Sunday, August 26, 2012
Golden Gate Park <-> Ferry Building Loop + Detour
This was a family day in SF. I wanted to go to Yoshi's jazzfest in Oakland during that trip but was too lazy. Nevertheless, I figured out the bike route from Golden Gate Park to Ferry Building from Google Map and decided to give it a try. The main street that connects GGP to downtown was Page St, a straight and mostly downhill road with relatively light traffic (it's a Sunday though) Once in downtown it's all Market St. Even though it's a main street in downtown, we cyclists actually share the lane with cars that must make right turns so it's not that bad. When I arrived, there were many tourists at the Ferry Building. I seldom go there during weekends and I'd rather walk around or shop there during weekdays. For the return trip, I consulted Google again. (Google usually came up with routes that utilize bike lanes) This time the main street that connects downtown back to GGP were Fulton and Felt. And of course, I needed to go uphill, which was not that bad (Category-5 climb) even with my 3-gear folding bike. If you really followed the above link, you might notice the route actually went through GGP to 39th and Noriega. That's Polly Ann. (No, she's not my girlfriend even though it does have a 偷食 feel and I did get busted: ran into my friend there!) Too bad they didn't make soft serve ice cream today (they make the most 富豪雪糕-like soft serve in the States, IMO) so I settled for a sundae :P It's one of my few bike trips that I didn't plan much ahead and there were pleasant surprises.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
2012 Euro Cycling and Art Trip - Prologue
I visited Europe for the first time in 1998 and became a big fan since then. I enjoyed reading about the history of Western civilization. There are always so much to see. This year I'm visiting Germany for the 2nd time and Austria the 1st time. I ended up cycling for 170 miles, visited 6 museums and 1 music festival, all in 1 week!
Coincidentally, even before I boarded my flight, I already got some good biking vibes from the Exhibition about history of mountain biking at SFO. I have been riding Specialized bikes for a couple years and just realized its founder came from SJ State U. And the engineering culture of the silicon valley and the Bay Area in general was part of the stimulants of the whole mountain biking movement, making the Bay Area THE "capitol" of the sports. Just one more motivation for me to get more involved! Please scroll all the way down to start reading my journey from the first stop.
Coincidentally, even before I boarded my flight, I already got some good biking vibes from the Exhibition about history of mountain biking at SFO. I have been riding Specialized bikes for a couple years and just realized its founder came from SJ State U. And the engineering culture of the silicon valley and the Bay Area in general was part of the stimulants of the whole mountain biking movement, making the Bay Area THE "capitol" of the sports. Just one more motivation for me to get more involved! Please scroll all the way down to start reading my journey from the first stop.
2012 Euro Cycling and Art Trip - Epilogue 1
The very first question you might ask is: why did I pick Munich, Salzburg and Vienna for this trip? Well, I have a very specific time frame when I am free to go anywhere in the world. I decided to focus on two of my favorite activities: music and cycling. I found that most guided bike tours start on Sunday but I fly out on Monday so they are ruled out. The top music festival on my list is Bayreuth (at which Wagner's opera are performed) but it is almost impossible to get tickets (I read that the waiting list is 5+ years) So the "second best" would be Salzburg festival. I planned my trip around it basically. Since it is a small city, it is easier to find flights that fit my time frame and budget when I expanded my search to its nearby metropolis: Munich and Vienna. And I started reading up on attractions at these 2 cities, mainly museums and bike routes, from the Lonely Planet guides to Bavaria (which includes Munich) and Austria.
For biking, there are city tours for all 3 cities I went. In addition, the Danube river runs through Vienna and there is a trail (Donauradweg) along side the river. In fact, it is mentioned and highly praised by one of my favorite biking book about tours around the world.
What I could have done differently was taking the train from Salzburg to one of the city along Donauradweg, rent a bike there and then ride one-way to Vienna but there are several challenges:
1) I need to carry all luggages with me while I ride the bike. Even though I packed really light, it is still too heavy to ride long distance. Biking round trip between Vienna and Melk, I simply leave most of my clothes in the luggage stored at my Vienna hotel.
2) I need to find a bike store that do one-way rental, i.e., allows me to return in a different city (Vienna in my case) I figure it would be possible to arrange this but I don't feel too comfortable. Also, automatic rental system (bike share) is popular in various Austrian cities which was another possibility but I'm not sure how far I could go with those bikes.
Once I decided on where to stay each night, the rest is easy: simply go on the familiar Expedia.com to buy my air tickets and booked my hotels. One might think Expedia.com is US-centric but you would be surprised by the many choices available in major European cities (even non-major one like Melk) My criteria were: close to where major landmarks (plazas) are concentrated, and between US$60-100 per night. Turns out all hotels I stayed at also offered free Wifi, which is a big bonus! I unlocked my phone before the trip and originally planned to buy a prepaid SIM with data plan in Austria but unlike HK or US, phone companies are not everywhere in Austria. Three days into my trip I gave up looking. I ended up relying on Wifi to Facebook and Whatsapp with friends and family.
As far as train tickets are concerned, I asked on forum and I was told it's not necessary to buy in advance because trains run regularly and frequently between European cities. People who are familiar with me know how lazy I am and would be surprised that I booked the trip DIY. No travel agent required! It is actually easier than one thinks.
Looking back I think I made good choices of hotels:
1) The Munich hotel is right next to the Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof in German) There were trains (S-Bahn) ran directly fro airport to Hauptbahnhof (S1 or S8 train) And the museums are also within walking distance.
2) The Salzburg hotel is within 30 min of walking from Salzburg's Hauptbahnhof. And it is also 10 min away from the concert hall and the Mirabellgarten.
3) The Vienna hotel is 30 min of walking from Vienna's Westbahnhof. I could have taken a train/lightrail but it is not easy to figure out how and how much to pay because info was all in German. The best thing is that the hotel is 5 minutes from the Museum of Art History and right next to MQ (Museumsquartier) where artists and the hip crowd gathers.
4) what I didn't like about the hotels is the lack of A/C. Central European summer nights are hotter than what I'm used to in the SF Bay Area. Still, the heat was tolerable when I was there. I just won't recommend them to those bringing wife/gf. Just avoid something you know she will complain for sure!
On the other hand, I would 100% recommend all three bike stores I worked with. In fact, it is a good idea to reserve the bike/bike tour online in advance (same price as walk-in) because biking IS popular in Europe. I was fortunate that the tours were not sold-out. The only store I contacted in advance was Vienna's Pedal Power. I paid a few more euro to have the bike delivered and picked up from the hotel to save the trouble of public transportation between hotel and bike store. Pedal Power is quite responsive via email and provided me a reliable, well-performing and reasonably comfortable touring bike. It was recommended to me by an online travel review website/forum. I saw quite a few other bikes rented from Pedal Power in the streets of Vienna. I also ran into some bikes from www.radurlaub.com on Donauradweg. You might wanna check them out.
For biking, there are city tours for all 3 cities I went. In addition, the Danube river runs through Vienna and there is a trail (Donauradweg) along side the river. In fact, it is mentioned and highly praised by one of my favorite biking book about tours around the world.
What I could have done differently was taking the train from Salzburg to one of the city along Donauradweg, rent a bike there and then ride one-way to Vienna but there are several challenges:
1) I need to carry all luggages with me while I ride the bike. Even though I packed really light, it is still too heavy to ride long distance. Biking round trip between Vienna and Melk, I simply leave most of my clothes in the luggage stored at my Vienna hotel.
2) I need to find a bike store that do one-way rental, i.e., allows me to return in a different city (Vienna in my case) I figure it would be possible to arrange this but I don't feel too comfortable. Also, automatic rental system (bike share) is popular in various Austrian cities which was another possibility but I'm not sure how far I could go with those bikes.
Once I decided on where to stay each night, the rest is easy: simply go on the familiar Expedia.com to buy my air tickets and booked my hotels. One might think Expedia.com is US-centric but you would be surprised by the many choices available in major European cities (even non-major one like Melk) My criteria were: close to where major landmarks (plazas) are concentrated, and between US$60-100 per night. Turns out all hotels I stayed at also offered free Wifi, which is a big bonus! I unlocked my phone before the trip and originally planned to buy a prepaid SIM with data plan in Austria but unlike HK or US, phone companies are not everywhere in Austria. Three days into my trip I gave up looking. I ended up relying on Wifi to Facebook and Whatsapp with friends and family.
As far as train tickets are concerned, I asked on forum and I was told it's not necessary to buy in advance because trains run regularly and frequently between European cities. People who are familiar with me know how lazy I am and would be surprised that I booked the trip DIY. No travel agent required! It is actually easier than one thinks.
Looking back I think I made good choices of hotels:
1) The Munich hotel is right next to the Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof in German) There were trains (S-Bahn) ran directly fro airport to Hauptbahnhof (S1 or S8 train) And the museums are also within walking distance.
2) The Salzburg hotel is within 30 min of walking from Salzburg's Hauptbahnhof. And it is also 10 min away from the concert hall and the Mirabellgarten.
3) The Vienna hotel is 30 min of walking from Vienna's Westbahnhof. I could have taken a train/lightrail but it is not easy to figure out how and how much to pay because info was all in German. The best thing is that the hotel is 5 minutes from the Museum of Art History and right next to MQ (Museumsquartier) where artists and the hip crowd gathers.
4) what I didn't like about the hotels is the lack of A/C. Central European summer nights are hotter than what I'm used to in the SF Bay Area. Still, the heat was tolerable when I was there. I just won't recommend them to those bringing wife/gf. Just avoid something you know she will complain for sure!
On the other hand, I would 100% recommend all three bike stores I worked with. In fact, it is a good idea to reserve the bike/bike tour online in advance (same price as walk-in) because biking IS popular in Europe. I was fortunate that the tours were not sold-out. The only store I contacted in advance was Vienna's Pedal Power. I paid a few more euro to have the bike delivered and picked up from the hotel to save the trouble of public transportation between hotel and bike store. Pedal Power is quite responsive via email and provided me a reliable, well-performing and reasonably comfortable touring bike. It was recommended to me by an online travel review website/forum. I saw quite a few other bikes rented from Pedal Power in the streets of Vienna. I also ran into some bikes from www.radurlaub.com on Donauradweg. You might wanna check them out.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
2012 Euro Cycling and Art Trip - Epilogue 2
I gotta admit I really know very little about Austria before the trip though. I read a bit more and tried to understand its culture, especially comparison with German. And I realized Austrian are known to be rude (compared to the friendly German) Not sure if they are rude in general or towards foreigners only but I won't be surprised if the latter is the case for a country with so much rural area. Then I found out the country's anti-semitism. Even though I am 0% Jewish, I still might have a 2nd thought about going had I known this before hand. I did witness one episode that involved rude Austrian: I was in line to buy lunch from the coffee shop at Schonbrunn palace. The Italian guy in front of me ordered two cups for himself and gf. He found out he was charged more than expected. The barista/cashier lady explained in English that's the price of coffee (with milk) but that customer said he actually wanted the (cheaper) espresso. So the lady made the latter as well but looked very obviously pissed. I smiled at that customer, as well as the cashier when it's my turn to order. The cashier lady probably realized that she was too rude and put on a smile too. She joked with me and the rest in line whether we wanted to buy the coffee she already made.
I also didn't know Austria has low crime rate but I totally believe it judging by how Viennese locked their bikes, ie., not chaining up the front wheel. That's a no-no in the States. I learned that from campus orientation years ago.
Even though I survived without cell phone service but it would have been nice to have. I bet it would have reduced some stress from worrying about getting lost along Danube. And cell phone service really helped during my transit in Chicago: my SF->Chicago flight was delayed by 1 hour because of Obama's visit to the Bay Area and I worried that I would missed the Chicago->Munich flight. So I studied the airport/terminal map in the airline magazine trying to figure out the fastest way to get to that gate. When the plane touched down in Chicago, it actually passed by that gate and I saw no plane and I guess the next flight was delayed as well. And I confirmed that with my phone. So I relaxed and spent the extra time on dinner.
Finally, I wanted to recommend an Android App: MapDroyd. You could download and view maps later offline with this App. I downloaded the Bavaria and Austria map before the trip. Even though I had no phone service, I could still use this. It was very helpful, especially when I tried finding the ways from train station to hotel.
I also didn't know Austria has low crime rate but I totally believe it judging by how Viennese locked their bikes, ie., not chaining up the front wheel. That's a no-no in the States. I learned that from campus orientation years ago.
Even though I survived without cell phone service but it would have been nice to have. I bet it would have reduced some stress from worrying about getting lost along Danube. And cell phone service really helped during my transit in Chicago: my SF->Chicago flight was delayed by 1 hour because of Obama's visit to the Bay Area and I worried that I would missed the Chicago->Munich flight. So I studied the airport/terminal map in the airline magazine trying to figure out the fastest way to get to that gate. When the plane touched down in Chicago, it actually passed by that gate and I saw no plane and I guess the next flight was delayed as well. And I confirmed that with my phone. So I relaxed and spent the extra time on dinner.
Finally, I wanted to recommend an Android App: MapDroyd. You could download and view maps later offline with this App. I downloaded the Bavaria and Austria map before the trip. Even though I had no phone service, I could still use this. It was very helpful, especially when I tried finding the ways from train station to hotel.
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