The 100th Tour de France: stage 1

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Kathryn

I won’t tell you exactly how many hours before the cyclists even started I arrived at the finish and I won’t tell you how many before my alarm went I was already awake (don’t worry, the sun was already up…I think), so I’ll just say that I’d left the Corsican town of Bastia and walked the final 2 kilometers of the route of the centennial edition of the Tour de France to grab this picture perfect spot 5 meters past the finish line with plenty of time to spare.

 

I passed the hours the way I usually do: making friends with my fellow cycling enthusiasts who arrive way too early and watching the crew finalize everything for the afternoon. The Tour also has fantastic people watching so here are a few of my favorites.

 

Among the uniquely Corsican things going on was what the French gentleman next to me said was a new local sport. I don’t know what it’s actually called but it seemed to involved an aquatic jet pack! The man in the superhero (or villain?) costume would rise higher and higher until he was easily 15 feet in the air, supported by a waterfall cascading from his feet. It was odd but really cool.

 

There are plenty of TV broadcasters doing interviews and filming pieces in the morning. I was excited to see Irish cycling legend Sean Kelly being interviewed just a few feet away from me but I was even more excited that he happily came over when I called to him to take a photo together!

 

I also spotted Phil Liggit (in the purple shirt) taking a break with some colleagues. If you’ve ever watched the Tour in the states, you’ll recognize his voice.

 

There are often former cyclists at the Tour and this being the 100th edition, both Mario Cippolini, an accomplished Italian sprinter, and Bernard Hinault, 5 time Tour winner, gave the crowd friendly waves.

 

Slowly the team buses trickled in well ahead of the athletes and made their way to a field that would serve as the parking lot for the day.

 

On the opposite side of the barricades, just before the finish line was the inevitably swanky VIP area. Believe it or not, I personally much prefer to spend the whole day sitting in the sun and chatting with other fans instead of mingling and eating hors d’oeuvres, but the good thing about the VIP area is that there was a visible screen broadcasting the race.

 

After the publicity caravan passed, fans had crowded in and the photographers took their places.

 

And then about 15 minutes before the cyclists were due to arrive and amidst reports that the peloton was speeding up, disaster struck disguised as the Orica Green Edge bus. Shortly after the publicity caravan had passed, the finish line had been mechanically lowered down a couple of feet. In the back of my head, I kept thinking that I hadn’t yet seen the Orica Green Edge bus pass. I’ve been a huge Robbie McEwen fan for years now and as he now works for the team, I was hoping to wave to him on the bus. Unfortunately, these 2 thoughts of the lowered finish line and the missing bus didn’t connect in my brain.

 

CRASH. CRUNCH.

 

The bus was too tall for the shortened finish line and threatened to pull it completely off its posts.

 

In no time, everyone had their phones out to take pictures and tweet what had happened.

 

I felt so badly for the driver. He kept burying his face in his hands and clearly just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide, probably thinking he’d just ruined a Tour stage. Poor guy.

 

The police were on the scene and, since no one was hurt luckily, they pushed the crowd back–and I do mean pushed. One policeman in particular was not at all hesitant to shove people back and one spectator in particular was a little too keen to push back so I did my best to get away from those 2 hotheads, though it wasn’t easy.

 

There were more rumors and speculation than the morning after prom: would the stage be shortened? Did the peloton know about the large bus smack in the middle of the finish line? Would this muck up the stage? Was the finish line stable enough to not fall on the riders? Would the cameras mounted on the finish line’s posts still work?

 

The bus was stuck for about 8 minutes and, incredibly, they managed to unstuck it without doing too much more damage about 8 minutes before the cyclists burst on the scene.

 

Of course, in the chaos of moving a few hundred spectators back, I lost my beautiful spot I’d worked so hard to protect all day (there was a tired French woman who did not share my same idea of personal space) so when I knew the riders were approaching, I put my camera on rapid fire, aimed, and hoped for the best!

 

I lucked out and got some great shots of Marcel Kittel (Germany, Argos Shimano) celebrating his stage victory! I don’t know how it happened (there was word some of the cyclists thought the 3km to go mark was actually the finish line) but Kittel beat Cavendish (UK, Omega Pharma-Quick Step) for the 2nd time this season (Kittle out sprinted Cav at Scheldeprijs in Antwerp in April).

 

I did a sprint of my own and headed deeper into the finish area, hoping to grab a couple of photos of the riders coming in. I immediately happened upon Ryder Hesjedal (Canada, Garmin), who was closely examining his bike. I knew there had been a bad crash with about 4km remaining, but I didn’t know who had been involved, so I was relieved to see Hesjedal appeared to be in 1 piece. With my Canadian flag in hand, I started yelling his name and, to my total astonishment, he turned around and said, “Yes?” Uh. Um. I was so focused on getting his attention that I hadn’t thought any farther than that! So I just said, “Hello from Canada,” and he said something along the lines of, “Hi, thanks,” before turning back to his bike.

 

The cyclists–and the fans–poured in. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium, BMC) below in the stripes of the reigning world champion.

 

Marcel Kittel was still celebrating his victory and the press and fans mobbed him on his way to the doping control tent.

 

Markel Irizar (Spain, RadioShack Leopard Trek) cycled to his team bus showing evidence of the crash.

 

Shortly after, Murilo Fischer (Brazil, FDJ) appeared to avoid putting his right hand on his handlebars, suggesting a possible and highly dreaded collar bone injury.

 

Poor Tony Martin (Germany, Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was so banged up in the crash, he couldn’t help but moon everyone.

 

I headed for the Garmin bus (as I tend to do) and saw Hesjedal cooling down alongside teammate Dan Martin (Ireland).

 

Jonathan Vaughters came out from the bus and gave a couple of brief interviews. But most importantly, I got a picture with him! Since Hesjedal didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood, I told Vaughters that if Hesjedal wanted Nanaimo bars, to let me know through twitter and I’d gladly bring them to the team time trial next week.

 

It always surprises me how just a couple of teams will have huge crowds around their buses while others are completely ignored. OP-QS, Sky, and Cannondale were lined up next to each other so it seemed to form one continuous mob. Despite the people, I still got a shot of Froome (UK, Sky) cooling down.

 

I ventured over to the Euskaltel-Euskadi bus just to see what was happening. I hadn’t heard at this point who had won the other jerseys, so I was happily surprised to see the polka dot jersey of the King of the Mountains entering the Euskaltel bus. Unfortunately I was so surprised that my camera was turned off and I missed him. I started to walk away and made it a few paces before I saw a guy heading in my direction holding the king of the mountains flowers and trophy! I made myself patiently and politely wait until he was done talking before asking in Spanish if I could take a picture with the flowers and trophy. He was happy to let me hold the flowers but thought it best for him to hang on to the trophy.

 

At some point, I added to my water bottle collection, this time from the Russian team Katusha.

 

I happened to pass by the back of the OP-QS bus just as Cav, holding his daughter and accompanied by his girlfriend, got in a car, surrounded by press and fans.

 

Not long after, I started to make my exit from the parking lot, but not before an unidentified Vacancesoliel rider winked at me. Of course I made one last stop to the Garmin bus as I’d just heard from new friends that they’d just shaken hands with David Millar (UK). Millar was gone when I got there a minute later, but I did get to wave at Jack Bauer (New Zealand) who was sitting up from in the bus…although I honestly didn’t realize he was trying to put on a pair of pants at the time. Sorry, Jack!

 

I did get to redeem myself a little later, thank goodness. For the buses, getting out of the parking lot was, well, a parking lot, so I was we’ll up the road by the time I saw the Garmin bus approach. Traffic forced them to slow down so I give them a big wave of my Canadian flag and got big smiles and waves from the staff and riders sitting in the window.

 

And that was just the first of 21 stages!

 

Results

1. Marcel Kittel (Germany, Argos Shimano) 4:56:52

2. Alexander Kristoff (Norway, Katusha) +0

3. Danny Van Poppel (Netherlands, Vacansoleil) +0

4. David Millar (UK, Garmin) +0

5. Matteo Trentin (Italy, Omega Pharma-Quick Step) +0

 

 

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4 minute guide to the Giro d’Italia

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Kathryn

Dear reader, allow me to digress from my Egypt postings to talk about cycling! I will certainly put up more about my great trip to Egypt (and a couple of other countries, too!) but it's presently the eve of the 100th edition of the Tour de France and I'm far too excited to think about anything other than cycling at the moment. In case you're less familiar with how the grand tours operate, I've put together a short guide explaining the basic premise based on this year's Giro d'Italia.

 

Happy watching and vive le tour!

 

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Midnight in Giza

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Kathryn

I was tired of standing so I flipped my backpack to its side and sat down. Viraj and I had already been waiting at the train station for close to 2 hours for the overnight train to Aswan to show up when I felt something tap me on my back. I turned around to find a girl, probably 8 years old, gesturing and telling me in Arabic that my shirt had come up and she could see some of my back. I hesitated for a second to gather what she was saying, then laughed and adjusted my shirt.


And that was all it took to break the ice.


Viraj opened a package of biscuits and offered them to the girl, her sister, and father, all of whom politely declined.


He and I started chatting when the girl's father interrupted us to ask how much we had paid at the train station kiosk for a packet of biscuits and a bag of chips. They had come to 7 Egyptian pounds (US $1) which I already knew was too much, but the father shook his head and said in broken English, “No! Two and a half pounds! Outside station, two and a half pounds!” He gave us a sad smile before excusing himself. The girls whispered excitedly with each other and I turned back to talk with Viraj.


A moment later the father returned, presenting Viraj and I each with a bag of chips, proudly declaring, “Two and a half pounds!”


Before we knew it, we found ourselves playing charades and putting the father's limited English to the test. The girls were twins, born 5 minutes apart, with Arabic names meaning sun and moon. They asked if Viraj and I were a couple, something people tend to assume when they see a brown man and semi-brown woman with the same accent traveling together, so we laughed hysterically at the idea, which prompted the father to ask if Viraj was my son! I'm not quite 5 years older than him, so this sent us into another fit of hysterics before I finally announced that he was my little brother. This was completely untrue but was much simpler (and funnier to us) than explaining that we are friends.


We talked about driving cars (at 32, I still don't know how to drive but the older of the twins apparently does), and our respective destinations, among other topics. There were, of course, a few things we weren't able to get across, including one line of questioning accompanied by a particular gesture from the older sister I interpreted to mean either, “Do you swim the breaststroke?” or “Watch me do the Thriller dance.”


By the time our train finally pulled into the station at 1am, just shy of 3 hours late, the girls had given me a Hello Kitty bracelet, I'd given them 2 purple hair bands in return, and the family and I used a cell phone and a camera to take a group photos so we could each remember the kind and amusing strangers who'd given us so much happiness in the middle of the night at the Giza train station.


On the train, Viraj and I found our seats and waved to the girls and their dad as we began the long journey south. They broke into huge grins and waved goodbye.


In the morning, still aboard the train, the Hello Kitty elastic bracelet had left a serious impression on my skin since its too small size was slowly cutting off my circulation, but I wasn't about to take it off.

 

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Giza pyramids, Egypt

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Kathryn

You’ve only got one option today if you’re keen to see the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Fortunately, the Great Pyramid of Giza (not to mention its 2 companion pyramids and the Sphinx) is still pretty damn impressive over 4 millennia after completion.

 

Viraj and I made a beeline for the interior of the Great Pyramid, also known as Khufu. Photos aren’t allowed inside, so we dutifully left our cameras with our guide and climbed up the large stone blocks to reach the entrance. Once inside, we walked through a short corridor with rough stone walls before arriving at a series of steep ascents. Originally, people would have entered the pyramid from nearer the ground level and faced a descent so dramatic that it surely would have been the world’s most fatal slip and slide had the ancient Egyptians been into water parks. The narrow ascending passage arrives at a chamber before continuing onto another ascending passage, this one noticeably wider, ultimately depositing the visitor into the king’s chamber. It’s a large granite room, probably the size of a generous Manhattan studio apartment, empty save for Pharaoh Khufu’s sarcophagus. There really isn’t much to see inside, but it’s incredibly fun in my book to imagine what it must have been like when this room was filled with the pharaoh’s necessities for the afterlife or to think about how the grave robbers managed to break in undetected and loot the place. Getting there is probably half the fun and I actually enjoyed squatting down to crab walk my way up and down the painfully steep slopes.

 

We headed to the medium pyramid next, the pyramid of Khafre, which may appear deceptively large as it sits on a higher platform than the Great Pyramid and its walls form a steeper angle. Like the Great Pyramid, most of the casing stones which would have given the pyramid a smooth effect were stolen at some point in the last several centuries, possibly to build an ever expanding Cairo, though the upper portion still retains some of its casing stones.

Just to emphasize the difference, the following 2 photos show the smooth upper portion and the rough, lower part of the pyramid, respectively.

 

And to highlight just how big the “medium” pyramid is, you’ll get a better sense of scale in the photo below where I give Khafre an official 2 thumbs up.

 

We spent so long walking the perimeter of the pyramid of Khafre that we had to skip visiting the smallest of the 3, the pyramid of Menkaure (below, left), if we were to see the Sphinx!

 

In fact, there are additional satellite pyramids in the vicinity but none are as imposing, well preserved, or as densely located as the 3 main pyramids. Turning away from the 3 pyramids towards the satellite pyramids reveals just how closely the city of Giza encroaches on these ancient treasures.

 

There are actually several ancient sphinxes in Egypt, though the one in Giza dwarfs them all. It really is an amazing sight with the pyramids in the background.

 

Walking alongside the Sphinx, I was surprised to find the seams of the stones and the slight color variations gave it something of a Lego-like appearance. I also couldn’t stop hearing Billy Crystal’s voice in my head from the scene in When Harry Met Sally where he confesses his “theory that hieroglyphics are just an ancient comic strip about a character named Sphinxy.” (Dear reader, it is safe to assume this was running through my head, along with “Walk like an Egyptian” and Steve Martin’s 1978 song “King Tut,” throughout the duration of my time in Egypt.)

 

Like many Egyptian artifacts, the name “Sphinx” comes from the Greek. It is still not completely clear when exactly the Sphinx was built or by whom, though many historians and archaeologists suspect it dates back to Khafre’s reign and that it bares his face.

For some reason, it had never occurred to me that the Sphinx had a tail, so not only was I excited to see the tail, I loved that the tail was curled up in typical feline fashion.

 

The Sphinx with the 3 pyramids of Giza.

 

It was a fantastic but long day. Viraj succumbed to jet lag and napped as we sat dead still in traffic while I caught one last look at the pyramids from the highway.

 

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The step & red pyramids, Egypt

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Kathryn

If you like old things, Egypt is a good destination! My trip there with my friend Viraj (who you may recall from September's Kilimanjaro posts…or you may not) started with a vain attempt to beat Cairo's legendary traffic to get to Saqqara, site of the famous step pyramid, the pyramid of Djoser. Built in the 27th century BC, the pyramid was ground breaking in its day for its size and use of limestone as opposed to mud brick.

 

As you can see from the scaffolding, the pyramid is being restored and preserved–very slowly. Work has virtually stopped since the revolution 2 years ago. But I'm getting ahead of myself. To reach the step pyramid, you first pass through a colonnade.

 

The colonnade leads to the south court where kings would complete a series of tasks after ruling for 30 years to renew their reign.

 

There is a number of ruins in the complex.

 

From here, Viraj and I opted to visit the red pyramid, so named for the reddish hue of the sandstone. It's generally thought to be the first smooth sided pyramid constructed. Itsbaseisso wide that I gave up on trying to fit the whole thing in my shot after walking a good ways off!

 

The real draw of the red pyramid for us was to go inside it. You'll see some scaffolding halfway up the pyramid. At the bottom of the scaffolding is the entrance. From here, it's a long, steep way down to the tomb.

 

The steps lead to 2 connected, vaulted chambers before the final chamber where a mummy was found.

 

The 3rd chamber differs from the first 2 in that it has rough walls which are oriented in the opposite direction from the other chambers.

 

It was thrilling to be in our first pyramid! Our glutes were seriously aching from the steep descent and, after the bright sunshine outside, it seemed so dark. This, combined with the distant echoes of voices and footsteps from the other 1 or 2 tourists visiting and imagining ancient mummies and grave robbers, made it fantastically eerie!

 

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Bologna, Italy & San Marino

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Kathryn

I spent 3 nights in Bologna, but my day trips meant that I was hardly in Bologna at all! I snapped some pictures the afternoon I arrived but I didn't have a chance to investigate too much of the city unfortunately. It had a very different atmosphere than Rome or Florence. Here are a few of my photos from a city I hope to eventually return to.

 

One of my aforementioned day trips from Bologna was to the Most Serene Republic of San Marino just a couple of hours south by train and bus. It's one of those really little countries that often gets overlooked, which is a shame because visiting it is like stepping into a fairy tale. The republic was founded on September 3, 301–nope, not a typo, San Marino really is 1,700 years old.

 

The main attraction in San Marino has to be to the Three Towers. They are a symbol of San Marino and you'll spot them everywhere if you keep your eyes open.

 

The first tower is called Guaita and was built in the 11th century, though it was modified and enlarged as “recently” as the 15th century.

 

A zigzag stone walkway leads along a ridge to the second tower, Cesta, where you'll find a small arms museum inside.

 

Perched on a green cliff, Cesta has a spectacular view of the San Marino and Italy.

 

To reach the top level of the tower, be prepared to climb an insanely steep staircase/ladder.

 

The third and final tower, Montale, is reached by a short walk through a wooded section and is the only tower which is not open to the public. Unlike the other 2 towers which are more like proper forts, Montale is a simple tower.

 

The Piazza della Liberta.

 

There are plenty of churches and museums in San Marino. The Museum of Torture seemed to be a popular one but I figured I'd skip it.

 

I don't usually buy souvenirs when I travel but, like any traveler, I love collecting passport stamps so I shelled out the €5 for a San Marino stamp.

 

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Vatican City

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Kathryn

With a population of just 800, Vatican City is the smallest independent country in the world in terms of both population and area, so I’m guessing they won’t be fielding a bobsled team at the Sochi Olympics next year. But that’s ok because the Vatican is truly an incredible place to visit, even without an Olympics team.

 

First up are the Vatican Museums which house an enormous collection of tapestries, sculptures, mosaics, sarcophagi, porcelain, maps, art, and, most famous of all, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. I was bowled over by the quantity of items on display and by the spectrum of artists with pieces hanging on the walls.

 

Some of the architecture within the museums is quite noteworthy, in particular the spiral staircase just before exiting the building.

 

A large courtyard encircled by a wall of columns leads to St. Peter’s Basilica. The obelisk standing in the center, one of about 25 Egyptian obelisks worldwide outside of Egypt, was brought by Caligula. St. Peter was crucified near this obelisk and so it was later moved here as a testament to his death. The church itself was named for St. Peter who is believed to be buried underneath the altar of this large Renaissance church. The present church took over a century to build before it was completed in 1626.

 

The tall vaulted ceilings and 450 foot dome make the interior feel massive, despite the inevitable number of tourists ambling around.

 

In addition to painting the neighboring Sistine Chapel and being among the many who helped design the basilica during its construction, Michelangelo’s late 15th century sculpture Pietà is displayed in St. Peter’s. The sculpture, featuring a youthful Mary holding Jesus after crucifixion, resides behind bulletproof glass after it was attacked in 1972 by a hammer wielding geologist.

 

It’s worth the entrance fee to climb the series of circular and ridiculously narrow staircases up to the roof where you’ll be rewarded with a view of the Vatican and Rome. When I visited, the Vatican’s gardens were not open to the public, so I was glad to at least see them from above.

 

Back down on the ground, I caught the flamboyantly dressed Swiss Guard as they most unceremoniously changed the guard.

 

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Florence, Italy

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Kathryn

For such a small city center, Florence really packs in a number of sites. The best place to take them all in is from Piazza Michelangelo.

 

Spanning the Arno River is the Ponte Vecchio, a stone arched bridge lined with jewelry shops. Hundreds of years ago, the bridge hosted butchers but the leaders of the day apparently didn't care much for the smell of all that meat in the sun, so a decree came down that only jewelers and other similar professions could set up shop here.

 

Dominating Florence's skyline is the Florence Cathedral, which often is referred to simply by its most distinguishing feature, the Duomo (dome). This Renaissance church was completed in 1436 and boasts a facade of multi colored marble panels. The dome itself remains the largest brick dome ever built.

 

Not to be outshined by the Duomo is Santa Croche, completed 51 years earlier. Michelangelo and Galileo are among the famous Italians buried inside.

 

Lining the entryway to the Uffizi museum are sculptures of famous Italians, including Amerigo Vespucci, for whom the USA was named. I like to wonder how things might be different had the country been named for his surname rather than his first name. The United States of Vespucci, anyone?

 

In my book, the indisputable highlight of Florence is seeing Michelangelo's celebrated sculpture, David. Towering over 5 meters above admirers, David is still stunning half a millennium after his completion. But his size is not his only claim to fame. David is from the biblical story of David and Goliath and his pose is a uniquely contemplative one, rather than the far more common triumphant one. Young Michelangelo, then in his mid 20s, spent over 2 years carefully sculpting David, making the eyes especially thoughtful and the hands dramatically large. Visiting David in his home at the Accademia is almost certain to involve queueing up amongst the thousands of tourists who come daily to see the 360 degree view of the statue looming on a massive pedestal. As no pictures are allowed inside the Accademia, photos of the ersatz sculpture in front of the Palazzo Vecchio will have to suffice.

 

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Nocturnal Rome

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Kathryn

Rome didn’t capture me right away. It was much busier and more crowded than I was prepared for. But each day, I found something that I really enjoyed and I would revisit my favorite spots each night where I appreciated them even more.

 

The Colosseum.

 

The Trevi Fountain.

 

St. Peter’s Basilica.

 

Ponte Sant’Angelo and Castel Sant’Angelo.

 

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument.

 

The Spanish Steps.

 

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Rome, Italy

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Kathryn

Unless I’ve miscounted, you’ll only see the Colosseum for the first time once. I was a bit bleary eyed from my morning flight as the airport bus rounded the corner and suddenly, there it was and my mouth fell open.

Everything about the Colosseum is, well, colossal. It was built over a decade and was hosted spectacular gladiator events to please and pacify the population. As it approaches it 2,000th anniversary, the Colosseum is still in use, mostly for Easter celebrations and tourist sightseeing.

 

The Forum, for centuries the heart of daily Roman life, is just up the street from the Colosseum. Appropriately, it, too, is enormous as it served numerous vital functions for the city.

 

Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy, is immortalized with a huge monument that houses a small museum, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and has a great view of Rome.

 

Piazza Navona has been a public square for the past 500 years. The fountains and statues range from the 16th to 19th centuries.

 

Originally built as a mausoleum for the emperor Haidrian, Castel Sant’Angelo later became a fortress and is now a museum. Ten angels adorn Ponte Sant’Angelo, which leads directly to the museum.

 

The Pantheon has stood here for nearly 2,000 years. It was a temple dedicated to Rome’s pagan gods. The dome, which remains the world’s largest unsupported concrete dome, has a large circular hole in the center so that it does not collapse under its weight. I swear I took photos of the dome, but I can’t seem to find them! It’s always possible I was distracted by the dome and forgot to take pictures… Among those buried in the Pantheon are Raphael, King Vittorio Emmanuele II, King Umberto I and his wife, Queen Margherita, for whom margarita pizza is named.

 

I was hoping to have a seat on the famous Spanish Steps, Europe’s widest staircase, after walking around Rome so much, but it looked like every other foreigner in the city had the same idea.

 

I was completely unprepared for the Trevi Fountain. I’ve seen Vegas’s humble version of the fountain a couple of times so, and I’m embarrassed to admit it, I guess I expected it to be much smaller! For the record, the 18th century fountain consumes the side of a large building and is gorgeous. A larger than life statue of Ocean dominates the scene, which includes two opposing horses: one young, one old; one calm, one restless. I made sure to visit the fountain at least once, and often twice, a day. The lights at dusk make the water shimmer and it’s lovely to sit and watch, even with all of the tourists.

 

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