4th day of cycling

Today's route was the least interesting, high traffic and more cyclists.

The highlight was a winery visit.

Day 3 of cycling

Many murals on the walls in the town of Saludecio. They call murals grafetti.

65 km ride

Yea, that is the Adriatic in the background. I was with the not-fast riders...Howard, Bill, Peter, Marge and Greg.
More later

Sep 9 First full day in Riccione

Walked on the beach at sun rise. More later

Sunny London

Returned the rental bike this am by biking by myself from Canary Wharf across Tower Bridge.  Scary!!

It has been many years since I was in St. Pau'ls so decided to visit again.  Climbed about 500 steps to the very top of the Dome.  Here is a view of the London Eye.  The mural on the left is actually a printed fabric covering construction.  Here are some intereting facts about St. Paul's:

604  St Paul's founded  by King Ethelbert of Kent
1066 William of Normandy invades Englnd
1606  Four gunpowder plotters executed in St Paul's Churchyard
1666  The Great Fire of London devastates St Paul's
1981  Diana married Charles here 

I then retraced my steps across the Millenium Bridge to visit Shakespear's Globe Theatre.  I learned that it was rebuilt only because of an American Actor, Sam Wanamaker.  He went to London in 1949 and all he found of the Globe was a plaque.  He could hardly believe it and had a vision that he should rebuild it in the same manner of the original.  It took many, many years to accomplish.

The Globe was modeled after Roman amphitheatres and Greek Theatres.  The stage represents the world with two trap doors leading to Hell and the ceiling is painted to look like heaven. It has a thatch roof that is open to the sky in the middle.   Do you remember the famous line:  "All the world is a stage and all the men and women are merely players".  I also learned that scenery wasn't invented by Shakespere's time.  That is why he painted word pictures of what the scenery should be.

All the steps and walking today combined with the 8 hours yesterday on the heavy town bike are catching up with me.  I'm leaving very early in the morning for Bologna, Italy so will get organized and hopefully, to bed not too late.

Brands Hatch, Kent

Chloe and I set out this morning on rented, hybrid bikes this morning from Tower Bridge, London.  The good news is that no one crashed and we had fantastic weather.  We meandered, and I mean really meandered along the Thames cycle path then got lost a couple times.  It took us about 4 hours to go what John said would be about a 2 hour journey.  Seems he had never done it and we made several u-turns...laughing the whole way.  He is a relaxed guide.
 
The Brands Hatch venue for the Paralympics was well attended and we were able to stand right next to the spot where the racers were 200 meters from the finish.  Unfortunately, our friends Dave and Clark finished 6th. 

Am heading into London tomorrow for my last day here. 

Wed, Aug 29

View from the gigantic patio at the flat in Canary Wharf. Chloe's friend Emma lives in Cambridge and her friend, John, had two spare bedrooms to share with us. He works for Credit Swisse and recently returned from Singapore.

Greenwich

We saw the Paralympic torch go through Greenwich and Chloe flirted with the cute policeman. I loved walking back along the Thames to the flat in Canary Wharf. Today was a bit cool and rainy.

Dave & Clark

Warming up around the Velodrome.

Fri, Aug 31, 2012

Met up with Dave and Clark after their races. They did the 4K pursuit and the Kilo (1K time trial). Unfortunately, they didn't medal. Their strength is on the road. We have to tickets for the road time trial on Wed.

Sat, Sept 1, 2012

The police presence was every where. Luckily, they were friendly. Most of looked as though they weren't old enough to shave. Yes, I know that was a sexist comment but we saw very few women.
We had to walk by the gigantic Westfield Mall to get into the Olympic Park. Of course, we checked it out more than once.

Sunday, Sept 2, 2012

We watched the US team win bronze in the Mixed C-1 to C-5 Sprint. Joe has no right arm, Sam has no right leg and Jennifer has cerbral palsey.

Monday, Sept 3, 2012

Took the underground to London Bridge Station, walked along the Thames on Queen's Way to Tower Bridge. The symbol for the Parympics is hanging from the middle if it.