Monday, February 8, 2010

Change of Scenery

It's been a while. That happens when you're as busy as I am - here is a rough rundown of my last two months:

December 18th-26th: took paid leave from work
December 26th-January 3rd: traveled to Davos, Switzerland for snowboarding and New Years
January 5th and 6th: worked
January 7th-January 14th: took paid leave from work
January 15th-18th: traveled to Florence, Italy
January 18th-January 29th: appointments and whatnot for leaving Bamberg
January 31st-today: I've run a couple times, lifted weights twice, and watched a good amount of TV

So, as one can see (seriously, check January 5th-6th again) I've had precious little time to attend to this here blog.

Besides the driving (should have been a 6-hour trip but with traffic it turned into 9 there and 10 on the way back), Davos was a real fun trip. The first day we snowboarded for the morning and then watched a hockey game between Davos and Karlovy Vary, a Czech team. Then for the next five days we snowboarded. It was extremely tiring, but worth it. The only part I would have improved (save for the driving) was the weather. It was cold and clear the first four days and didn't snow until the end of the week. A good couple inches right when we got there would have been prime.

The trip to Florence was a good break from German winter weather. When we left Bamberg it was around 30 degrees, cloudy, and snowing. When we landed in Florence it was sunny and close to 55 degrees. Penny and I went to a bunch of museums, including the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David. I never realized how big that statute actually is - 17 feet! Besides those museums, Penny and I climbed the dome of the Duomo and ate a lot of really good food.

Now I'm in a period of transition as I wait for my goods from Germany to arrive here in America (including my car). Then around the beginning of March I'll head north and west with planned stops in Woodstock, VT; Rochester, NY; and Chicago, IL on my way to Winfield, KS where I'll spend about two weeks before heading back to Germany. I'll be in Germany for two months before heading off to who knows where. I hope it is another overseas adventure.

On the cycling front, I haven't ridden in a long time due to the moving process, but my bikes should be here next week. Even if it is cold and snowy, I can at least ride the trainer. I'm excited to try out the new Northwave shoes and Dura-Ace pedals I purchased. I was thinking of getting a set of Look pedals, but with the sale price on the Dura-Ace and the fact that my other pedals are Ultegra, it made sense to go with two pedals with the same cleat so that I can jump on either bike and not have to worry about changing cleats.