Things I didn't buy on vacation

 

an English Tour de France magazine with socks 
(now available on eBay)

I did not buy this nougat even though I had been looking all over the US for it. No one even knew what I was talking about. I will have to enjoy using it to make Danish Christmas candies this year and not think about how easy it is to get in other places.

There was a great thrift store right by our last stop and I loved this enameled cast iron dish that is a perfect match for a larger yellow one given to us by D.'s parents. It just didn't make sense to buy something so heavy. At least I have a picture.

I would have bought one of these yummy dishes at
IKEA but someone else was not keen on the idea.

Miffy!

I could have bought stickers for the Euro Cup. Later I
will decide whether to buy any for the World Cup, men's
this fall or women's next summer. Or neither.

I took a picture of this because even though I didn't buy it I definitely want to.
If you want to receive a hand-painted postcard just let me know.

So many Moomin things I didn't buy. Stay tuned for future post.

So much Milka!

I didn't buy bicycle candy.

And I didn't buy cigarettes in Germany,
right where gum and candy is sold in the U.S.

The Tour

Even before the Tour began we started celebrating with Tour-themed birthday gifts.

I found a game and a book to add to our cycling collection.

The gift that I bought that I sort of kind of wanted to keep for myself was a sticker album and some packs of stickers for this year's Tour. This same company makes stickers for soccer tournaments, too.

Not-so-brief aside - I thought we would buy stickers in every country at every store. I was surprised not to find any in Copenhagen and only at the toy store in our old home town (already on sale!). I could do a whole blog post about stopping all over Lithuania (toy store, grocery store, bicycle store, candy/lottery ticket kiosk) and every other country. I never found a single pack for sale, even at the store in Stockholm that had a whole display of Panini stickers and albums. I wonder if Denmark will still be selling them when arrive. We also thought every cyclist on the cruise would be watching the Tour and maybe there would be a room set aside to show it on a big screen. Ha.

Here are a few snapshots of my highlights, but maybe D. will do a guest blog post and share a different perspective.

Because we were in town early we watched the team buses and cars
arrive (glad I didn't have to park while dealing with cyclists and onlookers).

Later that evening we watched the parade of teams through
Copenhagen and streamed the festivities being held in Tivoli.

The next day we visited our old town and I loved seeing the yarn bombing (only some shown).

Before the stage begins the sponsors drive through and often toss freebies - hats with their log, energy bars, and tchotchkes. We did not catch anything but had already picked up free t-shirts and hats the day before.

On the first day of the Tour a time trial was held, meaning each cyclist raced against the clock. One benefit for spectators is a chance to see each person zip by over the course of many hours instead of an entire peloton (group of cyclists) zip by in one moment and that's it for the day. On the other hand, what am I going to do with pictures of 176 different cyclists? Here are two.

Magnus Cort is a Dane known for his mustache and sense of humor. He rode well this year, including winning a stage, but dropped out after testing positive for covid. We hope to see him race in PostNord Danmark Rundt.

Kevin Vanmaerke is an American riding his first Tour and he's less than three years older than A. They met when Kevin was on a training ride and A. was cycling home from Goleta. We were sorry to seem him crash and break his collarbone in a later stage. 

All the rest of my Tour pictures are of us sitting and watching it from afar.

ETA - oh, wow! since I wrote this we opened more stickers and one contained both Demi Vollering, who finished second in the women's race, and Jonas Vingegaard, who finished first in the men's race. Instead of selling them for $30 or so we stuck them in the album.