A Bicikli

So, I'm done with the travel memoirs for now.  On to the fantastic, adventurous day I had yesterday.

After a lazy morning, I decide it's high time to take a shower.  My bathroom is quite spacious, and the shower is nice and roomy.

(Aside - Some interesting things about European bathrooms in general: The shower has a temperature knob with actual numbers (in Celsius of course), which is great, because I now know that I like 39 degrees.  The toilets are very strangely built so that there is a small hole in near the front of the bowl, the rest being more of a shelf - perhaps to avoid unwanted splash landings - and have 2 flushers.  Bathrooms often have towel warmers and washing machines (though dryers are completely unknown here).)

Anyway, the shower head is on a hose that you have to hold as it lacks a wall fixture, which gets annoying.  Feeling innovative, I grabbed an Ethernet cable, tied some knots, and we now have a working shower head holder.  This is my second successful shower head hanging in the past year, but I won't let it go to my head.

Shower completed, I get the sudden urge to go out and be active (weird, I know).  We have had a bike sitting in the closet all semester, and I decide it's high time to go for a ride.  Oh...flat tires.

Then I remember that Alex wanted to play some ping pong.  So I go to Tesco, buy a paddle, some balls, and a bike pump, and head to the park.

Alex: [Pointing] I think those are the tables over there.
We approach the tables.  They don't have nets.
Us: ....?
Me: If only we had some rocks and a long stick, we could set the rocks on either side of the table and lay the stick on top.  Let's look around for some.
Alex: Like these? [Holds up 2 bricks and a very straight stick that are sitting under the table.  Apparently I'm not the first person to have that idea.]
We play ping pong and philosophize for 2 hours.


Arriving home, it's bike time:

1. Pump tires:
1. Figure out how the darned nozzle connection works (10 minutes)
2. Pump (15 minutes)
2. Fix broken saddle mount
1. Locate effective building materials (ie: string, pliers, paper clips, zip ties etc.)
2. Settle for cardboard and twist tie.
3. Tinker (10 min)
3. Mount panniers (20 minutes)

By the time I leave for a ride, it's about midnight.  After about 3 minutes of trying to word a joke, I'll give up and just say that I went 3 km in the completely wrong direction, ending up surrounded by Chinese billboards and what looked like a cross between circus grounds and an internment camp (also in Chinese).  After a lot of wrong turns, I make it home by following the signs to the Tesco Hipermarket (it's better than a supermarket).

At least I get to ride to school now, saving me some time in the morning.  The downside is that I live on the 4th floor.

Webpages that may or may not be relevant:

• http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS393US393&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=define%3A+panniers