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HOW I SPENT
MY 2004 SUMMER VACATION by Steve Kondracki
June 9, 2004
From: Steve Kondracki [mailto:kondracki@mybluelight.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 1:09 PM
To: f.piotrowski@worldnet.att.net
Subject: bike trip 2004
Guten Tag - Greetings from Aachen, Germany. We are now 6 days into Bike
Tour 2004, from Amsterdam through Netherlands, Belgium, Germany,
Luxembourg and France, and back through Be & Ne to the airport. While
cycling through Holland, along the canals, I thought I had the perfect
name for this tour: Bikes On Dikes (I hope you read that carefully). But
the Flat land is gone now, and we encountered some hills yesterday which
wore us out in the 900 heat. Thank God for good Belgian beer, served
here at domestic prices! Today we took the train from Liege, BE to
Aachen, Germany, mostly as a break from the heat, but also because Joe
Lash spent the morning in an attempt to find records of his (WW2)
wartime sweetheart in Liege. She had a common name (Collard) but he
could find nothing specific about her. So now we are in Germany, and
will work our way towards the Rhine, perhaps to Cologne (Koln), then
cycle south along the river to Koblenz, pick up the Moselle and ride
into Lux. on our way to France. It tires me out just to write about it.
So, to sum up: Excellent bike trails in Holland and Belgium (we almost
never had to share the road with cars) good weather (but hot), flat land
in NE & BE (but hilly here), river valleys ahead (flat, we hope) with
good bike paths. Food good (have you ever had pommes frites (french
fries) with flavored mayonnaise? Try the green pepper flavor! By the
way, getting along well with the Europeans, not just the ones who want
our business. Few political discussions, and when they occur, we just
agree with them. Auf Wiedersehen und Gute Fahrt!
June 15, 2004
From: Steve Kondracki [mailto:kondracki@mybluelight.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 1:32 PM
To: f.piotrowski@worldnet.att.net;
Subject: More Bike Trip 2004
Wow! I heard from a lot of you in response to my last email! But I will
write more anyhow! I forgot to mention that we started off with five
cyclists, and one dropped out our group three days into our trip. He was
retired Navy, and we weren't up to his precise military standards. He
left us a week ago in Belgium, and we haven't seen him since. After the
heat wave, things cooled down considerably. We had several days of
showers and cool weather, but we cycled on nonetheless. We visited the
village of Roetgen, near Aachen, where Joe Lash (of Sacramento) was
encamped after the Battle of the Bulge. (By the way, he had no luck
trying to find his Belgian WW2 girlfriend) We then pushed on to Monschau,
which is one of the most picturesque towns I have ever seen. The problem
was, that it is at the bottom of a steep valley, and once we made it
down there, we found that the trains no longer stop there. Since it was
a wet day, we decided to stay for the night, and the next day we talked
a bus driver into putting our four bikes onto a bus back to Aachen,
where we caught a train for Cologne. (Gee, Steve, I thought this was
supposed to be a BIKE trip!) We took the bus and train because we were
falling behind schedule, and it was raining! Cologne was beautiful,
particularly the cathedral, one of the largest in Europe. From Cologne,
we cycled south along the Rhein, passing the remains of the bridge at
Remagen, destroyed in WW2. Joe and Al had about 6 flat tires between
them. By then, the weather was changing from showery to clear, and by
the time we got to the Mosel River at Koblenz, it was another heatwave.
The last few nights, we've stayed in Cochem, a resort town on the
Moselle, and Bernkastel, another picturesque medeival town. Tonight we
are in Trier, the oldest city in Germany, settled by the Romans 2000
years ago. There are still buildings here from that era. I'm traveling
with three guys who are old enough to be my father, and they are
difficult at times, but hey, we all have our idiosyncrasies! It's tough
to find people who like to travel by bike, but you don't know how
rewarding it is! Yesterday and today we cycled through about 100 mile of
vineyards along the Mosel, growing all the way up the sides of the hills
(small mountains, really). We are mostly on bike paths, free of cars,
riding on flat land along the rivers. There are hundreds of other
cyclists along the bike paths, mostly Germans, but others, as well. We
meet interesting people along the way, and at night, having burned up
thousands of calories, we eat and drink as though we never heard of Dr.
Atkins. You should see us at the breakfast buffet! Well, that's about
all for now. These internet cafes are not always easy to find, and the
keyboards are arranged a little differently, slowing down my two-finger
typing. B|t they dv cvme with svme interesting characters: _, D, etc.
Tomorrow, we will continue along the Rhein, and should cross into
Luxembourg. I hope to send at least one or two more. Can somebody
forward this to Joy Nimmo? I thought I had her email address at
Creativedge, but I was wrong! Thanks! Guten Abend, and Auf Wiedersehen
Mr. Lux, wherever you are! Steve
June 18, 2004
From: Steve Kondracki [mailto:kondracki@mybluelight.com]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 2:15 PM
To: f.piotrowski@worldnet.att.net
Subject: Now in France
Bon Jour- Since my last writing, we left Trier, Germany south along the
Mosel River, crossing into Luxembourg, cycling through that country till
it ran out a few hours later at France. That day we cycled an amazing
130 kilometers (about 80 miles, I think) for an all-time personal
record. But we had everything in out favor: good weather, flat land
along the river, good roads (bike lanes, actually), and a tail wind. We
spent two nights in Metz, France, and today cycled to Verdun, over hills
and past many WWI battlefields, monuments and cemeteries; we even passed
a cemetery for German soldiers 1914-1918. Now we start heading north
along the Meuse River towards Belgium and Holland for our flight home
Thursday. If I can, I may write one more dispatch from over here.
Bon soir. Steve
June 25, 2004
From: Steve Kondracki [mailto:kondracki@mybluelight.com]
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 2:15 PM
To: f.piotrowski@worldnet.att.net
Subject: Home At Last
Greetings from Norfolk! It was too difficult to send another email from
Europe; internet cafes are in nearly every town, but when you're in a
great town in Europe, who wants to sit in a stuffy room next to a sweaty
guy mumbling to himself while he pecks out an email message with his
index fingers? At least that's what the woman next to me said before she
got up and moved to another computer. Just a short email to let you know
how the trip ended: After leaving Verdun, we cycled along the Meuse
River through the beautiful French countryside to Sedan for the evening,
and then a short ride to Charleville-Meziers, an attractive town on the
river. We determined that we were about 6 cycling days from Amsterdam,
with only 3 days left 'til our flights home. So it was back on the
train! Al and I got off in Antwerp, Belgium, hoping to get in as much
cycling as possible (on flat land), while Joe and Lee headed to
Amsterdam to maximize sight-seeing. Al and I cycled another 100 miles in
2 days, (I finally got a flat) through Breda and Rotterdam into Gouda,
where we took a short train ride to Haarlem, just outside Amsterdam. (Haarlem
is a great base for seeing Amsterdam, being just a 20-minute train ride
away) After a day of sight-seeing, I planned to get to sleep early on
the night before my flight. What I didn't plan on was Netherlands
winning its Europe Cup soccer match that evening. The celebrating,
horn-blowing, and firecrackers went on from about 10:45 'till after
midnight on the city square outside our room. Anyhow, I made it home OK,
and here are the final totals: Approx 750 miles cycled through 5
countries in 16 cycling days (avg. 47 mi. per day). One new country for
me (Lux.) means approx 11,000 miles cycled through 22 European countries
in 17 trips. That's it for this trip - thanks for reading, and
especially for the feedback. I don't have digital pictures to send, but
I'll try to send some snaps when I can scan them. I'll be glad to send
more info to anyone interested. Anybody care to join me next year?
Steve |
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FROM THE 2018 YEARBOOK UPDATE
Steve Kondracki -
Norfolk, VA
Accomplishments:
I’ve made my share of mistakes (taking too long to finish college,
forgetting to get married, not buying Apple stock in 1979, etc), but
I have done some things that have worked out okay: I pursued a
career in television production, which has been challenging, fun,
and rewarding; I wisely settled in Norfolk, Virginia, which has been
a great place to live, and continues to get better; I listened to
Mr. Annechino and others, and started investing early; and I’ve
always made it a priority to travel, visiting more than forty
countries. My August 2018 bike tour of Italy is my latest trip,
putting me at around 13,000 miles cycled in Europe. I’m involved in
work, my church, local Norfolk political activities, and the
Underemployed Cameramen’s Cycling Club. I have a lot of friends, and
look forward to making more.
Memories:
My memories of SJHS are of football and basketball games, assemblies
and pep rallies, and getting into trouble for trying to make people
laugh. I remember some great teachers that deserved respect, and
probably didn’t get it from me. A look at the yearbook reminded me
of freshman year homeroom teacher, Mr. Werner, a great guy. I always
seemed to have a lot of interaction with Mr. Plocharski and Father
Pieczonka. And who can forget Miss Szumska and Mr. Erwin Lux?
Future:
I hope to continue working in TV/Video production, traveling to
countries I haven’t seen yet (with or without a bicycle), cycling on
a regular basis, and possibly, meeting a woman who would put up with
me working, traveling, and cycling - and trying to make people
laugh. |
