get yourself a good bike

This weekend my "little" brother George is visiting me from San Francisco, and for the first time in my life when expecting a visitor, I have nothing planned. Were he not the most easy-going person in the world, I might be a bit concerned, but I am actually looking forward to having a spontaneous weekend.

I live about a block away from Mellow Johnny's, a bike shop owned by Austin native Lance Armstrong. Aside from having a great little cafe dubbed "Juan Pelota" (if you speak Spanish and know anything about Lance Armstrong, you'll know why this is funny), they also rent out bikes by the hour.

If I could plan one thing for this weekend, it would be to rent some bikes and drive down to Lady Bird Lake and over to South Congress on Saturday.

Thinking about this reminds me of one of my favorite travel adventures, 15 days that I spent in November 2005 in Budapest. I'll take Budapest over her stepsister Prague any day of the week. Interesting people, delicious food and wine (they have as many wine regions as California), I never felt alone or bored on this trip. One day I walked over to Margaret Island, really an outcropping in the middle of the Danube River between Buda and Pest, where I rented a charming old Schwinn. These are some photos I took on a beautiful fall day on Margaret Island. I remember feeling really happy.