Berlin Oberbaum bridge

After my last meeting yesterday, my customer contact pointed out to me that we were within 300 meters of the Berlin Oberbaum Bridge--made famous in one of the many chase scenes Matt Damon endured in The Bourne Supremacy.  The light was good so I took the trusty iPhone for a short walk and had some fun. Here's some of the results. If you're so moved, please suggest captions in the comments.

Enjoy!

Copenhagen Street Scene

I snapped this shot Saturday after dinner in the waning evening light. To my eye, it captures the mellow ambient Copenhagen street vibe prevalent through most of the city. Only in the mega-touristy spots does that vibe succumb to the collective angst of visitors bent on getting what they came for.

Bicycling in Copenhagen (København)

Last night we ate dinner at Madkubben (seen in the photo here; it was awesome), a few minute walk from our hotel. 

We've been marveling at the bicycling scene since the moment of arrival when our airport cab driver (upon dropping us at our hotel) kindly but sternly warned us to not stand in the bicycle lane.  The throng of bicycles seen in this photo is pretty typical. Note the lack of car parking.  That's typical too. Easy to see in this picture that the loss of parking the bike lane represents is easily overcome by the density of bike parking on the sidewalk.  Here's some other observations:
  • On average, street traffic has about as many bicycles as cars, perhaps slightly more bicycles.
  • Main streets include dedicated bicycle lanes demarcated by a slight pavement elevation difference that motor vehicles never violate, whether for parking, driving or letting off passengers.
  • Very few cyclists wear helmets.
  • Most bikes are Chevrolets-like: basic, unremarkable, functional.
  • Cyclists uniformly honor all traffic signals and they stay in the designated bicycle lanes just as the motorists stay out of them. My San Francisco friends outraged at the lack of this honor by SF cyclists, please take heart. My unproven theory here is that as the city traffic authority treats cyclists as first- rather than second-class citizens, those cyclists in turn will begin to act like first-class citizens and follow rules (at least as well as motorists do ;-).

Sunday Ritual

Was sorely tempted to join my buddy Syd on a 3-hr ride through my old peninsula stomping grounds (Old La Honda Road, Pescadero, Kings etc.) this morning. Maybe another hour of sleep would have done the trick.  So a ride over to the Marin Headlands / Hawk Hill had to satisfy.

Piazza Duomo Milano

Yesterday we went to see the Klimt exhibition at the museum at Piazza Duomo (great show, including some very special, famous pieces, btw).  Afterwards, we braved the throngs of tourists to cross the square and were rewarded with this view. Truly overwhelming (click to enlarge).  

Key Take-aways

So far:
  • Olive oil tastes good on pretty much anything
  • Roundabouts are awesome
  • So are Italians
  • Italian drivers are skillful and considerate
  • Diesel sports car is not an oxymoron 
  • Italian wine is dope

Gerry's Garage

This public parking structure in old Como has a copper facia. My buddy Gerry built the fireplace in his home using a very similar (if not identical) material and texture for the facia. So we call this Gerry's garage. 

Beautiful Men

We took a late breakfast at the caffe near our hotel and this group of distinguished cyclists swooped in for an espresso fix. One immediately said hello to us and asked where we called home. "San Francisco? My son lives in Orinda!" came the reply. As they sat there enjoying their espresso it struck us that these guys seemed like they could be family of my buddy Gatti. 

The Real Bellagio, Lake Como

Yesterday the weather was amazingly clear, so we took the chance to drive from Como city out to Bellagio, the famed enclave on the tip of the 20-mile peninsula extending out into Lake Como. It's a ribbon of a road, barely wide enough to be a one way street in most places, that's used as two-way--and home to a fleet of municipal bus drivers possessed of a particular death wish. To them I say "bring it on."  Anyhoo, here's some pix I snapped.