Something happened on the way to Frankfurt

Back in July my sights were set on cycling the Swiss Alps. Feeling restless and at the same time nostalgic, I was also going to revisit some of the places I went to on my first backpacking trip around Europe. That was my first big adventure way back in 1987, almost another lifetime ago. Maybe I was pining for that giddy feeling of unfettered travel I had then, when mouth agape I stared up wide eyed at the clacking destination boards in the Milan central train station, clutching an ISIC that promised cheap travel throughout the entire European rail network. OK, so maybe the onset of mid-life crisis is making me reminisce about my youth when I used to complain about my thick unmanageable hair... ah, hair.

Milan, April 1987. Waiting for the youth hostel to open, 
I met a bunch of other travellers so we just sat around in the middle of a traffic island. 
Black jeans and white Stan Smiths — what was I thinking!

My bicycle panniers were packed, I even bought European maps for my GPS. There were a few details I had to finish on a couple of projects and then I was going to take off. The plan was to fly to Frankfurt and cycle up the Rhine valley into the Swiss Alps then descend into Milan where I once went to "school" (it's a long story i won't get into), down the Mediterranean to Genoa, Liguria and the French Riviera and then up the Rhone. I was going to travel in style with a collapsable decanter and wine glass for those mellow picnic lunch stops.

I'm going to have to do the Europe thing some other time,
otherwise what would I do with these? :-)

When I finally got online to book a flight to Frankfurt (one of the few direct European flights from Ottawa), big red words on the website side bar were flashing at me: CHINA ON SALE, THREE DAYS ONLY. It was the last day, and few hours remained. The price of the ticket to Shanghai was more than $200 cheaper than going to Frankfurt. Shanghai. Frankfurt. Shanghai. Frankfurt... click. Shanghai. 

With a visa to arrange, more time required for planning, and because of reportedly unbearable heat and crowds during Shanghai's summers, I decided to travel in the autumn. In the meantime, it also allowed me to do a trip that I had wanted to do along the Erie Canal. The whole turn of events is like passing on kuchen, having apple pie instead, and eating dim sum, too!