Glad you liked "Blue." I still want to go there, though it may be in the winter.
My touring experience has very much been like Emily's. I've always been quick to annoyance with people in these types of situations, but, really, I just do what I want while on tour, because I'm there for me. The thing I have marveled at the most is people who get back from a day's hard riding, stay in their sweaty shorts and sit and drink for hours, then sit and drink for hours after dinner. Don't get me wrong, I like a good bottle of wine, but geez, when you are climbing up 15% grades in Austria, there's a limit.
Then there are the the riders who are just there to ride fast and don't even look at the scenery. I'm not one of those, either.