If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

We have officially finished editing our media trip to California.  To say the least it was a success.  We closed a few deals with sponsors, made a lot of great contacts and secured a few deals for content syndication with the media.  We have put together the following video for your viewing pleasure to get a glimpse of the more fun aspects we managed to fit in here and there.

 

 Media-Sponsor Trip California Nov 06: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It was about a 8 hour train ride from Prague to Stuttgart which was our next destination. Again my dad had some business to attend to and I was not going to argue since that business was in the Black Forest retreat of Baden Baden. This was another resort town founded by the Romans centuries ago because of the natural mineral baths that dot the foothills of the Black Forest. We had the luxury of staying at one of the nicer places in town, and it happened to be the only accommodation that had its own mineral baths and pools on location. While my dad did his thing, I marinated in the soothing warm waters and enjoyed the steam baths and saunas. Life could definitely be worse. If you have not realized in some of the pictures by now, my hair is getting quite long. In fact, it is the longest it has ever been in my life. Walking around the steam baths in my soft robe, long hair dangling and some tats showing, I couldn’t help but feel like a rocker on break from a tour. A subsequent photo would reveal that I am becoming quite the hair lord.

After a day in Baden Baden, we took a drive through the Black Forest. Too bad a lot of the forest is being harvested for timber products. These days the forest is not looking so black. One treat was a tour of the spectacular Hohenzollern Castle. This is a magnificent building perched on top of a large hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. One of the things my Mom wanted to do when she came to Germany was visit a castle, which she did, however, it is too bad she missed out on this one because it was pretty amazing. The views were astonishing and the history of the castle well preserved. The castle was home to the rulers of the Prussian empire and well, it’s good to be king.

After winding our way back to Stuttgart, we caught the train and headed to Cologne for last few days of the trip. Cologne is quite a spectacular place as well and was arguably my favorite city that we visited on the trip. Immediately upon exiting the main train station in Cologne you are greeted by the towering Dom (cathedral). This is probably one of the most magnificent cathedrals in the world and it dwarfs everything else around it. The interior is quite breathtaking and exhibits some of the most intricate stained glass windows I have ever seen, which, by the way, can all be enjoyed free of charge. There was , however, a charge of 2 Euros to climb the 509 steps to the top of one of the towers and it took some convincing but I did manage to get my dad to climb up there with me. (Better get used to stuff like this Dad if you want to do a triathlon!) Upon reaching the top, sweaty and out of breath, myself included, you are presented with a magnificent view of the city of Cologne. It is pretty hard to imagine the people that climbed up here to chisel away back in the days when OHSA or it’s German counterpart didn’t exist. After taking in the view, we made our way back down, avoiding along the way what was left of someone’s lunch. Obviously the height, heat and close confines didn’t treat someone too well.

With all of the exercise in the afternoon heat, I decided that it would be a good idea to cool of with some good beer. Cologne just happens to be home to probably one of the best beers in the world - Kölsch. This is a golden, delicious beer served in a .2 liter thin glass and is unique to Cologne. In the afternoon sun I downed about 4 of them in no time flat. We enjoyed the cool beverage in the beer garden of the famous Brauhaus Früh. This place is a beer hall that serves up the beloved Kölsch in a seemingly never-ending stream, and just so happened to be on the first floor of the inn where we were staying. We spent a couple of days exploring Cologne, which is by no means enough time to enjoy all that the city has to offer. Cologne was a major trading center in the medieval times and has quite an interesting history all well documented at the Cologne City Museum. After a stroll down by the Rhine and a visit to another beer garden, it was time to catch the train back to Frankfurt and our flight home. In all, I spent 3 weeks in Germany and as usual, it went by far to quickly. I saw some great places, made some great new friends and obviously enjoyed my fair share of German cuisine and alcoholic beverages. I look forward to going back soon as I have a score to settle with the Quelle Challenge, a bike ride in the Alps to attend to and the northern half of the country yet to explore.

For more pics from my trip, visit the following link.

After 10 days, my mom had enough of my Dad and I, so she headed back to the States. My Dad had planned on staying with me the remainder of my trip and we were getting along well enough and it was going to be good to spending some time with him. We had a rail pass and were close enough to the Czech border that I wanted to jump over to Prague for a few days. I had heard many great things about Prague, and of course, wanted to check it out for myself. My Dad was content with staying in Germany, but I managed to convince him to jump on the night train (had to get a Guns n Roses reference in there)  with me for the 6 hour ride east to Prague. Once you get off the train, you realize that you are definitely in a different country. The sights are different, the smells are different, the people are different and the language is different. Just when I was getting comfortable understanding and communicating in German, I have to go and confuse my brain by introducing the Czech language to it.

We met a nice girl at the train station who after some bartering, agreed to rent an apartment to us for the bargain price of about 40 U.S. a night. The apartment was on the outside of the town center, but was only 10 minutes away on the subway. We found our way to the right stop and right away realized that we were entering a whole new world - Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic has only been a country for a dozen or so years and before that, was in the grip of the Iron Curtain and this was well evidenced by the soviet era apartment blocs that greeted us on the surface. Finding the place was a little bit of a chore and after about 30 minutes of walking up and down the block and unsuccessfully asking people in english and german (who spoke little of either)  if they knew the address I was seeking, I found a bike messenger who pointed us right direction. The apartment was actually quite nice and located on the 15th floor of a the building which offered good views of the 20 story apartment bloc right outside of our window. After relaxing a bit from the train ride and the expedition to find the flat, we grabbed the subway and headed back into the heart of Prague.

Prague is without a doubt a beautiful city. The architecture is amazing and the skyline is dotted with ancient churches, cathedrals, castles and the palace on top of the hill just west of the river is quite a magnificent site to be sure. Unfortunately, Prague has become quite the tourist trap. Maybe it was the time of year I happened to be there, but I have never seen so many people walking the streets in one city at one time. Las Vegas on News Years Eve would not even come close in terms of how many people were out and about. The streets of Prague, especially in Old Town are pretty narrow and it was literally shoulder to shoulder in some spots. Additionally, in the handful of years or so since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the people of Prague have become quite good capitalists. It costs money to do and see everything. Many of the churches and cathedrals in Germany are open to the public free of charge, although they do like you to make a contribution. This was not the case in Prague. Any building that was of any historical or architectural significance had a viewing fee associated with it. It even cost money to walk down a historic street lined with 16th century shops, which of course were selling various things, and every corner seemed to have a cheesy souvenir shop on it.  Don’t get me wrong, Prague is a  magnificent and picturesque place, but somehow, the whole vibe of the place kind of made me feel like I was in Disneyland. They even lit up the more dominant buildings at night just to complete the effect. I was a little disappointed at the taste left in my mouth, so there was nothing else left to do but wash it down with some good Czech beer. However, we did manage to find a few cool places off the well-beaten path. We explored and old wall that was built several hundred years ago just for the sake of giving people something to do and we toured the Prague Technical Museum which completely thrilled my dad to no end. After a few days in Prague, I felt like I had seen enough, (although I will never get tired of seeing all of the beautiful women the Czech Republic has to offer!) so it was off to the train station and back to Germany.

For more pics of my trip, visit the following link.

While I was in the Munich area, I was lucky enough to stay in the small resort town of Tegernsee for a few days. This is a pretty sweet place. It is a small village located on the banks of a beautiful sub-alpine lake. The town itself is located right on the Austrian border in the foot of the Alps. Needless to say, there is a lot of posh stuff going on in Tegernsee, but hey, every once in a while you need to kick back and relax, especially if it is on someone else’s tab. My dad was meeting with some potential business associates in the Munich area and they recommended Tegernsee, which was about a 30 minute drive south since all of the hotels in the Munich region were booked solid as a result of the World Cup.

One of these business contacts was a really interesting guy named Lothar. Lothar is one of the top guys at W.L. Gore - the people who make Goretex and a bunch of other technical fabrics for various applications. Lothar is a serious biker. He was excited that I was out there doing the race in Roth and actually wanted to go on a ride with me that Wed. after the race. Things did not work out that way, but I can see why he wanted to show me that some of the best biking in the world is right here in this region of Germany. As I mentioned, Lothar is a serious biker, no sissy Ironman rides for Lothar, he competes in ultra distance bike rides. These rides encompass hundreds of miles in some pretty serious terrain. On top of being a true endurance cyclist, Lothar is also a very accomplished handglider pilot. We tossed around the idea of taking me up for a ride - Tegernsee is also home to some amazing handgliding spots, but unfortunately the weather would not allow it.  Instead, we settled for a good Bavarian lunch, with beer of course, followed up by the traditional shot of Schnapps. We also talked for a while about Lothar’s travels in the Middle East. He has been there a dozen or so times both on business and to enjoy in some of the best handgliding around. His knowledge of the region and experiences were fascinating to listen to and I am now, more than ever, excited to travel through that region. We may now even have a few handglider pilots down there to meet up with and experience the Middle East from a whole new perspective. Tegernsee was a quite beautiful place, and I can see why people like Jan Ulrich come here to unwind (especially since he now has a lot more freetime on his hands), and I will definitely be back here to take Lothar up on that bike ride.

For more pics from my trip, visit the following link.

I actually managed to recover from my Iron-debacle pretty quickly. The next day I was feeling good and my stomach was pretty much back to normal. After hanging out for another day in the Hilpoltstein area, My parents and I headed down to the Munich area for some sights and suds. For anyone who has driven on the highway (autobahn) in Germany, you know what I am talking about when I say you have to constantly check in your rearview mirrors for fast approaching vehicles. As you may or may not know, there are long stretches of the autobahn where there is no posted speed limit. As a result, if you are not flying down the road at 130 mph, you had better keep your ass in the right-hand lane. Even passing people requires some careful analysis and good depth perception. You may look in the mirror to see that no one is behind you and it is clear to pass and as soon as you move out, someone has caught up to you and is about to crawl into your tailpipe. The funny thing is, there are a fair share of supercars out there (Ferrari’s, Porsche’s etc.) but the people that you really have to keep your eyes out for are the people going down the road at 120 mph in their grocery grabbin’ mini vans.

About an hour south of where we were staying in Hilpoltstein and just outside of Munich is the town of Dachau. Dachau was home to one of the first concentration camps built by the Nazis. Given that you have to be exposed to the good, bad and the ugly to experience all a location has to offer, we decided to stop by and take a look at the camp grounds. The Germans have done an excellent job of maintaining the camp in its original condition. This was done on purpose, so you feel the full power that a place like this has to offer. They have also put together a very impressive collection of photos, artifacts and audio/video presentations chronicling the life of a "resident" at the camp. In the grand scheme of things, not that many people lost their lives at Dachau. Only 30,000 people were killed here over the course of its operation before being liberated by American troops in April 1945. Most of the inhabitants of the Dachau camp died from being put to hard labor, or as a result of medical experiments conducted by Nazi doctors. There were ovens built within the camp perimiter, however, according to witnesses, the ovens were not used to exterminate people, just as a means of disposing of the bodies of those who had perished there. Still, 30,000 people is a staggering number, and Dachau was the model from which the Nazis built subsequent death camps.  Walking around the large grounds of the Dachau camp gives you a very uneasy feeling. Not too many people are talking and an unsettling silence looms over the entire site even though over 1,000 people are present learning more about the horror that occurred here.  Again, words and pictures really can’t describe what you feel walking around a place like the Dachau concentration camp. It is one of those places that you have to experience in person in order to get a true understanding and comprehension of the magnitude of one of the darker moments in human history.

After spending quite a bit of time touring the grounds of Dachau (we literally had to sprint for the gate or risk spending a night there) we headed down to Munich. After unwinding from the experience of viewing the concentration camp and the site where thousands of people died, we decided to head into the heart of town to grab some food and get consumed by the rage that is the World Cup. Munich is famous for its beer halls and one of the most famous is the Hofbrauhaus. People have been drinking beer at the Hofbrauhaus since 1592 and it is home to some great beer, traditional Bavarian music and more Korean tourists that you would ever expect. My parents don’t really drink that much and I don’t think my mom has had a beer in nearly 20 years, but since we were at the Hofbrauhaus, I made her get an original haus beer ( I did end up finishing about half of it for her, but I give her an A for effort). After throwing down a few liter beers and some wurst, it was off into the hordes of French and Portuguese football fans that had descended on Munich. We were lucky enough to be in town for the semifinal match and the whole area was crazy. Fans were dressed in country colors, beer in hand walking around pretty much everywhere singing one of the many national fight songs of their respective squads. Based on my experience of the whole night, I think a lot of people would have liked to see Portugal win, but it was not in the cards for them as France put on a good show, although they would go on to loose to Italy in the finals. Munich was a great place and I definitely want the chance to go back and enjoy more of the beer halls that I did not get to see.

For more pics of my trip, visit the following link.