Daphne's Drivel

 Today we got to ride the rest of the way down the east side of Achensee which was gorgeous, and we had perfect sunny weather. Lingered over a coffee part way along as we were reluctant to leave this picturesque spot. Riding along the lake on dedicated cycle path  Hundreds of runners taking part in a race around the lake Next we had a very steep descent from this high mountain valley to the River Inn valley en route to Innsbruck. Great fun but must have been hard on the brake pads with all that weight on the bike! Look at that descent! Strange things started happening with my bike today - I couldn't shift into my two small rear rings (rear gears), and I also couldn't free-wheel properly without things going wonky. Where was Frank when I needed him!!! It was Sunday, so nothing is open here - would not be able to get a bike shop till Monday. Luckily I could manage just fine without those gears for the day along the pretty Inn valley - I just had to be very careful not to force t...

  We were discovered here by the property owner! He had been tipped off my some hunters! We arose early in our little meadow to get the tents down and try to move out before being noticed (wild camping isn't always well tolerated). However, we had been spotted, and the land- owner came by in his truck and had a little chat with us. We explained our situation from the night before and that we were tired. He wasn't too upset, and we apologised. It's one of those situations where it's easier to ask for forgiveness after that permission before!! (Of course if there had been a way, we would have asked first, but there were no houses around). Anyway, it was raining when we set off to complete the gravel ride, which turned out not to involve much more climbing. We descended to a village where we found a hotel that offered a warm refuge, a place to charge up our devices whilst enjoyinga nice buffet breakfast. All was good again. We pressed on to our original destination - a bea...

This is what we ended up riding - shorter than originally planned, But enough climbing! Day 2 was always going to be a tough one - if we wanted to be able to get to the next camground which happened to be along the shores of a beautiful mountain lake called Achensee. It should be about 70km with a ton of climbing. A particularly challenging climb on a gravel path could be avoided if one was willing to ride on the main road for about 20km. In fact our campground host strongly advised us against taking the gravel road with our loaded bikes. But when Nancy and I took a look at that road with its busy traffic, we both agreed that in the interest of safety, we'd suck it up and take the steep gravel, which did in fact follow the official Munich to Venice cycle route. Approaching the lovely  historic town of Bad Tolz on the Isar river. Had lunch here Bad Tolz One of the many cute little chapels along the way We don't regret that decision...

 September 2-3 Frank was instrumental in helping get the bike in the box for the flight! The boxes ready to be unpacked in our Munich airport hotel My bike all ready to go! Yes there's a lot of stuff on there...don't have Frank along to share the camping gear and bike tools. And I seem to have a lot of electronics I'm very happy to report that on Tuesday Sep 4th in the early morning, Nancy and I, together with our boxed bikes and both our gear duffel bags arrived as scheduled, all together at Munich Airport. The expected queue at passport control with the new EES (eletronic entry system) that had been introduced in Feb was about 40 minutes. After just a little bit of hassle, the special taxi arranged with our airport hotel transported us to the hotel where we proceeded to assemble our beasts of burden! And yes- it took a while, but we both managed to get the job done in spite of our anxieties. The bikes were put together and ready to ride the next day after a good  sleep, h...

On Tuesday Sept 1st, another European bike tour begins - this time not with Frank, but with my friend Nancy. Some of you will remember that Nancy joined Frank and me for part of our 2024 bike tour, and she loved that experience so much that she's keen to go back again. Unfortunately Frank is taking care of some health issues and isn't ready for a bike tour yet, so this will be very different for me without him. It's just the gals this time! This was Frank and me on tour with Nancy in 2024  

  Since picking up our car on Tuesday, we've had a few very interesting days. We headed south, with only a few vague ideas of places we might visit, otherwise just following our noses. This morning we're back up close to the Venice area again (blue dot on map below) near Padua, getting ready for our journey home on Monday. The approximate route of our travels over the last five days. I'll mention the highlights: The city of Ravenna was hugely impresive. We spent Tuesday night there and roamed around the historical centre the next morning. We were blown away by one particular church - the Basilica di San Vitale, a byzantine church with the most amazing interior of marble, mosaic floors and mosaic art. Just incredible. Dates from about 550 AD. The Basilica di San Vitale, maybe not so impressive from the outide One of the many mosaics inside adorning the walls. The crowned lady depicted here was Theodora, Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire, and wife of Justinian I, ruler of B...