Uploads from leon_steber, tagged kodake100vs

Barcelona

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:59:54 -0700

Looking through coloured glass doors.

My bicycle touring webpage and more photos are at www.leonsteber.com

Angel

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:41:04 -0700

My memories of Roma....
I wanted to go to Roma just to eat, but as I'm gluten-free I thought it meant all the goodies like pasta and pizza were out.
Not so…
Walked to a place not far from my hotel that I found off a list on the internet. I have the address somewhere at home because I stole one of their hand written menus. The menu had an ink stamp at the top with a reminder: "What do you need to remember to do today?", below which were a couple embraced in passionate love-making.
I went early, so it was empty restaurant. My waiter Angelo, was a 50-something, bald guy who laughed and agreed with me for refusing the water but saying yes to some wine. He bought out a whole bottle. I told him I was a Coeliac and he said no problem. He already knew I wanted pizza and asked me if I liked mushrooms. He considered my positive reply for a moment and said yes, he knew what to get me. The pizza was simple and really good, and the company was great, Angelo hung around and we chatted about the changing world, my home and his home. I said I'd come back the next night to have pasta.
I walked in and Angelo greeted me again, another bottle of wine on the table. Do I like fish he asks? It's agreed, he knows what to get me. I sample the antipasto; grilled capsicum, olives, courgette between glasses of wine and bread that they'd got for me from the pharmacy today. Then Angelo brings out nut crackers and I suspiciously ask him what they're for. It's for the lobster, he says. I've never ordered lobster at a restaurant, in fact, I rarely eat shellfish unless I'm trying to impress a girl or something. God knows why, because this lobster, spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and parsley was absolutely incredible. Awesome. A taste sensation. I stumbled out of that restaurant, smoked a cigarillo and had the same sort of huge grin on my face as if I'd just had the best sex in my life.
Then it was out on the town with a lovesick Melbourner, more wine, and I somehow remember giving roses to young, madly-in-love Italian couples.
- Monday, 9 March 2007, 11:37pm

"I see chefs as being in the pleasure business. We are not health-care providers. Our main responsibility is to serve our customers the most enjoyable meal we can–and hopefully increase the likelihood of them getting laid after dinner."
– Anthony Bourdain, at The Gourmet Institute.

For more pictures of Rome and of my bicycle journeys, please visit www.geocities.com/leon_maurice_and_tyrone

Cigar Time, Trinidad

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:23:53 -0700

leon_steber posted a photo:

I was sitting in the main square in Trinidad having my usual afternoon cigar and this guy came and sat down next to me. Wherever you go in Cuba there is no chance you're going to be alone for long, there'll always be someone to come and chat to you. I barely know any Spanish but it doesn't matter at all. I wish I could remember the guy's name, but I didn't write it down. Anyway, this guy had the worst teeth you can imagine, well what was left of his teeth anyway. He'd come down from his farm up the hill where he grew coffee to try and get some medicine, as he hadn't slept for 5 nights because of the pain. He couldn't get any aspirin either as it was only stocked at the international hospital. I ended up giving him some change, something I normally don't do, but I liked his story. In return he wanted to take me on a tour of his farm and give me half a kilo of kilo beans. I would have liked to have seen his farm but I had to meet a friend. We had a bit of a smoke together anyway. The cigars were locals, called Buzza and were quite horrible compared to the local cigars I'd run out of from Vinales. However the effect is the same, the lovely headspin and good feelings. No wonder Cubans are so friendly, I would be too if I smoked those every day.

More of my photos from Cuba at www.leonsteber.com/v/cuba

My bicycle touring webpage and more photos are at www.leonsteber.com

Cheers
Leon

Grand Teton National Park

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:00:16 -0700

leon_steber posted a photo:

Day 150: 117.3 miles, 7:37 hours, Stealth Camp 15mi S of Smoot

I got an early start this morning, it was beautiful to ride through the remainder of the park as the sun was coming up behind me. It was cold to begin with, slightly below zero, but by midday I had my rain clothes off.

After riding through Jackson Hole, slightly disappointed at not spotting any celebrities at the local Ace Hardware, I hit five miles of roadworks. They wouldn't let me ride through it on my own, so the shaggy-looking, chain smoking pilot car driver asked me to throw my bike on the back of his pickup:

"You'll have to put it on yourself though, liability and all that, you know..."

He did end up giving me a hand when he could see I was struggling with the weight of it. Turned out to be an interesting guy. He was fifty-eight years old and worked for five months of the year, then pissed off in the winter to the Bahamas or Mexico. Told me he owned twenty-eight condominiums around the country, an umbrella company to manage them, and was worth well over fifteen million dollars.

After another headspin-inducing apple, over-ripe banana and chocolate milk combo at Alpine, I gradually rode up to the uninhabited campground at about 7600 feet. There's no services available here, so it looks like I'll be shitting in the woods again tomorrow.

Taken during my North American bicycle tour. More photos and a travelogue can be found at www.leonsteber.com

Lake Tahoe

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:01:14 -0700

leon_steber posted a photo:

Taken during my North American bicycle tour. More photos and a travelogue can be found at www.leonsteber.com

Stef

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:01:12 -0700

leon_steber posted a photo:

Excerpt from my travelogue on the day this shot was taken:

Day 134: 132.29 miles, 8:42 hours, Fraser Lake RV Park
Today I passed the 10,000 kilometre mark. Not that I'm using kilometres anymore since living in the US for a few years. And today I also did the longest ride that I've ever done (>200 km). It's not fun riding at this pace. I know I need to hurry south as fast as I can before it gets really cold, but this sucks, I take no notice of anything around me. It's almost like having an 8-5 job again. The good thing about today though was the weather. It was sunny most of the day and I could finally strip off my smelly rain gear and survive in t-shirt and shorts. There was a slight headwind in the morning but matched by a lovely, much appreciated tail wind this afternoon.

Taken during my North American bicycle tour. More photos and a travelogue can be found at www.leonsteber.com

Glacier National Park

nobody@flickr.com (leon_steber) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:42:25 -0700

leon_steber posted a photo: