Adriene Crimson » travel

Cycling Buddies

adriene — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:08:00 +0000

These are my teammates.

My coach, riding buddy, partner and best friend, Shanny Bannanny Sis Boom Bammy aka Shannon Shalako. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t feel as prepared as I do for this crazy seven day ride from SF to LA!

realistic energy chew, no?

Justine Bateman Veber, Jetson, Juicy, or Justin Case, whatever you call him, he’s my happy maker when I need it. He started out without a bike and is now a HAWD COAH cyclist, riding about 100 miles a week by riding home (SF Mission District) from work (Millbrae or Redwood City) a few times a week.

helmets are the best hair stylers

This is Emily.

She gets two pictures because she’s
super fun/silly

AND
super hot

Also, she’s got enough energy to be at least two, if not three teammates. We heart her for doing this ride for the 8th time and showing us the ropes.

This is our beloved roadie Greg. He’s definitely the wind beneath our wings. He loves orange and cute illustrations of monsters and anthropomorphized animals and inanimate objects. He said “I’m not going to bike but I’ll drive!” and thus the PIKLWGN is driving sweep so Greggie will be sweeping us off our wheels (and taking us to the hotel – KIDDING!)

sweet perfection in the tub

Here you’ll find, on the left, Jimmy Kitty. He’s our bestest cheerleader who’s going to meet us in LA when we cannot walk anymore and take us to a fancy hotel and put us in the salt water pool. We heart Jimmy Kitty for being such a fluffernutter.
On the right is our animal loving, soon to be vet friend Eric. He’s not going to be on the medical team (snicker) but will be roadie-ing at the ALC Store. He’s the one who will avert his eyes when we five finger discount bandanas (KIDDING! we’ll totally buy them! [if they're cute!])

close up and serious
[Eric's not usually that serious, but sometimes he can be a little judgemental]

I’m actually not counting how many days we’re here…

adriene — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:30:00 +0000

…and it’s wonderful.

We were awakened at 10am to get ready for the day. Markus showed us an English blog review (sorry no link right now) of the resaurant in Malaga that we were being surprised with. Hundreds of Spaniards all sit under an awning while watiers walk around shouting out what they’re carrying. We see something we like and wave them to our table. They charge us by the size of the plates on the table.
We played Fire for three or four hours while picking at all different kinds of sea food. It was loud and beautiful and dreamy – totally surrounded by locals at their special Suntag meal we were able to blend right in.
Well, except that one time that Markus got a little excited about winning a round of Fire by yelling “FIRE!” a bit too loud and the few tables around us looked at us alarmedly. We just motioned to them that he was a bit crazy and they nodded in agreement and carried on with their eating.

Now we’re in for the evening and looking forward to more adventures tomorrow – perhaps the Picasso museum in Malaga!

Did I mention the pureed watermelon and vodka? We’re still drinking it – what a delicioso treat!

Dia Tres a Espana – the market and paella

adriene — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:15:00 +0000

A fun part of this trip has been learning and practicing speaking both Spanish and German. Our hosts are German and Marie and her family have been coming to this home since she can remember so she’s got a bit of Spanish but mostly speaks German with Markus and English with us.
Shannon lived in Munich with the help of Markus for about a year and he lived in Mexico as an exchange student for a couple of months when he was at Santa Cruz high school.
I studied French in high school and college and have picked up a bit of Spanish and German from Shannon.
When I try to speak Spanish, a lot of French comes out.
When I try German, it’s Sprench.
But it’s so much fun!
I’m looking forward to being in Germany for a couple of days, surrounded by German like I’m surrounded by Spanish here.

Today we went to the local market where I got myself a maxi dress (thanks for the suggestion Nicole!) for only €10 because of Shannon’s mad negotiation skills.
“How much for the dress?”
“€15″
“Okay, Gracias.” puts dress back on rack.
The shop keeper asks me “You like it?”
I say “Yes” and he says, “Okay, €10″

It was hot and breezy at the market and many of the goods looked to me like things one finds in most of these markets: cheap t shirts, silver jewelry and lots of clothing and scarves made in India. But, the Spanish-ness that I noticed were leather goods like bags and shoes, pottery including house numbers and placards as well as dishes and fun clothing (like the dress i got).

The market closed for siesta around 3 and we went home to the Marbella Harbor for our first Paella. Due to Shanny’s fierce allergy to shellfish, we got one with only shimp and fish and it was amazing. M & M’s was filled with shellfish, shrimp and fish and they loved it.
We walked around after eating and got to see the ritzy rich in Marbella doing their thing. They looked so fancy in their expensive labels. Markus had to go into the electronics store to see the iPhone 3G that they apparetly had unlocked and for a mere €1400 it could have been his. That’s almost $2000! We didn’t believe that it was ulocked but without a SIM card to test it ourselves, there was no way to prove it. I had mine with me but didn’t want to deal with them using my SIM.

After this we wandered back to the car and headed home for the evening. We had pureed watermelon with vodka while playing cards. Markie and Marie had a suprise for us in the morning and we had to hit the hay early so around 1am we all fell into our beds.

Dia Dos a Espana – la playa

adriene — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:12:00 +0000

To help us cure our collective hangover, we went to the beach. The beaches here have umbrellas and lounge chairs for rent and the one that M & M like has a bar/restaurant right on the sand.
It was sunny but very windy that day so we opted to sit on the slightly covered porch to have the tinto verano that Shanny had to buy us because of his lost bet the night before. We were playing a card game called Fire and commenting about the people on the beach getting massages right in their beach chairs.
Adriene “I wonder if they’re using sunscreen for their massage lotion”
Everyone “probably not”
Adriene “Those massage therapists aren’t going to last very long if they keep bending over so far to give these massages” and a discussion of body mechanics while massaging ensues.
In the middle of a particularly festive round of Fire, we here some squabbling and Markus says “Woah!”
The two Thai (?) people giving the massages were having a fight. The woman was shorter than the man and yelling right in his face while he pushed her repeatedly, once even sending her down to the sand. I was amazed that she kept getting back in his face after he’d been so physically abusive. He was also grabbing her wrists and hands in the attempt to damage her means of generating income, I’m sure. The waiter finally said something along the lines of “call the police” and the argument went from physical to just verbal – but still so much in each others faces. Then, almost as quickly as it started, it stopped, they came to some kind of agreement and went back to massaging the sunbathers! Again, I felt amazed at these people and their industrious and, I assume, competitive line of work. I can imagine that their argument was about money and that the end of the argument came about because one of them offered the other a payout or a client.
Until the waiter referenced “la polizia” I was sort of taking this in stride as a “spanish thing.” I’m glad I got pulled out of that pigeon hole and brought back to the reality of competition for tourist money. Thank Gaia that even tho I’m in a competitive industry, I don’t have to deal with people trying to take away my physical ability to work as a way to get themselves more work.

Shortly after that, we went home for siesta, and then back out for an early dinner at 9pm. More pimientos and boquerones came to the table – yums! Also sizzling bowls of shrimp in a garlic butter broth – heaven! I had sole in champagne sauce which was flavorful and lovely, Shannon had the cod in chef’s special sauce while Markie and Marie got thier favorite dishes – grilled fish variety and fried fish variety, respectively. Marie’s was definitely the most interesting looking – pieces and whole fishes fried and piled high on her plate. Shanny’s cod was very salty – at first we thought it was the sauce but it was the fish itself! This is not the cod of my youth time visits to Cape Cod – no no. But when we were used to it, it tasted of the sea and the sauce was spiced just right to counter the salt.

When we returned home, we melted into bed with happy, full bellies, and finally recovered from our hangover a la bienvenu a espana.

Arrival a Espana

adriene — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:02:00 +0000

After twenty hours of travelling, we are greeted by Markus at the gate in Malaga, Spain with a “Finally you’re here!”. It was sweet to watch how happy Shannon was to see his best friend after two years apart. I was expecting to have to go thru customs but now that Europe is a big union, you only have to do it once. Yes, I was disappointed to get denied yet another passport stamp, but at least going thru customs on our four hour Frankfurt layover took all of five minutes and we were asked no questions at all. Alas, again I have one stamp in a new passport and I hope that the next trip I take will be soon enough that the customs official doesn’t look at me and say “You don’t get out much, do you?” like the one in the British Virgin Islands did.

It was 4:30 in the afternoon and it felt like morning to me, I was ready for the day! Shannon, however, was very tired as neither of us were able to sleep at all on either of our flights, or during layover. Markus drove us to Marbella in the jeep with the back window open, my hair was flying all over the place and I was smiling ear to ear to finally be in Europe. Fifteen minutes into our drive, Shanny is animated and also grinning wildly. The start of the end of jet lag!
After driving on the costal freeway and looking at the Mediterranean Sea for my first time, we turned up the hill and navigated narrow, twisty, curvy side streets with white houses, palm trees (just like in California), and tall green hedges that provide a lovely genteel property deliniation. We drive all the way to the end of the street and there was the gate of the house. Markus honked and the dog next door barked and then Marie greeted us with champagne and her big beautiful smile. We drank our champagne in the salt water pool as we caught up and continued smiling and laughing.

The afternoon faded slowly and while we settled ourselves into our rooms our wonderful hosts made us a delicious Spanish dinner. There were two kinds of sauteed peppers: pimientos julienned and sauteed are much like our bell peppers and pimientos de padron are typically sauteed whole, a lovely dark green pepper about the size of a jalepeno and slightly bitter rather than spicy. There was also boquerones, a Spanish sardine in olive oil and garlic. I’ve not been exposed to the “little fish” very much and have had an aversion in the past, mostly because of that cartoon can with the key that rolls back the top. These, however, are delicious and delicate and lovely on sliced baguette with tomato. And the piece de resistance was a whole fish baked in salt. Markus put three or four cups of very coarse sea salt in the pan, put the fish on top and then covered it in salt to bake for 30 min or so. Holy yum. I’m excited to get to know this Spanish delicacy very well.
In effort to make sure we weren’t “jet laggers,” Markie and Marie plied us with mucho alcohol. In the jeep coming from the airport, I was practicing saying “Mi gustaria una cupa de sangria” (I would like a glass of sangria) so after the champange was finito, Marcus offered us tinto verano, a quick sangria made with red wine and lemon soda and served over ice that is muy buen. Then there was a delicioso, fruity and floral sauvignon blanc with dinner and finally, when the wine was gone and the table cleared, gin and tonics.
We talked about American politics and television, made plans for the week, Markus and Shannon teased each other while Marie and I laughed, Shannon lost a bet because he was the last into the pool and then we walked to the beach and I swam in the lovely Mediterranean Sea for the first time. We made it without sleeping until 4 or 5am and all awoke just after 11am badly in need of water and advil but ready to start the day – kein jet lag! Mission accomplished!

Mexican thankfulness in photos

adriene — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:03:00 +0000

Click any image to see it larger on flickr.

Ventilation and Awe

Doors

Patterns and Lines

Reflected Selves

Ancient structures

no no, thank YOU!

adriene — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 08:08:00 +0000

I’ll be out of town, out of the country, for a week to celebrate the idea of thankfulness.

Here are the things I’m most thankful for right now:
love
growth
my friends who allow me to be me and who are just beautiful being who they are
my family who are always full of love
travel
understanding
forgiveness
skincare
my new career
my new job within the realm of the above two
my goals
my five year plan
travelling with my honey
borrowing books from the library for travel reading
80 degree days and 40 degree nights (farenheit)
no plan plans
$1 = ~10 pesos
$45 1 1/2 hour massages

In the somewhat remote mountain town in Mexico, I’m sure there is some internet but I see no reason to access it when I’ve only got six days to soak up my first experience in a country that doesn’t speak English as a first language.
Fortunately, my man does and I’m really good at talking with my hands.

I’m sure I’ll post photos eventually upon my return.

If you comment on this or my page and don’t see it, that’s because I have to approve all of that communication and that won’t happen until the 27th.
(tho, I bet I’ll log on before I head out tomorrow afternoon… maybe… if I ever log off and go pack…)

to the caribbean, me

adriene — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 17:39:00 +0000

i’m off to the caribbean sea, to the us virgin island of st john this evening and i won’t return to the cold rain, (tho, right now, i’m having a hard time seeing the screen for the bright, warm sunlight streaming in thru the blinds) until the 24th.
i’d love to say that i’ll post some travel blogs but if all they have is a dial up, i’ll be spending that time on the beach instead.
there will be a summary, and maybe some of my own photos too, shortly after i return.

WOOT!