Eurotrip Recap
What follows are my reflections on a European trip from November 4th to the 14th, 2011, one month after its completion. The updates preceding this one contain additional pictures a race report from Athens.
Before we start, my flight out of DFW to Madrid was delayed 3 times: 6:45, 7:15, 7:40, and 7:50. This plus adverse weather had the effect of reducing an 8 hour layover to 5 hours, preventing any thoughts of leaving the airport in Madrid. By the way, it’s a nice airport with very cool architecture. The service at the cafes leaves much to be desired but the Aceite de jamón was great.
The best things in Italy were food and family. My sister Nicky, her husband Harley, and their 1-year old daughter Quinn were around to keep me company and show me around Vincenzo’s local attractions. It’s a small town but everyone is friendly, especially the small business owners and neighbors in their neighborhood. The wine and olive oil generally flowed freely.
Nicky and Harley’s apartment and the view from it were breathtaking. Despite the rain and clouds each color was vivid and visibility was high. Their balcony wraps around 3 sides of the building and a bedroom is lofted above the living room. In the below picture, their apartment is the red portion of the building to the left of the windows. It was great.
On day two we went to Venice, where I had the “Special Toast.” I laugh just typing it, but it was literally the best meal of the trip. On the other hand, it cost us about 10 Euros just to sit down, 6 Euros per class of wine, and 8 Euros for the “Toast.” Worth it once but never again. The pictures from within Venice didn’t turn out very well because it was dark and rainy, and the only things I liked about the city were the architecture and Plaza San Marco. The little shops were too touristy and most of the food is available in other portions of the country for a fraction of the cost.
Day three involved a car ride through the Alps towards Munich and 28 Euros worth of tolls. Ouch. The Austrian countryside was beautiful, with the roads carved into valleys filled with small communities of grape farms. I’d love to spend a week in one of these towns relaxing with the locals. By the way, Austria had the best highway rest stop I’ve ever seen. A cappacino and beer are the most welcome things in the world to break the monotony of a 6 hour car ride.
In Munich we stayed at a Wombats hostel in a room for 6, with only the 3 of us plus the baby. We were within walking distance of the local Augustiner brewery and the City Center, which contained, among other things, the Hofbräuhaus and Rathaus-Glockenspiel. We spent a lot of time in these areas drinking Dunkels and Lagers and eating brauts. Unfortunately, I was only in the city long enough to explore that which was within walking distance, so I missed out on a lot that Munich has to offer so I’d love to go back.
From Munich I waved goodbye to Nicky and Harley and boarded a direct flight to Athens. On the first day there were no Marathon Tours-related events, so I decided to walk to the hotel from the bus stop at Syntagma Square, which is directly adjacent to both Parliament and the best shopping in Plaka. On this first night I ran into a lot of graffiti left over from the riots but in general the city was calm and the only broken windows were at Starbucks. The views, smells from street vendors, and people were amazing, but nobody had a damn clue where my hotel was. I lugged my backpack around for 3 hours while walking about 8 miles before finally stumbling into someone who recognized the street name. It wasn’t in a bad location, but the street was only two blocks long and sparsely populated.
Once in my hotel I unpacked and ran into my roomie, Jim, a retired ultra-marathon runner from Florida. We made the trek to the 5-star hotel occupied by the other half of the Marathon Tours group and took in the best views of the city over some Metexa and Ouzo.
The next day we toured many of the sites of Athens, including several hours at the Acropolis. The views were phenomenal but the renovation scaffolding was all over the place. I can’t even begin to recite all of the history I learned during the trip, but I’m sad to report that Pheidippides was not the man to run 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce Greek victory over the Persians - it was just a messenger who nobody remembers the name of. I suggested they call him “Brent” as a placeholder but it didn’t go over well… at least Pheidippides did run a 150 mile stretch at another point in time.
At this point it’s probably relevant to mention the race. It was cold, rainy, windy, and sitting around for 2 hours before the start sucked. Regardless, I kept high spirits during the run and never hit a wall. The official pictures weren’t worth purchasing and my camera-holder stayed at the hotel because of the weather conditions so I literally have no pictures of myself before, during, or after the race. That, my friends, is my biggest regret.
I hope to take more trips with Marathon Tours. With a shared hotel room the price was right, they took care of 90% of the headaches related to international travel, and they showed introduced me to a lot of culture and entertainment I would have otherwise missed. The people I met on the trip were fantastic, from the marathon “virgins” to the guy celebrating his 100th finish. Runners are required to have strange and fascinating personalities I guess, and the stories, anecdotes, and quips in this group were second to none. Bravo, runners.
