Random notes, pics, and videos, as I wonder: well, how did I get here?
At all. In a long line passport control Warsaw. Everyone speaking Polish everything in Cyrillic. Love this feeling.
Flight pleasantly old school, no WiFi – reading Bob Iger’s memoir Ride of a Lifetime (great so far), sleep score 72 (per Oura) – food outstanding, service impeccable. Why can’t US airlines do this anymore?
And so now to find my bag – here I hope – and my hotel – also here somewhere. And then a Chopin concert in the old town! How did I get here?
Can’t believe I am actually going.
So … Monaco is reached via Nice, and I’m going there via Warsaw. In fact I’ve arranged a loong layover so I have a night there – can’t wait, have never been, a new experience. Am flying on LOT and so far I like it a lot. Great service, pleasantly old school.
I’m in the Starlink lounge and LAX. I’m doing some preflight prep (🍷). And I’m blogging 🙂
A day to prepare for a week away…. What to bring? What to do?
There will be sailing stuff of course – clothes, and instruments, and a few tools – travel – chargers and cords and stuff like that – and then there will be “hey, I’m in Monaco” stuff! You can’t just show up at the Yacht Club de Monaco in a tee shirt and jeans. Or you should not, anyway, and I will not.
As I’m packing I get an email from one of my crew in Barcelona – they have a new instrument for the boat, but no support to attach it to the mast – can I 3D-print one? Well, of course 🙂 … but if you look closely you’ll see a rather suspect wire splice, and there is a story there. Anyway ‘twas done.
Preparation for a trip is always nerve wracking. Sure there are stores wherever you go, and sure you can buy anything your might have forgotten, but how much easier just to bring it. I have a sailing bag full of sailing stuff, a briefcase full of wires, and a suitcase [almost] full of clothes. Onward!
Unbelievable. At the 11th nay 12th hour, I was selected to compete in the 2022 J/70 World Championship regatta, in Monaco. What an honor. How awesome!
I had a Covid-caused opportunity to sail in the J/70 Worlds last summer, held in Marina Del Rey, California (lA), but to be invited again, in Europe, is something else.
Will be sailing with my good friend Fede Madrid on his new J/70, “Oulier”. You may remember meeting Fede when I did in his home town of Barcelona last June. At that time I learned of his coming boat, and we talked about this possibility, but it seemed far fetched.
Meeting a friend from Barcelona to sail in a Worlds in Monaco sounds like a James Bond movie, right? Shaken, not stirred please….
And Monaco… yay.
Well please stay tuned; tomorrow I will be off – to Nice via Warsaw! – and I will ask myself…
And so whew, another great trip in the books. But since I started this one with a regatta two weeks ago, I had to finish with one too. The fabulous Westlake Cup!
Onward, to the next adventure!
Amsterdam is known for its canals, and so if you’re a tourist in Amsterdam you must take a canal tour, right?
Great end to a nice day, and to a nice trip; tomorrow I head home
On to Zaandam, a cool little area where they have windmills and a historic settlement right on the Amstel River.
And then back to the city … for a canal tour!
Easily the most delightful and welcoming of big cities, I am astonished by how friendly Amsterdam seems every time I am here. Well hi there!
Off to be a tourist – and do some shopping – but first have to get a Covid test. Fortunately there’s a test center right nearby.
Time for a bit of shopping … Amsterdam has everything and a lot of things not necessarily found elsewhere.
Well that was fun (and yes, I did make *ahem* a few purchases), now onward to be a tourist…
Actually there’s one story I must tell. I’m in De Bijenkorf, and I’m shopping, and a salesgirl comes up to help. She says “hi can I help” in accented English, and I of course reply in Dutch. She looks blank, and I fear my Dutch is too poor for communication. But then she tells me, in English, she is from Germany and does not speak Dutch! But yet is able to work in a high-end department store in Amsterdam. I guess that tells you how well the Dutch speak English 🙂
And so it was on to the Netherlands for a delightful couple of days of shopping, visiting with family, and tourist-ing.
I no sooner landed than it was off on a mission to my hometown of Vlaardingen, to the Jan Boer bakery, to get some Izerkoekjes. I could not visit my family nor come home without them.
Ijzerkoektjes secured, it was off to Putten for a nice dinner with my family. I have a ton of relatives in the Netherlands and every time I’m in Europe I try to swing by and say hello. This time it had been a while, because of Covid…
And then back to Amsterdam! Yay.
A busy day – whew (and yawn) – good night…
…and a little play. In an amazing environment at the Vila Vita. I’ll spare you the details of the conference – a very nice two-day affair with just the right combination of talks, discussion, and breaks, though it was interesting and useful, and [as always] a great source of contacts and [not as always] inspiration and thought-provoking. Having guests from all over Europe definitely made it better.
Goodbye Vila Vita, goodbye Porches, goodbye Portugal … it’s been great. Tomorrow morning it’s an early flight to Amsterdam!
How did I get here