado is a lot of nothing. It is fantastically beautiful nothing, but pretty empty nonetheless. It was while we were riding along stunning US40 towards Steamboat that we first saw the FM Light and Sons signs. These advertise all the sorts of “Western Wear” that your average well-dressed Cowboy migt require – from Stetson hats to boots, checked shirts, even horse blankets and, more inexplicably, dungarees, each category with its dedicated signs.
It seemed like every few miles there was another one that entreated us to visit the store in town. It turns out they actually work. The first few amused us, the next half dozen made us curious, so after a hundred miles or so we felt that we HAD to visit this shop that had given us so much reading material on the way. So go we did. And to cut a long story short we ended up leaving with a pair of FABULOUS boots each and a wonderful boot puller-offer. A device no home should be without.
We marketing folk are suckers for good advertising, so I looked into the history of the shop. It turns out that around 300 of them were erected in the early 1900s by a marketing genius of his time who made sure that anyone coming into town from any direction knew all about his shop. Many of them were taken down over time but those that remain today are considered historic landmarks and are regularly maintained. Not a bad legacy from the marketing man who secured all that outdoor ad space for free for generations to come 🙂
The loneliest road – US 50
Posted by Anya in Activities on September 11, 2009
We just got back from a fantastic long weekend riding the US 50 – the loneliest road. Starting in Denver we travelled the 1000 or so miles all the way over to Lake Tahoe. The name was originally intended as a bit of an insult (let’s face it there isn’t much there) but the enterprising Nevada tourist board decided to reposition the slogan as a positive, highlighting the peace and tranquility that allow you to comune with nature rather than the absence of any apparent civilisation. It was amazing, completely desolate but strikingly beautiful.
We rode along well maintained roads for mile after mile after mile as the scenery subtly changed. Travelling through these beautiful empty spaces made me think of the earliest pony express riders who took this route coast to coast. Actually apart from the road itself, I don’t think much has changed. You can imagine them dodging Indian arrows in many potential ambush sites. Judging by the original job ad it is amazing they got anyone at all to do it.
Pilgrimage to NECCA
Posted by Anya in Activities, Circus stuff on September 10, 2009
In the depths of darkest Vermont is a most excellent Circus school – NECCA. A few of us have been talking about going for some time now so go we did. Lourdes, Brendan and I drove the couple of hundred miles up to Vermont on a Friday night (although it seemed rather further as I was too busy chatting to heed dire warnings about avoiding Manhattan on a Friday night – urgh).Anyway we were able to improve some skills in familiar areas (trapeze and rope) and learn some completely new ones (Flying trapeze for me, Straps for Brendan the crazy fool, and Chinese pole for us both). What a laugh. Here’s the trapeze:
And some Chinese pole. This is crazy – you can actually walk up the pole and do some other things. Actually looking at the photo I don’t even believe I did that ;-).
As for Brendan…he did straps. And did a really good job of it too.
Yet more troubling signs
Posted by Anya in Stuff that's different and weird, Two nations divided by a common language on August 22, 2009
At the beginning and end of each bridge here are signs that denote the beginning and end of “Bridge Jurisdiction”. I can’t help wondering what exactly the scope of that jurisdiction is. Beyond the upkeep of the structure itself, can the nameless body responsible for it set its own laws, then act as judge, jury and executioner in its own domain. Maybe the bridge jurisdiction includes the ability to perform weddings and bar mitzvahs. What can they do? We need to know.
Abbreviate! Abbreviate
Posted by Anya in Stuff that's different and weird, Two nations divided by a common language on August 22, 2009
We know that time is money but Americans seem too busy to actually write out words properly. This leads to all sorts of lazy spelling – such as ax, drive thru, lite, nite and my pet hate “EZ” (that’s “easy” for the uninitiated – *shudder*).
The most incomprehensible examples of all appear on road signs – it seems that every “Twp” (township) has a “byp” (bypass), and the towns themselves are positively riddled with “ped xings” (zebra crossings – or maybe pelican ones). Now this would even make sense if the signs were tiny. But they aren’t – they can manage to write something like “
I guess we Brits have the last laugh. The yanks might be able to speak the language (sort of) but they’ll never get the hang of the spelling.
Wild West Bike Tour 2009
Posted by Anya in Activities on August 6, 2009
We’re back from an absolutely amazing week’s trip that took us through some of the most breathtaking scenery I’ve ever seen. The roadtrip was 2400 miles in just under 7 days. What an experience.
We had the best of roads and weather (many, many long winding curves and dazzling sunshine) and also the worst (mile upon mile of gravelly bumpy roadworks, driving rain, hail and even crazy sidewinds). I’ve come to the conclusion that long distance bike riding is a bit of a mind game. As soon as I stopped thinking of this as my summer holiday and started considering it to be an adventure – I loved EVERY minute, even the ones when I was getting soaked and hanging on with only grim determination keeping things upright (ok and half a ton of metal).
Highlights: some of the most unspoilt and stunning scenery that rolled past, changing every 20 minutes, long windy roads, the sheer learning experience (now I KNOW I can deal with almost everything), the companionship of sharing the experience riding with friends (chatting using the headsets helped). I LOVED Denver and the last night having a smart dinner and staying in a plush hotel was the perfect end to the week.
Lowlights: food wasn’t great. In fact I thought I might actually turn into a burger at one point. Bossiness (did I miss the vote for a leader becuase I’m on holiday and will not be told when and where to stop thank you).It ended too soon. Bring on the next trip.
I’ll do more of a write up but in the meantime there are some of the pics from the trip here.
Excitement building here
Posted by Anya in Activities on July 23, 2009
The countdown is on – the big trip starts on Sunday – the bikes are already there and I’m getting insanely excited. Here’s the route:
Starting in Colorado – we head up through Yellowstone, up to Glacier Park near the border and then in a loop back down to the starting point. I saw a tiny fraction of the route last year and it was breathtaking. I can’t wait.
I am a bit worried about a few things though to be honest:
- quite a lot of rain forecast. Boo. NOT the plan for a summer holiday.
- Likely to be lots of wiggly roads – meaning intense concentration and slow progress. So for a couple of days there will be severe danger of arse coma.
- Idaho. I don’t actually know anything at all about Idaho but most of the vowel states I’ve been in have not been great. Illinois is OK but it is all downhill with Iowa, Indiana, Ohio.
Elysian wheels
I know I’ve done nothing but complain about the cars here, the driving, the roads etc …but there’s hope. I’m completely hopelessly in love with driving again. This is what it took:
Bliss.
It’s wurst than that….
Posted by Anya in Activities, Crimes against food, Stuff that's different and weird on July 20, 2009
This weekend we visited the Poconos Wurst festival, drawn by the promises of “it’s like an Oktoberfest in July”.
- Folk dancing – check
- People wearing dirndls and bells (?!) check
- Sausages – check – although far fewer than you’d expect at a dedicated festival
- Oompa bands – check
- Lashings of German beer – erm well, not really. There were (oh the horror) some variants of Budweiser, some Leffe and Hoegaarden beer (Belgian of course. That might be close enough geographically for the Yanks but not for me!). Not a Hefeweizen in sight. The disappointment was huge but somewhat drowned in some local Amber Ale washed down with what they call brats.
The best part of the trip was the trip itself – which took us through some of the most beautiful Pennsylvania countryside. Following the Delaware river North revealed stunning rural scenes and many leafy lanes to zoom along. Glorious.