Budapest - July 5-6, 2014

Our morning was spent taking the train to Budapest from Vienna.  Once we settled into our hotel -- the Boscolo, formerly the NY Palace Hotel -- we set out to explore the city.  It was pride weekend so the Hop On/Hop Off bus wasn't running due to anticipated protests.  We figured out the metro and ended up having a late lunch at a restaurant called Mensa which was only a block off the parade route!  After being rejuvenated, we walked across the Chain Bridge and took the funicular up to the palace. Once we retraced our steps, we ended up at the Budapest Eye, a ferris wheel in Erzsebet Square.  Back at the hotel, we had a night cap and some decadent desserts.

 Opera House

 Parliament

 Funicular

 Chain Bridge

 Funicular in motion

 Budapest Eye

The next day, we started with a tour of the Great Synagogue - incredible history.  From there we went back to the Buda side of the river to visit Matyas Church.  After a lot of walking, we finally ended up at Firkasr for dinner, a traditional Hungarian restaurant recommended by our hotel.  The restaurant had a lot of character and was delicious - veal with paprika and noodles, wine, palinka (a traditional local brandy).

 Great Synagogue

 Great Synagogue

 One of only two synagogues in the world with a cemetery attached

Parliament

Austria - July 4, 2014

We got up early to do a last ride before leaving.  Five of us set out to ride 22 km (13.8 miles) up the Danube on the other side from yesterday's ride, to the town of Spitz and back.  We did it in about an hour and 10 minutes.  After a quick shower and bags out by 10:15 am, we departed by shuttle to Vienna for about 1 1/2 hours.  Our leaders - - Hendrick, Jakub and Dan - - were awesome and the group of 20 guests got along really well.  It was a wonderful trip - my 14th Backroads trip!

Once in Vienna, we got a taxi from the train station to our hotel (Marriott) and checked in.  We decided to take a tour of the Spanish Riding School - the Lipizzaner stallions were on summer vacation unfortunately but we saw a few in their stalls.  Impressive facility.  And we randomly ran into Kate and Jen from our Backroads trip.  In the evening, we went to a Mozart concert at Musikveien which we could walk to from our hotel. 

 

 Backroads Group

 Spanish Riding School

Mozart Concert

Austria - July 3, 2014

We woke up to a glorious sunny day with clear blue skies!  The first 27.7k of the ride was relatively flat riding along the Danube River on wide bike paths with beautiful scenery.  We had an option to ride up into the hills which we did - challenging but again, a fantastic downhill on the other side.  By lunchtime, we had reached the town of Melk where we had a quiche (not so good) and a beer and then toured the Melk Abbey before riding back in the afternoon.  Total mileage was 77.3 km (47.8 miles) with an elevation gain of 1,263 feet.  And, no rain!! 

Before dinner, we went to a wine tasting at Fischer Vinothek - two gruner vetliners, a reisling (dry), a chardonney and a red.  Nice setting and all delicious.  From there, we shuttled to dinner at Landhaus Bacher, a very upscale, delicious restaurant which was a nice way to cap off the trip.  My favorite was the apricot soup with yogurt foam!

 Riding Along the Danube

Town of Melk from the Abbey

 Vineyards along the bike trail

Wine Tasting at Fischer Vinothek

Apricot Soup with Yogurt Foam

Austria - July 2, 2014

After a 2 hour shuttle into Austria, we stopped at Schlots Waldreichs for a picnic lunch and a falcon demonstration.  Backroads makes fantastic picnic lunches and this time was no exception.  My favorites were the couscous and the nutella with marscapone mixed in - yummy!

In the afternoon, we rode 57.7 km (35 miles).  The route went up over two big hills - the first one particularly difficult right after lunch.  But we were rewards with a tremendous down hill that went on forever.  Once we entered Krems and had to maneuver through the town on the bike trails, it started to rain.  And not just a light rain.  It poured!  We were soaked through, worse than the first day.  But we made it to the Hotel Richard Lowenherz where I had a lovely view of the gardens and the Danube from my room.

 Nice view along the route

Beautiful poppy fields

Dripping Wet!!

Cesky Krumlov - July 1, 2014

We awoke to fog which quickly cleared and we were off on our morning ride.  The initial portion was on a bike trail, beautifully paved and only on a slight upgrade.  Then we turned into a forest and hit a very steep uphill for about 0.4 km followed by a number of hills up which finally rewarded us with a spectacular downhill that seemed to go on forever.....fantastic!  We managed to dodge the rain bullets today and returned to our hotel around 1 pm having rode 41.5 km (25.3 miles).  We had lunch at Restaurant 99 near the hostel which we had tried to go do for dinner the previous night but didn't manage to find it correctly.  At 6 pm, we met Helena who gave us a talk and walking tour giving us some real insight into the Czech culture.  One of the highlights of the trip.  Dinner was at U Dobraka, a special place that Backroads has been taking groups to for something like 17 years.  Fantastic food cooked in a wood burning fireplace right in the middle of the restaurant.

 Chvalsiny

 Church in Chvalsiny

 Cesky Krumlov Palace by Day

 Cesky Krumlov Palace by Night

Tabor to Cesky Krumlov - June 30, 2014

After a quick breakfast, we hopped in the shuttle to ride to Hluboka where we started our biking for the day.  In the morning, we rode about 39.2 km to Holasovice where we stopped for a lovely lunch at a local restaurant.  The sun was shining and everyone was feeling good.  After lunch, we continued on to Cesky Krumlov, a fairy tale town with a towering castle, a moat surrounding the town and lots of little nooks and crannies to explore.  The rain continued - very on and off all afternoon but when it rains, it really pours.  Our total distance for the day was 63.9 km (40.5 miles).  Hotel Ruze was our destination for the next two nights.  Once showered and refreshed, we walked through town to go to a beer tasting.  Pilsner and two darker beers - my favorite was the darkest - much sweeter than expected.  We dined on pizza and beer and had an after dinner drink back at the hotel.

 A makeshift map of our route for the day

 The bikes are ready to go

 The snack table

 Julie, Jack, Karen and John

 Cindy, Jack, Julie

Prague to Tabor - June 29, 2014

Following a weekend in Prague, Julie and Jack Armstrong and I embarked on a Backroads bike trip from Prague to Vienna.  On this first day, we met up with 17 other participants at the Grand Bohemia Hotel in Prague and shuttled for just over 2 hours to Alenina Ihota where we were fitted to our bikes and started our biking adventure.  We rode 42.5 km (27 miles) with an elevation gain of 240 m.  The first half was lovely, rolling countryside.  Then the rain began.  And it wasn't just a light rain but a heavy downpour!  By the time we reached our hotel (Hotel Nautilus), we were drenched.  I wasn't sure if my shoes would ever dry out but using the magic of newspaper and a hair dryer, they managed to dry out enough for the next day.  We had dinner at the hotel and turned in early.

 Hotel Nautilus

 Town Square

Prague - June 27-28, 2014

Julie and Jack Armstrong and I met up in Prague for a 10 day trip visiting Prague, Vienna and Budapest with a Backroads bike trip between Prague and Vienna.  We had a day and a half to explore Prague.

 Astronomical Clock

 Street from Old Town Square to the Charles Bridge

 At the Charles Bridge with Royal Palace in the background

 Charles Bridge

 John Lennon Wall

Church of Our Lady before Tyn

Lunch with Julie and her cousin Tua who we randomly ran into!

 St. Wenceslas Square

 Prague Castle

 Prague Castle

 View of the Charles Bridge from the Castle

 Street performers - how did they do this?

Typical Czech meal

We stayed at the Grand Bohemia Hotel near Old Town Square which worked out really well.  On the second morning, we took a walking/river boat tour.  Our guide wasn't very good and we didn't learn much so I would skip this next time.  In the late afternoon, we went to the Communism Museum which was really interesting and worth a visit.

Barcelona - June 25, 2014

I was fortunate to visit the Sagrada Familia for the third time in 6 years.  It is incredible what progress has been made just since 2009.