Day 4 was another big driving day. A few weeks earlier, we figured out there was an “extra” day before we were expected at the villa. I thought the check-in was Saturday but it was Sunday. I thought that it would be cool to check out Cinque Terre so I booked an Airbnb without doing the level of research I had done for the other places. All I knew is that the total drive time to Umbria would be about the same and, in fact, a stop in Cinque Terre would be a nice way to break up the trip.
Castelgrande
On the way down, we decided to stop in Bellinzona. I love Bellinzona or rather, I love the Amerena gelato at Gelateria Venata in Bellinzona! SMS drove over a mountain pass from Trun- there was even a brief snow flurry! We arrived a little early so we walked around Bellinzona. We thought we would be gone before the gelateria opened but we came across a farmer’s market (with a delicious risotto and polenta “samosa”). We also walked around the Castelgrande. It was a great morning and finished with ice cream!
Looking down from the Castelgrande wall
So, look at the following map. Doesn’t it look easy?
Such cute, squiggly Microsoft Paint lines. What could be more simple, more cute? OMG. It was a pretty nightmare drive on backroads that ranged from 1.5-1 lanes but with two-way traffic the entire way. What I thought would be a quick drive off the road was a 45 minute slog in the best conditions, about 75 minutes due to poor directions. I realized later that the map was made by a guy who lived and drove there all the time and was not very helpful to someone unfamiliar to the area. There were a LOT more turns than indicated on the map and it was a really stressful drive. SMS was a living saint and didn’t snap at any point, which is really admirable. I am almost certain that I would not have been as understanding.
Looking North…
Once we got to Cinque Terre, the place was beautiful but very basic. There was nowhere to eat or drink nearby and I hadn’t thought to stock up or bring a picnic-style dinner. Ugh, this was such a bomb of a side trip.
Looking towards Corniglia
Other than the fact that we were in a beautiful place. That made me feel a little better. We drove down to Corniglia and ate at a restaurant overlooking the little cove and larger Ligurian Sea. The food was fine but the view was spectacular.
We went back to the AirBnb and went to bed. Would I recommend it? Sort of. As SMS said, it was more of a stay-a-few-nights type of place rather than a one night. Plus, compared to some other places we went on the trip, I preferred those to the super-touristy Cinque Terre. The towns were pretty much only tourist-driven (it seemed). Although we went to some other places that attracted tourists, it always seemed that tourism was part of the city’s lifeblood, not the entire existence. I’m sure there would be plenty of people who disagree and don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful place- I just have other places higher on my favorites list. In fairness, I think the drive really took a lot out of my enjoyment and if we had taken the train in and actually been in a town rather than between two, it may have been a lot better experience.
SMS had wanted to visit Lichtenstein so I booked an overnight there on our drive from Germany to Italy. We had a delicious breakfast buffet, which we added to our bill. I am sort of in love with a breakfast of muesli, cheese and whole-grain bread.
I wanted to do more than just pass through Lichtenstein so we decided to do the Prince’s Way Hike. We drove through Vanduz, with its pretty terraced streets. We drove up to Gaflei where there was a small paved parking lot and little (clean!) bathroom hut at the start of the trail.
A little chossy…
The views were very beautiful but there was a lot of loose rock. The trail was well-formed, but there was evidence of prior rock slides. Some of the trail hugged the cliff with some pretty steep drops. We were doing pretty well until we came to an area where the path had slid away. People braver (more fool-hardy) than ourselves picked their way across but we decided to turn back. SMS and I have done some stupid outdoor adventures in our time but neither one of us felt good about continuing the hike. SMS didn’t want to die and I didn’t want to have a panic attack halfway across the gravel-strewn “path.” I guess I didn’t want to die either.
SMS on the trail
So, that was that! Next up was heading into the Romansch-area of Switzerland. SMS had wanted to visit last Summer but we were unable to make it, mostly due to an episode called SMS and the Whole Wheel of Raw Cheese, where our valiant hero ate a lot of unpasteurized cheese at a grotto with unexpected (expected?) consequences.
The valley looking up towards VrinA Romansch DonkeyVrinA Romansch Chicken
Romansch is a language with several dialects across the region that largely developed due to the isolation of these valley towns. We drove to Vrin, a town where over 85% of people speak Romansch according to SMS’ research. We went to a coffee shop and had a delicious pastry roll with nut filling (yum!) along with our coffee. We heard a little bit of Romansch and SMS was a happy man. We walked around the village and then headed over to Trun, where we would spend the night and have an epic meal at Restaurant Todi.
TrunThe Romansch Museum in Trun- limited hours!TrunTrunCasa Tödi, SMS and car
We checked into the Casa Todi, took a nap and then walked around town. Our dinner reservation was at 7:30. We were one of two couples in the restaurant. We had an excellent waiter who spoke English with us and German with the other couple. Amazing. We ordered wine pairings with our meal based on his recommendations. It wasn’t a formal pairing but what he suggested by the glass based on what we ordered.
Flowers at the RestaurantBeef tartareOur side dish- Potatoes cooked in a salted sourdough bread bowl (the bowl is not meant to be eaten)
Before dinner, we each had a glass of local Riesling and a tiny chick pea chip for amuse bouche. For an appetizer, SMS had a tradition tattas dish, which were chard wrapped sausage and potato meatballs, for lack of better descriptor. The chef Manuel Reichenbach, who came out later in the dinner, explained that it was a traditional dish that was developed during wartime to stretch the food supply by adding the cheaper potato to create more of the filling. He said that you could tell a family’s wealth by the sausage to potato ratio. I had the steak tartare, which was absolutely amazing and intriguingly presented on a rectangle serving dish that resembled a shadow box so underneath the food, there were pine needles and small flowers. Wine for that course was a local Pinot Noir.
Dessert
For dinner, we both got the trout paired with a white wine with a local grape and chardonnay. For dessert, we ordered a dish with a small creme brule, cake and scoop of sorbet. I ordered some grappa, which was an excellent nightcap.
Today was the day! We were going to have the Porsche Pick-up Experience! We started our day with a delicious breakfast buffet at our hotel. I went for a fair bit of cheese, bread and fruit. SMS liked the mocha/coffee shots that started our meal. We aren’t exactly sure what it was, other than delicious.
We didn’t give ourselves a ton of time for breakfast so we ate fairly quickly and then headed to the lobby to meet our shuttle. There were three other American pairs, all from the West Coast. Two guys were from the Marin-area, one couple was from Oregon and another from Northern California. The woman from Northern California was very jet-lagged and didn’t say a whole lot, but everyone else was very nice and we talked a bit throughout the day.
The factory was about 20 minutes from center Leipzig. We arrived and met Derrick, an American who had come to Germany 12 years earlier to play American-style football and, almost from day 1, decided to stay. After a coffee break, we were introduced to Julia, our factory tour guide.
The factory tour was amazing. While the Porsche cars are incredible machines, I was even more impressed by the incredibly intricate coordination and precision of the assembly line. The factory produces 650 cars a day, all of which are tested on a dedicated race track for quality assurance. There are over 100 stations for assembly, most of which are done by human workers. There are four robots for windshield and sunroof application. The “marriage” step of uniting the body with the engine chassis is partially automated, with the machine securing the underside screws and humans securing the topside screws.
Although there were so many amazing things about the assembly line and factory, a few things stood out. The logistics supply line is so finely tuned that, on site, there is only a 0.6 day inventory. There is an on-site DHL center along with a train station and airport next door. In order to allow workers to move within the vehicle efficiently, the vehicle doors are removed after preassembly/paint and then put back on near the end. Each car is customized so all parts are collected and delivered specifically for each car. Items are tracked by a pick-light supply system, QR codes and a lot of computer coordination.
The consideration for the worker is pretty amazing. For ergonomically-challenging stations, the team works for 20 minutes and then has a break. All other stations have a break every hour to help maintain concentration. The assembly line also can turn the cars in order to make areas more accessible; eg, the body is turned 90 degrees to allow for undercarriage work rather than have workers strain their necks and arms upward. Another amazing thing about the factory is how quiet it is. Despite all the machinery, the ambient noise is so low that hearing protection isn’t required! I would guess the noise level was about 75-80 dB. Very impressive.
The track Cayman
After the factory tour, which was definitely the highlight for me, it was time for the track. David was the Porsche instructor and took SMS out to drive a factory-owned Cayman. After 1/2 hour, the three of us hopped into a Macan and went on the off-road course. I drove part of the time and got stuck in a big divot. I was trying to challenge the car but David merely shook his head and said it wasn’t possible to drive on three wheels because, “Physics.”
Do Porsche cows say “Moo?”
After driving, we had a really nice lunch in the Porsche dining room. We felt very posh. I ordered the beef because Julia said the beef was from cows that roamed on the grounds of the off-road course. Specifically, she said, “You might meet the cows you see out there later in the dining room.” So, I don’t know if I actually ate Porsche beef but I am going to tell myself yes!
After lunch, it was time for the car pick-up! So yes, we bought a 718 Cayman. SMS owned a Porsche several years ago and has been thinking about it for awhile. I have wanted to do an European car delivery trip ever since I read about it in high school (random!), so we decided to make this vacation an epic one and go all out. SMS picked out the specs, told me about them and then purchased the car about 4 months prior. It was a really fun experience and definitely built up more anticipation about getting the car. I’ll write more about European Delivery in a later post.
Our first drive was not very exciting because we were caught in traffic. Maybe it was a shift change at the factory? We drove for a couple of hours and SMS said he was hungry. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to eat so I suggested Greek food (hey, it sounded light). SMS responded, “Greek food?!?!” and even though he had said he didn’t care, I figured out, when in Germany, eat German food.
No outdoor dining today, but a great restaurant!
We stopped at Gutmann am Dutzendteich, a cute restaurant on the outskirts of Nuremberg. It was on a little lake and the outside area would have been amazing on a nice day. Since it was cloudy and cool, we went inside. The waitress spoke a little bit of English. The menu was in German but we partially interpreted it. I picked a dish with “kraut” which I thought would be something with sauerkraut. It was actually meat-stuff cabbage rolls and absolutely delicious. Win! I took a picture of the menu and the actual name of the dish is Krautwickel mit Bier-Specksoße und Kartoffelpuree. Say that four times fast!
The lake next to the restaurant
We finished our evening with the drive to Lichtenstein. We arrived at our hotel at 10 and went straight to bed. It was a little ambitious for our first full day with a huge time change but we made it!
Our European Delivery experience started early on the 14th, so we had to arrive by the afternoon of the 13th. SMS and I traveled separately, which led to a pretty long travel day since his flight was rebooked with an arrival 3 hours after mine in Berlin. Yuck! Since I had gotten a Business Class points upgrade, I hung out in the First Class Lounge. This was great for the showers (@ Frankfurt- huge perk), free food/drink, and the comfortable chairs.
SMS and I reunited and headed towards the main Berlin train station on the TXL JetExpress bus. We bought our tickets but didn’t validate, which would have been a problem if we were caught. There was only one validation box on the bus and we couldn’t reach it through the crush of people. Later, I realized there was probably curbside one that we could have used.
Sculpture Outside the Train Station
We got to the train station and realized the train was leaving right.then. So we bought tickets for the next train and took a walk outside the train station. Outside, we walked towards the Spree River and admired the Reichstag building in the twilight. There was also a small Octoberfest going on outside the station but we gave it a pass.
After waiting on the platform for our delayed train, we got on the train to Leipzig where we walked through beautiful cobblestone streets to our hotel. Other than that brief walk, we didn’t get to see the city but it was quite pretty. We stayed at the Steigenberger Grandhotel Handelshof, which was quite beautiful. Most importantly, it had a really comfortable bed although I still had a little jet lag issue in the middle of the night.
Ok, speaking of sleep, this wasn’t the most exciting entry as it was pretty much a listing of our long travel day. But we saw a few things and most importantly, we had arrived and were ready for the start of our amazing vacation!
After a two week temporary assignment on a tropical island, I went back to work for two weeks prior to leaving for a long vacation. Life is rough. There was a little bit of concern with delayed official approval of my vacation and potential for hurricane disruption but in the end, I was set to go.
Parts of this vacation has been planned for the past year. My parents-in-law decided to rent a villa on the Umbria-Tuscany border in Italy for a week. SMS and I decided to plan a large vacation around it. Ours plans ultimately coalesced around a European road trip in a Porsche Cayman 718. I know, this is the year of ultimate road trips! We decided to start in Germany, travel to Lichtenstein, explored the Romansch area of Switzerland, enjoy a week in Italy, head East towards Slovenia and, finally, end up in Germany for the last few days. Although there are many aspects of this vacation that feel completely luxurious, one of the nicest is having such an extended vacation.
I really enjoy pre-trip planning and this trip was no exception. Packing-wise, I was limited to a carry-on so I was really careful to pack items in a capsule-wardrobe style. I think I’ve done a pretty good job at covering most situations, including two dressier items that I haven’t worn yet but I think will be good for Slovenia and Berlin.
Our lodging is a mix of Italian villa, AirBnB and a few hotels. Transport is taken care of although I had to learn about vignettes, pre-pay toll stickers that are required for our itinerary in Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria. Italy has toll booths along the autostrada. Germany and Lichtenstein did not have tolls.
I did a fair bit of research with some last minute curveballs thrown in. The biggest was SMS’ return ticket is cancelled due to the airline’s insolvency. What?!? Another smaller issue was that I mixed up the villa check-in date so I quickly booked an AirBnB for Cinque Terre. As you will read, that was more of a driving adventure than I realized (or wanted, really).
I also thought I’d try to keep up with the blog since I didn’t for the Switzerland trip and that took a year to transcribe from my notes and post. So far, failing grade but let’s see what I can do over the next few days. I’ll also go back and edit these posts since SMS brought his big camera and I should have some nice pictures when we return.
SMS and I drove down the Central Coast on Saturday. Why?!? I had signed up for the Mountains 2 Beaches marathon to try and qualify for the 2018 Boston Marathon. My time at Boston (4:01) was not great but I knew it was mainly due to the heat. I had so much fun in Boston that I wanted to run it again so…Mountains 2 Beach it was. I wanted a marathon that was known for providing BQs (Boston Qualifiers…ack, I’m using the lingo and drinking the Koolaid!) and with a 700 feet net downhill, M2B was it! Also, I didn’t want to do an extended marathon training plan again so I tried to keep my fitness up for a few more weeks. M2B had been sold out but right after Boston, they opened up 200 slots. I signed up for one and kept up my training after the marathon, mostly in the form of long runs and a few interval workouts.
Papi’s Grill- so good!
So! On Saturday, we stopped at Papi’s Grill in Pismo Beach and had excellent Mexican food. We had several awesome tacos- butter beef, chorizo, potato, chorizo and veggies, shrimp- and chipotle chorizo french fries. Although the fries were written about in a lot of reviews, the tacos were the winners in my book. SMS thought that I had ordered too much food (truth!) and that chorizo was a bad choice before a marathon (false!) but he went along with it!
Outside the Expo. I feel that if the driver got pulled over, s/he would not have an easy time getting out of a ticket!
We went to the expo which was small and efficient. Parking cost $5, which I was a little annoyed at but hey, parking by the beach is not usually free, I guess. (Tip: Park near the Patagonia store and walk over). I picked up my bib, shuttle ticket and shirt in about 7 minutes. We looked at the vendors but left fairly quickly. We walked over to the original Patagonia store. We poked around for a bit and I got ideas for things I wanted to look for on sale. SMS found a nice pair of board shorts but they didn’t have his size. They directed us Surfboards by Fletcher Chouinard Designs where several Patagonia suits are carried. We found the right size and got a 30% military discount! Yay! [Re-reading this paragraph, I realize like I sound like such a cheap bastard- 3 money-saving tips in one paragraph? I can’t believe I stopped clipping coupons long enough to even type these words!]
Missile Park outside Pt Magu
We drove South about 25 more minutes to Pt Magu Naval Base where we stayed at the Navy Gateway Inn. It was near the beach and the room was really nice. I would highly recommend the place. I would like to go back later in the Summer to enjoy the beach (and maybe beach camping!?).
Pt Magu beach- the rock Central/South CA divider is on the right.
For dinner, SMS and I decided to drive a little further South to Malibu. The drive along Rte 1 is really beautiful and there’s a spot where the highway runs between two large rocks that were blasted apart for the road. We decided that it was the gateway between Central Coast and Southern California.
Malibu didn’t seem to be the most walkable place. Most of the restaurants and shops were in scattered small shopping centers rather than one central “Malibu” town. We ate at Ollo, which was really delicious. We shared several dishes- beef shortribs risotto, grilled artichoke, burrata & peach salad and curried lentils. The shortribs were amazing and the grilled artichoke was beautifully charred. The burrata was a bit of a miss- I thought it was going to be more of a baguette & spread rather than salad. The curried lentils were tasty. Afterwards, we drove back to Pt Magu and went to bed. I was pretty tired since I was on East Coast time.
The next morning, I woke up, quickly got dressed and drove to Ventura to catch the shuttle. Parking was pretty easy and fortunately, I parked on the correct side to get to the 101 without having to cross the course later in the morning. There seemed to be a few more people than there were buses but fortunately, I made it on the last bus. We arrived in Ojai about 25 minutes later. I headed straight for the Porta-Potties which, as reported in other write-ups, have fairly long lines. I would think a few more are needed but Ojai doesn’t seem like much of a Porta-potty town so maybe the number is limited.
The start was well-organized and I started about 4 minutes after the official start. I set out with the 3:37 pace group but I realized that I felt really, really good that morning. So after the first mile, I had caught up to the 3:32 group and ran with them for awhile. I didn’t necessarily think that I would finish in 3:32 but I thought that building a time buffer would be a good idea and make the end of the race less stressful.
I felt great for the first 16 miles. I had my headphones in and really got a lot of energy from my music. Nothing great, just pop music with a good beat. At mile 16, I stopped for a quick bathroom break. This is where I lost the 3:32 group because there was no way I was going to sprint after them. I slowed down a fair bit after that but it also corresponded to where the course flattened out and a headwind started to pick up. It wasn’t a terrible headwind (in fact, it was slightly cooling) but it was definitely noticeable.
Around mile 21, my legs really started to hurt. My quads felt so tight and my calves were almost as bad. It progressively got worse through the last 5 miles but I just gutted through. The last mile, I had a pretty hitch-y gait but I knew that as long as I kept running, albeit slowly, I would very likely make my time goal. I thought of SMS and his hard climbs, telling myself that this race was like a 12A climb and “the crux is at the finish,” which means the known hardest move is at the end. I also thought about my friend Jyotsna and how I really did not want to text her bad news about missing my time goal. I tried to find internal motivation thinking that it was important to do it for myself, not just others, but my internal motivation was telling me to walk so I didn’t listen.
The 3:37 pacer passed me shortly after the 25 mile marker. His group numbers had significantly dwindled compared to the start. I kept him in my sights as best I could through the last mile. I had a suspicion that he was running slightly faster than a 3:37 finish since my TomTom sportwatch was pretty spot on with mile markers and pace. I crossed the finish line, fairly confident that I had BQ’d but I didn’t know by how much. I went through the finishers corral where I was given a medal and a delicious snack plate with watermelon, orange slices, peanut M&Ms in addition to a few other things I didn’t eat.
I went to the gong line, which BQ-er’s can hit after the race. In line, a very nice couple from LA was behind me and he looked up my time. 3:37:19. Yay! Not only had I BQ’d but I likely have enough of a time cushion to make the cut-off time as well! A woman joined me in line- I think she was a little out of it since she was completely cutting the line but she was so happy to have BQ’d. She said she had been trying for over 30 years! She was crying and a little snotty (like from the nose, not attitude) so how could I tell her the line started back there (even though I am usually a mega-line enforcer!).
So, yes! It was a great course and I met my goal. My legs have never hurt so much in a marathon but I think it’s a result of low-mileage training. I would not recommend that type of training, but it’s just what happened after recovering from Boston and not running enough. I don’t think the leg soreness was from going out too fast, but I don’t know. Would I have been able to keep up with a steady 3:37 pacer? I don’t think so since I usually slow down a bit at the end of every marathon. I was glad that I built the time cushion up early and I think that a positive split marathon is what works for me. Next up, Boston 2018 (cut-off time allowing)!
Hello, faithful reader! It may seem to have been dead around here but I have been working very hard, I promise! Over the past two weekends, I have been working on my Switzerland entries from our vacation in July 2016. I like having my vacations in proper order so rather than having a bunch of #TBT-style entries, I backdated all of them to their proper date in July 2016. So, you can either search by month over there in the right column or just click below to any day that interests you. The vacation was amazing but I am fully aware that this may be as boring as a long slideshow so never fear, I’ll have some more current posts soon!
