travel photography

Ciao, bella. Hello, Garda!

/ petra / 1 Comment

Last weekend, I got to spend a lovely weekend with my friends Dirk and Sylvie in Sirmione at Lake Garda in Italy. Monday was a bank holiday (Assumption Day), which meant we only had to take Friday off to get a four day weekend. Sweet!

It was my birthday on Saturday, so I was more than happy to get away for a couple of days.

Friday

Friday started with too little sleep for me, after we had a work event on Thursday night. Once a year my company is invited to a boat trip on one of the nearby lakes where we eat, drink, dance. It’s always a lot of fun, but obviously, you can’t just leave when you’ve had enough. Thankfully, this year we cruised around Lake Starnberg, which is a lot closer to Munich than Lake Chiemsee, where we were last year. Less time to get home from the party.

I still went to bed late, but I had hardly drunk, so when I woke up on Friday I was merely tired, not hungover. Dirk and Sylvie were nice enough to pick me up at 10 AM before we headed toward Italy. It usually takes about 4.5 hours to drive to the southern shore of the lake from Munich. The roads were empty enough and our trip was only prolonged due to our stop at the Brenner Outlet Shopping Center, after I had realized I forgot my Nanos at the box in Munich. Can’t go on vacation without a pair of Nanos. 😉 I personally didn’t mind the stop and getting a chance to stretch our legs for a bit. We also stopped for a quick lunch and coffee before we continued our journey.

Sylvie had booked a small apartment for us. Before we headed there, we picked up the keys at a nearby hotel. I nearly yelped in joy when we arrived at the apartment! It was très cute! The apartment was rather basic. A bedroom, a small, not very luxurious bathroom, a sofabed in the kitchen. But it didn’t matter. There was a pool! But the best – without a doubt! – was that the lake was just at our doorstep. We could see the water from our large balcony. It was pretty sweet! Considering we had booked rather last minute, this was a lucky find.

After we had settled in, we went to find a supermarket to get a few breakfast items and then took a first stroll along the lake. We had left Munich in the cold rain in the morning. Sitting by the lake, the sun shining down on us, the fresh breeze of the water felt like a warm, comfortable hug.

We ended the day with a lovely Italian dinner, some ice cream for me (ricotta and figs – a dream!) and then some lovely chatting and drinking on the balcony. The perfect start to a perfect trip.

Saturday

I was up a little earlier on Saturday and decided to spend the time reading the paper on the balcony until Dirk and Sylvie got up. Strangely, my insomnia only ever surfaces at home and I always get the most restful sleep when I stay anywhere but at home. It was wonderful getting up and feeling deeply rested for once.

It was my birthday on Saturday and as the day went along, I was happy to be spending it with some of my best friends at such a wonderful location. Numerous times throughout this day and this whole trip, I couldn’t help but think that coming here for the weekend was one of the best decisions I had made in a long time.

We had breakfast first before we then headed into the historic center of Sirmione for some sightseeing. The historic center is mostly closed for cars and since we hadn’t planned any workout activities for that day, I think we were all glad for a bit of walking. I know I was! We walked along the beautiful lake shore until we reached the Scaliger Castle, a fortress that was built in the 13th century. We headed inside and enjoyed the stunning views over the town and the lake once we’d made it to the top.

After a quick lunch stop, we walked around the peninsula some more. I really enjoyed the narrow little streets, the vibrant colors of the flowers and the water everywhere. Our final destination were the famous Grotte di Catullo, the ruins of an ancient Roman villa. As we walked around the impressive site, framed by the lake left and right, I kept thinking to myself had I been a wealthy Roman donna, I also would’ve built my house right there. Just sayin’.

By the time we started heading back to the apartment, we probably had already walked a good 10 kilometers for the day. We stopped by a bar at the lake and sat down for drinks. It was lovely. I’m not a big Aperol drinker, but there’s something about Italy, sun, summer and vacation that makes a Spritz the perfect drink. Especially in combination with people-watching. It was my birthday, so definitely time to enjoy some birthday adult beverages!

Back at the apartment, we squeezed in a quick pool workout, consisting of some swimming, dips, push-ups and squats. A vacation of doing nothing? That’s a no-no. We’re CrossFitters, after all!

Dinner was at a lovely steak house and the perfect way to end this birthday. It might’ve been once of the nicest I ever had.

Sunday

On Sunday we decided to go for some more activity. We rented a couple of bikes and rode along the shores to the town of Dezanzano. Bike lanes around the lake are well-marked and plenty. It was actually really comfortable to ride there. I did, however, notice a big difference between city bike (which I had for the day) and my mountain bike at home.

After lunch and a quick tour of Dezanzano, we found ourselves a nice spot by the lake for some bathing. We sat near a group of teenagers who played volleyball, much to our amusement. Dirk and Sylvie are former volleyball players and certainly took an interest in the ongoings. The water of the lake was warm and comfortable to swim in. It was so nice.

We headed back to the apartment, squeezed in another quick workout of air squats and push-ups and then a final Italian dinner.

Monday

Monday unfortunately already marked the last day of our trip.

I was up early again and decided to use the time until Sylvie and Dirk got up for a quick WOD. I ran along the lake for about 20 minutes, before I repeated the pool workout from a few days earlier. I felt the squats from the previous day in my quads, but didn’t want to miss out on the chance to run by the lake. It was still early and only very few people were encountered on the way. (I left my Garmin at home and regretted that decision. It would’ve been so nice to record my little run!)

After breakfast, we got ready and left the apartment on time. We then started our lengthy journey back, but not without three scheduled breaks. First stop: Malcesine.

Sylvie and Dirk are old hands when it comes to spending vacation times at the Lago di Garda. They head down there at least once a year. Usually, they stay in Malcesine, which is on the east shore of the lake, a lot further north than Sirmione. We had decided to stop there for lunch, some sight seeing on our way back.

I was surprised by how different it looked and how different the town and area felt with the mountains so nearby. The area around Sirmione is rather flat. Malcesine not at all! We took a scenic drive across the mountains; coming down gave us the most stunning views over the lake. It was a public holiday in Italy, Austria and parts of Germany, which you clearly could tell from the mass of tourists in Malcesine. The town was rather busy. The roads too. On our way out of the city, there was a giant traffic jam going into the city – all the way to the autostrada. Those poor souls.

The next stop left me equally excited: Kolsass near Innsbruck in Austria. Our box has befriended the owners of The Cube, a lovely CrossFit box. I’d met Vera and Mike before, but only ever when they came to visit Munich. I’d never been to their crip. They were nice enough to even open the box before official hours so that we could all do a WOD together. (Hello, new Nanos!) It was brutal, but so much fun! Vera and Mike are some of the most friendly, kindest people you’ll ever know and we felt so welcomed there. As we were getting ready to leave, members for their first class of the day started coming in and I was blown away with how lovely everybody was, truly making us feeling welcomed. That’s the true spirit of CrossFit!

Saying goodbye was only possible because Mike and Vera mentioned, they’ll be coming to Munich next weekend. WIN!

Dirk, Sylvie and I then continued the trip homeward with one – this time final – break at Lake Tegernsee, just an hour south of Munich. We stopped at the Bräustüberl, a famous restaurant for dinner, before we finally arrived at our final destination.

I felt so deeply and thoroughly relaxed after I came back to Munich – I would’ve taken a few more days of downtime. Dirk and Sylvie are some of my most favorite people in the world and I’m grateful, they invited me along to the get away. I felt like my soul really needed that refresher. ❤

More pictures to come soon.

 

What happens in Prague stays in Prague. Kinda.

/ petra / Leave a comment

Last weekend I spent a couple of days with a group of CrossFit friends in Prague. It was an all-girls trip, full of extraordinary shenanigans. You’d think 8 girls being together 24/7 at close quarters would bring much drama, but all there was was plenty of laughter, good times and crazy fun.

I’ve still got to go through some of the pictures I took, but since there wasn’t much sightseeing (in favor of working out and SPA treatments) involved, there won’t be that many to follow.

As my memories are fresh though, here’s a brief recap of our lovely weekend.

Friday

We’d decided to drive by car on Friday afternoon, as soon as we got out of the office. We split up into two cars with the first group of girls leaving a bit earlier and then the second car heading out around 4:30 pm’ish. I still had a client meeting from 2 to 3, so I was glad for the second option and my lovely friend Sylvie offering to drive.

There was a bit of a traffic jam as we left Munich and later on the highway around a giant construction site, but we passed the time just fine. We had good conversation and Haribo gummibears to get us through. Around 10 pm we finally arrived at the apartment, which was located in the district of Praha 2. Gabi and the three other girls, who had left earlier in the afternoon, had already arrived and had thankfully taken care of getting the keys to the apartment and doing some grocery shopping. Much needed! By the time Sylvie, myself, Julia and Julia got there, dinner places had closed. We were very grateful that there was some kind of food in the house.

We spent the evening chatting, drinking wine, cracking jokes, drinking more wine, cracking even sillier jokes until it turned into the kind of full-blown ridiculousness that doesn’t make any sense the next morning once you sober up, but is the best thing ever as blood alcohol is high. It was absolutely wonderful. I haven’t laughed this much and hard in a really long time.

My head was spinning a bit as I lay down to sleep, but it was totally worth it.

13987387_10154395433259859_3423693347428321662_o

This beautiful image pretty much sums up the entire weekend. Silly fun. Deep belly laughter. ❤ (And the voodoocado. Don’t ask.)

Saturday

I do have to admit that I felt a little queasy upon getting up on Saturday morning. Since I’ve started working out regularly and am constantly on the quest to lose weight, I don’t drink much anymore. So there, you get what you deserve, eh?

To start the day, we had a proper breakfast together: full of eggs, bacon, fruit and veggies, some quark. And the voodoocado. Once we were invigorated, we headed to CrossFit Hometown for a private lesson. Jakub, our super friendly (and handsome!) coach, greeted us and then spent an hour working with us on our snatching technique and then finally guided us through a partner WOD. I really enjoyed Jakub’s coaching. He had a good eye, explained a movement as complicated as the snatch really well and gave great cues and feedback. We had all practiced snatches before, but sometimes, it helps to have a new, neutral person to give you a piece of advice in a way that your regular coaches maybe haven’t. That doesn’t mean any coach is better than the other. Just different in explaining things.

The partner WOD was a lot of fun. At first he said something that sounded like Murph, making everybody gulp and give him the deer-in-headlights look. Thankfully he was joking and our WOD consisted of a 500m run, 50 thrusters @ 30 kg (as a team), 500m run, 30 thrusters @ 35 kg, 500m run and 20 thrusters @ 40 kg. For time. Phew. Julia and I split the first thrusters in 10s each, after that, we went 5 each until we had reached the required amount of reps. 40 kg thrusters are heavy for me, so I was glad when we were done.

28792470162_28ccc5fb75_z

After the class, we went ahead and bought pretty much all the shirts the box had, sitting in front of a pile of shirts like lionesses in front of a dead zebra. It must’ve been pretty hilarious for an outsider to see. CrossFit girls go shopping. 😉

After the CrossFit class we drove to Aquapalace, a large water park and SPA in Prague. We had lunch and coffee there before we headed over to the sauna area to relax and wait for the deep tissue massages we had booked for later in the day. Heavenly!

I’m rather picky when it comes to massages. I like it when they apply pressure. Like, a lot of it. I like it when they dig in because the moment when they finally work out the little knots and spots of tension, it feels amazing. My massage therapist was wonderful. A small-framed woman with a good, firm grip. It hurt. It hurt so good. I hadn’t felt this good in a really long time.

[Even though I felt into a spiral of negative thinking as I was lying on the bench, relaxing and having time to second-guess myself and my existence. It did affect me some into the evening, but I’d managed to snap out of it by Sunday, feeling only just a little bit overly self-conscious.]

After we got pampered and ready, we rushed back to the apartment before it was time for dinner. Gabi had made a reservation at Čestr, a spectacular steakhouse nearby. (I had found the place through Foodspotting, one of my most favorite food/restaurant apps.) The interior was very lovely and service was quick, attentive and very friendly. The entire experience was great, starting with the menu cards, which showed great attention to detail, to the food, which was some of the best we had.

28282067523_42daf57ef2_c

The menu presentation in itself was worth it. I think all of us took their menus home. We then received a compliment from the kitchen (egg salad on bread), a bread basket and on the right, my lovely homemade orange lemonade.

28897140035_a3cd20460a_c

I loooooooooove tartare. This was lovely. Then we all got steak with a side (carrots for me), a digestive, coffee and dessert. Isn’t Yvonne’s cappuccino the cutest? The chocolate cake was so decadent and heavy. It was amazing.

The great thing about Prague is that compared to Munich, it’s very cheap. A dinner like this in a comparable restaurant in Munich would have easily cost tripple the amount. In Prague, we had wine, beer, soft drinks, appetizers, steaks with sides, digestives, dessert and coffee. And none of us had to sell our soul or any organs. It was all very affordable.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Sunday

Sunday morning. Oh boy. The biggest challenge was yet to come after breakfast. Pole dancing. Yes, you read that right. Pole. Dancing. Let me preface this with saying I have horrible coordination and very little sense of rhythm. I’m not a good dancer. But I was ready to take one for the team and make a total fool out of myself for everybody’s amusement. I think I succeeded.

Before we headed to class, we drove into the city center to squeeze in some sightseeing. We parked at a big mall and then walked over to Old Town Square, where the Town Hall and famous Astronomical Clock are located. It was crazy busy and challenging not to lose a person along the way as we walked to the crowded Charles Bridge. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time for sightseeing, something I would’ve liked to do a bit more and not quite so rushed. Next time!

The reason for our hurry was said, infamous pole dancing class which started at 1 PM. Our coach was a stunning Polish woman named Bonnie. Damn, that lady was beautiful. If I could swap my body for anybody’s, I’d ask for hers. Beautiful face, gorgeous tattoos all over. I might’ve fallen in love! 😉 And the lady could move.

I was really nervous as we got there because I felt self-conscious about my body, my inability to move said body in any fashion that’s not clumsy. Or the fact that the more naked at pole dancing you are, the better. The giant mirrors didn’t help. Bonnie was a lovely coach though. She showed us a couple of moves and kept encouraging us, giving praise despite our probably funny-looking efforts (we all lacked proper pole dancing skills, though Gabi did a pretty mean job!)

Yes, there are pictures. No, you’re not going to see them. This is the part where what happened in Prague stays in Prague.

The class turned out to be a lot of fun nonetheless. One thing it taught me is that everybody should have a hell lot of respect for pole dancers. I’d say everybody who came on this trip is somewhat athletic. Most, if not all, the girls crossfit several times a week. We’re not weak by any means. And this was hard. You need strength, coordination, rhythm and a high tolerance for pain. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this much pain in my life before! Running two marathons and having several tattoos included.

The key to pole dancing and not slipping off the pole is making sure you have as much contact to it with your skin as possible. Then you squeeze as tight as you can. Even as you spin around and your skin is rubbing against the metal pole. It feels a bit like being skinned alive and is so unimaginably painful. You have no idea. Bonnie mentioned you don’t really get used to it and that it still hurts her, even as she’s been doing this for over two years. This is when I realized that even if I wanted to, I could never be a pole dancer. I just have no desire to train something that’s always going to hurt me. Mad respect.

I do have another take away though:

28612421560_c35d546c7f_z

I’d have to finally start getting that sleeve on my arms though. I don’t think men would find a bruised up pole dancer all that sexy. O.o

After class we had Bonnie show us some of her moves. This is how you do it.

We rounded off a spectacularly fun trip with a final lunch together at a burger place that happened to be nearby. It reminded me a lot of Five Napkins in New York and was the perfect end to this trip. We then split up into our two cars again and drove home. Drive itself was mostly quiet and uneventful, save for some traffic jams just shortly before Munich.

This whole experience was extraordinary. From Prague as a beautiful city to visit, the fun activities we did, the fantastic energy within the group and everybody getting along so well. I can’t wait for our next trip together!

West Coast Vacation 2014 – Part One: San Francisco

/ petra / 2 Comments

If you’re going to San Francisco… I did not wear a flower in my hair, but I did wear comfortable shoes and got ready for a lot of walking.

My friend, T, and I have started an annual tradition a couple of years back. Once a year, we meet up for vacation, run a half marathon together and have a ton of fun. In the first year, I went to visit T in Canada, where she lives. We ran the Edge to Edge half in Tofino. The following year, T came to see me in New York, where we ran Brooklyn. For this year, we had picked the Big Sur half marathon on Monterey Bay as our destination, with a vacation in San Francisco on top.

I’ll be splitting up the trip into several posts because we experienced so many wonderful things that I want to document for the future. But let’s start at the beginning. The road to SFO!

Day 1: Travels

Continue reading →

CrossFit EO goes Baltic

/ petra / 2 Comments

“We’d need to know within the next hour,” is not precisely the words you want to hear when having to decide whether you’re taking a last minute trip to the Baltic or not.

I’d known for a while that my CrossFit box was going on a trip to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but not until the previous week did somebody cancel for another spot to open up. I had wished I could go when my friends first mentioned the trip. When my coach Vroni told me on Wednesday that there was a last minute cancellation, gave me those puppy dog eyes, and when another coach, Niki, followed up with a call, well, I finally caved.

Only catch: I had one hour to decide. Second catch: we were leaving 1.5 days later.

Wait, what?

Friday, June 6: Munich – Tallinn Fast-forward to Friday, a broken and emergency-repaired radiator, a last minute PTO request and scrambling to finish up 3 projects, I’m on the tiniest plane I have ever seen in my life (approximately the size of this plane), headed to Tallinn, Estonia. We’re a group of 10 people. 3 gals, 7 guys, all CrossFitters at our box, CrossFit eo in Munich.

Marco, one of the coaches and owners of the box had been to Tallinn before. He’ll be our guide for the first few days. After we settle in at the hotel, we’re off to explore Tallinn’s old historic center and find a place that’ll do something against that immense hunger. And thirst. Thirst. Plenty of thirst. Beer. Beer = good. Beer plenty. We end up in a pub, Hell Hunt. Apparently, Hell Hunt stands for Gentle Wolf. And for sure, despite messing up our reservation, the staff is gentle enough and finds a way to seat all 10 of us. The food and local beer is approved by our crew and flows freely. After more Shepherd’s Pie than a person should ever eat, we head back to the hotel, excited for our adventure to start.

Saturday, June 7: Tallinn Yawn. We start the day with a morning workout. Marco leads us to an old complex, built during the Soviet rule. That’s exactly what it looks like. Big. Impressive. Raw power. Ugly. After long travels and too much food the night before, it feels amazing to move our bodies. I’ll even take the hated broad jump – burpees and push-ups. Or the Every 2 Minute on the Minute sprint up the stairs. 10 rounds. Go, go, GO! During my time in New York, I used to do a lot of stair work at my fitness classes. Sadly, I have to realize how rusty I’ve become. (Memo to self: run, jump and bear crawl more stairs.) Given how Vroni isn’t much taller than me, blaming it on my short legs won’t even work. Hm.

After breakfast, Marco leads us on a fun sightseeing trip through Tallinn. Having been to the city before, he’s an expert guide, who not only makes sure we see plenty of beautiful buildings, but that we’re also fed and thoroughly caffeinated throughout the day. Continue reading →