Trip Report
Edinburgh Marathon
Edinburgh, Scotland
(9/22-9/28/99)
Hi! I’m back for a few days and waiting for Nicole to return from her Asian business trip before we take off again. I feel sorry for her because she is going to be severely jet-lagged!
After Nicole and I parted company in the Vienna airport she proceeded directly to Hong Kong and I flew home to repack and pack up the car. Edinburgh, Scotland was hosting their inaugural marathon on Sept 26th. They have hopes of this race becoming the premier fall marathon for the UK and threw a lot of money at it. It was quite successful and very well organized. But more about the race later.
Since I had not run a marathon in Scotland I had planned to run this one. And since Nicole would be away on business I figured that I might as well leave early and accomplish another goal I had for Scotland –to play golf! I tried unsuccessfully to book tee times at St Andrews and Carnoustie only to find out that singles cannot reserve tee times. You just have to show up and hope you can get slotted with a group.
Since it is an eight-hour drive to Edinburgh I decided to leave a day early and take my time to explore some parts of England and Scotland that I had not visited yet. So I jumped onto the M25 and M6 motorways and made my way north to Leeds @ 100mph. From there I took back roads through the Yorkshire Dales National Park which is very scenic with lots of green hills and valleys. I continued west to the Lake District National Park that is one of the prettiest areas of England.
I stayed a night in Windermere, a small village located on Lake Windermere.
I was curious to see how it compared to Lake Windermere and Inveremere, British Columbia. I had visited the Canadian versions over 30 years ago when my brother lived there. The Canadian Lake is more scenic because the surrounding mountains are higher but the English village of Windermere has more charm because it is much older. My B&B was an old Coach Inn over 200 years old. I walked a few blocks to have an excellent meal of Scottish salmon in a restaurant that has been operated by the same family for over a hundred years. And then I walked across the cobbled street to enjoy an ale in a 400 year-old pub! But both the English and Canadian areas are very pretty and have their own unique charms and I heartily recommend that you visit both if you get the chance.
The next day I continued north through the Park on back roads that went through and over the Cumbrian Mountains (this term is used loosely since the highest peak in England is Scafell @ 3206 feet!). These roads would have scared the crap out of me six months ago but now that I have my Ph.D. in UK driving I rather enjoyed barreling down the 8 to 10 foot wide roads with 4 to 6 foot high stone walls on each side never knowing when you may meet another car or even a bus on the next curve! When you do meet another vehicle you just move over as close to the wall as possible and pray that there is enough room for both vehicles. The English are really good at it –they don’t even slow down!
I passed through some really pretty villages and by some nice lakes and this definitely an area that I want to bring Nicole back to before we leave. It would be great for hiking and walking.
I eventually worked my way back to the M74 motorway that heads north to Glasgow but after a hundred miles got off on back roads again and headed for Lanarkshire (Lanark County). The Wallace Clan grew up in Lanark County, Ontario, Canada and often visited the town of Lanark, Ont. that had a large woolen mill. Lanark, Scotland is a small city that is very old and one of the main attractions is a an old church at the entrance of High (Main) Street that has a life-size statue of Sir William Wallace sculpted into it’s front façade! Lanark is situated in the highlands of Scotland and has a lake, Loch Lanark and the Clyde River flowing through it. A mile south of Lanark is a small village called New Lanark that is designated a World Heritage Village. In 1785 a Scottish entrepreneur built a large woolen mill (at the time the largest mill in Scotland) on the banks of the Clyde River and also built a small village to house his employees. This village has been restored and about 150 inhabitants –mostly direct descendants of the original families- live in the employee houses.
Lanark, Scotland has more going for it than the Ontario version!
Then it was time to head to St Andrews. St Andrews is a small city, about 40,000 people of which half are students at St Andrews College- the oldest college in Scotland. There are also two private schools in St Andrews for lower grades. There is lots of history. St Andrews cathedral was built in the 1200s and there are some castles in the area also. And of course St Andrews is the home of golf and the St Andrews Golf Club. The Club has five golf courses, all are link courses.
After finding my B&B on the edge of town, the owner was able to advise and assist me. He used to be a member of Carnoustie so was able to call and get me added to a group on Friday afternoon. So with that tee time reserved I proceeded to St Andrews Golf Club the next morning to wait in line for an opening. After an hour’s wait I was slotted with an American couple from Boston. I was ready to play at the home of golf -St Andrews! Then one of the following four things (or combination of) happened:
1) My playing partner was a very good golfer and I had to play at his level
2) The golf Gods smiled down on me all day
3) Some ancient ancestral Scottish gene that had played the course 200 years ago took control of my body and played for me
4) I pulled shots out of my butt all day
Because I shot a 42 on the front nine and a 43 on the back nine for the lowest score in three years. And that was only the second game of golf that I had played since retiring!
Believe me I was very excited and happy
After the game I went for my last training run around St Andrews. I explored many parts of the city and ended up running along the West Sands beach where Chariots of Fire was filmed. I got rained on pretty hard but that was ok as the weather during the game had been surprisingly good. I had expected cold rainy weather but got cool sunny weather for most of the week.
By this time I was beginning to feel cocky and confident but that would not last long. Carnoustie brought me back to reality very quickly the next day. Everything you have heard or seen about that course is true. It is a bitch! It is very, very long –two par 4s are 460+ yards. And every hole is target golf since the fairways are so narrow. There is always a wind blowing from some direction from the sea- usually in your face! The rough is very difficult to hit out of. Eventually I realized that the best shot out of the rough was a pitching wedge and hit it as hard as you could and hope that your ball made it back into the fairway! There are bunkers and burns (creeks) everywhere. The bunkers are humongous- again the best shot is a sand wedge just to get the ball back in play. On the 16th hole, a long 245-yard par 3 protected by two huge bunkers, I put my tee shot into the left bunker. My ball was lying in the sand three feet from an 8-foot high vertical wall of grass! I considered hitting backward to the fairway but decided to take one attempt at getting it up over that wall. Somehow I made it, barely, and two-putted a 20-yard putt for one of my few bogeys. But I did manage one birdie- on the shortest hole on the course- a 147-yard par 3 protected by the burn, bunkers and a dragon (or so it seemed)!
I actually had a respectable 93 standing on the t-Box of the 18th. But I misread the distance in the scorebook and placed my put my third shot directly into the burn protecting the green. But unlike Van der Velde at the Open, I did not take off my shoes and socks and contemplate playing out of the burn. But it cost me a triple bogey for a 50 on the front and back nine for an even 100! But even though I considered myself to be humbled I enjoyed the challenge of Carnoustie and would love to play it again!
A short travel tip here. If you go, stay in St Andrews because there is nothing in Carnoustie except the golf course!
The next day I had to head into Edinburgh to prepare for the marathon. I detoured north to Perth, Scotland. I wanted to visit Perth since my mother was born and raised in Perth, Ontario and my grandparents lived there most of their life. Perth, Scotland is a fairly large city but very pretty. They have kept all the old buildings, there are few modern buildings and all buildings are five stories or less in height. High Street has been turned into a pedestrian mall and it is a very charming city – much nicer than the Ontario version.
My B&B that I had booked through the marathon was located just off the Royal Mile, the main street that runs from Edinburgh Castle down to Holyrood Palace where the Queen still spends part of the summer each year. Edinburgh is a real neat city to visit. There are lots of attractions and history to explore. Also lots of cafes and even more pubs. Unfortunately the drawback of marathons is that you can’t enjoy the pubs until after the race.
I didn’t experience any of the difficulties of the past few marathons in picking up my race packet because there were no communications problems. And the next day turned out to be the coolest day of my visit which is what you want for a marathon. We were bussed out to Dunfermline in the Kingdom of Fife for the start. The start was close to the Abbey where Robert The Bruce is buried (you have to be Scottish to know who he is). Fortunately I just happened to meet 5 or 6 colleagues from the Stortford Running Club so we were able to shoot the breeze until the start. A few local runners told us that the course was very hilly and after only four miles I realized that they were not lying. At mile 6 we ran over the Forth of Fife Bridge, a long suspension bridge very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge but the scenery is not as spectacular. At that point I knew that brains were more important than brawn in this race because of the hills. So I immediately started to slow down. As it turned out the hills actually helped me because by 10 miles my right leg was hurting again (I had been concerned that it had not recovered from Austria) and I discovered that it hurt less when I was running up or down hills. I assume that was because I was using different muscles that were not strained. When I was running long flat stretches and my leg would start to hurt I would actually wish for hills!
At mile 24 I decided to press the pace because the last two miles were downhill along the Royal Mile, through the courtyard of Holyrood Palace (which the queen was kind to lend to us for the day since she wasn’t using it), along the base of Arthur’s Seat (a mountain overlooking the city) to finish in the Meadowbank Sports Stadium where the Commonwealth Games were held. I figured I could stand the pain for just two miles if it would help me finish under 3:35. The last two miles were the fastest of the marathon for me and I had to sprint the final 200 yards in the stadium to finish in 3:34:30!
Then it was straight to the massage hall again. But they had many more masseuses than Austria and someone helped me on to a table immediately and started working on my sore legs. It sure helped and I need a quick recovery since I have another marathon this weekend!
Finally the rewards: a quick hot bath, some food and then I started pub hopping and enjoying the fun atmosphere of Edinburgh –even on a Sunday. However I had to be careful because all the pubs were watching the finals of the Ryder Cup and there were a lot of pissed-off Scots drinking. And that is not a good combination –especially if you are an enemy! So I had to be very silent and careful with my cheers! I never did see the end because I had to leave for dinner.
And lastly a long boring 8-hour drive directly home @100mph-except through Birmingham where the M6 is always backed up bumper-to-bumper for an hour!
I am looking forward to few days’ rest and to catch up on the NYSE before Nicole and I depart again. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 28, 1999
Monday, September 20, 1999
TR Austria
TRIP REPORT
Wauchau Marathon
AUSTRIA
(9//15 –9/20/99)
The first thing I had to do before taking this trip was make a quick trip into London to visit the US Embassy. Although my passport is only three years old it had absolutely no more space for entry/exit stamps so the embassy added twenty more pages which should keep me going for the rest of my time in England.
Then it was off to Vienna. Nicole thought that she had already visited Vienna on a previous family ski trip so I left a few days early to explore Vienna on my own. Although it is an old city dating back to 100 AD most of the history revolves around the Habsburg emperors who ruled from 1282 to 1918. And most of the buildings in the old city only date back to the 1800s when the fortification walls were torn down and a majestic boulevard (about 5km) was built around the city as a ring road. All the main public buildings such as the opera, theatre, museums and palaces are built along the ring.
It is very easy to walk to all the major tourist sites in the old town.
The main tourist attractions include the Imperial Palace, home to the Habsburgs. It has several wings, one of which contains the Spanish Riding School where they train the Lipizzan stallions. The formal performances are held on Sat & Sun so I attended one of the morning training sessions that included most of the rides without music. The riding arena is spectacular and exemplifies how lavishly the Habsburgs lived. Then there is a summer palace called Schonbrunn built in the 1700s. It rivals the palaces in Russia for decadence! There is more gold used in the interior decorating than exists in Fort Knox.
I lucked in and managed to get a ticket to a special concert of Mozart and Strauss music held in the grand ballroom of the summer palace. Mozart performed a concert in that room when he was six years old! The acoustics were great without any amplifiers or microphones, etc.
Other attractions are the opera, national theater, several churches, and homes once occupied by Mozart and Strauss. A local landmark is a giant Ferris wheel, 200 feet in diameter, built over 100 years ago. There were three similar wheels built in London, Chicago and Paris that have all been scrapped. There are 15 gondolas that hold 37 people and offer spectacular views of Vienna. I went for one ride since they have just built a new 400- foot wheel in London for the Millennium celebration and I intend to ride it before I leave England.
There are also cruises offered along the Danube to view the sites of Wien or you can cruise for several hundred miles if you prefer. I decided to wait for Nicole and cruise the Danube along the Wachau Valley.
Nicole flew in on Friday evening and quickly realized that it was Salzburg, not Vienna that she had visited before. But no problem as her trusty husband/guide took her on a quick three-hour walking tour of the city.
Communications was not a problem in Wien. Although all the signs, information, menus, etc. are in German, most people speak at least three languages and will respond in English if asked. It makes a linguistic-handicapped American feel very stupid.
However when we left the city on Sat morning for the Wachau Valley, it was a very different story! Only two people- the desk clerk and barman at our hotel spoke English. I had the usual difficulties trying to pick up my race number and packet for the marathon since none of the volunteers spoke English. And dinner was a funny experience each night. There were no English menus and our waiters spoke no English. It’s kind of like one of those TV games- “What’s menu item # 4?” “What will you get if you order #2?”
But we made good guesses and we always had great wine and beer because those important items I had learned real quickly.
The Wachau Valley starts in Krems about 50 miles west of Vienna and runs for about 30 miles along the Danube. They have been growing grapes and fruit and making wine in the valley for over 1000 years. Krems was granted city status in 995 AD.
I try to compare wine valleys to Napa but Wachau is just so much different. The Danube flows down the middle of the valley and the mountains rise rapidly from the river edge. The towns and villages are built along the river and up the mountains. There is a bike path, a two-lane highway and railroad track running along the length of the valley and in many cases all three are cut into the sides of the mountains. We took a boat cruise from Krems to Durnstein and discovered that you get a much better view from the boat. The little villages are very old and scenic. Durnstein is the home of the Durnstein Castle where King Richard the Lionhearted was captured and held for ransom during the Holy Crusades. I thought it was the nicest of the several small villages along the valley.
The vineyards are typically tiered up the mountain above the villages and all the vineyards have a cellar or outlet in the nearest village so that you don’t have to drive all around to do your wine tasting. You can take a train or boat to a village, walk around and visit a dozen cellars and crawl back to the train or boat.
As for the purpose of going there- the Wachau Marathon- well that’s a different story. The marathon was a point-to point race. We took a train 18 miles west to Aggsbach. The Austrians may speak German but they don’t share the German organizational skills and efficiency. We got our first glimpse when we went to the pasta party to find a complete fiasco so we left and found our own pasta. The next morning the race started 20 minutes late. The course ran along the Danube passing through several small villages with vineyards all the way. The last 8 miles were run around Krems. Since the course was point-to-point and fast I decided to go for broke and started at a 7:35 pace. But only 8 miles into the race my right leg started to tighten and by 11 miles it was cramping and I was in pain. That is the first time in 140 marathons that I had ever experienced that problem. I figured the best thing to do was stop, stretch and massage the leg until it loosened up. I continued doing this until 13 miles when it finally relaxed enough so that I could run without pain as long as I didn’t run faster than an 8:30 pace. Around 18 miles it seemed to loosen up and I foolishly (in retrospect) dropped the pace back to 7:45 but that only lasted until mile 21. At that point it was cramping so bad that I knew that the wisest thing to do was just back off and jog in and hope that I didn’t injure it seriously.
When I finished (3:47:12) I went straight to the medical tent but they were so overloaded with serious dehydration cases (it was very hot!) that they just directed me to the massage tent.
There I waited in line for 45 minutes before they could get to me and by then my leg was so stiff and sore that I couldn’t move it!
But a massage did help some and then it was limp around for another hour while I tried to find my finisher’s T-shirt and claim my warm-ups form the baggage bus. What I am trying to paint here for my fellow runners is that the course was great and the area fantastic but the organization and logistics sucked!
To summarize the two areas for those who might be interested in visiting. Vienna is an interesting city that can be visited in two or three days. If you are into classical music you could spend more time and not be bored. It is reasonable cost-wise by European standards.
The Wachau Valley is very beautiful and would make a great vacation spot if you are into wine and food. I would love to go back and do a combination bike and cruise vacation. You could easily spend a week or two biking, hiking and cruising along the Danube and stopping at a different village every night.
Well I must close this report and go repack my suitcase and start packing the car as I am driving to my next country. Nicole deserted me in Vienna on the way home. She had to leave for Asia on business direct from Vienna and will be gone for a week. So I am leaving early to play some golf in Scotland before the marathon next weekend. Stay tuned for next week’s traveler’s tips!
Wauchau Marathon
AUSTRIA
(9//15 –9/20/99)
The first thing I had to do before taking this trip was make a quick trip into London to visit the US Embassy. Although my passport is only three years old it had absolutely no more space for entry/exit stamps so the embassy added twenty more pages which should keep me going for the rest of my time in England.
Then it was off to Vienna. Nicole thought that she had already visited Vienna on a previous family ski trip so I left a few days early to explore Vienna on my own. Although it is an old city dating back to 100 AD most of the history revolves around the Habsburg emperors who ruled from 1282 to 1918. And most of the buildings in the old city only date back to the 1800s when the fortification walls were torn down and a majestic boulevard (about 5km) was built around the city as a ring road. All the main public buildings such as the opera, theatre, museums and palaces are built along the ring.
It is very easy to walk to all the major tourist sites in the old town.
The main tourist attractions include the Imperial Palace, home to the Habsburgs. It has several wings, one of which contains the Spanish Riding School where they train the Lipizzan stallions. The formal performances are held on Sat & Sun so I attended one of the morning training sessions that included most of the rides without music. The riding arena is spectacular and exemplifies how lavishly the Habsburgs lived. Then there is a summer palace called Schonbrunn built in the 1700s. It rivals the palaces in Russia for decadence! There is more gold used in the interior decorating than exists in Fort Knox.
I lucked in and managed to get a ticket to a special concert of Mozart and Strauss music held in the grand ballroom of the summer palace. Mozart performed a concert in that room when he was six years old! The acoustics were great without any amplifiers or microphones, etc.
Other attractions are the opera, national theater, several churches, and homes once occupied by Mozart and Strauss. A local landmark is a giant Ferris wheel, 200 feet in diameter, built over 100 years ago. There were three similar wheels built in London, Chicago and Paris that have all been scrapped. There are 15 gondolas that hold 37 people and offer spectacular views of Vienna. I went for one ride since they have just built a new 400- foot wheel in London for the Millennium celebration and I intend to ride it before I leave England.
There are also cruises offered along the Danube to view the sites of Wien or you can cruise for several hundred miles if you prefer. I decided to wait for Nicole and cruise the Danube along the Wachau Valley.
Nicole flew in on Friday evening and quickly realized that it was Salzburg, not Vienna that she had visited before. But no problem as her trusty husband/guide took her on a quick three-hour walking tour of the city.
Communications was not a problem in Wien. Although all the signs, information, menus, etc. are in German, most people speak at least three languages and will respond in English if asked. It makes a linguistic-handicapped American feel very stupid.
However when we left the city on Sat morning for the Wachau Valley, it was a very different story! Only two people- the desk clerk and barman at our hotel spoke English. I had the usual difficulties trying to pick up my race number and packet for the marathon since none of the volunteers spoke English. And dinner was a funny experience each night. There were no English menus and our waiters spoke no English. It’s kind of like one of those TV games- “What’s menu item # 4?” “What will you get if you order #2?”
But we made good guesses and we always had great wine and beer because those important items I had learned real quickly.
The Wachau Valley starts in Krems about 50 miles west of Vienna and runs for about 30 miles along the Danube. They have been growing grapes and fruit and making wine in the valley for over 1000 years. Krems was granted city status in 995 AD.
I try to compare wine valleys to Napa but Wachau is just so much different. The Danube flows down the middle of the valley and the mountains rise rapidly from the river edge. The towns and villages are built along the river and up the mountains. There is a bike path, a two-lane highway and railroad track running along the length of the valley and in many cases all three are cut into the sides of the mountains. We took a boat cruise from Krems to Durnstein and discovered that you get a much better view from the boat. The little villages are very old and scenic. Durnstein is the home of the Durnstein Castle where King Richard the Lionhearted was captured and held for ransom during the Holy Crusades. I thought it was the nicest of the several small villages along the valley.
The vineyards are typically tiered up the mountain above the villages and all the vineyards have a cellar or outlet in the nearest village so that you don’t have to drive all around to do your wine tasting. You can take a train or boat to a village, walk around and visit a dozen cellars and crawl back to the train or boat.
As for the purpose of going there- the Wachau Marathon- well that’s a different story. The marathon was a point-to point race. We took a train 18 miles west to Aggsbach. The Austrians may speak German but they don’t share the German organizational skills and efficiency. We got our first glimpse when we went to the pasta party to find a complete fiasco so we left and found our own pasta. The next morning the race started 20 minutes late. The course ran along the Danube passing through several small villages with vineyards all the way. The last 8 miles were run around Krems. Since the course was point-to-point and fast I decided to go for broke and started at a 7:35 pace. But only 8 miles into the race my right leg started to tighten and by 11 miles it was cramping and I was in pain. That is the first time in 140 marathons that I had ever experienced that problem. I figured the best thing to do was stop, stretch and massage the leg until it loosened up. I continued doing this until 13 miles when it finally relaxed enough so that I could run without pain as long as I didn’t run faster than an 8:30 pace. Around 18 miles it seemed to loosen up and I foolishly (in retrospect) dropped the pace back to 7:45 but that only lasted until mile 21. At that point it was cramping so bad that I knew that the wisest thing to do was just back off and jog in and hope that I didn’t injure it seriously.
When I finished (3:47:12) I went straight to the medical tent but they were so overloaded with serious dehydration cases (it was very hot!) that they just directed me to the massage tent.
There I waited in line for 45 minutes before they could get to me and by then my leg was so stiff and sore that I couldn’t move it!
But a massage did help some and then it was limp around for another hour while I tried to find my finisher’s T-shirt and claim my warm-ups form the baggage bus. What I am trying to paint here for my fellow runners is that the course was great and the area fantastic but the organization and logistics sucked!
To summarize the two areas for those who might be interested in visiting. Vienna is an interesting city that can be visited in two or three days. If you are into classical music you could spend more time and not be bored. It is reasonable cost-wise by European standards.
The Wachau Valley is very beautiful and would make a great vacation spot if you are into wine and food. I would love to go back and do a combination bike and cruise vacation. You could easily spend a week or two biking, hiking and cruising along the Danube and stopping at a different village every night.
Well I must close this report and go repack my suitcase and start packing the car as I am driving to my next country. Nicole deserted me in Vienna on the way home. She had to leave for Asia on business direct from Vienna and will be gone for a week. So I am leaving early to play some golf in Scotland before the marathon next weekend. Stay tuned for next week’s traveler’s tips!
Monday, September 06, 1999
TR Norway
Trip Report
Oslo Marathon
Oslo, Norway
(9/3 –9/6/99)
Oh! What a difference a week makes! At least in communications.
Oslo is much different from Moscow; 800 Thousand vs 10 Million people and about 40% speak English as a 2nd (or 3rd) language.
This was my third trip to Oslo this summer and I was hoping that this one would leave pleasant memories unlike the first two. The first trip was during the weeklong train tour through Sweden and Norway. When I got to Oslo there were no hotel rooms to rent so I had to visit for the day and then travel on to Goteborg, Sweden to get a room. The next trip to Oslo was during our Baltic cruise. It was the last port and my sinus infection was kicking into high gear and pain and I spent most of the afternoon on the Acker Brygee drinking $8 beers trying to kill the pain with booze!
But fortunately the third time was the charm as I had a very pleasant visit this time.
Oslo is a fairly small city even though approximately one-third of the Norwegian population lives there. Although it is celebrating its 1000th birthday this year there are very few buildings older than a few hundred years because they have all been destroyed by fires, wars, etc. Even the Akershus fortress and castle which is the oldest landmark in the city and celebrating its 700th birthday has been rebuilt several times during that period. So its architecture is not as impressive as many younger castles throughout Europe. But they were holding a pageant this past weekend, which included full dress re-enactment of life and battles around the fort during the 17th century which were very interesting.
Oslo’s beauty lies in its location. It is situated at the mouth of the Oslo fjord that is about 150 miles long. Oslo is built up on both sides of the fjord. The downtown core is built along the harbor and rises up into the mountains on both sides. There are several parks and green areas throughout the city. The downtown is small –about one square mile running from the harbor and the Aker Brygge (similar to Fisherman’s Wharf but more modern and upscale) to the main street called Karl Johan Gate that runs one mile from the Central train station to the Royal Palace. Inside that core is the Aker Brygge, the Akershus castle, the national Theatre and most of live and movie theatres, hotels restaurants, pubs and sidewalk cafes. The streets are filled with sidewalk musicians and entertainers and on weekends there are literally tens of thousands of locals strolling around and enjoying the cafes and pubs.
There are many other tourist attractions such as the Viking ship museum that houses two 1000-year-old Viking ships and artifacts; the Kon-Tiki museum that houses the Kon-Tiki, a papyrus ship that sailed around the world; and the Vigeland Sculpture Park that contains hundreds of nude sculptures of men, women and children depicting life from birth to death. On the outside of town there is the Hollmenkollen ski jump high above the city with some spectacular views. And of course there are several museums that focus on Norwegian and Viking culture.
One can easily spend two full days visiting Oslo but make sure it is in the summer!
As for the marathon I leave with mixed feelings. They screwed up my entry form; i.e. they lost it. No matter, I went to the problem desk and got re-registered. At least I was able to find someone who could assist me in English. But all the written race instructions and info was in Norwegian. And after charging $50 for the entry fee I had to pay $15 to get a T-shirt!
Then I decided to go to the rice party since it was the cheapest dinner in town – only $5 which is a bargain in Norway. (more later on prices in Norway). Since this is really considered a local race they don’t advertise outside of Scandinavia. As a result it is small; 1500 half-marathoners and 500 marathoners. There were only three entrants outside of Scandinavia; a German, a Brit and me. And I couldn’t find the Brit at dinner so I had nobody to talk to again! And they conducted all the presentations in Norwegian!
The race started at 1:30 pm on Saturday at the Bislett Stadium. Track enthusiasts will recognize that track as one of the main venues in Europe for track events. I just don’t understand why the Europeans start most of their races between 11am and 2 pm. It was too damn warm by start time –low 70s! The marathon was twice around the half marathon loop that was three concentric loops around the downtown core and Vigeland Park. But the loops overlapped so it was very confusing which direction to go, etc. Oh yeh! They had signs and were shouting directions –in Norwegian! I had to concentrate on what kilometer I was on and when I arrived at a junction I would shout the next km and someone would point in the right direction. Pain in the ass but it worked! And I ended up running by my hotel on Karl Johan Gate four times. By the fourth time my hotel room was calling to me “Come lay down, have a beer; come lay down----------“ You get the idea!
On top of all that the course was very hilly and we got to repeat those hills many times and by the time the first half was done there were no more sponges and very little water left. In other words they don’t get an ‘A’ for logistical support. But somehow in spite of all these obstacles I was feeling great and got into a ‘zone’ right from the start. I had decided to go out at a sub-8 minute pace and hold it until the end or I crashed –whichever came first! I don’t know why but the crash never came and I finished the race feeling good in 3:25:37! That’s my fastest time in eighteen months so obviously I am very pleased with that performance!
After the race I decided to treat myself to another reindeer steak at one of the finer restaurants on the Aker Brygge since I don’t plan on going back to Scandinavia for awhile. Now I need to fill you in on prices. Norway is one of the most expensive countries in Europe! I just don’t understand how anyone can live there? A beer at a pub runs $6 to 8. On the Aker Brygee, $8 to 10! A personal pan pizza and pepsi cost me $15 at Pizza Hut. A Big Mac is $9. Don’t even think about wine with dinner. A bottle of house wine is $30 to 40! I felt a bit guilty about paying $30 for a reindeer steak until I checked a beef steakhouse; a 16-oz T-bone was $50, a 12 oz Filet -$70! And from what I can determine all other living expenses are proportional.
But do not let that stop you from visiting Norway. The west coast of Norway, from Bergen all the way up above the Arctic Circle has the most spectacular natural scenery in Scandinavia. The mountains rise up out of the sea and go along the fjords for mile-after-mile of awe-inspiring beauty. It is similar to the scenery in Alaska but more of it and I think more forests and greenery on the mountains. It is truly one of the prettiest parts of Europe! And of course it should only be visited in the summer preferably June when you would have the summer solistice and 20+ hours of daylight.
Hope you can make it some day. It is truly a lifetime experience and memory!
Oslo Marathon
Oslo, Norway
(9/3 –9/6/99)
Oh! What a difference a week makes! At least in communications.
Oslo is much different from Moscow; 800 Thousand vs 10 Million people and about 40% speak English as a 2nd (or 3rd) language.
This was my third trip to Oslo this summer and I was hoping that this one would leave pleasant memories unlike the first two. The first trip was during the weeklong train tour through Sweden and Norway. When I got to Oslo there were no hotel rooms to rent so I had to visit for the day and then travel on to Goteborg, Sweden to get a room. The next trip to Oslo was during our Baltic cruise. It was the last port and my sinus infection was kicking into high gear and pain and I spent most of the afternoon on the Acker Brygee drinking $8 beers trying to kill the pain with booze!
But fortunately the third time was the charm as I had a very pleasant visit this time.
Oslo is a fairly small city even though approximately one-third of the Norwegian population lives there. Although it is celebrating its 1000th birthday this year there are very few buildings older than a few hundred years because they have all been destroyed by fires, wars, etc. Even the Akershus fortress and castle which is the oldest landmark in the city and celebrating its 700th birthday has been rebuilt several times during that period. So its architecture is not as impressive as many younger castles throughout Europe. But they were holding a pageant this past weekend, which included full dress re-enactment of life and battles around the fort during the 17th century which were very interesting.
Oslo’s beauty lies in its location. It is situated at the mouth of the Oslo fjord that is about 150 miles long. Oslo is built up on both sides of the fjord. The downtown core is built along the harbor and rises up into the mountains on both sides. There are several parks and green areas throughout the city. The downtown is small –about one square mile running from the harbor and the Aker Brygge (similar to Fisherman’s Wharf but more modern and upscale) to the main street called Karl Johan Gate that runs one mile from the Central train station to the Royal Palace. Inside that core is the Aker Brygge, the Akershus castle, the national Theatre and most of live and movie theatres, hotels restaurants, pubs and sidewalk cafes. The streets are filled with sidewalk musicians and entertainers and on weekends there are literally tens of thousands of locals strolling around and enjoying the cafes and pubs.
There are many other tourist attractions such as the Viking ship museum that houses two 1000-year-old Viking ships and artifacts; the Kon-Tiki museum that houses the Kon-Tiki, a papyrus ship that sailed around the world; and the Vigeland Sculpture Park that contains hundreds of nude sculptures of men, women and children depicting life from birth to death. On the outside of town there is the Hollmenkollen ski jump high above the city with some spectacular views. And of course there are several museums that focus on Norwegian and Viking culture.
One can easily spend two full days visiting Oslo but make sure it is in the summer!
As for the marathon I leave with mixed feelings. They screwed up my entry form; i.e. they lost it. No matter, I went to the problem desk and got re-registered. At least I was able to find someone who could assist me in English. But all the written race instructions and info was in Norwegian. And after charging $50 for the entry fee I had to pay $15 to get a T-shirt!
Then I decided to go to the rice party since it was the cheapest dinner in town – only $5 which is a bargain in Norway. (more later on prices in Norway). Since this is really considered a local race they don’t advertise outside of Scandinavia. As a result it is small; 1500 half-marathoners and 500 marathoners. There were only three entrants outside of Scandinavia; a German, a Brit and me. And I couldn’t find the Brit at dinner so I had nobody to talk to again! And they conducted all the presentations in Norwegian!
The race started at 1:30 pm on Saturday at the Bislett Stadium. Track enthusiasts will recognize that track as one of the main venues in Europe for track events. I just don’t understand why the Europeans start most of their races between 11am and 2 pm. It was too damn warm by start time –low 70s! The marathon was twice around the half marathon loop that was three concentric loops around the downtown core and Vigeland Park. But the loops overlapped so it was very confusing which direction to go, etc. Oh yeh! They had signs and were shouting directions –in Norwegian! I had to concentrate on what kilometer I was on and when I arrived at a junction I would shout the next km and someone would point in the right direction. Pain in the ass but it worked! And I ended up running by my hotel on Karl Johan Gate four times. By the fourth time my hotel room was calling to me “Come lay down, have a beer; come lay down----------“ You get the idea!
On top of all that the course was very hilly and we got to repeat those hills many times and by the time the first half was done there were no more sponges and very little water left. In other words they don’t get an ‘A’ for logistical support. But somehow in spite of all these obstacles I was feeling great and got into a ‘zone’ right from the start. I had decided to go out at a sub-8 minute pace and hold it until the end or I crashed –whichever came first! I don’t know why but the crash never came and I finished the race feeling good in 3:25:37! That’s my fastest time in eighteen months so obviously I am very pleased with that performance!
After the race I decided to treat myself to another reindeer steak at one of the finer restaurants on the Aker Brygge since I don’t plan on going back to Scandinavia for awhile. Now I need to fill you in on prices. Norway is one of the most expensive countries in Europe! I just don’t understand how anyone can live there? A beer at a pub runs $6 to 8. On the Aker Brygee, $8 to 10! A personal pan pizza and pepsi cost me $15 at Pizza Hut. A Big Mac is $9. Don’t even think about wine with dinner. A bottle of house wine is $30 to 40! I felt a bit guilty about paying $30 for a reindeer steak until I checked a beef steakhouse; a 16-oz T-bone was $50, a 12 oz Filet -$70! And from what I can determine all other living expenses are proportional.
But do not let that stop you from visiting Norway. The west coast of Norway, from Bergen all the way up above the Arctic Circle has the most spectacular natural scenery in Scandinavia. The mountains rise up out of the sea and go along the fjords for mile-after-mile of awe-inspiring beauty. It is similar to the scenery in Alaska but more of it and I think more forests and greenery on the mountains. It is truly one of the prettiest parts of Europe! And of course it should only be visited in the summer preferably June when you would have the summer solistice and 20+ hours of daylight.
Hope you can make it some day. It is truly a lifetime experience and memory!
Monday, August 30, 1999
TR Russia
TRIP REPORT –
MOSCOW MARATHON
Moscow, Russia
(8/26 –8/30/99)
Moscow is a very difficult place to visit! My first indication of this fact came last April shortly after I moved to England. One of my goals was to run marathons and visit new countries so I obtained a list of planned marathons from Runner’s World. This list included the country, city, date and contact #s. My next step was to contact the #s/names to get entry forms and info on each marathon. When I tried calling the Moscow #, nobody spoke English at the other end - not unusual so then I proceeded to step #2 which is send a fax requesting info. This usually works because they can get the fax to someone who understands English and send a response back. But for Moscow the fax # did not work! I had hit a dead-end until I went to a few marathons where I finally managed to find an entry form (in English). Since they did not require the entry fee with the application I sent one in and surprisingly received confirmation that my application was received. Now it was time to make travel reservations.
About that same time I was booking the Baltic cruise which included a visit to St Petersburg and the cruise line advised us that you must have a visa to visit Russia unless you only participated in the excursions offered by the ship. Without a visa you could not leave the ship on your own. I quickly investigated the process/requirements for a visa and it was ugly! You must be invited to Russia and sponsored by an individual or company. You must indicate where you will stay every day while in Russia and have a written confirmation that includes your visa application #. Then that data must be presented to the Russian embassy for processing which takes 10 to 14 days. It’s one of those vicious circles that are difficult to get around unless you have assistance inside Russia.
I decided to skip it for the cruise but unfortunately I had to do it for the marathon trip. But I took the easy route and handed to job over to a travel agency in London that specializes in travel to Russia. Their Russian representative invited me to Russia and handled all the paperwork inside Russia and then the London office took my passport to the embassy. Finally I had a hotel reservation, airline reservations and a visa! The visa cost me $100! Once I had the visa, I thought “Now that I have it what is stopping me from traveling inside Russia once I get there?” I did find out the answer but will tell you later.
I apologize in advance that there may be a lot of details following but it is necessary to visualize yourself in my place and truly understand and feel what it is like to visit Moscow on your own!
I left London on Aug 27 and flew to Moscow via Stockholm since there are no direct flights from England to Russia? Upon arriving at the airport and passing through customs I was immediately besieged by several taxi drivers wanting to drive me into the city. Now I have learned that in most European cities there is normally a train, bus or metro that will take you directly into the city center much cheaper and faster than a taxi. So I went looking for some information. To my dismay it quickly became apparent that no one spoke English! I did find a lady at a hotel booking desk that spoke enough broken English to inform me that there were no direct trains, buses etc but I could take a combination of a city bus and the metro. I asked her what the going rate was for a taxi -$40 to 60-since I did not feel confident in taking city buses, etc without more information and I knew that no one would speak English on the public transportation.
So I decided to negotiate and play one taxi against another and finally got the price down to $30. Negotiation meant sign language, using my limited Russian –Nyet! - and stating the price in $US which they did understand.
So now I am off to the city and the Rossija (Russia) Hotel hoping the driver understood my pronunciation of Rossija. As soon as I get to the taxi I realize that this as not an official taxi but (hopefully) a local man moonlighting with his car to make extra money.
An hour later he drops me off in front of a huge building that he points to and utters something that sounded like Rossija. The sign on the front is in Russian and believe me there is absolutely no similarity between English and Russian and no way to even guess what a Russian word is! So I figure worst case I walk or take a taxi somewhere else but at least I am somewhere now and alive!
I get out and walk into a huge lobby with two reception desks. Go to the one on the right and get in line. Still can’t find anything that tells me this is the Rossija . I wait in line for 15 minutes while I observe that everything is done manually and in no rush. Worse still, I realize that neither receptionist speaks a word of English. My turn. Fortunately I have a hotel voucher from the travel agency that I just hand over along with my passport and visa. I try speaking English and get a look that says “ Are you crazy –I don’t speak English”.
I watch as she manually checks some papers (there is a computer on the desk but they never use it?) and then makes two phone calls. She abruptly hands me back all my documentation and says “West”! I try to get a clarification on this word and using sign language, etc she gets me to understand that where I am standing is East and I must go to the West! OK I am supposed to go to the other side of the Building? Out I go and walk around the building that occupies a whole city block. And I am amazed to find when I get there that I am looking at the Kremlin and Red Square directly across the street! Now I at least know I am in Moscow.
Into the lobby and go to the reception desk to the right. Same process only after 15 minutes she points to reception desk across the lobby. I still do not understand why the other reception desk was the only one who could admit me since my room was above the right side of the building? Anyway, go the other side and finally the clerk does find my reservation and processes it. She takes and keeps my passport which is scary and hands me a small card that has “Rossija Hotel”(I have finally confirmed that I am at the hotel!) printed on it and as well as some numbers. I wait for a key but she moves on to the next customer. Back in line and sheepishly ask where my room is and do I get a key. She understands enough English to explain the numbers on the hotel card represent my floor and room number and I must turn the card in on the floor to get my key. Off to the 10th floor where I find the floor matron looks like one of those Russian villains out of a James Bond movie. Of course she speaks (or pretends not to) no English. But finally I am checked in and have a room.
I throw my stuff in to the room and take off to explore Red Square which is right across the street. I find out later that the Rossija is the biggest hotel in Russia, about 5000 rooms, takes a complete city block and is divided into 4 sections-East, West, etc that are not connected internally. It used to be the “IN” place in Moscow where all the VIPs stayed because of its proximity to the Kremlin. But it has not been updated for at least 20 years!
As I walked around Red Square I was very impressed with the architecture. St Basil’s Church, which is on the south side of the square and is recognized as one of Moscow’s landmarks, is truly unique and over 400 years old!
Within 20 minutes I notice another runner walking around. He is wearing a Boston Marathon t-shirt. I stop and ask him where he is from. An American from Florida who has visited Russia many times and is now living in Rostov. This turns out to be a stroke of good luck because he knows and understands the Russian culture, how to shop and get around and he even has a very rudimentary knowledge of the Russian language. We go to dinner together and he helps me order because there is no English version of the menu.
After dinner he takes me to a local Produce (convenience) store to buy bottled water, pop, etc for the room. I could never have done that without his help.
Let me explain the process. You go into the store and all items are behind a glass counter. They all have a Russian name and a price. You make a list of the items you want and the prices, add up the prices and pay the cashier the total price first and then tell her the individual items that you need and she approves your list and gives you a receipt. Then you take the list back to the counter and the clerk gets your items for you. If you can’t speak Russian it is impossible to shop there!
You can buy most of the basic items such as water and pop in the hotel shop on a self-service basis but the prices are 400% higher!
Over dinner my new friend answered the visa question for me. To travel internally in Russia you must have a visa allowing you to do so. You cannot buy a train/bus/air ticket without a passport and visa. If you drive anywhere you are likely to be stopped and your papers checked. He said that he was normally stopped at least once or twice a week in Rostov.
He also indicated that graft and coercion/bribes were considered a normal way of life.
We parted after shopping since he was staying at a smaller hotel further from the city center. But he had given me a lot of useful information that was to make my life a bit easier the next few days.
After he left I decided to go to the hotel bar for a beer because I wanted to sample some Russian beer and knew that I could not drink the next day (marathon day). As I stood at the bar with my American uniform on –jeans, running shoes and a marathon t-shirt- a local Russian approached me and asked where I was from. We talked for awhile and I asked where he had learned English and he told me matter-of-factly “the black market”.
Alarm bells started to ring! Is this guy a ‘new Russian, e.g. Mafia? I wanted to make sure I steered clear of those guys. He asked/insisted nicely that I go with him to visit his bar where the beer was 50% less. Not sure that I would want to piss this guy off I reluctantly agreed to go for a beer. Fortunately his bar was 100 feet from the hotel lobby on the sidewalk in front of the Rossija. There are thousands of such sidewalk bars in Moscow as well as little kiosks or huts every few hundred feet where one can buy beer , vodka or pop. Half of Moscow seems to always walk around with a beer in their hand.
My new Russian friend introduces me to a few of his friends, none of whom speak a word of English. I buy a few rounds (beer is $1.25/pint) and we exchange stories about America and Russia and again I get a good education. Fortunately he is not Mafia but does pay them protection money every week! The next thing I know it is 2 am and I know that if I don’t quit drinking it is going to be a bad day tomorrow so I make excuses about the marathon and leave.
I figured that I had only about 4 or 5 pints of beer but the next morning I felt really bad and I couldn’t understand until why until I learned that the beer was 12%. Most Russian beers are 8 to 12% and one is 17.5%. Boy has that stuff got a kick to it!
As I was nursing my slight hangover I decided that I needed to take a city tour to learn the landscape and some history. One of my new friends had told me there was an Intourist office in the hotel, which I found. Gold mine! The staff actually understood and spoke English. One of my first requests and disappointments was how to get tickets for the Bolshoi Theater. Unfortunately the season did not begin until Sept 1st! This became my only source of communication and information in Moscow! Other than that staff no one spoke English, there were no signs or information in English. Even the Intourist office had no brochure or written information in English. All the TV stations were Russian- English movies were dubbed, even the Euro-Sports channel was dubbed. I never felt so isolated!
The city tour was OK. They showed us all the major attractions in Moscow and most are within a 3-mile radius of the Kremlin. But even the tour guide only had a basic knowledge of English. But at least I knew where to go and fortunately I could walk to them all which meant I didn’t have to use the public transportation system. Normally I prefer to use the local system but I felt unnerved, almost intimidated in Moscow!
After the tour I decided to go to the race HQ and pick up my race packet. What an experience! There were several lines but nothing in English so it took me at least 15 minutes to figure out what line I was supposed to be in. Fortunately I had brought a copy of my entry form with me and handed it over to indicate who I was. They gave me my number and race instructions (in Russian) and kept my copy (with the English instructions)! After that experience I figured it might be safer to attend the race pasta party because at least there would be other English-speaking runners there. I was expecting the normal pasta buffet where you gather with your d buddies but when I arrived they sat me at a formal table with 5 Russians and served us at the table. It was a very quiet dinner –for me!
To bed early and stay away from the hotel bar! Also time for the nightly call. Without fail every night about 30 minutes after you retire you get this call: “Englis, you Englis? You want beautiful Russian girl come your room, give you sex or massage?” It was amusing the first few times but by the final night they were calling several times and I was afraid to be rude in case the Mafia came knocking on my door.
The next morning I rose early to confirm where the race started-remember that my only instructions are in Russian. I know it starts in Red Square but where? No problem! There are thousands of police and military lined up in Red Square shoulder-to-shoulder on both sides of the race course for the first half-mile. They look very ominous since it is raining and they are all dressed in a dark gray raincoat!
The race starts and the first 2 K is over the bridge by the Kremlin and around the city on the south side of the Moscow River and then back over the bridge and on to a boulevard along the Kremlin and Moscow River. They have blocked off a 10K route along this boulevard and there is a policeman stationed every 200 feet along the course with several at every intersection. There was no concern about traffic control- no traffic got near that boulevard! But I think there were more cops than spectators along that 10K route which we had to run four times to finish back in Red Square.
The course was flat and fast and since it was cloudy and raining for the first hour heat was not a problem. But the support was not great- mileage and water every 5K and I was concerned about the water when I saw them scooping it out of large containers. I was expecting/hoping for bottled water!
Nevertheless I did finish with a PR for this year (3:37:45) but still didn’t break the 3:30 mark!
After the race I decided to explore Moscow some more while I waited for my appetite to reappear. Finally around 4pm I was hungry so I headed to McDonalds off Red Square figuring it would be easier to order fries and a coke to satisfy my normal hunger for grease and salt after a race. Wrong! I did not recognize one thing on the Russian menu except Koca but by pointing at pictures and using sign language I did get my order.
As I was walking back towards the hotel I noticed several thousands of police and military gathering around Red Square which was cordoned off and they were starting to cordon off the streets around the square. When I looked down one side street I noticed several army trucks full of raw recruits waiting in the wings to be called. What the hell was going on?
I was forced to detour several blocks around the square to get back to the Rossija hotel but I was following tens of thousands Moscovites going down the same path. Turns out there was a Rock Concert in Red Square to start a week of celebration for Moscow’s 852nd birthday.
The entrance to the concert was on the side street next to the Rossija so I was concerned that I would not be allowed to get back into the hotel. But when I flashed my hotel card I was permitted by. So I sat at the outdoor bar in front of the hotel and watched the concert for a few hours- all in Russian of course!
Then it was to bed but not until I had my nightly phone call!
The next morning I had to decide between visiting the Kremlin or the Pushkin Museum which is the 2nd largest in Russia. I chose the Kremlin and spent a few hours walking around on my own. You can visit the cathedral square and the 500-year-old churches inside the Kremlin but you cannot enter the congress buildings. Again there were police every few hundred feet and lots of black suits with earphones coming out of their collars (KGB or whatever they are called now?)
Then it was time to go to the airport. The city/government has set taxi rates to the airport- $15- and when I tried to ask why it cost 50% less to go to the airport than from, I never did get an answer.
So I know it was along story but the summary is:
Moscow is very beautiful, lots of nice things to see and do. It is very inexpensive if you go and do the things the locals do and stay away from places frequented by tourists BUT you must be able to speak Russian or have a translator.
Thus I would strongly recommend that you visit Russia as part of a tour and have access to a guide and translator at all times.
My only regrets were that I could not see a ballet at the Bolshoi and I didn’t have time to visit the Pushkin Museum. But then again those are two very good reasons to go back!
MOSCOW MARATHON
Moscow, Russia
(8/26 –8/30/99)
Moscow is a very difficult place to visit! My first indication of this fact came last April shortly after I moved to England. One of my goals was to run marathons and visit new countries so I obtained a list of planned marathons from Runner’s World. This list included the country, city, date and contact #s. My next step was to contact the #s/names to get entry forms and info on each marathon. When I tried calling the Moscow #, nobody spoke English at the other end - not unusual so then I proceeded to step #2 which is send a fax requesting info. This usually works because they can get the fax to someone who understands English and send a response back. But for Moscow the fax # did not work! I had hit a dead-end until I went to a few marathons where I finally managed to find an entry form (in English). Since they did not require the entry fee with the application I sent one in and surprisingly received confirmation that my application was received. Now it was time to make travel reservations.
About that same time I was booking the Baltic cruise which included a visit to St Petersburg and the cruise line advised us that you must have a visa to visit Russia unless you only participated in the excursions offered by the ship. Without a visa you could not leave the ship on your own. I quickly investigated the process/requirements for a visa and it was ugly! You must be invited to Russia and sponsored by an individual or company. You must indicate where you will stay every day while in Russia and have a written confirmation that includes your visa application #. Then that data must be presented to the Russian embassy for processing which takes 10 to 14 days. It’s one of those vicious circles that are difficult to get around unless you have assistance inside Russia.
I decided to skip it for the cruise but unfortunately I had to do it for the marathon trip. But I took the easy route and handed to job over to a travel agency in London that specializes in travel to Russia. Their Russian representative invited me to Russia and handled all the paperwork inside Russia and then the London office took my passport to the embassy. Finally I had a hotel reservation, airline reservations and a visa! The visa cost me $100! Once I had the visa, I thought “Now that I have it what is stopping me from traveling inside Russia once I get there?” I did find out the answer but will tell you later.
I apologize in advance that there may be a lot of details following but it is necessary to visualize yourself in my place and truly understand and feel what it is like to visit Moscow on your own!
I left London on Aug 27 and flew to Moscow via Stockholm since there are no direct flights from England to Russia? Upon arriving at the airport and passing through customs I was immediately besieged by several taxi drivers wanting to drive me into the city. Now I have learned that in most European cities there is normally a train, bus or metro that will take you directly into the city center much cheaper and faster than a taxi. So I went looking for some information. To my dismay it quickly became apparent that no one spoke English! I did find a lady at a hotel booking desk that spoke enough broken English to inform me that there were no direct trains, buses etc but I could take a combination of a city bus and the metro. I asked her what the going rate was for a taxi -$40 to 60-since I did not feel confident in taking city buses, etc without more information and I knew that no one would speak English on the public transportation.
So I decided to negotiate and play one taxi against another and finally got the price down to $30. Negotiation meant sign language, using my limited Russian –Nyet! - and stating the price in $US which they did understand.
So now I am off to the city and the Rossija (Russia) Hotel hoping the driver understood my pronunciation of Rossija. As soon as I get to the taxi I realize that this as not an official taxi but (hopefully) a local man moonlighting with his car to make extra money.
An hour later he drops me off in front of a huge building that he points to and utters something that sounded like Rossija. The sign on the front is in Russian and believe me there is absolutely no similarity between English and Russian and no way to even guess what a Russian word is! So I figure worst case I walk or take a taxi somewhere else but at least I am somewhere now and alive!
I get out and walk into a huge lobby with two reception desks. Go to the one on the right and get in line. Still can’t find anything that tells me this is the Rossija . I wait in line for 15 minutes while I observe that everything is done manually and in no rush. Worse still, I realize that neither receptionist speaks a word of English. My turn. Fortunately I have a hotel voucher from the travel agency that I just hand over along with my passport and visa. I try speaking English and get a look that says “ Are you crazy –I don’t speak English”.
I watch as she manually checks some papers (there is a computer on the desk but they never use it?) and then makes two phone calls. She abruptly hands me back all my documentation and says “West”! I try to get a clarification on this word and using sign language, etc she gets me to understand that where I am standing is East and I must go to the West! OK I am supposed to go to the other side of the Building? Out I go and walk around the building that occupies a whole city block. And I am amazed to find when I get there that I am looking at the Kremlin and Red Square directly across the street! Now I at least know I am in Moscow.
Into the lobby and go to the reception desk to the right. Same process only after 15 minutes she points to reception desk across the lobby. I still do not understand why the other reception desk was the only one who could admit me since my room was above the right side of the building? Anyway, go the other side and finally the clerk does find my reservation and processes it. She takes and keeps my passport which is scary and hands me a small card that has “Rossija Hotel”(I have finally confirmed that I am at the hotel!) printed on it and as well as some numbers. I wait for a key but she moves on to the next customer. Back in line and sheepishly ask where my room is and do I get a key. She understands enough English to explain the numbers on the hotel card represent my floor and room number and I must turn the card in on the floor to get my key. Off to the 10th floor where I find the floor matron looks like one of those Russian villains out of a James Bond movie. Of course she speaks (or pretends not to) no English. But finally I am checked in and have a room.
I throw my stuff in to the room and take off to explore Red Square which is right across the street. I find out later that the Rossija is the biggest hotel in Russia, about 5000 rooms, takes a complete city block and is divided into 4 sections-East, West, etc that are not connected internally. It used to be the “IN” place in Moscow where all the VIPs stayed because of its proximity to the Kremlin. But it has not been updated for at least 20 years!
As I walked around Red Square I was very impressed with the architecture. St Basil’s Church, which is on the south side of the square and is recognized as one of Moscow’s landmarks, is truly unique and over 400 years old!
Within 20 minutes I notice another runner walking around. He is wearing a Boston Marathon t-shirt. I stop and ask him where he is from. An American from Florida who has visited Russia many times and is now living in Rostov. This turns out to be a stroke of good luck because he knows and understands the Russian culture, how to shop and get around and he even has a very rudimentary knowledge of the Russian language. We go to dinner together and he helps me order because there is no English version of the menu.
After dinner he takes me to a local Produce (convenience) store to buy bottled water, pop, etc for the room. I could never have done that without his help.
Let me explain the process. You go into the store and all items are behind a glass counter. They all have a Russian name and a price. You make a list of the items you want and the prices, add up the prices and pay the cashier the total price first and then tell her the individual items that you need and she approves your list and gives you a receipt. Then you take the list back to the counter and the clerk gets your items for you. If you can’t speak Russian it is impossible to shop there!
You can buy most of the basic items such as water and pop in the hotel shop on a self-service basis but the prices are 400% higher!
Over dinner my new friend answered the visa question for me. To travel internally in Russia you must have a visa allowing you to do so. You cannot buy a train/bus/air ticket without a passport and visa. If you drive anywhere you are likely to be stopped and your papers checked. He said that he was normally stopped at least once or twice a week in Rostov.
He also indicated that graft and coercion/bribes were considered a normal way of life.
We parted after shopping since he was staying at a smaller hotel further from the city center. But he had given me a lot of useful information that was to make my life a bit easier the next few days.
After he left I decided to go to the hotel bar for a beer because I wanted to sample some Russian beer and knew that I could not drink the next day (marathon day). As I stood at the bar with my American uniform on –jeans, running shoes and a marathon t-shirt- a local Russian approached me and asked where I was from. We talked for awhile and I asked where he had learned English and he told me matter-of-factly “the black market”.
Alarm bells started to ring! Is this guy a ‘new Russian, e.g. Mafia? I wanted to make sure I steered clear of those guys. He asked/insisted nicely that I go with him to visit his bar where the beer was 50% less. Not sure that I would want to piss this guy off I reluctantly agreed to go for a beer. Fortunately his bar was 100 feet from the hotel lobby on the sidewalk in front of the Rossija. There are thousands of such sidewalk bars in Moscow as well as little kiosks or huts every few hundred feet where one can buy beer , vodka or pop. Half of Moscow seems to always walk around with a beer in their hand.
My new Russian friend introduces me to a few of his friends, none of whom speak a word of English. I buy a few rounds (beer is $1.25/pint) and we exchange stories about America and Russia and again I get a good education. Fortunately he is not Mafia but does pay them protection money every week! The next thing I know it is 2 am and I know that if I don’t quit drinking it is going to be a bad day tomorrow so I make excuses about the marathon and leave.
I figured that I had only about 4 or 5 pints of beer but the next morning I felt really bad and I couldn’t understand until why until I learned that the beer was 12%. Most Russian beers are 8 to 12% and one is 17.5%. Boy has that stuff got a kick to it!
As I was nursing my slight hangover I decided that I needed to take a city tour to learn the landscape and some history. One of my new friends had told me there was an Intourist office in the hotel, which I found. Gold mine! The staff actually understood and spoke English. One of my first requests and disappointments was how to get tickets for the Bolshoi Theater. Unfortunately the season did not begin until Sept 1st! This became my only source of communication and information in Moscow! Other than that staff no one spoke English, there were no signs or information in English. Even the Intourist office had no brochure or written information in English. All the TV stations were Russian- English movies were dubbed, even the Euro-Sports channel was dubbed. I never felt so isolated!
The city tour was OK. They showed us all the major attractions in Moscow and most are within a 3-mile radius of the Kremlin. But even the tour guide only had a basic knowledge of English. But at least I knew where to go and fortunately I could walk to them all which meant I didn’t have to use the public transportation system. Normally I prefer to use the local system but I felt unnerved, almost intimidated in Moscow!
After the tour I decided to go to the race HQ and pick up my race packet. What an experience! There were several lines but nothing in English so it took me at least 15 minutes to figure out what line I was supposed to be in. Fortunately I had brought a copy of my entry form with me and handed it over to indicate who I was. They gave me my number and race instructions (in Russian) and kept my copy (with the English instructions)! After that experience I figured it might be safer to attend the race pasta party because at least there would be other English-speaking runners there. I was expecting the normal pasta buffet where you gather with your d buddies but when I arrived they sat me at a formal table with 5 Russians and served us at the table. It was a very quiet dinner –for me!
To bed early and stay away from the hotel bar! Also time for the nightly call. Without fail every night about 30 minutes after you retire you get this call: “Englis, you Englis? You want beautiful Russian girl come your room, give you sex or massage?” It was amusing the first few times but by the final night they were calling several times and I was afraid to be rude in case the Mafia came knocking on my door.
The next morning I rose early to confirm where the race started-remember that my only instructions are in Russian. I know it starts in Red Square but where? No problem! There are thousands of police and military lined up in Red Square shoulder-to-shoulder on both sides of the race course for the first half-mile. They look very ominous since it is raining and they are all dressed in a dark gray raincoat!
The race starts and the first 2 K is over the bridge by the Kremlin and around the city on the south side of the Moscow River and then back over the bridge and on to a boulevard along the Kremlin and Moscow River. They have blocked off a 10K route along this boulevard and there is a policeman stationed every 200 feet along the course with several at every intersection. There was no concern about traffic control- no traffic got near that boulevard! But I think there were more cops than spectators along that 10K route which we had to run four times to finish back in Red Square.
The course was flat and fast and since it was cloudy and raining for the first hour heat was not a problem. But the support was not great- mileage and water every 5K and I was concerned about the water when I saw them scooping it out of large containers. I was expecting/hoping for bottled water!
Nevertheless I did finish with a PR for this year (3:37:45) but still didn’t break the 3:30 mark!
After the race I decided to explore Moscow some more while I waited for my appetite to reappear. Finally around 4pm I was hungry so I headed to McDonalds off Red Square figuring it would be easier to order fries and a coke to satisfy my normal hunger for grease and salt after a race. Wrong! I did not recognize one thing on the Russian menu except Koca but by pointing at pictures and using sign language I did get my order.
As I was walking back towards the hotel I noticed several thousands of police and military gathering around Red Square which was cordoned off and they were starting to cordon off the streets around the square. When I looked down one side street I noticed several army trucks full of raw recruits waiting in the wings to be called. What the hell was going on?
I was forced to detour several blocks around the square to get back to the Rossija hotel but I was following tens of thousands Moscovites going down the same path. Turns out there was a Rock Concert in Red Square to start a week of celebration for Moscow’s 852nd birthday.
The entrance to the concert was on the side street next to the Rossija so I was concerned that I would not be allowed to get back into the hotel. But when I flashed my hotel card I was permitted by. So I sat at the outdoor bar in front of the hotel and watched the concert for a few hours- all in Russian of course!
Then it was to bed but not until I had my nightly phone call!
The next morning I had to decide between visiting the Kremlin or the Pushkin Museum which is the 2nd largest in Russia. I chose the Kremlin and spent a few hours walking around on my own. You can visit the cathedral square and the 500-year-old churches inside the Kremlin but you cannot enter the congress buildings. Again there were police every few hundred feet and lots of black suits with earphones coming out of their collars (KGB or whatever they are called now?)
Then it was time to go to the airport. The city/government has set taxi rates to the airport- $15- and when I tried to ask why it cost 50% less to go to the airport than from, I never did get an answer.
So I know it was along story but the summary is:
Moscow is very beautiful, lots of nice things to see and do. It is very inexpensive if you go and do the things the locals do and stay away from places frequented by tourists BUT you must be able to speak Russian or have a translator.
Thus I would strongly recommend that you visit Russia as part of a tour and have access to a guide and translator at all times.
My only regrets were that I could not see a ballet at the Bolshoi and I didn’t have time to visit the Pushkin Museum. But then again those are two very good reasons to go back!
Sunday, August 15, 1999
TR Belgium
Trip Report
Middelkerke Marathon
Middelkerke, Belgium
France, Belgium, Italy and Canada
(8/14 –8/18/99)
What was supposed to be a great trip and vacation turned out to be a trip and week from HELL!
I wanted to run a marathon in early August since the last one was July 4th. The only race I could find was in Belgium which was OK but I had to book it through a local running/tour operator because I couldn’t find any information on it to arrange the travel myself. Since the tour took us by coach to Belgium I figured we would just go on from there for a week’s vacation in Italy.
The trip started out OK. We traveled by coach from London to Dover and across to Calais, France by ferry. The tour made an obligatory stop in Calais for everyone to load up on booze. Most things in France are expensive just like England except for beer and wine, which are about 50% less. And since they eliminated duty free between EU nations you can now bring back unlimited quantities of items that are bought in another EU nation. So everyone was buying at least two cases of wine or beer which was the limit that the bus would hold per person. We could not participate because we were not coming back with the coach.
We overnighted in Brugges, Belgium. It is a nice city with lots of canals and three main squares in the city center with lots of quaint shops and restaurants and outdoor cafes. We enjoyed a good Italian dinner (pasta for the race) on one of the squares and people-watched for a few hours. Brugges is definitely worth another trip for a long weekend.
But one of our problems started to appear on the first night. Communications!
You have heard me complain before about the telephone systems in Europe - they suck! Most of the hotels have old analog systems and rotary phones which restrict you from accessing voice mail and you cannot connect a computer. We had purchased a set of telephone adapters, which are supposed to enable you to adapt a US telephone connector to various European systems. But it was useless in Belgium and Italy because the hotels don’t use standard connectors!
So Nicole was very upset because she had decided to lug her PC around to stay connected to the office but she was never able to connect!
Anyway the next morning we traveled about 20 miles to Middelkerke, Belgium to run the marathon. It was indeed a small race with only about 300 running the marathon. The marathon started at 9:30 am. It was warm (mid 60s) and very windy. Since Middelkerke is a coastal resort it seemed that the wind was always in our face no matter what direction we were running. I was still recovering from a bad sinus infection and taking antibiotics and painkillers and wasn’t sure how they would affect my breathing and energy level. So I just treated the race as a long training run and took it easy. I don’t know whether it was the strategy or the painkillers but I completed the race in a satisfactory time (3:39:41) and with no pain or agony, which is unusual.
A 10K and Half-marathon started at 2:30pm after most of the marathon runners were completed. We stuck around to watch the start and attend the award ceremony for the marathon but that was a waste of time since it was conducted totally in Flemish and we didn't understand one word!
At that point Nicole and I split from the tour and caught a train to Brussels. We stayed in a 3-star hotel just off the GrandPlace thinking that we would have a better chance for a standard telecom connection. No such luck but the location was great. We walked over to the old fish market, which now accommodates rows of seafood restaurants for an excellent Flemish seafood dinner. We were also able to communicate verbally since 60% of Brussels speaks French. After dinner we walked over to the GrandPlace which is the main square. The buildings are about 400 years old but have been maintained and refurbished and the architecture is just amazing. We sampled a few of the 500+ types of Belgian beer and people-watched again. We were also treated to a light and music show when they turn all the lights off in the square at 10:30 pm and the town hall emanates classical music and all the interior and exterior lights synchronize with the music. Very spectacular show! That was our second trip to Brussels and we still want to go back.
But the next day it was on to Milan, Italy by air. We realized as soon as we arrived that we had bad timing since August is the month that Italians take vacation and everyone leaves! The city was almost deserted. That has pros and cons. Hotels were cheaper and easy to find. I booked a 3-star at the hotel desk thinking again that we would get a better room/hotel with tone phones and a standard connection. Wrong guess! And we found that the cons were that 50% of the restaurants and shops were completely closed for the month of August. The only restaurants open were in the tourist areas where you get a pizza, ham sandwich and two beers for lunch –for $80.
So we decided to take a city tour in the morning which included the main highlights of the city such as the Duomo Cathedral, the Castello Sforzesco and the Scalla Opera. We didn’t get to see Leonardo da Vinci’s mural of the ‘Last Supper’ because you had to have an appointment to view it for 15 minutes. We left a day earlier than planned because we thought that Milan was a very dirty and unattractive city. It did not make our list of places to return to.
Then it was off to Naples by air. We booked a hotel right on the main square in the center of town which turned out to be a mistake. It was supposedly a 3-star hotel but had no air conditioning. And it was very hot in southern Italy. We had to leave our windows open all night and listen to the traffic in the square that never stopped all night. And again rotary phones and no modem connection. Naples does have some natural beauty as much of the city is built on the coast and up the side of the mountains. But it is a very filthy; garbage and trash lying around the roads and streets (and I’m not talking about the hookers on the corners)!
We decided to take a tour and leave but there are no city tours. So we hired a private guide to tour us around the city for 3 hours. That was quite a trip! Our guide was a vet about 70 years old who had lived in Naples all his life. He spoke better English than we did Italian but not by much! But he knew Naples and the area. And a driving lesson was included for free! He aimed the center of his hood down the white line (didn’t matter what kind of road, he picked a white line) and never veered. It was up to the other cars to get the hell out of his way. After a few brown stains on his upholstery I realized he had been driving this way all his life and was still alive so I relaxed some and let him do his thing. The other rule in Italy is that nobody follows rules. The most aggressive driver wins! Nobody stops for red lights or stop signs, nobody signals, etc; it is just a big game of chicken!
After the tour we picked up a rental car (thankful for the driving lesson) and headed south to Sorrento. We stopped at Pompeii for a visit to the ruins which was interesting but it was 90+ degrees by then and we started to look forward to ocean breezes so we continued on to Sorrento. As we got closer we realized that we had finally found a place in Italy that we might like. And we were right. Sorrento is very pretty. It is situated on cliffs that are about 100 –200 feet above the Bay of Naples and is built up into the side of a mountain.
The town was full and only two hotels had rooms left –a 3-star (been down that road already) and a 4-star which was one of the most expensive hotels in town. We decided to treat ourselves and booked the 4-star. It was a very modern and luxurious hotel built into the mountain about 1000 feet above Sorrento with views to kill for. We could see Naples across the bay and the Isle of Capri. It even had air conditioning but guess what – rotary phones and non-standard telephone connections!
We decided to eat dinner at the hotel because the views were so spectacular and after dinner I opened a second bottle of wine to sip on the patio overlooking the bay while we plotted our next day. Nicole decided to call our son in Colorado to let him know where we were because of all the problems we had experienced with the phones. That’s when all Hell broke loose!
We discovered that our family had been sending us emails and leaving voice mails for three days to inform us that my dad had died two days earlier! It was a shock to the whole family that he passed away so suddenly and so soon after our mom. Now it became a frantic exercise to figure out how to get home to Canada in time for the funeral. We ended up driving the rental car to Rome- did get to see Rome from the ring road on the way to the airport- and catching a direct flight to Canada. We did make it in time but I was the only one at the funeral wearing Dockers and a polo shirt!
It was a much different occasion that my mom’s funeral as we were prepared for that one. I am glad that we only have two parents so that I never have to go through that ordeal again!
So we never did get to see Rome and Nicole never got to buy a leather purse that was one of her few shopping goals in Italy. But I will take her back to Italy before we leave.
We are back home in England now planning our next trips because life must go on and this summer has driven home how fragile and short life can be and I am even more determined to enjoy every moment that I may have left!
Middelkerke Marathon
Middelkerke, Belgium
France, Belgium, Italy and Canada
(8/14 –8/18/99)
What was supposed to be a great trip and vacation turned out to be a trip and week from HELL!
I wanted to run a marathon in early August since the last one was July 4th. The only race I could find was in Belgium which was OK but I had to book it through a local running/tour operator because I couldn’t find any information on it to arrange the travel myself. Since the tour took us by coach to Belgium I figured we would just go on from there for a week’s vacation in Italy.
The trip started out OK. We traveled by coach from London to Dover and across to Calais, France by ferry. The tour made an obligatory stop in Calais for everyone to load up on booze. Most things in France are expensive just like England except for beer and wine, which are about 50% less. And since they eliminated duty free between EU nations you can now bring back unlimited quantities of items that are bought in another EU nation. So everyone was buying at least two cases of wine or beer which was the limit that the bus would hold per person. We could not participate because we were not coming back with the coach.
We overnighted in Brugges, Belgium. It is a nice city with lots of canals and three main squares in the city center with lots of quaint shops and restaurants and outdoor cafes. We enjoyed a good Italian dinner (pasta for the race) on one of the squares and people-watched for a few hours. Brugges is definitely worth another trip for a long weekend.
But one of our problems started to appear on the first night. Communications!
You have heard me complain before about the telephone systems in Europe - they suck! Most of the hotels have old analog systems and rotary phones which restrict you from accessing voice mail and you cannot connect a computer. We had purchased a set of telephone adapters, which are supposed to enable you to adapt a US telephone connector to various European systems. But it was useless in Belgium and Italy because the hotels don’t use standard connectors!
So Nicole was very upset because she had decided to lug her PC around to stay connected to the office but she was never able to connect!
Anyway the next morning we traveled about 20 miles to Middelkerke, Belgium to run the marathon. It was indeed a small race with only about 300 running the marathon. The marathon started at 9:30 am. It was warm (mid 60s) and very windy. Since Middelkerke is a coastal resort it seemed that the wind was always in our face no matter what direction we were running. I was still recovering from a bad sinus infection and taking antibiotics and painkillers and wasn’t sure how they would affect my breathing and energy level. So I just treated the race as a long training run and took it easy. I don’t know whether it was the strategy or the painkillers but I completed the race in a satisfactory time (3:39:41) and with no pain or agony, which is unusual.
A 10K and Half-marathon started at 2:30pm after most of the marathon runners were completed. We stuck around to watch the start and attend the award ceremony for the marathon but that was a waste of time since it was conducted totally in Flemish and we didn't understand one word!
At that point Nicole and I split from the tour and caught a train to Brussels. We stayed in a 3-star hotel just off the GrandPlace thinking that we would have a better chance for a standard telecom connection. No such luck but the location was great. We walked over to the old fish market, which now accommodates rows of seafood restaurants for an excellent Flemish seafood dinner. We were also able to communicate verbally since 60% of Brussels speaks French. After dinner we walked over to the GrandPlace which is the main square. The buildings are about 400 years old but have been maintained and refurbished and the architecture is just amazing. We sampled a few of the 500+ types of Belgian beer and people-watched again. We were also treated to a light and music show when they turn all the lights off in the square at 10:30 pm and the town hall emanates classical music and all the interior and exterior lights synchronize with the music. Very spectacular show! That was our second trip to Brussels and we still want to go back.
But the next day it was on to Milan, Italy by air. We realized as soon as we arrived that we had bad timing since August is the month that Italians take vacation and everyone leaves! The city was almost deserted. That has pros and cons. Hotels were cheaper and easy to find. I booked a 3-star at the hotel desk thinking again that we would get a better room/hotel with tone phones and a standard connection. Wrong guess! And we found that the cons were that 50% of the restaurants and shops were completely closed for the month of August. The only restaurants open were in the tourist areas where you get a pizza, ham sandwich and two beers for lunch –for $80.
So we decided to take a city tour in the morning which included the main highlights of the city such as the Duomo Cathedral, the Castello Sforzesco and the Scalla Opera. We didn’t get to see Leonardo da Vinci’s mural of the ‘Last Supper’ because you had to have an appointment to view it for 15 minutes. We left a day earlier than planned because we thought that Milan was a very dirty and unattractive city. It did not make our list of places to return to.
Then it was off to Naples by air. We booked a hotel right on the main square in the center of town which turned out to be a mistake. It was supposedly a 3-star hotel but had no air conditioning. And it was very hot in southern Italy. We had to leave our windows open all night and listen to the traffic in the square that never stopped all night. And again rotary phones and no modem connection. Naples does have some natural beauty as much of the city is built on the coast and up the side of the mountains. But it is a very filthy; garbage and trash lying around the roads and streets (and I’m not talking about the hookers on the corners)!
We decided to take a tour and leave but there are no city tours. So we hired a private guide to tour us around the city for 3 hours. That was quite a trip! Our guide was a vet about 70 years old who had lived in Naples all his life. He spoke better English than we did Italian but not by much! But he knew Naples and the area. And a driving lesson was included for free! He aimed the center of his hood down the white line (didn’t matter what kind of road, he picked a white line) and never veered. It was up to the other cars to get the hell out of his way. After a few brown stains on his upholstery I realized he had been driving this way all his life and was still alive so I relaxed some and let him do his thing. The other rule in Italy is that nobody follows rules. The most aggressive driver wins! Nobody stops for red lights or stop signs, nobody signals, etc; it is just a big game of chicken!
After the tour we picked up a rental car (thankful for the driving lesson) and headed south to Sorrento. We stopped at Pompeii for a visit to the ruins which was interesting but it was 90+ degrees by then and we started to look forward to ocean breezes so we continued on to Sorrento. As we got closer we realized that we had finally found a place in Italy that we might like. And we were right. Sorrento is very pretty. It is situated on cliffs that are about 100 –200 feet above the Bay of Naples and is built up into the side of a mountain.
The town was full and only two hotels had rooms left –a 3-star (been down that road already) and a 4-star which was one of the most expensive hotels in town. We decided to treat ourselves and booked the 4-star. It was a very modern and luxurious hotel built into the mountain about 1000 feet above Sorrento with views to kill for. We could see Naples across the bay and the Isle of Capri. It even had air conditioning but guess what – rotary phones and non-standard telephone connections!
We decided to eat dinner at the hotel because the views were so spectacular and after dinner I opened a second bottle of wine to sip on the patio overlooking the bay while we plotted our next day. Nicole decided to call our son in Colorado to let him know where we were because of all the problems we had experienced with the phones. That’s when all Hell broke loose!
We discovered that our family had been sending us emails and leaving voice mails for three days to inform us that my dad had died two days earlier! It was a shock to the whole family that he passed away so suddenly and so soon after our mom. Now it became a frantic exercise to figure out how to get home to Canada in time for the funeral. We ended up driving the rental car to Rome- did get to see Rome from the ring road on the way to the airport- and catching a direct flight to Canada. We did make it in time but I was the only one at the funeral wearing Dockers and a polo shirt!
It was a much different occasion that my mom’s funeral as we were prepared for that one. I am glad that we only have two parents so that I never have to go through that ordeal again!
So we never did get to see Rome and Nicole never got to buy a leather purse that was one of her few shopping goals in Italy. But I will take her back to Italy before we leave.
We are back home in England now planning our next trips because life must go on and this summer has driven home how fragile and short life can be and I am even more determined to enjoy every moment that I may have left!
Wednesday, July 07, 1999
TR Estonia & Finland
Trip Report – Estonia and Finland
(6/24 –7/7/99)
As I said at the end of my last newsletter I had planned/hoped to get a week’s rest before embarking on the next journey. But it was not to be.
Upon my return from Sweden I got one day to visit with Jason and his friends before they returned to the US and I had to leave the same day because of bad but not unexpected news from Canada. Fortunately Nicole was still in Ottawa so she extended her business trip and we traveled on to Carleton Place to attend my mother’s funeral and help with family affairs.
I returned to London on Thursday of that week just in time to repack and head to Helsinki. From there I caught a ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia arriving at 11 PM only to find out that the hotel had given my room away. By then my body had no idea what time zone or planet it was on and just wanted a bed to sleep in.
Had to move to another hotel way out in the boonies for one night and then move back the next day. The hotel was originally built as quarters for the athletes for the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the sailing and boating events were held there.
Tallinn has an old part of town – called “Old Town”, that is very interesting and reminds me a lot of Prague. But they do not have the money to restore or fix it up so it is in various states of disrepair. Basically the whole city and area is in the same shape. There are lots of remnants and reminders of the ex-Soviet rule such as huge ugly apartment complexes, and an abandoned naval base that looks like and is a toxic waste dump.
The marathon is small, about 200 runners and not very well organized. My first clue came when I arrived at the start in the Old Town Square to find no toilets or water. Fortunately McDonalds came to the rescue since there was one about a block from the start and I used their facilities. I have visited and ate at McDonalds more in the past two months than the previous 10 years and I expect this trend to continue.
The race ran through and around Old Town and the city for about 5 miles before heading out to the resort area of Pirita (where my hotel and the beaches are) and then continued out into the country through some nice forests. The race started at 10 am and it was already warm (low 70’s) so I decided to run this one easy. It was a smart move since they only had water every 5K. I was concerned but not surprised to discover them filling the cups from buckets of local water. I had seen the local water coming from the hotel tap and resolved not to drink it but my choice was to die for sure of dehydration or take my chances with the bacteria. So I opted for Tallinn’s Revenge which fortunately was a mild case a few days later. The race continued back towards Pirita along the beaches to finish close to my hotel. There was no traffic control while we were running along narrow country roads but the local drivers were very courteous and respectful so it wasn’t a big problem. I finished in 3:47:38.
As soon as I finished I showered and headed into Old Town for a good meal. Estonia does represent a great tourist bargain unlike the 1st world countries in Europe. Dinner with soup, wild boar, a good bottle of French wine and dessert was less than $20 US!
The bus system, which I used frequently, was efficient for 50 cents a ride. But I would not be in a hurry to go back.
The next day I headed back to Helsinki via ferry again. I stayed three days in Helsinki. The downtown and harbor areas are small and compact so that one can walk everywhere if you have a hotel close by. Or you can buy a daily transport pass for 25 marks ($4 US) that allows unlimited travel on the local transportation. The prices in Finland are close to those of the US –maybe 10 to 20% higher in Helsinki.
After three days I figured it was time to get out of the city so I used my Scan Rail pass to travel to the Lake District 200 miles northeast. This area reminds me of northern Ontario or Minnesota; lots of forest and lakes. I stayed for three days in Savonlinna; a small town built on 5 islands chained together in Lake Saimaa. The islands are connected via bridges –three of them are only footbridges and they are small islands since I had to run around all five to get a 7-mile run in. But the area is so lovely and quiet. You can take cruises on the lakes on steamships to just view the scenery or visit other areas. One of the islands is occupied totally by the Olavinlinna Castle, a 500-year-old castle that the Swedes built to protect Sweden from Russia. The town converts the castle into an opera hall every year for the Savonlinna Opera Festival held during the month of July. Unfortunately I missed the opening performance by one day although they told me that the tickets are sold out a year in advance.
I enjoyed three wonderful days of peace and quiet and would love to go back to explore more of the area. By the time I left I was acting like the locals; sleeping in, walking around the lake, have a nap and go to dinner about 11pm on a patio beside the lake and watch the sunset. There is only about 3 hours of darkness before the sun rises again.
Then it was back to Helsinki on Friday evening to meet Nicole at the airport. We overnighted in Helsinki so I could guide her around in the morning before we caught a train to Turku, the oldest city in Finland.
Our first chore as usual was to find the registration/pick up office at the Paavo Nurmi Stadium to pick up my race number for the Paavo Nurmi Marathon. Paavo Nurmi was a famous long distance runner who lived and trained in Turku while winning 7 gold medals in the Olympics. The marathon is supposedly run over his training course.
I was concerned again about the heat wave than Eastern Europe was having but fortunately a storm front and rain came through on Sat night to cool it down. The marathon started at noon, which I don’t like because it makes it difficult to prepare for and then blows the whole day of the race. I met one of my 50+DC colleagues at the start line. He had just run a race in Norway.
It was very windy during the race so I had to tuck behind some runners and when I found myself with just another female runner around 12 miles I had to teach her to trade places and share the lead role running into the wind. We did this for about 5 miles until a group of men passed and I tucked in behind them. I had to let them go at mile 21 because they were running a sub 8-minute pace. But it was too late as my legs felt as if someone had attached 10-pound weights. So I started to slow down and sure enough my female companion passed me about mile 25. So I hung on to her for the last mile and had to sprint the final lap in the Paavo Nurmi stadium to beat her! I finished in 3:39!
Then it was a quick shower and Nicole and I walked along the Aura River stopping for a wine/beer or two on the many ship restaurants/bars.
We found a unique and interesting restaurant on the river that served only wild game and food found in the forests and streams of Finland. Nicole had wild boar, I had wild bear since I figured you can’t get BEAR in many restaurants. The sauces were made of wild berries like cloudberry and lingonberry. It was a very interesting meal and I did not complain about the cost even though it was more than we paid for the hotel for two nights.
Unfortunately we were unable to take any tours in Turku because we had to leave too early the next day to return to Helsinki to catch our flight home. But I did get to enjoy(?) part of the Ruiserock music festival (Metallica and others) that was playing on Ruissalo Island as the marathon course did two loops around the island while the bans were playing.
Now hopefully I can get some much-needed rest before we take off on our next adventure in two weeks. Stay tuned.
(6/24 –7/7/99)
As I said at the end of my last newsletter I had planned/hoped to get a week’s rest before embarking on the next journey. But it was not to be.
Upon my return from Sweden I got one day to visit with Jason and his friends before they returned to the US and I had to leave the same day because of bad but not unexpected news from Canada. Fortunately Nicole was still in Ottawa so she extended her business trip and we traveled on to Carleton Place to attend my mother’s funeral and help with family affairs.
I returned to London on Thursday of that week just in time to repack and head to Helsinki. From there I caught a ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia arriving at 11 PM only to find out that the hotel had given my room away. By then my body had no idea what time zone or planet it was on and just wanted a bed to sleep in.
Had to move to another hotel way out in the boonies for one night and then move back the next day. The hotel was originally built as quarters for the athletes for the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the sailing and boating events were held there.
Tallinn has an old part of town – called “Old Town”, that is very interesting and reminds me a lot of Prague. But they do not have the money to restore or fix it up so it is in various states of disrepair. Basically the whole city and area is in the same shape. There are lots of remnants and reminders of the ex-Soviet rule such as huge ugly apartment complexes, and an abandoned naval base that looks like and is a toxic waste dump.
The marathon is small, about 200 runners and not very well organized. My first clue came when I arrived at the start in the Old Town Square to find no toilets or water. Fortunately McDonalds came to the rescue since there was one about a block from the start and I used their facilities. I have visited and ate at McDonalds more in the past two months than the previous 10 years and I expect this trend to continue.
The race ran through and around Old Town and the city for about 5 miles before heading out to the resort area of Pirita (where my hotel and the beaches are) and then continued out into the country through some nice forests. The race started at 10 am and it was already warm (low 70’s) so I decided to run this one easy. It was a smart move since they only had water every 5K. I was concerned but not surprised to discover them filling the cups from buckets of local water. I had seen the local water coming from the hotel tap and resolved not to drink it but my choice was to die for sure of dehydration or take my chances with the bacteria. So I opted for Tallinn’s Revenge which fortunately was a mild case a few days later. The race continued back towards Pirita along the beaches to finish close to my hotel. There was no traffic control while we were running along narrow country roads but the local drivers were very courteous and respectful so it wasn’t a big problem. I finished in 3:47:38.
As soon as I finished I showered and headed into Old Town for a good meal. Estonia does represent a great tourist bargain unlike the 1st world countries in Europe. Dinner with soup, wild boar, a good bottle of French wine and dessert was less than $20 US!
The bus system, which I used frequently, was efficient for 50 cents a ride. But I would not be in a hurry to go back.
The next day I headed back to Helsinki via ferry again. I stayed three days in Helsinki. The downtown and harbor areas are small and compact so that one can walk everywhere if you have a hotel close by. Or you can buy a daily transport pass for 25 marks ($4 US) that allows unlimited travel on the local transportation. The prices in Finland are close to those of the US –maybe 10 to 20% higher in Helsinki.
After three days I figured it was time to get out of the city so I used my Scan Rail pass to travel to the Lake District 200 miles northeast. This area reminds me of northern Ontario or Minnesota; lots of forest and lakes. I stayed for three days in Savonlinna; a small town built on 5 islands chained together in Lake Saimaa. The islands are connected via bridges –three of them are only footbridges and they are small islands since I had to run around all five to get a 7-mile run in. But the area is so lovely and quiet. You can take cruises on the lakes on steamships to just view the scenery or visit other areas. One of the islands is occupied totally by the Olavinlinna Castle, a 500-year-old castle that the Swedes built to protect Sweden from Russia. The town converts the castle into an opera hall every year for the Savonlinna Opera Festival held during the month of July. Unfortunately I missed the opening performance by one day although they told me that the tickets are sold out a year in advance.
I enjoyed three wonderful days of peace and quiet and would love to go back to explore more of the area. By the time I left I was acting like the locals; sleeping in, walking around the lake, have a nap and go to dinner about 11pm on a patio beside the lake and watch the sunset. There is only about 3 hours of darkness before the sun rises again.
Then it was back to Helsinki on Friday evening to meet Nicole at the airport. We overnighted in Helsinki so I could guide her around in the morning before we caught a train to Turku, the oldest city in Finland.
Our first chore as usual was to find the registration/pick up office at the Paavo Nurmi Stadium to pick up my race number for the Paavo Nurmi Marathon. Paavo Nurmi was a famous long distance runner who lived and trained in Turku while winning 7 gold medals in the Olympics. The marathon is supposedly run over his training course.
I was concerned again about the heat wave than Eastern Europe was having but fortunately a storm front and rain came through on Sat night to cool it down. The marathon started at noon, which I don’t like because it makes it difficult to prepare for and then blows the whole day of the race. I met one of my 50+DC colleagues at the start line. He had just run a race in Norway.
It was very windy during the race so I had to tuck behind some runners and when I found myself with just another female runner around 12 miles I had to teach her to trade places and share the lead role running into the wind. We did this for about 5 miles until a group of men passed and I tucked in behind them. I had to let them go at mile 21 because they were running a sub 8-minute pace. But it was too late as my legs felt as if someone had attached 10-pound weights. So I started to slow down and sure enough my female companion passed me about mile 25. So I hung on to her for the last mile and had to sprint the final lap in the Paavo Nurmi stadium to beat her! I finished in 3:39!
Then it was a quick shower and Nicole and I walked along the Aura River stopping for a wine/beer or two on the many ship restaurants/bars.
We found a unique and interesting restaurant on the river that served only wild game and food found in the forests and streams of Finland. Nicole had wild boar, I had wild bear since I figured you can’t get BEAR in many restaurants. The sauces were made of wild berries like cloudberry and lingonberry. It was a very interesting meal and I did not complain about the cost even though it was more than we paid for the hotel for two nights.
Unfortunately we were unable to take any tours in Turku because we had to leave too early the next day to return to Helsinki to catch our flight home. But I did get to enjoy(?) part of the Ruiserock music festival (Metallica and others) that was playing on Ruissalo Island as the marathon course did two loops around the island while the bans were playing.
Now hopefully I can get some much-needed rest before we take off on our next adventure in two weeks. Stay tuned.
Friday, June 18, 1999
TR Sweden
Trip Report
Stockholm Marathon
Stockholm, Sweden
Sweden/Norway
(6/11 –6/18/99)
Departed on Fri 6/11for Stockholm. Nicole drove me to Stansted airport which is about 10 miles from Bishop’s. Certainly is a lot more convenient than Heathrow or Gatwick.
Met a fellow marathoner on the plane. We decided to catch the bus together at Arlanda airport for the 40 minute drive into Stockholm central station. Then we proceeded to the Olympic Stadium to pick up our race packages. Bought a 3 day pass for the transportation system which turned out to a smart move since the host hotel was out in the suburbs next to the Globe Arena. I knew the metro and bus system very well by the time I left.
After I found the hotel and dumped my stuff in the room I headed to the Gamla Stan (Old Town) to play tourist and have my pasta dinner.
Stockholm is very pretty with lots of water around since the city is built on a number of islands.
The marathon was Sat but a 2pm start. So I toured some more Sat am and finally headed to the stadium at noon. Mid 60s at the start and mid 70s at the finish which is a little too warm. The course is two loops around the major tourist highlights of the city so I got to see a lot of the city I hadn’t visited yet. I also paid much more attention on the first loop. Started out slow since there were 13,000 runners. By mile 5, I was down to an 8 min pace and held that till the ½ marathon point which I passed at 1:47. Felt good so decided to push the pace to see if I could break 3:30. At mile 21 I was on a 3:30 pace but the wheels started to fall off! Struggled to run under a 10 min pace the next 4 miles until a beautiful Swedish women (blonde of course) passed me—in a bikini! So I decided to focus on the bikini and she dragged me the last mile in 8:15 and I sprinted by her on the final lap in Olympic Stadium to finish in 3:37:55! Even though I finished 6 minutes faster than Prague I was not as pleased with my performance. But I did find out that I am not in shape yet to run a sub 3:30!
Now that was out of the way I could play tourist for real, drink beer, eat whatever I wanted, etc. After a short rest and shower, I headed back to Gamla Stan and found a great restaurant on a little square. Everyone was eating el Fresco at 10:30 pm and watching the sun start to set. It didn’t get dark until after midnight.
I also started to realize how expensive Sweden is! The dinner specials cost $25 –40 and a beer was about $6 –8! Breakfast is normally included in the room price but you have to like pickled herring and deli sandwiches at 7 am. There is no such thing as bacon and eggs –even at MacDonalds –I checked!
I then had to choose between visiting some islands in the Stockholm Archipelago or using my Scan Rail Pass and heading north to make a loop around Sweden and Norway. So I took a 3 hour boat cruise through the lakes, canals and the Baltic Sea and then caught a 5 pm train north.
I made another important discovery! For a $25 upgrade fee I could reserve a semi-private sleeper coach on the night train. A hotel costs a minimum of $80 –100 so I used the trains as hotels for two nights Plus you cover 500 –600 miles while you sleep!
Back to my first night on the train travelling from Stockholm to Lulea (stop here and get out your world atlas –otherwise you will have no idea where these places are).
My roommate was a gentleman from Lulea. Fortunately he could speak English and he gave me a history lesson on Sweden, Lulea and politics. He was a staunch communist and would go off on tirades about capitalists so I didn’t bother to tell him that I was retired and living off our stock portfolio.
We arrived in Lulea at 7am on Mon morning. I left the train, walked around for 3 hours and decided to catch the next train to Kiruna, Sweden and Narvik, Norway. This train travels above the Arctic Circle and is advertised as the ‘ Most Northerly. Most Beautiful, Most Wild’ railway in the world. The first is probably true. But some of the scenery from Calgary to Vancouver is just as spectacular although maybe not as scary. When the train leaves Kiruna and heads to Narvik it passes over, through and around a mountain range that is 8 –10,000 feet. Coming down the Norwegian side it hugs the mountain on one side and on the other side is a Fjord from the North Atlantic. In many places when you look out the window you cannot see the tracks or any land –it is a sheer drop of 3 –5,000 feet into the fjord! The train finally drops down to sea level at Narvik which reminds me of small towns in Alaska or northern Canada. Arrived at 6 pm. Now about 100 miles above the Arctic Circle. The train station is closed. There is no taxi or bus. I have no idea where the actual downtown is and nobody speaks English! And it is raining and cold (35 degrees?) So I start walking and finally find a hotel about ½ mile from the station. $125 for a room –keep walking! Third and last hotel –farthest from the station- $70. Take it or sleep in the cold!
Now for a meal. Must have reindeer. Ask the desk clerk who fortunately speaks English. Go to the hotel up the street. Maybe I should run first because I haven’t run in 2 days since the marathon? Start out in the rain in shorts and a t-shirt because I did not bring any rain or cold weather gear with me. I pass several locals with ski jackets on and two runners with full Gortex suits on. Everyone looks at me very strangely. Decide it is too cold and maybe I should just drink beer instead! Stop at local grocery store. A beer is $5 per can – splurge and buy 2 cans to drink in the hotel room.
Drink the beer, watch TV-actually had BBC News channel. Shower and head for my reindeer steak. The steak only costs $25 which I figure is reasonable but a liter of rot-gut house wine to wash it down costs $35. The last time I order wine in Norway! Oh Yeah, I am hungry because I haven’t eaten since breakfast which I couldn’t stand so order a bowl of onion soup for $12. I can’t understand how anyone can afford to live in Norway?
Daylight does not go away here so I close the drapes to sleep since I think the bus leaves from the train station at 7am to go south to catch the closest railway line.
I am there at 6am in case I am wrong and need to go somewhere else. There are only two buses a day. Fortunately I am right and we depart at 7 am. It was a five hour ride to Fauske which is as far north as the Norwegian railway goes. It is 5 hours of the most spectacular scenery you will ever see. We went over, around and through mountains, under, around and over fjords. And at one point we had to take a ferry across a Fjord. Some of the tunnels were over 3 miles long and we just kept passing fjord after fjord with awesome scenery. Some day I would like to go back and take the bus route North out of Narvik which goes about another 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. That route is along the North Atlantic coast also.
Arrive Fauske and depart on the train at 12:15 pm. Scenery is still great but eventually becomes flatter and farmland as we go south. My roommate is a young cyclist from Toronto who has been biking the roads along the coast by himself for the past month and is going home. He tells me that Dallas is leading the series 2 to 1! Pass through Tronheim and then sleep and arrive in Oslo at 7 am. Go directly to the tourist desk. Bad news. No hotel rooms in Oslo. Beg and finally they come up with one 30 miles outside of Oslo for $250/night!
Make a reservation in case I really can’t find something else. Try to find a decent breakfast. Not possible. Make do with a pastry and coffee.
Take a city tour to get the layout. Oslo is fairly small. During the day I cannot find a hotel so decide I will move on by train to Goteburg, Sweden. Must do a run today. No showers in the station. Got an idea! Find a health club and ask to pay a day fee just to use their locker room and shower. Attendant thinks I am nuts but only charges $3 which is the cheapest thing I found in all of Norway. Did a hard 8 mile run along the Aker Brygge and through the Royal Farm. Shower and rush to the train station for a $10 Burger King burger and a $5 coke. Still don’t understand how anyone can afford to live here?
Getting tired now but must go on to Goteburg and find a hotel room that I can rent for the night instead of buying! Finally arrive 10:20 pm. As usual tourist office is closed but lots of hotels near the station. First stop a Renaissance Hotel, price $200! Keep moving. Go one block off main square. A clean 2 star hotel for $80. A place to sleep. Rise early and ask the clerk where to run . He recommends a bike path that takes me to a forest outside of town. There are dirt running trails that are well marked in a really thick forest. Pick a 10K loop that is well marked. What a great run! Wish Bishops had trails like this!
Back to hotel and breakfast. Surprise! They have Swedish meatballs and scrambled eggs.
I think I ate $80 worth.
Catch the train to Malma. Arrive 4 pm. Go to tourist office and book a hotel. Only $70 for a 2 star hotel near the main square (after I tell them their first 5 choices are too expensive). Malma is a neat little city, a university town with lots of young people hustling about.Walk around the central area. It is Happy Hour and it seems like the whole town is at the outdoor bars/restaurants enjoying the special prices –beer is only$7! Had a great dinner el Fresco in the main square at 10 pm with half the town. Then they all went of to nightclubs really dressed up but I had to hit the sack by midnight.
Next day I must rise early to catch the express train to Stockholm. Arrive 12pm. Decide to have a good lunch in the Gamla Stan before I catch the bus to the airport. Finally depart at 4 pm for Stansted.
Great to be back. Have 5 days to rest up before I leave for Tallinn, Estonia!
Trip in Summary!
The Stockholm marathon is a good race run through all the tourist highlights of the city.
Sweden and Norway are very, very expensive.
A Scan Rail Pass is a very good investment which will save you hundreds of dollars.
The women in Sweden, especially Stockholm are very beautiful and there seems to be an unlimited supply.
The natural scenery in Norway is the most beautiful of the two countries.
Take more than one week to see everything.
Stockholm Marathon
Stockholm, Sweden
Sweden/Norway
(6/11 –6/18/99)
Departed on Fri 6/11for Stockholm. Nicole drove me to Stansted airport which is about 10 miles from Bishop’s. Certainly is a lot more convenient than Heathrow or Gatwick.
Met a fellow marathoner on the plane. We decided to catch the bus together at Arlanda airport for the 40 minute drive into Stockholm central station. Then we proceeded to the Olympic Stadium to pick up our race packages. Bought a 3 day pass for the transportation system which turned out to a smart move since the host hotel was out in the suburbs next to the Globe Arena. I knew the metro and bus system very well by the time I left.
After I found the hotel and dumped my stuff in the room I headed to the Gamla Stan (Old Town) to play tourist and have my pasta dinner.
Stockholm is very pretty with lots of water around since the city is built on a number of islands.
The marathon was Sat but a 2pm start. So I toured some more Sat am and finally headed to the stadium at noon. Mid 60s at the start and mid 70s at the finish which is a little too warm. The course is two loops around the major tourist highlights of the city so I got to see a lot of the city I hadn’t visited yet. I also paid much more attention on the first loop. Started out slow since there were 13,000 runners. By mile 5, I was down to an 8 min pace and held that till the ½ marathon point which I passed at 1:47. Felt good so decided to push the pace to see if I could break 3:30. At mile 21 I was on a 3:30 pace but the wheels started to fall off! Struggled to run under a 10 min pace the next 4 miles until a beautiful Swedish women (blonde of course) passed me—in a bikini! So I decided to focus on the bikini and she dragged me the last mile in 8:15 and I sprinted by her on the final lap in Olympic Stadium to finish in 3:37:55! Even though I finished 6 minutes faster than Prague I was not as pleased with my performance. But I did find out that I am not in shape yet to run a sub 3:30!
Now that was out of the way I could play tourist for real, drink beer, eat whatever I wanted, etc. After a short rest and shower, I headed back to Gamla Stan and found a great restaurant on a little square. Everyone was eating el Fresco at 10:30 pm and watching the sun start to set. It didn’t get dark until after midnight.
I also started to realize how expensive Sweden is! The dinner specials cost $25 –40 and a beer was about $6 –8! Breakfast is normally included in the room price but you have to like pickled herring and deli sandwiches at 7 am. There is no such thing as bacon and eggs –even at MacDonalds –I checked!
I then had to choose between visiting some islands in the Stockholm Archipelago or using my Scan Rail Pass and heading north to make a loop around Sweden and Norway. So I took a 3 hour boat cruise through the lakes, canals and the Baltic Sea and then caught a 5 pm train north.
I made another important discovery! For a $25 upgrade fee I could reserve a semi-private sleeper coach on the night train. A hotel costs a minimum of $80 –100 so I used the trains as hotels for two nights Plus you cover 500 –600 miles while you sleep!
Back to my first night on the train travelling from Stockholm to Lulea (stop here and get out your world atlas –otherwise you will have no idea where these places are).
My roommate was a gentleman from Lulea. Fortunately he could speak English and he gave me a history lesson on Sweden, Lulea and politics. He was a staunch communist and would go off on tirades about capitalists so I didn’t bother to tell him that I was retired and living off our stock portfolio.
We arrived in Lulea at 7am on Mon morning. I left the train, walked around for 3 hours and decided to catch the next train to Kiruna, Sweden and Narvik, Norway. This train travels above the Arctic Circle and is advertised as the ‘ Most Northerly. Most Beautiful, Most Wild’ railway in the world. The first is probably true. But some of the scenery from Calgary to Vancouver is just as spectacular although maybe not as scary. When the train leaves Kiruna and heads to Narvik it passes over, through and around a mountain range that is 8 –10,000 feet. Coming down the Norwegian side it hugs the mountain on one side and on the other side is a Fjord from the North Atlantic. In many places when you look out the window you cannot see the tracks or any land –it is a sheer drop of 3 –5,000 feet into the fjord! The train finally drops down to sea level at Narvik which reminds me of small towns in Alaska or northern Canada. Arrived at 6 pm. Now about 100 miles above the Arctic Circle. The train station is closed. There is no taxi or bus. I have no idea where the actual downtown is and nobody speaks English! And it is raining and cold (35 degrees?) So I start walking and finally find a hotel about ½ mile from the station. $125 for a room –keep walking! Third and last hotel –farthest from the station- $70. Take it or sleep in the cold!
Now for a meal. Must have reindeer. Ask the desk clerk who fortunately speaks English. Go to the hotel up the street. Maybe I should run first because I haven’t run in 2 days since the marathon? Start out in the rain in shorts and a t-shirt because I did not bring any rain or cold weather gear with me. I pass several locals with ski jackets on and two runners with full Gortex suits on. Everyone looks at me very strangely. Decide it is too cold and maybe I should just drink beer instead! Stop at local grocery store. A beer is $5 per can – splurge and buy 2 cans to drink in the hotel room.
Drink the beer, watch TV-actually had BBC News channel. Shower and head for my reindeer steak. The steak only costs $25 which I figure is reasonable but a liter of rot-gut house wine to wash it down costs $35. The last time I order wine in Norway! Oh Yeah, I am hungry because I haven’t eaten since breakfast which I couldn’t stand so order a bowl of onion soup for $12. I can’t understand how anyone can afford to live in Norway?
Daylight does not go away here so I close the drapes to sleep since I think the bus leaves from the train station at 7am to go south to catch the closest railway line.
I am there at 6am in case I am wrong and need to go somewhere else. There are only two buses a day. Fortunately I am right and we depart at 7 am. It was a five hour ride to Fauske which is as far north as the Norwegian railway goes. It is 5 hours of the most spectacular scenery you will ever see. We went over, around and through mountains, under, around and over fjords. And at one point we had to take a ferry across a Fjord. Some of the tunnels were over 3 miles long and we just kept passing fjord after fjord with awesome scenery. Some day I would like to go back and take the bus route North out of Narvik which goes about another 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. That route is along the North Atlantic coast also.
Arrive Fauske and depart on the train at 12:15 pm. Scenery is still great but eventually becomes flatter and farmland as we go south. My roommate is a young cyclist from Toronto who has been biking the roads along the coast by himself for the past month and is going home. He tells me that Dallas is leading the series 2 to 1! Pass through Tronheim and then sleep and arrive in Oslo at 7 am. Go directly to the tourist desk. Bad news. No hotel rooms in Oslo. Beg and finally they come up with one 30 miles outside of Oslo for $250/night!
Make a reservation in case I really can’t find something else. Try to find a decent breakfast. Not possible. Make do with a pastry and coffee.
Take a city tour to get the layout. Oslo is fairly small. During the day I cannot find a hotel so decide I will move on by train to Goteburg, Sweden. Must do a run today. No showers in the station. Got an idea! Find a health club and ask to pay a day fee just to use their locker room and shower. Attendant thinks I am nuts but only charges $3 which is the cheapest thing I found in all of Norway. Did a hard 8 mile run along the Aker Brygge and through the Royal Farm. Shower and rush to the train station for a $10 Burger King burger and a $5 coke. Still don’t understand how anyone can afford to live here?
Getting tired now but must go on to Goteburg and find a hotel room that I can rent for the night instead of buying! Finally arrive 10:20 pm. As usual tourist office is closed but lots of hotels near the station. First stop a Renaissance Hotel, price $200! Keep moving. Go one block off main square. A clean 2 star hotel for $80. A place to sleep. Rise early and ask the clerk where to run . He recommends a bike path that takes me to a forest outside of town. There are dirt running trails that are well marked in a really thick forest. Pick a 10K loop that is well marked. What a great run! Wish Bishops had trails like this!
Back to hotel and breakfast. Surprise! They have Swedish meatballs and scrambled eggs.
I think I ate $80 worth.
Catch the train to Malma. Arrive 4 pm. Go to tourist office and book a hotel. Only $70 for a 2 star hotel near the main square (after I tell them their first 5 choices are too expensive). Malma is a neat little city, a university town with lots of young people hustling about.Walk around the central area. It is Happy Hour and it seems like the whole town is at the outdoor bars/restaurants enjoying the special prices –beer is only$7! Had a great dinner el Fresco in the main square at 10 pm with half the town. Then they all went of to nightclubs really dressed up but I had to hit the sack by midnight.
Next day I must rise early to catch the express train to Stockholm. Arrive 12pm. Decide to have a good lunch in the Gamla Stan before I catch the bus to the airport. Finally depart at 4 pm for Stansted.
Great to be back. Have 5 days to rest up before I leave for Tallinn, Estonia!
Trip in Summary!
The Stockholm marathon is a good race run through all the tourist highlights of the city.
Sweden and Norway are very, very expensive.
A Scan Rail Pass is a very good investment which will save you hundreds of dollars.
The women in Sweden, especially Stockholm are very beautiful and there seems to be an unlimited supply.
The natural scenery in Norway is the most beautiful of the two countries.
Take more than one week to see everything.
Tuesday, May 25, 1999
TR Czech Republic
Trip Report
Czech Republic
5/21 – 5/2/24/99
Prague Marathon
Prague, Czech RepublicSun, May 23/99
Marathon # 133 – Country # 11
Then we walked
across the Charles Bridge. The Charles
Bridge (Karlův most), named after the Emperor Charles IV in
19th century is Prague's most familiar monument. Designed by Petr Parler, it
was completed in 1400 and it connects the Lesser Town with the Old Town.
Although it is now pedestrianized, it withstood wheeled traffic for 600 years.
There are thirty statues on the bridge, many of them have been replaced with
copies. Originals are kept in the Lapidarian of the National Museum and at
Vyšehrad. The magnificent Gothic Old Town Bridge Tower was designed by Petr
Parler and built at the end of the 14th century. It is considered the finest
Gothic tower in central Europe, mainly for its decoration. There are marvelous
views of the Vltava River Valley, the Žofín, Střelecký Island, the Old Town and
the Lesser Town.
The castle has three courtyards and it has always been the seat of Czech rulers as well as the official residence.
And of course there always has to be a
church. St Vitrus Cathedral might appear ancient, but much of Prague's principal cathedral was
completed just in time for its belated consecration in 1929. Its many treasures
include the 14th-century mosaic of the Last Judgement above the Golden Gate,
the baroque silver tomb of St John of Nepomuck, the ornate Chapel of St
Wenceslas, and art nouveau stained glass by Alfons Mucha.
We concluded the tour back in Old Town Square (Starometske namesti) for dinner and drinks. Hotels in Prague were expensive but meals and beer were cheap!
We concluded the tour back in Old Town Square (Starometske namesti) for dinner and drinks. Hotels in Prague were expensive but meals and beer were cheap!
Sun was ‘M’ –day! I wasn’t sure what to expect from my
old ‘rested’ body? My longest training run had been 18 miles and I had no
confidence that I was in marathon shape. The course started and finished in Old
Town Square and crossed the Vltava River many times. Shortly after the start we passed many of the city’s
tourist sites. We ran along the Vltava River beneath the seemingly never-ending
hilltop castle, and crossed over the historic Charles Bridge, dotted every few
meters with its parade of haunting Baroque statues. In the race’s first two
miles alone, we crossed the Vltava River no fewer than three times, over three
bridges, each one presenting an expansive view of the city that stands
physically and historically in the center of Europe.
I wisely started slow and was happy when I reached 10Km in 55:58 and a
split of 5:25.Around the eight-mile mark we ran through the city center, getting lost in the knotty turns of the Old Town’s narrow cobblestone streets lined with tightly packed Gothic houses that date to medieval times. Along Na Prikope Street we passed Wenceslas Square, the walkway and boulevard that is the site of almost every important moment of Czech modern history, including the country’s declaration of independence in 1918, the Nazi invasion in 1939 and the popular demonstrations of the Velvet Revolution in 1989. I passed 15 Km in 1:22:34 and a split of 5:21/Km and the half in 1:54:43 and a split of 5:23. That was really slow and I felt good so I decided to lower the pace for the 2nd Half.
I passed the National Theatre near 32Km and reached 35 Km in 3:07:19 and a
split of 5:03 and pushed the pace lower again to cross the finish line in the
Old Town Square in 3:43:31. My finish time wasn’t great but I was happy. I did
not experience any problems and I ran a negative split in the 2nd
Half by seven minutes. Maddog was back! I had completed marathon #133 and
country # 11. It was my first marathon and country since moving to England. I
knew it would not be my last!
After a hot shower Nicole and I wandered around Old Town Square enjoying
the sights and a few beers before we treated ourselves to a fantastic dinner
with a bottle of wine for less than $50!
When we returned home to England I sent an email to my family and friends
to tell them about the marathon and our wonderful trip to Prague. And a great
idea stuck me? If I was going to travel and run marathons around Europe I
should write race/trip reports after each race so that I could keep my family
and friends informed. Yes – that was a good idea! I would start after the next
marathon!
That was one of the best decisions I ever made. Without those trip reports
that recorded my thoughts, observations and race statistics there is no way I
could possibly contemplate writing a book about Maddog’s marathon adventures! (Believe me - it was not easy going back and writing this report 16 years later. But it was needed for the book!)
Saturday, May 01, 1999
1999 The year of Life-changing Events
1999
The Year of
Life-changing Events
After a few weeks of running in England I started to
think that perhaps it was time to run a marathon again? And thus began a very
extensive and valuable lesson on how to run marathons in foreign countries. I
think it is important to explain and share these lessons and experience with
you so you can understand how difficult it was – and take advantage of my
experience.
The smaller races were a much more difficult challenge.
The most common places to find info on those races were running magazines such
as Runner’s World, Running Times, AIMS, etc. Another source of info was race
brochures handed out at race expos. Those publications provided race calendars
and ads that provided the name, address and phone numbers for the race. Very
few had email addresses to make the process quicker and easier. Let me explain
the process. If I had time I could write the Race Director (RD) and request
information. But that process needed weeks to complete and seldom worked
because there would be no response? So the next step I tried was to call the
RD. Didn’t work! If I called a RD in Greece for example he would answer the
phone in Greek (or what sounded like Greek to me?) and I would reply in
English - and that was the end of the
conversation! Next step and the one I found to be the most successful and thus
became my primary method was to send a fax. I would write a concise fax in
English requesting info and fax it. In most cases the RD could not understand
or read English – but I usually received a response within a few days! How? The
RD would give my fax to a race volunteer who understood English or – more
likely – he would take it home and give it to his kids who spoke English. They
would translate my fax to Dad, the RD, who would provide a response that they
would then translate into English. And
Dad, the RD, would fax a response back to me. We would often exchange several
faxes in this manner until I received all the necessary info. By then the RD
and I were usually friends and he would often assist me with travel logistics
and even invite me to stay with him and his family!
The 3rd method was ‘word of mouth’ from
runners I would meet at races. I would ask runners from other foreign countries
if there were any marathons in their country and how to get info. Usually they
would give me their email address so we could correspond and they would help me
find and register for races. And in some cases where there was no marathon in a
country I would ask local runners and their running clubs to help me organize
one.
Using these methods that I learned through frustration
and experience I was able to run 31 marathons in 31 countries (and accomplish my
1st World Record) during our year in England. If I had perfected
these methods earlier I believe that I could have completed 50+ marathons and
50+ countries in that year! My biggest handicap was finding marathons and
setting up the travel logistics! Even with the robust internet that is available
16 years later I still have to revert to the other methods – particularly ‘word-of-mouth’ to find marathons in small,
poor 3rd world countries!
I started with the simplest method – the Internet – to
find and register for my 1st marathon in Europe – the Prague
Marathon. When we returned home to England after the marathon I emailed news of
the race to my family and friends. And I realized that if I was going to run
more marathons and travel more in Europe I needed to write race/trip reports
after each race so that I could record the facts accurately. That decision and
those reports were a significant and important event. My family enjoyed the
reports and without those reports I would not have the material or memories
needed to write a book about Maddog’s marathon adventures!
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