April 2011

Palermo!

Posted on 2011-04-30 14:03 by rv

We've arrived in Palermo! It was a tougher ride than we expected today, but very satisfying. I'll comment on Palermo later but let's just say I much prefer the beautiful Sicilian countryside. My muscles seem to remember the trip from last year, and I'm finally gaining speed on the uphills. On the downside, I put so much force on the chain that it's now skipping. It started skipping just minutes before we reached our final resting place. I'm slightly sad that my trusty partner had no life left in it. I hope I can fix it...

Also, this is a message to all Sicilian drivers: DO NOT FUCKING HONK YOUR HORN AT US ALL THE TIME! I appreciate the sentiment of saying hello and wanting to cheer us on, but it can be extremely distracting and downright dangerous. I remember one time we were going very slowly up a steep slope and a car decided to honk when it was right behind us, presumably to warn us that a car was coming because the road was not very wide. Not only was the honking useless because we already heard the car coming from miles away, it disrupted our concentration which made us zigzag even more, creating a rather dangerous situation. On another instance there was a long flat road with perfect visibility, yet a car decided to loudly honk just as it was passing us. That's not funny, that's just annoying.

More later!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged sicily

Arrived on the north coast!

Posted on 2011-04-29 20:34 by rv

Very sleepy now, so more later. The ride through the mountains was less difficult than we thought, and took us through some extremely beautiful areas of Sicily. Will post some photos as soon as I get back. One more day until Palermo, and then we're flying back on Monday. Tme goes by so quickly. I want to do more cycling...

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged sicily

Agrigento

Posted on 2011-04-27 17:56 by rv

We arrived in agrigento yesterday after a tough 100+km bike ride through the rain, and a horrible uphill just to get up to agrigento. Today we took a break from cycling and explored the vallei dei templi, a world heritage site of astounding beauty and historical value. Tomorrow we're heading out westward along the coast, and the day after we'll head inland to get to Palermo in time to catch our flight home. A tough couple of days lie ahead..

Posted in Cycling | Tagged sicily

Still alive!

Posted on 2011-04-25 14:55 by rv

Cycled ahead of the storm today with huge winds pushing us forward, and sometimes sideways into the path of a passing car. The winds also made it very dusty and sandy which killed my eyes. Here's some other random notes i feel I should blog about before I forget them.

I actually enjoyed the uphill/downhills more than droning on the long flat roads.
We're fairly on schedule, but according to the weather report every day from now on will be rain and thunder.
Accommodation on Sicily seems to be fairly cheap compared to the rest of Europe. For 20eur you can have a very nice room, quite unlike Amsterdam or Antwerp.
Tim is a mad cycling monster.
Pizza was good.

92km today. Tomorrow we'll either aim for 100 or get stuck in the storm and not do anything at all. More later!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged sicily

Arrived in Sicily!

Posted on 2011-04-22 20:44 by rv

Catania is such a rathole! I am amazed by the third-world countriness of it all. Despite that I am very impressed by the architecture and the general oldness of everything in the city. The cycle ride from airport to city center took us through a very slummy area that looked like a dodgy place in Africa.

Disclaimer: kamil says that everything in this post is a total exaggeration.

More later!

Posted in Cycling , Travel | Tagged sicily

Weaving a Story

Posted on 2011-04-21 09:39 by rv

I like to think of life as a story. I am given certain plot elements: a fondness for cycling, Japan, programming. Certain constraints: I am living in Holland, my friend is in the UK, can't spend money like crazy. Certain 'side characters': friends, random encounters, family. And then I try to think of how I can weave all those elements together into a compelling story. Thinking of my life as a story has always lead me to make interesting decisions.

There are things in my life that did not come about as story elements. The cycling trip to Sicily is one of those. It's just one of those random things I decided to do that I thought I might like. It didn't really have any connection to the ongoing storyline. But that's also the beauty of it: I can use Sicily as a motivation to the change the main storyline. It's become a supporting element of a larger whole.

Just like any other creative work you need inspiration to build it. A life story is no different. I cycled for weeks in Japan last year without seeing how to wrap up my story there. Finally, one day while cycling along a sunny road, everything snapped into place and I saw how I could finish up the Japan trip and return to Holland for a while in a way that would satisfy my sense of story. And reality followed my planned storyline perfectly: I took a ferry from Kyushu to Tokyo, visited all my favorite places one last time before taking the plane back to Holland and surprising my parents by cycling home and suddenly showing up in their garden. A happy season finale if there ever was one.

The most logical path is not always the most entertaining. The one time I chose a logical path for myself (working in the UK), which was without a doubt the smartest thing for me to do at the time, I ended up being bored and sidetracked in a different story. Although I quit my job and went back to Holland I couldn't quite see how to continue the story from there. That's when I realized: everything up til this moment, the Sicily trip, has been just filler. It's not relevant to the main storyline at all. The main storyline continues in Sicily ad in Seychelles and also the Japanese language test I will be taking in July.

The break period is over and a new season is beginning. I found some inspiration last night on how to continue the story after the Japanese test, but I think I need a few more elements until I can weave a proper continuation. Until then, enjoy the new season, my friends.

Posted in Thoughts

Pretty red for a white guy

Posted on 2011-04-20 10:59 by rv

Ah, summer is approaching yet again, and as usual my skin turns from bright white to dark red. Sucks to be a whitey sometimes. Last cycling trip I didn't put sunscreen on my arms, thinking the northern European sun would be too weak to cause any problems. The trip before that I did put sunburn, and did not change color at all. This time they're bright red. I did put sunscreen on my face yet it didn't help as much. Today the skin on my face is peeling off. Last year it took me about a month to get my skin used to the sun, I hope it'll go a bit quicker this year.

Posted in Daily Life

This Is What We Do

Posted on 2011-04-17 22:26 by rv

Posted in Cycling , Photography

High-tech restaurant: Inamo St James @ London

Posted on 2011-04-17 00:03 by rv

Went to a very interesting place the other day called Inamo. It's a high-tech restaurant that allows you to order food via a menu that is projected on the table surface, controlled by a touchpad-like area in the corner. Here's how it looks like.

I have to admit that the way it works is really cool. I expected it to be a bit more high-tech though, with finger-tracking, cameras etc. Instead, it's just the old-fashioned touchpad with a regular screen (albeit projected). Projecting the dishes on the plate when you choose them is brilliant. It might be worth mentioning that the projections are a lot larger than the actual food. The actual portions are very small and a bit overpriced. I'd say it's worth visiting to play with the menu, then get the hell out of there and eat cheap food somewhere else. Still, a very worthwhile experience. More restaurants should do this!

Some more info and photos over on Xi's blog.

Posted in Daily Life , Tech

Richmond

Posted on 2011-04-16 16:02 by rv

Posted in Photography , UK

April 2011

Older posts →