Visiting Strasbourg, France

On By Rick McIn travel1 Comment

Strasbourg is on the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace. … It is the official seat of the European Parliament. …

The city is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral …

For me, this is the most impressive approach. From a narrow street.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

There’s much to see and do. But I only had time to cycle the many canals to and from the Rhine.

When I get to heaven, I expect every building to look something like Église de Tous-les-Saints.

I stopped by the European Parliament, wanting to consult with them on tourism: hiking and cycling.

Disappointingly, they wouldn’t even let me in the door. 😀

Irked, I put in at an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights — next door.

I’m expecting a prompt response. 😀

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett

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A great 2024 book. Murder mystery / psychological thriller.

Set during Covid, it’s very up-to-date in terms of social media.

In this twisty thriller and “compulsive page-turner” (Harlan Coben) … a woman thinks she’s waking up to a romantic vacation—only to find a body in her rental home and her boyfriend gone.

It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the train tickets, the dinner reservations, the rented four-story luxury rowhouse in Jersey City with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline.

But when Bree comes downstairs their final morning, Ty is nowhere to be found and there’s a stranger dead in the foyer—the missing woman the entire Internet has become obsessed with: Janelle Beckett.

Soon, both the police and an army of Internet sleuths are asking questions Bree doesn’t know how to answer.

Desperate to find Ty and to keep her own secrets buried, Bree realizes there’s only one person she can turn to: her ex-best friend, a lawyer with whom she shares a very complicated past.

Fierce, smart, and thrilling to the end, Missing White Woman not only explores “Missing White Woman” syndrome and traveling while Black, but deftly inverts the hallmarks of the domestic suspense genre to ask: How well can we truly know the people we love? And what happens to these stories when seen through the eyes of a Black woman?

Target: Alex Cross by James Patterson

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Surprisingly, I haven’t read many of the Alex Cross series.

He has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and has worked for both the Washington DC Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. …

… trying to solve difficult cases while attempting to maintain a relationship with his family. 

Target: Alex Cross (2018) is 26th in the series.

Kinda dumb and absurd — yet I quite enjoyed the thriller.

Someone is killing the nation’s political leaders.

Alex Cross is now on assignment to the FBI and his wife, Bree Stone, is now the chief of detectives for the DC Police.

Alex and a team of FBI agents, as well as Bree and the Secret Service must find who is behind the killings and why.

Before all the mayhem is done, the new president and many in line to succession to the Presidency have been felled.

The plot is discovered and when it is, those who solved this case are truly shocked at who was behind this and why.



Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston

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T Canyon (2005) is brainless but entertaining.

A typical “thriller“.

Too much action. Too many gun shots.

Characters are cliché.

However, the setting and basic plot appeal.

The murder of a dinosaur “treasure hunter” in New Mexico.

It’s a bit confusing with too many threads:

  • A moon rock missing for thirty years.
  • A scientist with ambition enough to kill.
  • A monk who will redeem the world.
  • A dark agency with a deadly mission.
  • The greatest scientific discovery of all time.

On the upside, Douglas Preston is an expert in palaeontology, working as a writer at the American Museum of Natural History for many years. A lot of his books are grounded in actual science.

Cycling Lake Constance in Europe

On By Rick McIn cycling, travelLeave a comment

My cycle touring began July 3, 2024.

Getting off the train from Munich in Lindau, I first cycled to Bregenz, Austria to test the bike with a full load.

NO PROBLEMS.

I’d read that the cycling north of the lake was more interesting than the south, so planned to put in another 40km on my first day.

BUT it rained hard. And was scheduled to rain until 9pm … so I checked into a hostel rather than camping.

Lindau is very pretty, even in the rain.

Cycling Europe I see a hundred interesting things a day.

For example, this water fountain in a hostel. Choose TAP or CARBONATED.

The main cycling route is great and (usually) easy to follow. I only share with motor vehicles about 25% of the time.

I was intrigued by Friedrichshafen.

The Zeppelin factory here, 1942 and 1945, used slave labor of hundreds of concentration camp prisoners from Dachau and Dora-Mittelbau.

Terrible history. But interesting tourist stop.

I’d planned to cycle around the lake into Switzerland — but by coincidence I rode up to the ferry one minute before it departed.

KARMA

Switzerland is far more expensive than Germany. Double the price for some things.

It’s more rural on the Swiss side of the lake. Many vineyards.

Finding no place to wild camp, I finally checked into a pretty campground on the lake.

Camping is highest priority for families with kids. A paradise here.

Like last year, there has been a lot of flooding in Germany.

Water is still very high.

Next day I rode on to Rhine Falls (Rheinfalls), Switzerland — the highlight, so far.

Salvation – season 1

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Salvation (2017) is an American thriller TV series.

Not bad, as thrillers go. But only 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The cast is compelling.

Santiago Cabrera as Darius Tanz is good. Something like an Elon Musk.

… an asteroid that will impact the Earth in just six months, highlighting the attempts to prevent it and its worldwide ramifications. The show looks at how different individuals and groups of people react to the impending doom.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Rhine Falls (Rheinfalls), Switzerland

On By Rick McIn travel2 Comments

The highlight of my Rhine river cycling tour — so far — has been the the most powerful waterfall in Europe.

The Rhine Falls (German: Rheinfall) are 150 metres (490 ft) wide and 23 metres (75 ft) high. 

There are other highlights nearby, including the Wörth Castle (Swiss German: Schlössli Wörth) — BUT I couldn’t safely leave my bike and gear to visit those.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Argylle – Book and Movie

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Watch the film. Skip the book.

Argylle is a 2024 spy action comedy film: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson.


Argylle Delivers Twisty-Turny Tedium, But Its Action Scenes Are Great

That sums it up.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I thought the book would be similar.

It’s not.

I thought the book would be a fun action thriller — something like the film.

It’s not.

In 2024, Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen were revealed as the writers of the tie-in novel to the film Argylle, under the pseudonym “Elly Conway“.

… I can’t really find any relationship between the movie and book from the word Argylle.

At most you might call the book some kind of origin story for Aubrey Argylle.

But the only interesting character for me was the Russian / American uber-villain and wealthy tycoon Vasily Federov.

Terry Hayes and Tammy Cohen

Off to Cycle the Rhine 🚴

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel2 Comments

I picked up my bike in Munich. Friends had been storing it for me since LAST summer.

We had a great time. Several good meals. Plenty of wine. And one round of golf.

Claudia and her buoys 😀

I’m planning to cycle the Rhine north through Germany ➙ Continue up to Denmark ➙ Ferry to the Faroe Islands ➙ And on to Iceland.

I’ll fly out of Reykjavík.

I’ll start in July 2024 where I quit cycling summer of 2023 — in beautiful Lindau on Lake Constance, Germany.

… I want to get back to this kind of shape. 6 foot, 3 inches. 215 pounds. 😀

Summer 2023

I’ll mostly be riding the Eurovela 15 – Rhine Cycle Route.

As the Deutschland Rail ticket is still next to free in 2024, I’ll hop local trains as needed in Germany.

At some point I’ll leave the river and head for the Danish border. Likely joining the Eurovela 12, the North Sea Cycle Route

I must reach the north tip of Denmark to catch my long scheduled ferry to the Faroe Islands.

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

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Hmm. Not nearly as good as the previous novel.

In the 12th book of the Ruth Galloway series, everyone is surprised.

Ruth has a new job, home, and partner, and she is no longer North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archaeologist.

That is, until convicted murderer Ivor March offers to make DCI Nelson a deal.

Nelson was always sure that March killed more women than he was charged with. Now March confirms this and offers to show Nelson where the other bodies are buried—but only if Ruth will do the digging.

Curious, but wary, Ruth agrees.

March tells Ruth that he killed four more women and that their bodies are buried near a village bordering the fens, said to be haunted by the Lantern Men, mysterious figures holding lights that lure travelers to their deaths.

Is Ivor March himself a lantern man, luring Ruth back to Norfolk?

What is his plan, and why is she so crucial to it?

And are the killings really over?