10-21 Port de Soller to Port de Pollence, Mallorca Island, Spain

10/21
Port de Soller to Port de Pollença
Today, was a brutal day until about 3 o'clock.. I got up and it was pouring rain so I took full advantage of the breakfast buffet and gorged on coffee, churros, and eggs. 

As the rain stopped, I headed out. I headed back to Soller and started the climb towards this mountain i'd been eyeing all morning. It seemed like forever chasing it down. It took what seemed like forever! It was only an hour or so and 10 kilometers. 

At the top, I met a couple guys that noticed me at the hotel as crazy doing this alone and teamed up. We hit the top and started out cruise down the hill. I stopped for a picture at the Gorg Bleu and found a cell phone. I noticed it was in German and the guys I was with were Swiss so I gave it to them... 15 minutes later, a panicked driver cruised up and retrieved his phone. That was nice to see the relief on his face. Around Noon, my chain got stuck for quite a while and I lost the guys I was with. 

The last 15k into the Port were flat and into headwind. If you know me then you know how skinny I am, and the wind basically held me in one spot. It was tough going. Finally, I made it to the port and the lady at the apartment I rented was the sweetest lady. She was very motherly trying to help me and wondering why I was alone and what not. It was comforting. 

I found a place with nachos (which is not good diet wise, but more of a comfort food) and I was satisfied. I walked the beach for the rest of the night and called it a night early. After the wind and cold, it was good to hit the hay.

10-20 Palma to Port de Soller

10/20
Palma to Port de Soller

I didn't sleep much so I got up and slowly made my way out to the beach to start walking north to Palma.

 I rented a nice bike run by Swiss guys and slowly made my way out of town around 11am. It was a little dicey getting out of town because I was uncomfortable with Spanish drivers on the Camino. Here they are very cautious because there are many cyclists on the road.  This is a cyclist's Mecca,  I quickly learned, because of the mountains on the north side of the island.

I made my way north through Valldemossa which was beautiful and on to Soller and Port de Soller. I saw two people driving, while I was biking, that helped my language barrier while getting my plane ticket yesterday. It's a small world! Then stopped at a cliff and spoke with a Danish couple and we talked about Colorado and the Leadville 100 ride because he was a biker and he told me how lucky I was to be riding here. They also had heard me riding downhill cheering because I was so excited about hitting 50kph so I was really pumped up all day.

It was truly a special day for me, but I felt I was missing something. I wish my brother was here to ride with me since he is the biker of the family. He would have really loved seeing the uphills kick my butt and would've gotten a kick out of my childish yelling going fast downhill. Miss you Evan!

10-18, 10-19 Kempten, Germany to Palma, Mallorca Island, Spain

10/ 18/19
Kempten, Germany to Palma, Mallorca

Today was interesting....Woke up and went to workout with Jürgen. Walked through town and back to the house. 


Then took the Ryanair flight to Palma. First, you have to print the ticket at home or they will charge you 15E for it. That was frustrating, and I had to go through 3 different people. I heard they nickel and dimed you but good lord. It was a 2 hour flight in front of a young boy with no self awareness and was yelling the entire time and using my seat as a soccer ball. I was about to use him as a soccer ball!!! Finally made it in, and hopped on the first bus to town... Well, that went the wrong way... At the end of the way all the way north of Palma, the guy kicked me out and I had to wait for the next one even though he just turned around. That was confusing. I had to ride the bus back to the airport and then take another bus south to the place I was staying. 3 hours after arriving, I finally made it to my hotel. 

5 degrees Celsius to 25 ! I'll take that!

(25C is about 76 degrees Fahrenheit)

Now, when I got there, there was no one at reception. The guy from next door was drinking beer and sitting outside, and thankfully someone gave him my key so I got into my room. I went and got a quick bite to eat and was accosted by a hoard of guys selling useless stuff. It made me hesitant about how safe I was there so I didn't sleep much.

10-16, 10-17, 10-18 Kempten, Germany

10/16 10/17 10/18
Kempten, Germany 
Friday, I woke up and Benny was sick so I hung out with him until Noon.  Then, I went to the gym to workout with Jürgen. It was cloudy and rainy again. We watched the climbing movie Touching The Void and that was pretty good! A pretty relaxing night.

Saturday we went to town for some wursts for breakfast. Jürgen, the boys, and I went for a hike up a hill outside of Kempten and that was nice, but the clues were low again. Nothing you can do about that. 

Jürgen made homemade chocolate and Nutella that was fun to be a part of. 

Then we stayed up and played games until almost 11.  
Another good day.

 Sunday we spent about 6 hours at the indoor climbing gym since it was raining again. It was a nice place about 20 minutes from Kempten. 

10-12, 10-13, 10-14, 10-15 Kempten, Germany

10/12, 10/13, 10/14, 10/15
Kempten, Germany
I arrived Sunday night and it was nice to spend time with family the three previous days and now I will spend some time with a family that I consider family as well. I came here 9 years ago when I was 18 with family, and it doesn't seem that long ago.

Monday, we went to workout in the morning. Then later than night we went climbing outdoors on a wall that was wet and pretty cold.

Tuesday we went to Füssen to get a jacket real quick because the weather was getting so cold and I was ill-prepared as always. Then that night Jürgen and I went climbing indoors this time. Both days the kids wanted to play on the trampoline which was pretty fun to get back on. It's been a really long time since I was on one of those! It makes me feel old!

Wednesday, we went to workout and then had weisswurst for breakfast. Then we went to hike Burgberger Hölne, which was really cool to hike to. Then we later went to have burgers which was pretty good.

Thursday, I slept in and walked to downtown to get a haircut. Then later that night, I walked to meet Jürgen to go climbing again indoors.

10-9, 10-10, 10-11 Munich, Germany

10/9, 10/10, 10/11
Munich, Germany

Friday, I spent most of the day on the train or bus, and finally arrived at my stepsister's and her boyfriend's place in Munich.  Friday night we just walked around and grabbed some dinner and then crashed out pretty early.

Rub the Lion's nose for good luck! I needed it!

Saturday, we got up and headed to Olympic Park to get our race packets. Wendy's boyfriend was running the marathon relay so it was fun to have someone go with me! We tried to keep the newborn baby asleep for most of the ride, but it didn't really happen. Saturday night we went to this old bar below ground and it was a big beer hall with authentic Bavarian food! I decided on the Käse Spaetzle since I thought it would be like pasta and would fuel me for the miles of the next day. I was also excited to run the first road marathon in the last 3 years and ready to get it going.

Sunday morning came around fast and we walked over to Olympic Park where we would start. The atmosphere was good and ready to go, but my German language hadn't kicked in yet, and I was set on just ignoring the foreign language from Spain and France, where I understood nearly nothing. Well, the weather was about 50 degrees and overcast which is great running weather so they say. I saw Wendy at about 5k and that was the last familiar thing I saw for the rest of the marathon. At about 20k I started to realize that the Spaetzle from the night before actually didn't provide fuel for the next day, and I was running on fumes already. It was a slow day after that as I saw the pace numbers slowly pass me out of sight. 3:48 again in the 3:40s which I just can't seem to get out of no matter the day. Better luck next time.

So German! A pretzel and an apple Shorle.

10-8 Zermatt, Switzerland

10/8 

Zermatt, Switzerland
Today, was amazing! The most beautiful landscape I've ever seen! I woke up and took the Mont Blanc Express out of Chamonix, France. The clouds were starting to depart from the peaks of the mountains there. The train ride was pretty intense because the train rails were clinging to the side of the cliffs. There were also cool little outcrops of 3 or 4 houses on the side of the cliffs. I could only think that for the winter they must have all their firewood ready and food stocked because the only way they're getting out of there is falling off the cliff!

 

 Once in Zermatt, I was in complete awe of the mountains around me. These aren't like the mountains that I love in Colorado. These are like the Rockies if they were squished together and shot straight up out of the ground leaving no easy trails and only sheer cliffs to climb to get the the top of the peaks. I came here to be in the presence of the Matterhorn and it was definitely worth it. This is a mountain kid's paradise. There is so much to do, and the entire town appeared to be active. Even leaving at 6:30 the next morning, the people were all heading to the lifts and hotels to start their shifts for the tourists. It reminded me of the mountain towns that I like so much. I took the train up to the observation point and that was really cool and crowded as well. Switzerland is expensive though and I resorted to a quick cheap meal. I hit the hay pretty early since it had been a long day. The Matterhorn would definitely be a dream to climb. That would be amazing!!!!!!

Here are their little taxi carts.