Headed Home!

My iPhone captured me just before I boarded the flight. It was a great
visit of amsterdam and the rains came in this morning to send me off.

Catch ya stateside!

Droppin Pockets

I'm convinced the style soon to be seen in America from baby gap to
brooks brothers is the mysterious falling pockets of jeans. It is
basically a technique to make the big rears appear flatter (I
purchased a modest pocket drop jeans myself) but I really think it was
for the bruthers to get the effect of pants around their thighs
without the constant need to pull them up. Check it!

Never having a Cow!

Love the dutch tradition for lunch, sweet rye bread, chevre, salad and
honey. What more could you want?

Pedaling

Amsterdam
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

So here are my wheels in front of some really dramatic architecture - the City of Amsterdam Library. WOW. Very cool angles, solar panels on the windows and some phenomenal glass on the adjacent conservatory. Very cool

Lunchbreak

Amsterdam
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

Here is a timer shot from my 14mm lens as I pause post 3 hours of biking the city streets in pursuit of some cool lofts. I found some. Wow, this town has some great architecture.

26 miles

So I manage to stumble upon the last 4k of the Amsterdam marathon
today. Wow. It was the magic minutes when the guys from Kenya or some
below the equator country came flying by as if it where the first 5
miles with the clock reading 1:57 in time past for what probably would
be sub 2 hours. I looked back at my rapid fire shots with my 5D and
only one of 5 shots had ONE foot on the ground by the leader!!! These
dudes were flying.

The magic moments were about 2 hours later (yup that is 2 hours) when
those who yhe race is a little more effort pass. There was this
little 3 year old Dutch girl propped up along the railing with her
moms help. She wanted to be part of the experience, so she stuck out
her hand to connect with any racer who had the energy to meet hers. I
watch racers get lighter, faces crack a smile, pick up there pace just
to reach this little girl. It was a connection for people all over the
world who came to race this event. I actually got teary eyed. Magical
day and it left me skipping the rest of my afternoon. There is hope
for our human race.

Sent from my wireless iPhone.

Killer Combo

I just had the most phenomenal combo post my 3 hour bike toddle around
town. It was a pressed toasted yumminess of bread, chevre, fresh tyme,
sun dried tomats and flavorful honey. Wow. The sweet and savory was a
winning combo. It's also my second bowl of pumpkin soup since
arriving in Amsterdam. Love the fall. It feels like fall here as the
leaves are starting to change and the light stretching to shine in the
northern parts of the globe.

Cycleville

I have seen heaven and its Amsterdam. Well, if you think riding bicycles is heaven. My friend Sile sent me this blog about a dude that sat on a corner and photographed all the cyclists. I thought it was a joke until I came here as a cyclists (was here 10 years ago and I think the density of bikes is greater now). Just get a load of these stats (that is nearly a bike per inhabitant):

Inhabitants:	738.000
Inhabitants in greater Amsterdam:	1.498.000
Bicycles:	600.000
Parks:	28
Trams:	232
Ferries:	9
Markets:	21
Shops:	10.334
Canals:	165
Bridges:	1.281
Houseboats:	2.500

Como, Milano, Amsterdam (24 hours)

So I left the lakes region after a great lunch atop the hills of Lago Iseo, racing to Milano for my day of fashion and fast walk of the city. My TomTom guided me to a fabulous swank Sawday recommended B&B just outside the center (centro) - just 2 stops out on the red line (I use Sawday without fail for my Euro travels - call him a much less followed and more discriminating Steeves). I must say its a gift to be a urbanite real estate junkie because I know no one who could possibly examine a radial city of 1.3 million people with just the hours between 4pm and 7pm to find your hotel (amid all the construction), change, shower, grab my camera and head on the subway, walk the duomo, shopping districts, get a new cashmere sweater, walk the castle and theater districts, walk the famous shopping galleria then find the best pizzeria in town (dining next to the sweetest old couple slurping their spagetti and telling me how much he always wanted to go to Arizona because that is where all the westerns took place). Yeah... I'm bragging. Then, I was actually in bed by 9:30pm for my 5am wake up call for a flight to Amsterdam via EasyJet (interesting experience I must say).

The whirl wind just gave me a taste, just a taste of Milan and there is a feast. However, I got what I needed and am now in Amsterdam and blown away at the shopping and the density of bicycles on the street. Wow, the bike IS KING here no question. Love it.

Now I sit in Mozart Hotel in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam poaching their internet because the flat I rented seems to have its wifi down. Oh... the adventures I had today.... But that will be my next post. Danka.

Ana of Portugal

Ana
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

Ana is sweet (photographed here). Ana is one of the primary teachers with Rene. She is so good with the children getting them to overcome fear and have control of large mammals (quite empowering for some of these children who have suffered). Ana has taught me much about the horse and our relationships with these large creatures. I must say its also teaching me so much about how to relate to people in a non verbal way. We don't overwhelm, we ease into the relationships. We build trust. We communicate energetically. We look more intuitively for signs of them communicating back. These are giant yoga mats that move - honestly.

Pizze Box

Pizze Box
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

I'm really diggin the pizze with Anchovies. yeah, its a little salty, but their food is so fresh. I get without cheese so I can sleep at night. The market came to town today at 7am. It was like the circus came to town as these rigs all popped up tents and had elaborate italian glass displays that showed some amazing cheese, baked goods and meats. If it weren't 7am I probably would have spent some $'s.

Just my Daily View

My Tuesday was quite fun. I didn't sleep particularly well as I'm probably Jet lagging. I woke, did some stretches, yoga, ab work - then tumbled down stairs to the breakfast being served. I grabbed my usual euro favorite (a little museli, fruit and an egg). Then I raced up the hill for some yogic stretches with Dona and my seat on the horse.

I enjoyed the time. I felt the unspoken language between me and the horse. I felt the horse stop, when he sensed my balance was off. It was such a great way to learn non-verbal communication and how to engage in it (on and off the horse).

Later that afternoon a took a little nap (yes!), grabbed a bike and did a 10K hard ride around Montana Iseo (island mountain in the middle of Lake Iseo).

I completed the day with a great dinner with new friends Suzanne and Arie where we dined on Octopus (yum) and tasty loving wafer thin pizze, mine with fresh oregano, anchovy, arugula and a little grana (fresh parm). Ciao.

Image is from the horse stables looking out at the Montana Iseo. Do I need to say more?

Learning Trot Pelvis

Learning Trot
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

Leeza and Rene (as Rene calls me). He teaches me the verticle position and the importance of mooooving with the horse to ease the horse's effort. Wow, its a lot of work. Funny how I have an entirely new appreciation of how you actually ride a horse. Rene is trained in the classical masters of Spain. It was really an amazing day in feeling the presence of the horse, its movement and how my movement made its efforts more labored or effortless. Its like a moving yoga mat. Its a lot wider stance than my BMC race bike and I'm to move my pelvis and hold my chest and shoulders still. Quite different than cycling and creating greater body awareness. Very cool

Can I fit?

Yes!!!!

Dudes Hanging

Dudes Hanging
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

I love photographing Italian people hanging in the square. These three gents allowed me to take their picture. It was something of pride to have some woman ride up on a bike and ask (in Broken Italian) if I could snap their image. It was fun.

Not a Cervelo

Not a Cervelo
Originally uploaded by lmpicard

Not exactly my cervelo R3, but it sure satisfied my desire to get on a bike and this saddle bit me good after beeing on it for 2.5 hours. So fun will need to do it again

(first) day in the life of 40.

I'm Feeling pretty darn good (ok great). I did a little journal entry for today given that decades passing aren't all that frequent. I also did a photo essay on flickr and will post soon. Here is my musings about the day.

Its 4:30am, October 13, 2008. I’m laying on my bed in Sale Maraino on Lake Iseo just north of Milan suffering a mild case of jet lag contemplating the need for a few yoga salutations. I’m 40 years old here in Italy, yet still 39 for another 4 and half hours back home. I’m amazed at how space and time are linked to create some perceived reality of age.


In ways I’m actually 80 years old and in others I’m 20. That is why the earth’s age of me is not relevant (at least in this moment), except mostly to those around me.
So I began my morning (the start of my 41st year) reading the last few pages of a book I started on the plane, Veronika Decides to Die. This is probably one of the most profound books I have read in a long time; largely because I am in a “listening” space of awareness that this book’s message of love, awareness and risk pierced me on many fronts. I quote Mari (a character in the book), “the danger in one days adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.”
My adventure today here in the foothills of the Dolomites on the shores of one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve seen, it to construct my with huge amounts of awareness and to realize that every second of it is building and creating me. BTW - all the images on this blog's entry were taken on this very special day in Italy.

Image just before my dinner of sardines and polenta (yum!) - post yoga, post riding, post 2.5 hour bike ride on a city bike with half pumped tires.

Hot here at the Lakes

So after about 12 hours of traveling, two planes and a very tiny nissan car (looks smart carish) I've arrived here at the lakes region. Unfortunately AT&T has disappointed me again. No international service despite me planning ahead by 2 weeks. I sent a nasty gram from my computer to their website... So unless I get my service up and running my blog will be pictureless until I spend the time to download images from my big bad boy.

My diet is already so outta wack (good for me). Lots of cheese, bread, pasta; face it there ain't much else here in Italia. Oh... and my italian is horrible. I forgot how much the people outside the big cities don't speak my language. How rude of me to assume so.

Tomorrow starts yoga and ponies.
ciao.

No Legs

If you have legs, airlines don't want you to fly. Oh well.

On a Jet Plane!

Its the morning... just need to pack my yoga mat and I should be good to go. Ciao.

My first entry

I'm 3 days away. Woo hoo!

Sent from my wireless iPhone.

Trip to Commence!

Look here for more trip blogginess