May 19, 2025
Day 91: Frankfurt to Mid Air over the Atlantic
Day 91! So many times while answering UQs we have explained to people that our trip is 90 days, because that is all we are allowed in the Schengen zone. But it just hit me as I started this entry. "Day 91"! We really are outta here!
(How do we get 91? Sort of simple: we start counting trip days when we leave home, but Shengen starts counting when we walk across their border. We are not even sure how strict they are about these things. Would they freak if we toddled out only next week?)
Today was our last buffet breakfast. Tomorrow we are back to one skinny bagel or one bowl of muesli as breakfast. But today you have to read one last mega breakfast analysis (which could be easier than actually having to be the one to eat all this stuff. ) The Sheraton breakfast room is 150 feet by 40 feet, according to my having paced it off. That's twice the floor area of our whole house. About 3/4 of this is seating and the rest holds the food. In this, I am not counting the very large open kitchen, where I discovered (too late) that they will fry up eggs for you, or maybe make omelette.
As the days and buffets go by, we discover ones with unique little touches in terms of recipes or types of food. Things like capers or smoked salmon come to mind, or passion fruits, like the other day. This time, I could point to, yes, capers and smoked salmon, but also fresh roast beef, herbed mozzarella balls, and a really new one, honey in the comb.
When, in Spain, we found churros with an unlimited fountain of chocolate, it was unique, but still one of the national foods. Today we found good quality egg rolls and chow mein. No doubt this is a nod to Asian customers, but is kind of cheating if one were to compile a list of good and different food offerings. Cheating or not, I sure liked those egg rolls, which as I say were good quality!
I had sort of sworn off photographing these breakfasts, but somehow could not resist pulling out the cell phone today, just to give the idea:
It was really a pleasure not having to load bikes or even ourselves into transport to the airport, since we were already there! Dodie in past months has beaten the need to use a walking stick, and given that we had lots of time, the fairly long walks inside the airport - to the Condor counters, to security, and to the gate were not at all a problem. We still have the stick along, and Dodie will pull it out to gather sympathy for advanced boarding.
At security, they pulled one of our two panniers aside and began to dig through it. The problem turned out to be our chain master link pliers. We had brought this along when it seemed we would be changing chains at the beginning of this tour, or soon into it. But we must have misremembered when we last changed the chains, because they tested fine, and stayed good until to the end. So we ended by dragging two heavy chains 3000 km. The shop in Markranstadt will now put them on, needed or not! And so, the deadly pliers are coming home. I was preparing to give Security an argument, since these pliers have nothing sharp or even pointy about them. But in cycle friendly Germany, when we pointed out what they were, we were clear!
I am writing this now while waiting to board the Vancouver flight. It will be hours and hours before we arrive, exhausted, back home. So if you are a family member reading this, don't worry. And if you are someone interested in cycle touring - watch this space, for any adventures on the plane, and later, for statistics about the trip.
I will use this time and space to mention that our plan had been to let the bikes rest in Leipzig, until next Spring. Meanwhile we would take the Bike Fridays and cycle in Yucatan, while also nipping down to Costa Rica. But we realized that if we would show up in Leipzig in February, looking to cycle somewhere, it would be in the snow. And a train and ferry journey from Leipzig to someplace like La Palma sounded like a horror, what with changing trains in bike unfriendly stations along the way. So our current thinking is to come back to Europe in, yup, 90 days, and to personally pedal the darn bikes to Palma, over 60 days. That way, we can come back and cycle again in Spring.
This still won't stop us from going to Costa Rica, or cycling in Yucatan. Is that too much darn cycling? Maybe. We're thinking about it...
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3 weeks ago