Globe Corner Blogs

Bruges Canals: Photo by Kate

Bruges is beautiful…  It’s an incredible place to see: a tiny town of canals and swans, weeping willows and ivy, and not a single building that looks like it was built after the year 1500. Brick gingerbread houses with stepped Dutch roofs, tiny cobblestone bridges crossing calm canals, and shady squares with gnarly old trees and tweeting birds. It’s all yours… to share with about 20,000 other tourists! Really, it’s so crowded with tourists there that it’s almost enough to make you lose your appetite for waffles. We found two pretty good ways to avoid the hordes: first, get to the sites you really want to see as early as possible, and second: get a bike! Continue Reading »

Kabouter and shrine--Photo by Kate

This town has a funny tourism schtick: blue gnomes. Technically, I think they are called kabouters. What are kabouters, you ask? According to Wikipedia, they are Dutch leprechauns. From what I’ve been able to decipher from the (wooden) kabouters I’ve seen posted around this Belgian town, they seem to be little men that live in and around oversize red mushrooms with white polka dots. Children like them; they like children. I think they are religious, since the local church has a kabouter at the top of its spire, and this particular kabouter to the right keeps vigil next to a statue of the Virgin Mary. Continue Reading »

Storm in Spain--photo by Adam

…at 5 o’clock. Two days ago, 4:30 pm: lightning crashes, my mom freaks out, and we still have 20 kilometers left to bike before we reach home.  Ambulance sirens pierce the air as they speed past us.  Yesterday, 5:30 pm: even the closed window can’t stop the deluge of water from finding its way into the house.  The floor shakes with each peal of thunder.  Today, 5 pm: black clouds gather in the distance and forked lightning illuminates the darkening sky.

Today is the third evening of a four day biking trip in Spain, over the course of which we (my parents and I) have been traveling in and among the farm houses and fields in an area slightly north of Girona. It’s amazing here. The views around the countryside are absolutely spectacular, ranging from wide sweeping corn, wheat, and sunflower fields to steep wooded hills, all the while with huge jagged mountains forming an imposing background in the distance.

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Mini Rough Guide New York City

I took a day trip to New York City this weekend for Monster Track–the alley cat bike race in which you ride to different checkpoints throughout the city and the first one to finish wins.  The race is easiest for those who live in New York and know the streets well, but my friend and I just went to experience the brutality of it all.  What is unique about this race is that it is on the streets in full traffic – there is no closed course – and the only rule is no brakes allowed.

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Ciclovia Sign --photo by Pat

The highlight of a recent trip to Colombia was the opportunity to participate in Bogotá’s “Ciclovia.” Every Sunday, year-round, the city of Bogotá closes off over 120 kilometers of streets to traffic from 7 am to 2 pm. And, in a city of seven million, well over a million turn out to bike, roller-blade, jog, dog walk, or just promenade in their Sunday finest on the blessedly car-free streets.

What a transformation for a city that a decade ago warranted a chapter in Robert Pelton’s “World’s Most Dangerous Places.” Citizens have reclaimed the streets and civic life; Ciclovia is a joyous manifestation of the pride, good humor, and optimism of Bogotá’s residents. There’s a spring in folks’ step here that was unexpected (at least for me) — a confidence that the future is going to be better than the past.

We were staying in Usaquén on the northern fringe of Bogotá and our host

Ciclovia --photo by Pat

kindly provided bikes for a Sunday morning in late January. The beginning (or end, depending on your point of view) of one of the major routes of Ciclovia starts in Usaquén and runs into the central district of Bogotá on Carrera Séptima. Although flatlanders who haven’t acclimated to the 8600 foot elevation may feel the effects of the high altitude, the north/south routes in the city are essentially flat and make for very pleasant biking. Continue Reading »