Gavi Short Loop - May 3, 2014

Margie Kirk And Jackie Arnett Nearing The Top Of The Climb

This was the the last riding day of our BAC Piedmonte tour. We had a good buffet breakfast with killer croissants and the best, strongest coffee of the tour. Fortunately the caffeine did not overstimulate me and I chose to ride the shortest loop. I say fortunately because my legs needed a rest. The longer route would have almost doubled the amount of climbing.

I started out riding with Janet Monks and Julie and Tom Leever. The weather was sunny and warm enough to shed my jacket after the first, short downhill from our Agriturismo. When we started climbing we entered a deciduous forest that looked very much like western Washington without the evergreens. We rode along a creek and between steep hills. The steepness of some bumps on our road reached double digits.

Taking a rest at a major intersection to regroup, we were joined by several other riders. Tom had fallen back, so Julie, Janet, Margie and I took off again to complete the rest of the climb. The views at the top were wonderful. We stopped so that Juile could compose a photo op. 

The decent back down the hill was fun. I rode on at the bottom and went into Gavi. I was looking for the bicycle shop that had sold bicycle jerseys with local decals to others in our group. I found the shop but the jerseys were sold out. 

Back at the Agriturismo, I stripped my rental bike of my equipment and put back the rental equipment as I watched others struggle with dismantling their bikes and loading them into carrying cases.

After cleaning up, a few of us walked up the road to have lunch at a trattoria that Vickie ate in yesterday. She reported that it was wonderful. Unfortunately it was closed today. So we walked back and convinced Julie that she should load us into the van and take us into town - it was about 2 miles away. Four people were in the front seat while nine of us were crammed in the back. It was very hot and sticky. But it was worth it.

We found a restaurant and ate outside on the patio. I had ravioli with herbs and butter and grilled cheese. The cheese was a small round with rind - hard on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. I ate it with bread. Our table split beer and water and had espresso to top off the meal. Walking back to the van, we stopped for gelato.

I helped at Happy Hour tonight by slicing apples and melon. For dinner, Julie arranged a meal at our Agriturismo. This was going to be a meal on our own but because the trek to town was so long, we ate here. We all had prosciutto and melon, a green salad with yummy fresh tomatoes, pasta (mine was spaghetti with olive oil and garlic) and terimisu. Of course we also had pitchers of wine. 

It is getting late. We have an 8:00 bus to catch in the morning. So I am going to bed. Buona Notte.

Bubbio To Gavi - June 2, 2014

Today's Cycling Partners - Janet Monks, John Beland and Julie Leever

We had our earliest start, yet. At 8:20, Julie, Janet, John and I rode out of town. The weather was mild, but there was a threat of rain later in the day. That is why everyone was antsy and wanted to get to the finish as soon as possible. We were the last to leave.

The weather stayed nice. The route instructions and GPS downloads, however, were a bit confusing. We had to stop  several times to make sure we were going onto the correct roads. At one point we had to walk around a road closure where about 100 meters of the road were washed out because of a flood a while ago. Our GPS saved the day for us.

The ride was very hilly on terms of elevation gain, but most of the climbs were short and gradual. Nevertheless, my legs are pretty tired. We were in and out of vineyards all day. Some of the views from the ridges were beautiful although the air was not very clear.

We stopped once for coffee and snacks and a second time in Gavi for lunch. Our Agriturismo della Guardia is a couple of kilometers out of town and serves no lunch. So we had to fuel up in town. I had a good panino with salami and cheese along with fizzy water and a Magnum Bar. I had ridden ahead of the group because they were trying to contact one of the riders who they thought was lost. It turned out that she connected with another couple who led her in.

The last 2kms from town to the hotel were up hill. My GPS ran out of juice on the way. It had worked hard all day to keep me on route and took a rest when the end of the ride was near.

I am in a small room whose door and floor-to-ceiling windows open onto a terrace. No vineyards are in sight but I have a view of a forest, a small hilltop village and some mountains in the distance.

Happy Hour was on the terrace outside of all of our single rooms. It was convenient for me because I could sit in my lounge chair, drink wine and eat special HR goodies.

Dinner was at our Agriturismo. I had some little hand rolled pasta similar to spaetzle with a yummy pesto sauce. My main course was rabbit with a small salad with fresh cherry tomatoes. Dessert was fresh strawberries. We had pitchers of both white and red wine. White wine is the common wine in this area.

It is getting late by my standards so I am going to bed. Buona Notte.

Bubbio Loop - June 1, 2014

Everything dried out overnight. We woke to almost clear skies and mild temperatures. My roommate for two nights, Bo Newsome, likes to sleep in so our early morning bathroom routines were well coordinated.

Our breakfast buffet was OK. We had the standard coffee choices, boxed cereals, strange juices, yoghurt and canned fruit. In addition, we had peaches that were just picked from the tree.

I left the hotel around 8:40 wearing a light jacket and baring my legs. Tom had jumbled our routes today to minimize traffic. He did not, however, minimize the climbing. The roads that he chose were narrow country  roads rambling along vineyards, farms and forests. Our climb started out gradually, but it soon became a slug at 10% for several kilometers. Along the way, I joined Margie Kirk, Janet Monks and Laticia McIntyre. The weather became very warm and humid. We were passed by several Italian cyclists who were out for a Sunday ride.

After we reached the final summit, we had a wonderful downhill. Then we turned on a road that was not on the map that Tom supplied to us. He had to use magic markers to draw this part of our route. I can understand why the road was not marked. It had some stretches were the pavement was broken and the road surface was nearly gravel. There was one short segment where the pavement was gone and the grade jumped up to 17%. We got off of our bicycles and walked.

We stopped for snacks in Momtechiaro Piana. On our way to the hotel, we were joined by Bo.

After cleaning up, I walked a ways up the street and found a restaurant where I had water, beer and strawberry risotto. It had a little pepper in the sauce which spiced it up. It was very good.

Our Happy Hour was at the Torelli winery where we had a tour with Giancarlo and his young son. Wine tasting was the highlight from this very old and very respected winery. Giancarlo was very outgoing and very knowledgable about his family history with the winery and with the history of the wine in the region. We were bused to the winery and afterwards to dinner in the school bus.

Dinner was at the same B&B as last night. This time I had gnocchi, veal, salad and dessert. I wish that the Italians could do a better job cooking meat. Sauces are great, but the meat is always overcooked. As we left after dessert, our waitress chased us down while we were in the bus with a tray of coffee. This was fun especially after all of the house wine and Muscato.

It is getting late. Buona Notte.

Barolo To Bubbio - May 31, 2014

A rainy day. I rode with Julie, Vickie and John most of the day. We had no problems following the route although it was so cloudy and foggy that we could not see much of the countryside. We had one stop for coffee and pastry. Because of the rain, we took the shortest route possible. It was hilly but not steep.

We reached Piazza del Castello & Hotel around 1:00. I showered and tried to wash the road grime from my cycling clothes. I might have to buy a new GPC club jersey when I get home.

For lunch, I stopped at a nearby bar and had a panino and beer with several of the group. One of the beers was a craft brew from Bra called In Bra Nata, a white Belgian style ale from Italian brewery Birra del Borgo. Not bad. While we were there, the weather began to clear up.

We had an excellent dinner tonight. The school bus picked us up at the hotel and drove us a couple of kms to a B&B that also serves dinner. The dining room was very large and sat several other groups along with our 24 people. We started with a small appetizer with strawberries and a green molded vegetables. Then we had flat noodles with a meat and tomato sauce. My main course was asparagus with fried eggs on top. It was really good. Dessert was a non-flour chocolate cake with strawberries. Of course we had lots of wine and a shot of grappa at the end.

It is now late and I am going to bed. Buona Notte.

Barolo Loop - May 30, 2014

We had a very basic breakfast buffet this morning. The highlight for me was the just-picked apricots. It reminded me of the Leavenworth area with its fruit trees ready to pick.

Our route today was short, very hilly, very warm and especially beautiful. We were riding past hundreds of vineyards. The photo above shows a little part of it. This is one of the reasons that I like to ride in Italy. Another reason is the food. 

Although I rode solo most of the day, I met up with some of our group from time-to-time. I was glad to see Jim and Shelee Brenneman after I made a wrong turn and had to backtrack. They were on the route just ahead of me when I was wondering if I was going the right direction. My wrong turn was not so bad because I was able to find a bar with caffee machiatto and chocolate pastry. I was bonking and needed an energy lift.

For lunch, several of us stopped at a cafe in Montforte d'Alba. I had some raviolinni stuffed with herbs and lightly dressed with a buttery sauce.

After lunch, five of us pace lined the 6km back to the hotel. Fun...

I got cleaned up, washed my cycling clothes, caught up on internet things and went on a search for gelato. Wandering through town, I discovered that Barolo is picturesque. There are a lot of cafés, shops, a large castle and an ATM. I found gelato too and sat with Jackie, Shelee and Jim at an outdoor table to eat it. I also discovered that Barolo was the end of this year's Giro d'Italia time trial. There is a lot of pink on banners, statues etc. in honor of the Maglia Rosa.

Our Happy Hour treat was wine tasting at our hotel's winery. Apparently it's Barolo wine is very well known for its quality. We toured the winery with the wine master who was very food in explaining where the vineyards are, how the vines are maintained (no chemicals and no irrigation).

I had dinner with Margie, Jackie, Deb and Sandy at La Cantinetta. Gnocchi with a tomato sauce along with chicken with cooked vegetables. I know that I should describe it better but I can't remember the Italian words. I didn't have any wine either.

It is time to get ready for bed. We leave for a new town tomorrow.

Buona Notte.

Fossano To Barolo - May 29, 2014

We left our luxury hotel in Fossano shortly before 9:00 after another good buffet breakfast. This time I began the route with Vickie and John Beland. John also has a GPS. His is set differently than mine so that it recalculates a route when we stray from the supplied route. I like to ride with them because I have more confidence in John's routing skills.

The sky was clear and the temperature was in the 60s. Wind was not a factor. The first 20km was reasonably flat. We took a break after around 12 miles in a small town for coffee. We needed a boost because a lot of climbing was ahead. And climbing we did for the next 12 miles. Vickie has some problems with her chain and John stopped to help her. I didn't see that again until the top of the climb in Murazzano. I caught Margie Kirk and Sandy Emerson on the way up although catching Margie is a misnomer. She stayed ahead of me, pulling farther away on the steep parts of the hills.

We were surprised with Murazzano. It had a nice piazza at the top of the town with a couple of cafés. It was close to lunch time and we were hungry. I picked Cafe Gianduia because of its color scheme and because of the item on its chalk board. My choice was a plate of sausage and cheese with jam. The ingredients were all local. You can see the yummy presentation in the above photo. The jam went on the cheese.

I rode out of town with Margie and Sandy. After a little confusion, we got back on route. I lost them on a downhill when I dropped my chain. After I put it back on, they were nowhere in sight. So I rode solo the rest of the way. Being solo and not being able to consult with John about the correct route, my GPS decided to take me on a secret alternate route. Julie saw me and flagged me down, but we decided that I should continue on my route because it merged with the real route in a few short kilometers. I get bonus points, though, because I had some killer grades of 12-15%. 

I found Hotel Barolo and checked into my humble single room. I was a little disturbed when the hot water in my sink and shower was a rusty brown. It soon cleared up and all is well. The desk clerk explained that my room had been vacant for a while, so water had settled in the old pipes and turned color from them.

It was warm today so I was a little dehydrated. A beer on the terrace tasted good. We are now officially in wine country. The agriculture has changed from fields of corn and durum wheat and orchards of plums, apples and pitted fruit to vineyards. They surround us. I am told that this is a famous wine area. I will test that theory at Happy Hour and dinner.

We tried several red wines at Happy Hour. I could tell the difference between the older wine and the newer ones. I am sticking with old. We sat on the hotel's terrace overlooking the 360 degree view of the area's vineyards.

We had another group dinner at our hotel. The hotel and restaurant are together. I had a flan of cheese with pesto sauce, thin slices of pork with cooked carrots and a desert ice cream flavored with rum and bananas with a crust around it. It was all very good. 

It is getting late again. Buona Notte.

Fossano Loop - May 28, 2014

The breakfast buffet is very good at Palazzo Righini. Fresh fruit, good breads and eggs to order. The excellent coffee comes in small cups. If you like coffee as much as I do, you have to keep ordering. The wait staff is very efficient, though.

I was considering staying off of my bicycle today because of lingering saddle sores. (Note to self: when you rent a bike, bring your own saddle). Other riders were looking at a shorter route than the planned one. I decided to join them. Our usual Bay Area group was joined by Vickie and John. We managed to follow the planned route out of town and through the countryside until we broke from V & J at the 16km mark. You can see from the photo above that the skies were clear and the terrain was flat.

After our turn, our first order of business was to find a bar that served hot chocolate and pastries. We were on a tertiary road with small villages, so our task was difficult. We saw the greater part of Montanera until we were directed by one of the locals to a gas station next to the busy highway that paralleled our route. Good hot chocolate, cappuccino and pastries.

Back on the road again, we followed the signs to Trinita and then Bene Vagienna to get back onto the original route. We stopped several to make sure we were going the right direction and we had to backtrack very few times.

We made it back to the hotel a little past 1:00. Julie, Tom and Ron were sitting at one of the tables on the patio having just ordered lunch. I joined them. Soon Jackie, Margie, Bo, Tim, Wes and Cornie arrived. We moved tables together and had a good meal. I had spaghetti pomodora. It was really good with fresh cherry tomatoes.

Later, Tim and I strolled down the street to see what was in the sports store thinking that I might buy a cycling jersey. The store was closed for lunch. Looking in the window, we saw no cycling clothes. It was a runners' store.

We walked a few short blocks and had some gelato. Then we walked back to the hotel.

The weather continues to be nice and sunny. The temperature is in the high 60s and lower 70s.

After Happy Hour, Vickie, John, Sandy, Tim and I had dinner at Da Pier Antica Osteria. Our multi-course meal was wonderful. We elected to have the chef's choice menu where we didn't have to make any choices. We let our waiter select the good Barbarossa wine, too. I wish that I could describe each course, but after all of the wine I can't. This will be a repeat visit if I am ever here again.

It is gettng late and I am ready to go to bed. Buona Notte.

Saluzzo To Fossno - May 27, 2014

Bob and the Bay Area Belles left the hotel this morning soon after the morning drizzle abated. We rode along heavy traffic for several kilometers until our turnoff for the longer route shortly after Busca. The skies had cleared and we had wonderful views of the snow-capped mountains. Once we were off of the main road, traffic lightened up and we could relax riding along the fields of corn, some kind of grain and the usual fruit trees. We made a stop at a bar where I had some very thick yummy hot chocolate and a croissant.  

Pretty soon the grade kicked up as we climbed up to Dronero - 4.3 km at 10-14%.

At the top of the climb we filled our water bottles from the community tap and headed back downhill on a different road. The gradient and the wind were with us as we breezed at a pretty fast pace back to Busca. The weather had cleared and we had sparkling blue skies. We stopped in Busca at a cafe for lunch. The cafe was run by young Asians who were very accommodating. I had spaghetti in a light cream source with ham.

After that we charged up the road to Hotel Pallazzo Righini in Fossano. This is a very nice hotel.

Our Happy Hour was down the street at a local cafe. Over wine and beer, we talked about how BAC works.

Dinner was at the hotel in its formal dining room. We started out with amuse bouche (a small portion of beans with pancetta); paccheri, vegetables and Burrata cheese; roasted octopus, beans cream and asparagus; bicerin - fiordilatte ice cream, chocolate and whole-wheat biscuit. I had a glass of Nebbiolo. I saved the menu so I could remember all of that.

It is now getting late and I am ready to get some sleep.

Buona Notte.

 

Saluzzo Crissolo Loop - May 26, 2014

The Town Of Saluzzo (Not my photo).

I did not take any photos today. I was concentrating on riding. I substituted a photo that I found on the internet. It shows the town an the mountain behind it. We rode toward that mountain. 

Hotel Antico Podere Propano was a healthy buffet breakfast. The granola that I ate tasted home-made. There is fresh fruit and different kinds of bread. I don't remember anything filled with chocolate, but I will look again tomorrow. 

Bob and his Bay Area Babes left at 8:30 this morning. We were joined by Tim Presar, a BACer from Ohio that Margie and I know from precious rides. The first 15km was through the same flat farmland that we rode through yesterday. The next 25km was uphill along the origin of the Po River. We could see and hear the stream as we climbed a very steep (at times) 4000 feet of elevation gain. The road was narrow with a few spots of crumbling pavement which should be expected on a mountain road which has a lot of snow during the winter. There was not much traffic. We were among a forest of trees. There were blossoms of little red flowers at the side of the road and plants that Deb identified as wild strawberries. Lots of little brown slugs and some snails were trying to get to the other side of the road.

My bicycle got me to the top at the town of Crissolo, but I could have used about four more cogs in the cassette. I saw Ron Guidotti and Tim Presar and we had panini at a bar. There didn't appear to be anything else open. The town is near a small ski area so I think that visitors must be seasonal. This was not the right season.

On the screaming decent, I gradually rounded up the Bay Area Babes and we made it back the the city center of Saluzzo. I think that we might have found our own route because it didn't match the instructions on the route sheet. The important thing, though, was that we found a gelateria that was open. I had licorice, creme and zabaglione. The women went shopping after that while Ron and I headed back to our hotel.

After Happy Hour, it was raining and too wet to walk to town for dinner. Julie proposed that we order pizza. Jean, the hotel owner, was going to the grocery store so she got us plastic plates and salad mixings with wonderful tasting tomatoes. Julie pick up the pizza and we had a pizza party. Afterwards, Jean told us about the area the the history of the hotel. She also told us that the guard gander is a female who is best friends with the other goose who is nesting. No eggs are expected.

It is getting late so I am going to bed.

Buona Notte.

Torino To Saluzzo - First Ride - May 25, 2014

Sandy, Deb, Jackie And Margie On The Route

We left Torino in a large passenger bus at 9:00 and arrived at Antico Podere Propano in Saluzzo at 10:00. We unloaded the bus and stored our luggage. The riders who brought their bicycles lugged them to the internal courtyard and started to put them together. Five of us who rented bicycles were met by the mechanic from Bicycle Rentals Plus who had our bicycles assembled and waiting. He made minor adjustments for us like saddle height and handlebar height. I have a nice light weight titanium bicycle with plenty of gears. Janet Monks, the sixth renter, had to wait in Torino to pick up her luggage which was delayed by the airline for two days. It is ironic that all of the renters are members of GPC.

Because we had worn our cycling clothes on the bus ride and because our bicycles were ready, the five of us started out on the Saluzzo test ride. Riding with me were Jackie Arnett, Margie Kirk, Sandy Emerson and Deb Richerson. We rode past the rest of the group who were still in various stages of assembling their bikes.

The ride was very flat and was only 30 miles long. The sky was overcast but the temperature was in the 70s. It was a little humid and the wind was light. Tom Leever's queue sheets were almost perfect. We made no wrong turns. This is farm country so many of the roads were a bit rough being chewed up by heavy farm equipment. We were in low traffic areas and traffic consisted of cars and tractors. There were lots of corns fields and other fields that looked like some kind of grain. There were also a bunch of orchards of cherries, apples, plums and probably other fruit that we did not recognize. Because it is Italy, there were plenty of vineyards. Some of the roads that we were on were very narrow but we felt safe because the traffic was light or non-existent.

We stopped for lunch in a small town called Carde. The sign on the building where we stopped said it was a trattoria but it was really just an Italian bar. (Bars in Italy are like coffee/beer stops were you can get some food. I had a ham and cheese panino. The others had some really bad white-bread pizza.

We got back to our hotel at 3:00, made some bicycle adjustments and checked into our rooms. I have a single room on the third floor which really is a regular room with a king size bed. I took a shower and washed out my cycling clothes. They are hanging at my floor-to-ceiling French doors which open onto the large enclosed courtyard of the hotel. From time-to-time I can hear the guard gander protecting his goose from returning bicycle riders. He is sometimes joined by a large dog that looks like a golden retriever mix but much larger and much hairier.

Our Happy Hour was at 6:00. Dinner followed at Terragenella, a small osteria a mile hike into town. We has risotto with strawberries, pork, panna cotta and wine. Trudging back to the hotel helped the digestive process. It's now after 10:00 and I am going to bed. 

Buona Notte.

Torino - May 24, 2014

The Bull - The Symbol Of Turino
This was a day for sightseeing. We left the hotel as a group and walked up Via Lagrange to Teatro Regio where we met our guide for a morning walk. I can't begin to name all of the places we visited and viewed, but there were several - palaces, museums, cafés, city squares, statues, gelateria, chocolate stores, and many more. The 2 1/2 tour was in a relatively small area in the north central area of the city.
Among the items our guide talked about was the cafe culture and its link to coffee and chocolate. After our tour ended at Piazza San Giovanni, Vickie, John, Margie, Jackie, Deb and I walked over to Al Bicerin and had glasses of bicerin. This is a traditional hot drink of Torino made with layers of espresso, drinking chocolate and steamed whole milk. It is amazingly good.
We started to walk back to the main piazzas looking for a place for lunch. At Piazzo Di Citta, we found some cafés. The most popular one had a long wait. Margie, Jackie and Deb decided to go their own way for a quick bite and then a museum tour. Vickie, John and I went to a less crowded cafe and ate lunch in its outdoor area. It was sunny and warm so the weather was perfect. I had some mini stuffed pasta with a sauce of butter and grated cheese. Vickie had fish while John had a pizza. Beer was on our table too. We compared it to eating al fresco in Berkeley or Oakland but Torino with its magnificent buildings and people friendly squares won hands down.
From lunch, we walked through a flower market that flowed for several blocks. I left the Belands at a Vodafone store and went back to my room.
We had a Happy Hour at our hotel at 6:00. Then we strolled to ou first group dinner at a nearby osteria. My meal started with flat pasta ragu. Then I had fish with a salad. For dessert I had a small chocolate cake.
I am semi packed for our departure tomorrow at 9:00. It is getting late so I m going to bed.
Buona Notte.

Torino - May 23, 2014

The were ups and downs today, but mostly ups. A downer was that Ann left for home this morning. She is carrying our family congratulations to Ashland for Chloe's high school graduation and Marissa's wedding. Another downer was the down time that I spent getting all of my clothes washes. Here's what happened.

After our 7:00 wonderful buffet breakfast with East Bay friends, Ann met her car service and left for the airport. I went back to the breakfast room and had anther cup of coffee with my BAC friends. After that I arranged to switch my room from a double to a single. While I was waiting for that to happen, I scouted out laundromats. I found one a few short blocks from the hotel. I went back, checked into my new room, packed up all of my dirty clothes (this was everything in my suitcase), put on my shorts and a cycling undershirt, and went back to the laundromat to turn over my clothes to the nice lady who did the washing and drying. For two pants, three shirts, three undershorts, three pair of socks and my PJs the cost was only €10. I was told to pick up everything after 2:00.

I now had some time to kill. I went back to the hotel and caught up on internet chores. Then I went searching for a place to eat lunch. I settled on a small trattoria called Boheme. There were some locals there so I knew that it would not be bad. I had a small plate of penne pasta with a tomato sauce and a main course of a meatball with very tasty roasted potatoes and a salad. Espresso and frizzy water rounded it out. This cost me €10, a real bargain. My waitress practiced her English with me. She said that she is going to London to university in a few weeks and needed to sharpen her language skills.

Because I didn't have dessert, I walked over to Alberto Marchetti for gelato. It took me a while to figure out the procedure to order, but once I did it made sense. You pay first and then tell them what flavors that you want. This is the same as going into a cafe for coffee.

I killed a little more time by walking around the area. I found an outdoor market that was in the midst of closing down for the day. It was a complete market with clothing and household supplies on one side and fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and cheese on the other side. I also saw several bars and cafés plus a few adult entertainment shops. This is typical of areas around train stations.

I picked up my laundry, navigated around a hooker or two and found my way back to the hotel. I ironed my clean clothes. It felt really good to have fresh clothes.

I didn't want to stay in my room all day, so I changed into my fresh clothes and walked across the street and up to the old area of the city. This is mostly a shopping area with a lot of upscale stores. There is also the main square of Torino. That is where the above photo was taken. I saw Margie, Jackie and Deb who had been sight seeing and were now looking for a bargain on a SIM card for Deb's phone.

We had our first Happy Hour at the Plowman's Pub, the same place that Ann and I had lunch yesterday. As we sampled local beer, wine and water Julie and Tom haves us some basics about out next two days. We selected entree choices for future dinners. The we were off for tonight's dinner. I joined Julie, Tom, Bo, Bob and Leticia at a pizzeria/restaurant. I had some great linguini with lobster and fresh strawberries for dessert.

Milan To Torino - May 22, 2014

We were on another fast train today between Milan and Torino. It took one hour. Our hotel, the Best Western Genio was across the street from the train station making it very easy to find and to tow our luggage. We checked in and walked down the street to an ATM and to lunch in an Italian pub. I had tagliatelle with a Bolognese sauce while Ann had a Niçoise salad. An Irish ale for me and white wine for Ann.

We walked back to the train station to see what transportation would be available to get Ann to the airport tomorrow morning. The is an airport bus that runs every 15 minutes. Rather than having a possible hassle with morning buses, we decided to have her take a taxi instead. Besides, we couldn't find the bus stop and it is going to be raining.

Back at the hotel, we found our ride leaders and some of our riders.

We went to an early dinner at a forgettable restaurant. Ann's crepe was OK. My veal scallopini was tough and tasteless. The wine made up for it.

Milan - May 21, 2014

This is a photo of Milan's duomo. It was taken by me two years ago. The weather today was similar. So was the crowd. I am getting ahead of myself.

Ann and I had the buffet breakfast in the tiny room in the basement of our hotel. No eggs, but plenty of corn flakes, bread and coffee. After our meal we set off on our tour. We decided to get one-day metro passes and follow a tour that I downloaded onto my iPhone. Metro took us under the city from the central train station to a station at the duomo. We went inside and saw the beautiful stained glass windows, some crypts, several crusifixes, huge pillars and all of the other things that are normal in a Catholic cathedral. To take photos, a permit is required. I chuckled at the poor church girl who had to keep telling Japanese tourists to stop taking photos. The language barrier was frustrating for her.

The next site that we saw was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the first shopping mall in the world. Then we walked to La Scala. Our first museum was Poldi Pezzoli where we looked at Northern Italian and Netherlands/Flemish paintings as well as collections of decorative art including textile, porcelain, glasses, jewelry and metal works. These items were collected by the Pezzoli family who Ann claimed had too much money.

We then strolled along a couple of narrow streets which were lined by fashion shops. We could have been outfitted in clothes and shoes which would have cost a lot more than what we paid for our trip. Speaking of fashion, I have seen lots of Italian businessmen dressed in dark brown patterned suit jackets with jeans that look like they were worn while weeding the garden. Is this fashion?

We found the huge public garden (park) where we stopped for panini and to watch the dogs playing in the dog park.

Walking on, we found our way to the Pinacoteca di Brera. This is another famous art museum. I was getting a little tired of going to art museums especially ones with 40 rooms. So I was relieved when the ticket office was closed for a couple of hours because of a labor meeting. Instead, we walked into the first floor of the building which is the university of art. Ann spotted a sign for the library so we walked up the stairs and saw several beautiful dark paneled rooms with hundreds of old books on the shelves. One room was partially dedicated to an old-fashioned card catalog. I liked this better than the museum.

Our next stroll was down a street with several enticing restaurants. We ended our walk at Castello Sforzesxo. With tired legs and bruised feet (lots of cobble stones) we got on Metro and rode back to the hotel.

We interrupted our afternoon downtime by getting some gelato at a highly rates gelateria next to the train station. My licorice and creme was really good. Ann said that her hazelnut and coconut was also good. We learned that this gelateria makes its own gelato. The ice cream has strong rich flavors.

Dinner tonight was at Trattoria Corso which is located in the old part of town near the castle. We took Metro. Our dinner started with burrata which is a cheese much like mozzarella - hard on the outside and soft in the inside. It had a warm tomato sauce. Ann had beef with rosemary and a balsamic vinegar reduction. I had pork loin with a strawberry sauce which included fresh strawberries. Our portions were huge but the meat was a little over cooked. When we paid our bill, we had complimentary shots of limoncello, grappa or a berry cordial from Sardinia.

After a short walk to settle our meal, we took Metro back to the hotel. 

Ravenna To Milan - May 20, 2014

We were up early this morning to make sure we were ready for our 10:00 train. We caught the local train to Bologna which took an hour making several stops. At the Bologna station, I had a sandwich at a nearby cafe. After that we followed signs to our platform. They led us to a new section of the station which is several levels underground. This section looks more like an airport with nice benches to sit on and no-smoking signs all over. Hopefully, the old seedy station will be torn down and travelers can have more comfort and services.

Our train to Milan was a fast one. We sat in the Business Quiet section in comfortable adjustable leather seats with plugs to charge our appliances so we could use the train's free wifi. When I looked out our window it seemed that we were going pretty fast. I turned on my GPS and it told me that our speed was just under 200 mph.

We arrived in Milan before 2:00. We checked into Hotel Florida and immediately went down the street to a small trattoria so Ann could have some lunch that she missed in Bologna. Risotto and salad for her. I decided to snack on pasta with a smoked salmon sauce.

We went back to the hotel to plan our next day's touring route. We didn't get far so we decided to go back to the train station and look for the tourist information office. It was hidden. After trekking through all of the floors of the station, and it is a very large station, we found the office. It was closed for the day. Then we walked around the outside of the station to find the stop for the Hop On Hop Off bus. No luck with that either. So we went back to the hotel where I got onto the internet and found that we could get day passes for the metro system for lots less money. We will be going underground early tomorrow.

Dinner tonight was at pizza restaurant that I found with Trip Advisor. Ann had Napolitan - mozzarella, anchovies and tomatoes. I had frutti de mare - calamari, octopus, shrimp, mussels, clams, etc. We chased them down with beer. We were lucky to get a table at 7:30. The restaurant filled up quickly soon after we were seated. Tables were packed closely together. The men sitting next to us had a loud conversation which we couldn't understand.

So now it is time for bed.

Sorry for the lack of photos. Because I have been to both Ravenna and Milan and took many photos then, I decided to relax and observe this time. Once we get to Torino and I start cycling, I will take lots of photos and post them on this blog.

As an aside, we turned on the TV yesterday and saw that there were floods in the Balkans. We fortunately missed them but we feel sorry for the locals that were affected.

Ravenna Mosaics - May 19, 2014

This was a repeat of my visit to Ravenna two years ago. After I left, I promised to being Ann here to see the fantastic mosaics. I will go into detail about what we saw when I create our travel journal on our website after I return home. These are the destinations that we visited: Arian Baptistery, Basillica of San Vitale, Galla Placidia, Neonian Baptistery, Archiepiscopal Museum, and Sant' Apollinaire Nuovo. All of the mosaics were breathtaking.

It was very pleasant strolling through the city. The skies were slightly overcast and the temperature hovered between the high 60s and low 70s. This was in stark contrast from my last visit where it was in the high 90s. The crowds were small consisting of a few tourists groups and school groups. School kids in Italy are still shown cultural and religious sites.

Our lunch was in the self-service cafeteria in the  Coperto. Pasta was our choice. Ann had gnocchi whle I had spaghetti.

We finished our mosaic tour by mid-afternoon and then hung out at our hotel until dinner time. I seem to stumble on my favorite meals of our trip in Italy at small towns. Tonight was no exception. We ate at Piattoforte which was just up the street from our hotel. Along with our bottle of vino bianco, Ann had lamb chops and timboli with eggplant while I had two kinds of grilled fish with Sicialian grilled vegetables. Our dessert was millefleurs with custard, strawberries and raspberries in a raspberry sauce. Yum.

Bucharest To Ravenna - May 18, 2014

We had car service form the Radisson Blu in Bucharest to the airport. Wizz Air got us to Bologna. A bus got us to the train station. TrenItalia got us to Ravenna. We are staying at the NH Ravenna Hotel. Dinner tonight was at Al 45. Ann had pasta with broccoli while I had granfrito misto with shrimp, calamari, zucchini, etc. No photos today because of traveling.

Bucharest - May 17, 2014

We are on our own today. No more waiting to get on and off of the ship and bus. No more deadlines. So what did we do? We took a walking tour of the old part of Bucharest with Guided Bucharest which met at a designated time and was composed of a small sized group of tourists. This company which is run by young, enthusiastic and knowledgable locals does a wonderful job showing us the high points of their city. The tour is free although donations are expected at the end. Everyone in our group was much younger, but we kept up for the 2 1/2 hour walk. The photo above shows our guide smiling and telling us about the second-most ridiculed statue in Bucharest. (It show a Roman emperor with the Roman wolf with a snake in its head). Although the tour focused on history and historical buildings, we were treated to some humorous, irreverent remarks about statues, politics and events.

When the tour was over, we retraced our steps for lunch at Caru cu Bere. This has become a real diners' draw. It is in an opulent old building with columns, arches, murals, etc. it has traditional Romanian food and live entertainment. Because we did not have a reservation, we were seated in the wine cellar. It was quiet. Ann had a small mixed salad with her chicken schnitzel. I had a large salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and lettuce with a creamy cheese dressing. My main course was grilled carp with a very strong garlic sauce. I had plenty of room on the elevator back at the hotel. We both sampled the house brewed beer. It was pretty light.

Dinner tonight was at La Mama, another traditional Romanian restaurant. We went there because it was close and moderately recommended. Ann had a salmon salad while I had a mixed grill of meat and vegetables. For desert, we split an order of dumplings covered by berries and cream cheese. Ann said that it was the best thing she had eaten so far in the Balkans.

Bedtime was early. We are off to Ravenna tomorrow.

Bucharest - May 16, 2014

We were up early. After breakfast are bags were put outside of our rooms by 7:30. We vacated our room at 8:00. We were on our buses and driving to Bucharest by 8:30. 

Our first stop was at an outdoor museum where we saw houses and other buildings that were moved from villages in different areas of Romania. After that, we went to a lakeside restaurant that catered to large crowds of tourists. We had a forgettable meal accompanied by folk music and folk dancing.

After lunch we toured the Parliament building which was built by Nicolae Ceausescu. This monster building is the second largest in the word behind the Pentagon. It was built by Romanians using Romanian material. It's cost was enormous and could not be calculated. Ceausescu forced people out of their homes and tore them down in order to build it. He was executed in 1989.

Our next stop was at a beautiful Orthodox church. Then we were dropped off at the Radisson Blu hotel. 

Ann and I were now solo tourists. We had a good Romanian dinner at Vatra. I had grilled sausage with cooked seasoned cabbage along with polenta. Ann had cabbage rolls and polenta.

Our room at the Radisson is nice with very fast free wifi.

Rousse, Veliko Tarnovo And Arbanassi - May 15, 2014

We had a long bus ride today. Apparently Rousse has a lack of interesting sights, so we drove for 1 1/2 hours to Veliko Tărnovo for our first stop. We had good cookies and coffee at a tourist hotel after we used the facilities. Viking looks out for us advancing age folks by providing strategic rest stops.

We got into the bus again and drove up into the hills on a narrow road to the village of Arbanassi. It is known for its rich history and large numbers historical monuments. We went to two of them. The first was the Nativity Church. It is a low-level plain looking building. Inside, though, are exquisite paintings, fantastic frescos and intricately carved woodwork dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. It was jaw-dropping.

The second sight was the oldest, largest and best restores private home in the village. We were able to see how people designed and furnished a house if they were rich enough.

After these tours, we were treated to lunch at the local hotel/restaurant. The photo above is from our salad course. Soup, stew and desert followed accompanied by lots of wine.

The bus took us back to Veliko Tărnovo where we took a look at its strategic fortress. Nobody on our bus wanted to climb up to it, so we went to the historic part of town for shopping. Ann and I walked up and down the shopping street and saw lots of crafts that would be nice to buy. Our suitcases are full, though. 

After napping on the bus ride back to the ship, we scurried to get ready for the Captain's Farewell Toast. I packed my blazer and carried it around just for this occasion. I will send it home with Ann before I take off on my cycling trip next week. The toast was as expected - lots of thank yous and a glass of champagne. Dinner was special, but not that special because I can't remember what we had. 

That evening we sailed across the river to Giurgiu. Were were now in Romania.

Bucharest - May 16, 2014

We had two full days of touring. We have left the ship and are now in Bucharest at the Radison Bleu Hotel. This blog is on hold until I have more time.

Vidin, Bulgaria - May 14, 2014

Rain, rain, rain. The excursion today was by bus to Belogradshick whose name translates to "small white town". Our goal was to wander around the Belogradshick Fortress and view the spectacular rock formations that are one of the most scenic areas of Bulgaria. Most of the rocks are named after animals and people that they resemble. You have to use your imagination. As you can see from the above photo, it was rainy and foggy. We could not get good looks at the rocks. We got some exercise, though, by climbing steps and stairs through the gap that you can see in the photo.

The bus took us back to the ship after a short tour of Vidin. Vidin is as depressing as many of the other towns and villages we have seen. The communists razed most of the old beautiful buildings and built its institutional cement-block high rises. These ugly newer buildings have not been maintained and are falling apart. From time-to-time you can see one of the older buildings and imagine what life was like before the communists were here.

Religion is Orthodox influenced by the Russians, not the Greeks. There are many churches that have not been destroyed as you can see by the photo on the right. There are a few mosques but no synagogues. Our guide claims that when Isreal became a state, all of the Jews moved there and anyone with Jewish blood that remained in Bulgaria is a result of intermarriage.

We had lunch again in the dining room. I had my first and only po' boy shrimp sandwich in the Balkans. 

Dinner was good. Our dinner companions were nice and sociable. The wine flowed freely. That is why I have not added more to this blog.

Good night.

The Iron Gate - May 13, 2014

Today was a casual day. We sailed the entire day with no stops except for the two locks that we went through. The main attraction for the day was the Iron Gate. The photo above shows one of the guardians of the river.

We had a good lunch with BBQ chicken and a good dinner with lamb shanks a and red snapper. Other than that, we enjoyed lounging around.

The weather was cold, windy and overcast in the morning. It cleared and warmed up during the day. Later, we had clouds and some rain.

Belgrade - May 12, 1014

We arrived in Belgrade in the middle of the night. We awoke around 6:00 to cloudy skies a light showers. After breakfast we began our city tour. It started at the Kalemegdan Fortress. The fortress sits on ahill strategically overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. It has guarded the city for centuries and has been fought over at least 115 times and razed to the ground 44 times. It is the last blockaid and gateway to armies aiming to conquer Europe from the east and south.

Behind the fortress is the city of Belgrade. After exploring the fortress under drizzling skies, we boarded our bus and went on a city tour exploring some of the neighborhoods. We stopped at Sveti Sava, the second largest Orthodox Church in the world which is still under construction. Back on the bus, we stopped again at the city center near the Opera House. Strolling the pedestrian mall, we changed some money, bought some popcorn and absorbed the atmosphere until it was time to get on the bus and go back to the ship. 

After lunch we went on an optional excursion to Kovacica where we visited a violin maker and an art gallery displaying ethnic Slovac paintings. Bright and colorful, these paintings were made by amateurs and started a new movement featuring scenes of daily life.

Back at the ship, we had a lecture about the very confusing political life of this area which has been conquered and taken over by countless wntities. One of our guides said that in the past 30 years she has lived in four countries and has never moved from her house.

Dinner tonight featured different ethnic food. It was buffet style set up in different sections of the ship. We chose to get our food from the galley because we wanted to see where the food was prepared. Our table mates included a civil engineer who worked on bridges and a businessman from Tennessee who was involved with growing sprouts and designing equipment for them.

Vukovar and Osijek - May 11, 2014

I was a bit disappointed in our shore excursion today. First, Ann had a cold and did not want to spread it in close quarters on the bus. So she stayed on the ship. It was a peaceful way to celebrate Mother's Day, though. Second, the sites that we visited were not what I expected.

We departed on our buses at 8:30. We did a quick tour of our port city of Vukovar. This port city was heavily damaged during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s. A lot of the buildings have been rebuilt but some of them still lie in ruins. There was not much to see here except rubble.

We drove on to Osijek which is eastern Croatia's largest city. It has been populated by Romans, Ottomans and Hapsburgs over the years. It was also heavily damaged during the War of Independence. A lot of the city has not been rebuilt. According to our guide, the unemployment rate is around 37%. The economy is very bad. There are a lot of empty store fronts and a majority of buildings are pockmarked with bullet holes. 

We were taken to the old run-down fort and walked to its monastery. Inside its church, we were treated to a concert where a young woman played the piano and sang Christian pop songs to us. Although the acoustics were very good and the singer had a nice voice, we older folks should have been presented with something less contemporary.

After the concert, we toured the town's main square and walked back to the bus.

We drove out of town to the house of one of the local residents. Houses in this area are narrow in front and very deep along the side. This house was deep enough to entertain two bus loads of tourists. The side yard was filled with all sorts of clutter - fishing gear, farm tools and souvenirs for sale. We were offered a shot of slivovitz as we walked in. Our host herded us inside where he gave us a light-hearted talk and a video presentation about how the Croats chased away the Ottomans. We were then offered snacks of salami, spreads on bread and a specialty bread. Wine, blackberry juice and flavored schnapps were also available.

We rode back to the ship contentedly.

Ann met me as I arrived. After cleaning up, we went to lunch. Good salads and pasta were on the buffet menu. My favorite salad was shrimp with avocado. Of course we had wine and then a rhubarb brûlée for dessert. We dined with the couple from Missouri (he was the one who knows where WMDs are stored) and a man from England who used to sell industrial safety clothing and has been in every state in the US. Both of these men are 85 and very alert and active. 

We had a lazy afternoon mostly sitting on our veranda and reading. Wine was good before dinner. Wine was also good during dinner. We sat by ourselves at an isolated table. Ann's cold was better but she did not want to spread it to someone else. Asparagus was the featured vegetable. Ann had asparagus soup and pork loin with asparagus. I had an asparagus and rhubarb salad along with my pork loin.  For desert, Ann had a cheese plate while I settled on rhubarb cake. I sure am glad that portions are small.

After dinner, the captain have us a presentation of all of the facts about our ship.

The internet is slow. I hope this gets posted. 

On Board The Viking Rinda - May 10, 2013

I am sitting on the veranda of our stateroom listening to the birds and watching the flotsam floating by as we are docked in Kalocsa, Hungary. We just had a good buffet breakfast in the dining room and are waiting for our area tour to start.

To summarize yesterday in Budapest, we spent the morning killing time until we could board our ship. Coffee and cake were the order of business at Cafe Anna. We caught the bus from our hotel to the ship at 1:30 and discovered that the ship was docked two blocks away from the hotel. We could have walked. Once on the ship, we had a "light" buffet lunch of sandwiches and salads. We got into our very nice stateroom after lunch.

The Rinda is a new ship so our stateroom has all of the convenient features built in. One of the things that I really like are the doors, drawers and toilet seats that close slowly and so not slam. No cursing our neighbors in the middle of the night. We have a king sized bed and a veranda with a door that we can open for ventilation. We do not have to use the air conditioning.

We had a reception at 6:00 where the captain and main crew members were introduced. The welcome toast was champagne. An orientation talk came next and then it was time for dinner. We ate with a couple from Park City/Ft Lauderdale and another from the Canadian Rockies. Philippe was a touring cyclist in his past so we had a lot to talk about. He had a French accent so I had trouble understanding some of the things he said. The dinner was good. Ann had Chateaubriand with a real nice bernaisse sauce. I had a light lobster salad and prawns. Wine flowed freely.

Entertainment was a folk group which played, sang and danced. We did not last very long.

Today after breakfast, we were transported on buses or a church in Kalocsa where we listened to an excellent organ concert. Then we went to a horse farm where we were entertained by the horsemen of Puszta in their traditional costumes. We were served some local refreshments and were given a ride around the farm in a horse cart.

We have had an opportunity to see some of the countryside. Instead of trying to explain what it looks like, here is a quote from our daily information packet:

"This part of Hungary, to the east of the Danube and south of the mountains, is also home to Europe's largest continuous area of grassland, the Great Plains. It is an area of rivers and national parka, home to a huge variety of wildlife and vast expanses of land where native grey-horned cattle roam and seemingly endless horizons beckon. It's also the driest and sunniest part of the country.....".

We found it to be very flat. The only hills, if you can call them that, are the river banks. The fast current of the Danube flows past them and we can see a continuous row of deciduous trees with short breaks for sandy beaches. Small villages, vacation houses and some small industries dot the landscape. Looking toward the river's horizon, the Danube is indeed blue. A closer inspection shows a greenish brown color with a lot of cottonwood fuzz floating by.

Back on board, we had lunch. I was happy to get a BLT with real chips. Ann had veal. We had an interesting conversation with a retired dentist from Missouri who knows where the weapons of mass destruction are stored in Syria after they were moved out of Iraq. I told Ann that he must be referring to nitrous oxide which destroys the will of the masses to resist the pain of the dentist's drill. At least this conversation was more stimulating than one at another where a man fell asleep in his soup. Just kidding - he missed the soup.

Late in the afternoon, we docked in Mohacs for the Hungarian border control agents to do a face check with our passports. We were entering Croatia.

Dinner was very good. We both had halibut which was cooked perfectly - moist and tasty. I started with a crab cake while Ann had a small portion roasted duck. She had walnut ice cream with chocolate sauce for desert while I had tiramisu. Wine and conversation went smoothly. Our dinner companions were from Walnut Creek and Minnisota.

Budapest - May 9, 1014

We are now on our Viking river cruise from Budapest to Bucharest. There is too much going on today and in future days to spend time blogging. I will do it if I have free time during the next week.

Budapest - May 8, 1014 

Our Viking tour entered its second day and it's first day of organized activity. We started with an excellent breakfast buffet. Then we boarded buses for a morning tour of the city. We had seen most of the sites that we went to on previous days. It was good, though, to have a tour guide talk about them and give us new information.

The tour started in Pest and ended in Buda. On Castle Hill, we went into Matthias' Church which we had not done when we went up the hill from our B&B. The photo above was taken there.

We had the afternoon free. Ann and I had lunch in the same cafe as yesterday and then walked over to the Natioinal Museum of Hungary. We saw all of the history of Hungary and the audio guide went into minute detail. Part way through it, I sat on a bench and dozed while Ann continued into the several rooms.

After the museum, we walked back to the hotel after stopping at a cafe for beer and rest.

Dinner to night was at an Italian restaurant a few blocks down the river from the hotel. Ann had a duck lasagne and a mixed salad while I had pici pasta with pancetta and porcini mushroom along with grilled vegetables. We split a bottle of the house white wine.

Budapest - May 7, 2014

This was our transition day. We left our friendly, quiet, comfortable and inexpensive B&B in Buda. Saying good-bye to our friendly and efficient hostess and host, we got into a taxi and drove to the Marriott Hotel in Pest. This is the first part of our Viking river cruise on the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest. We spend the first two nights in the hotel and then board our river boat for the cruise.

Viking had nothing planned for us today, so we unpacked and grabbed a lunch at a modern cafe. We both had roasted potatoes and turkey meatloaf which was mixed with asparagus and cranberries. I also had a sour cream and asparagus soup.

Then we boarded the M1 Metro train and rode out to the Szechenyi Baths. We joined the locals and many tourists to take part in the best Budapest bath experience. We paid our entry fee, rented a small changing room and two towels, changed into our bathing suits and went out to the three outdoor pools. We started in the fun pool which you see in the photo. It's temperature is in the high 80s. In the middle is a circular current where you can coast around in circles. The middle pool is for swimming laps. The third pool is the relaxing pool where the temperature is close to 100. This is where the geezers hang out and play chess. We spent time in the fun and relaxing pools. When the skin on our fingers started to wrinkle, we explored the inside pools which is the thermal bath section. The are several small pools designed for specific medical treatments. We could not understand the signs telling us what the purpose of each pool was, but we tried some of them anyway. Whatever they cured, it worked for us.

We finished our bathing by going into the fun pool again. Then we rinsed off in the shower rooms and went up to the terrace overlooking the complex to take some photos. We took the M1 back toward our hotel. We stopped at one of the pastry shops at the Metro entrance to sample its selections. We had been smelling this wonderful aroma for the past three days when we went by the Metro entrances and had to stop this time for a snack. It was good.

Dinner was three stops up the tram line at a hole-in-the-wall fish restaurant called Halkakas Halbisztro. Ann had fish and chips while I had fish falafel. It was our least expensive dinner of the trip.

Rain has descended upon us. After a warm sunny day, we are now having sprinkles.

We have free internet in the lobby and supposedly free wifi in our room. When we try to log on in our room we get a list of charges. I wish big hotel chains would just give up and offer free internet. If a four-room B&B can do it, why can't a big hotel? I am going to the lobby to publish this and check email, etc.

Budapest - May 5, 2014

We awoke to a bright sunny day. It was a little cool to start but it warmed up later. After our breakfast we took the M2 to Deak Ter and walked over to Vorosmarty Ter for the start of Rick Steves Pest Town Center Walk. This was an all-morning affair. We saw Gerbeaud Cafe, "Fashion Street", the beginning of Vaci Utca, the Danube Promenade, Pesti Vigado Concert Hall, the Little Princess Sculpture (above), Kemermeyer Ter, the Former Pilvax Cafe, Ferenciek Tere, Jegbufe Cafe, Parisienne Udvar Gallery, Karolyi Mikhaly Utca, Centrali Kavehaz, Karolyi Park, University Square, a Serbian Orthodox Church and the Great Market Hall. We stopped and had cappuccino at Gerloczy Cafe. Lunch was at a good cafeteria at the Market Hall. Ann fixed her own salad while I had chicken with gnocchi and vegetables. We were entertained by a guitar violin duo while we ate.

After eating we toured the market while eating strudels that we bought at one of the stalls. The market has fruits, vegetables, meat, bakery items, candy, liquor, cheese, paprika, fish, clothing, hardware, souvenirs and even a grocery store.

Leaving the market we took a tram and Metro to the Opera House. The 4:00 tour seemed to be a bit pricy (I am having trouble converting forint to dollars) so we took the Metro back to Buda and walked to our B&B.

Dinner was nearby at Dunaparti Matroz Kocsma. Ann had a chicken salad while I had goulash and a cucumber salad. Beer for me and white wine for Ann. After we ate we strolled along the Danube and walked back to the B&B.

Budapest - May 5, 2014

We got to know the public transportation system. We rode on the underground, the tram and the bus. We followed Rick Steves walking tour of the Leopold district. This included the Parliament, Kossuth Ter, Kossuth Monument, 1996 Uprising Flag, Rakoczi Statue, Jozsef Statue, Nagy Statue, Szabadsag Ter, Reagan Statue, Soviet War Memorial, beautiful apartment facades, the US embassy, the Bes-Haz Building, Market Hall, Postal Savings Bank, National Bank, St Istvan's Basillica, Police Officer Statue and the Chain Bridge. We stopped for excellent coffee in an outdoor cafe (the weather was sunny and warm). We went into the Basillica. We ate a good lunch at Cafe Kor. Ann had chicken on a skewer with a Greek salad while I had a grilled chicken breast with vegetable risotto.

After the walk we rested in our B&B until it was time to go back to the Parliament for our 5:30 Engish speaking tour. What a beautiful building both inside and outside.

We then took the tram and bus up Castle Hill and went on the first part of Rick Steves walking tour there. We did not do the last part of the tour because we had been there the night before.

Dinner was at a good fish restaurant near the Danube. Ann had carp with bacon and a sour cream sauce. I had grilled catfish with a similar sauce along with cooked vegetables. White wine for Ann and beer for me.

It was dark when we got back to the B&B, so we we decided to climb the Fishermen's Bastion and take some night photos of the Pest side of the river. The best photo is of the Parliament.

Paris To Budapest - May 4, 2014

We arose early and were picked up by Super Shuttle in a Mercedes mini van at 8:45. We got to CDG in plenty of time to check our bags, eat lunch and catch our EasyJet flight to Budapest. A driver met us at the arrivals hall and drove us to the Bellevue House, our B&B for the next three nights.

Judit, our hostess, gave us a thorough orientation of the B&B. She also showed us how to get to the closest ATM, how to buy Metro passes and where to go for dinner. We took a walk, got some money, bought our metro tickets, walked along the Danube and ended up eating at Hunyadi Étterem. We both had a soup of beef goulash with egg dumplings. Ann had duck breast and red cabbage with apples. I had roasted pork tenderloin with broccoli and cauliflower in a rich white sauce. Ann had a Hungarian white wine while I had a Hungarian dark beer.

We were so stuffed that we had to take a short walk to settle our stomachs. We went up Castle Hill and looked at the view from our Buda side to the Pest side. Lights on the buildings make a spectacular scene especially from the Paraliament. The photo at the top of top of this page was of Mathias Church.

It is now late for us and we are ready for bed.

Paris Reflections

We are sitting at CDG waiting for our flight to Budapest which leaves in three hours. We like to be on time! Here are my reflections on our eight days in Paris.

Local people are friendly. No matter what reputation the Parisiannes have, do not believe it. They are friendly. Maybe they are a bit conservative, but they are friendly. Several times as we were looking at our map, someone would come up to us and ask if they could help. Waiters and waitresses actually smiled and gave us good service. All of them spoke at least some English. We tried to speak some French. That helped.

Paris streets and sidewalks are hard even with good walking shoes. Cobblestones are even harder. My feet feel bruised. This was painful on my arthritic toes.

The Metro is arguably the best public transportation system I have been on. A $2.00 ticket can take you anywhere in Paris even with transfers. The carnet, a package of 10 tickets, is a convenient way to buy them.

The major museums are very crowded. Do not expect to have an intimate experience with the Mona Lisa. You can barely see her with all of the cameras being held up in your face.

Meals in Paris are expensive but the food is good. We ate at several restaurants and cafés and had no bad food experiences. Smoking is not allowed inside restaurants but it is in outside seating areas. Smoke seeps into the non-smoking area. We finally determined that the best place to sit was as far away from the doors as possible.

Decent hotels are expensive. Our room at the Hotel Muguet was large, clean, quiet and comfortable. The best room that we have ever had in Paris. It was worth the cost. Breakfast was not included in the cost of the hotel. I thought that it was expensive but when I added up buying the same things in small shops along the street, we had a bargain. Besides, we had fresh squeezed orange juice and bottomless coffee to go along with fresh flaky croissants and those other pastries with chocolate in them. Yum. Eggs were also an option.

The weather was cool and wet. We were prepared with rain jackets and warm sweaters. Ann had an umbrella. I finally bought one because the two of us could not fit under her's. I used it to cross the street once. After that, the weather cleared up.

People in Paris seem to dress much more casually than the last time we were here. We still saw some professional men in suits and women in dresses. The vast majority, though, looked too much like American sloppy. Drab grey is the latest non-color trend. Men especially looked like they found their clothes from the donation bin at Goodwill.

OK, on to today's activity.

Paris - May 3, 2014

Our 6-day museum passes expired yesterday. Today was our last day in Paris so we decided to do what Parisiennes do on the weekend - stroll and relax.

After breakfast and after going to several stores for shampoo and hair spray, we got onto Metro and rode the trains over to the Hotel de Ville station and began our walking tour of the Marais district. Our first stop was at Hotel de Sens which you see on the photo above. You can see from the brightness of the photo that the day was very sunny. We sat on one of the benches for our first rest of the day.

We then walked past a basketball court, of all things, and looked at the remnants of a medieval fortress and the largest remaining segment of an enormous wall that surrounded Paris. Ducking into a passageway across the street we emerged into interconnected courtyards known as the Saint-Paul Village. It's art galleries, antique shops and artisan boutiques were mostly vacant. The shoppers must have been eating bruch at nearby restaurants.

After leaving the Village, we walked to St Paul-Louis Church which was completed in 1641. Cardinal Richelieu gave the church's first mass soon after it was completed.

We left the church and found la Place du Marche Saint-Catherine, a small hidden tree-lined square surrounded by several cafés. We considered stopping for lunch but only one of the cafés was in the sunlight and it was full. Although the sun was bright, the temperature was too cold to sit outside.

Next we visited another residence, the Hotel de Sully.  Walking through its two courtyards, we entered the Place des Vosges. People say that this is the most beautiful square in Paris. Covered galleries surround the square and contain upscale shops and restaurants. There is a large grassy area in the middle that was packed with picnickers. Because we had no picnic supplies, we continued on to Rue des Francs-Bourgeois.

This narrow street was crowded with shoppers, strollers and tourists. It is a major center of fashion and design. We stopped at the Hotel Carnavalet for a nature call and then headed over to Rue des Rosiers.

This rue is the main thoroughfare of the Jewish quarter. Facades have both Hebrew and French lettering. The Star of David is prominent. There are lots of Jewish and Middle Eastern cafés and restaurants. We stopped at Chez Hanna for falafel. The restaurant was elbow-to-elbow with customers. We sat in a corner behind a post. I lucked out and had a soft bench to sit on. We had good food and friendly service.

After eating we went back to the Hotel Carnavalet which is a free museum of Paris history. Among the many paintings is an exhibit centered on the French Revolution. There are models of the Bastille and some fairly good paintings of revolutionary scenes and personalities.

We were now saturated with Paris life in the past and of the present, so we got on Metro trains and came back to our hotel.

Dinner tonight was up the street at Terrasse du 7eme. We sat upstairs on very comfortable stuffed chairs and ate our meal looking out onto the street scene at Ecole Militaire. Ann had chicken on brochettes while I had veal scallopini. We split a carafe of puilly fume and a creme brulle.

Paris - May 2, 2014

The photo above is at Versailles. We are in the middle of around 1000 people waiting to get in. Although we have museum passes, we have to wait with everyone else to go through security. It took us about 1 1/2 hours. It was overcast and cold, but all of the people in the crowd were happy.

We made the decision to go to Versailles this morning. There was no threat of rain this morning so we were not worried about standing outside in a line to get in. We walked from our hotel to the Invalides RER station, bought our train tickets and rode in reasonable comfort to the Versailles station. It took about 30 minutes.

Once we navigated the serpentine lines and entered the palace, we made a bee line to the rest rooms and the cafeteria. Sandwiches and wraps were good and they recharged us for the walk through the palace.

We used Rick Steves' audio guide to explain what we were seeing in each of the rooms. The palace is spectacular and worth a special trip to see it. The audio guide kept us focused although the massive crowd is a bit distracting. This was the second time that we were there so we did not spend a lot of time in each room. 

When we finished seeing the inside of the palace, we found the sortie and entry to the vast gardens. Our goal was to walk to the Trianon Palaces and Domaine de Marie-Antoinette. The rain thwarted us, though. A heavy shower chased us to the covered exit area where we waited until it stopped. The we walked back to the train station and rode back to Paris.

Our next stop was at the Orangerie Museum where Monet's huge canvasses of water lilies are displayed. There are also several paintings by Utrillo, Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse and Picasso. It was a sensory experience but we were too tired to completely enjoy it. So it was back to the hotel on the Metro where we stopped to enjoy a group of Russian musicians playing and singing folk songs. There is lots of entertainment in the Metro - some intentional, some not.

Once we restored our batteries, we retraced our steps from the last night and found the restaurant we were looking for then. La Varangue is a very small bistro run by Philipe. He usually is a one-man show but tonight he had a waitress. We both had a beet salad. For our main course, Ann had baked salmon with mashed potatoes. I had filet mignon of pork, also with mashed potatoes. We split chocolate cake for dessert. House white for Ann and house red for me. The meal was hardy and a good value.

Paris - May 1, 2014

We found a new way to celebrate May Day. Clean clothes before breakfast. The neighborhood laundromat was up the street about a block away. We started the wash and went back to the hotel for breakfast. By the time we finished eating the wash was done. Three cycles of drying finished our laundry urge before moving on to our next destination.

After taking our clean clothes back to the hotel, we decided to take Rick Steves suggestion and walk along Rue Cler so that we could experience a real Paris neighborhood in action in the morning. We could see and walk into cafés, butcher shops, bakeries, cheese shops, flower shops, fruit and vegetable stands and more. Here are some photos.

The weather was behaving itself so we took the Metro over to the Arc de Tromphe expecting to use our museum pass to climb up to the observation tower and see the view of the city. First we had to find the way to get to the monument. It is situated in the center of a very busy traffic circle and it would be suicide to cross it. We eventually found the underground passage and popped up under the arch. We saw the tomb of the unknown solder but no open entry for the climb. Being May Day, the climb to the arch and many other attractions were closed. That did not daunt us. We crossed back under the traffic circle and strolled down the Champs Élysées. A lot of others were also doing the stroll and it was perfect for people watching.

Half way down the avenue, we detoured to the left into a park that parallels the avenue. It was more quiet and easier on the feet. We continued until we reached the entrance to the Tuileries Garden where we needed some nourishment. We both bought a crepe at a stand. It was now raining and it looked like it was getting worse. So we ducked into a Metro station and rode back to our hotel.

I had our dinner restaurant picked out and even tried to make an online reservation. I received no confirmation, so we decided to walk over to it. It started raining steadily and I got a little confused with the directions. We were steered into a very small Italian restaurant that was also on Rick Steves list. Unfortunately it was across the street from the restaurant that we wanted. So our meal was OK but it was not what we expected. My pasta and Ann's soup and salad were decent and the price was low, so I am not complaining. When we finished, we walked over to our intended restaurant and told the owner that we would be there tomorrow.

By the way, I am trying a new application on my iPad that interfaces with Blogger. I am about to hit the "Publish". I hope it comes out with the photos.

Paris Continued

I really like the orange juice machine at our hotel for breakfast. Fresh oranges are very sweet.

We left the hotel a little after 9:00 but had to return so that Ann could change into her walking shoes. While she did this, I walked over to a tobacco shop and bought a carnet of Metro tickets - 10 tickets. We caight the train at La Tour Maubourg, transferred at Place de la Concorde and got off at the Louvre. Did you know that street musicians entertain you on the Metro? We had a Man man playing a baritone horn accompanied by French tunes on his boom box. I thought that it was pretty good but Ann felt it was intrusive. It confused us enough that we got off the train too soon and had to catch the next train.

We spent about four hours there. The crowds were massive in the popular exhibits - Mona Lisa, etc. We battled the art lovers all morning until we got hungry. We left the museum, walked underground to the Carrousel du Louvre and bought lunch at the fast-food eateries. Ann had Italian while I had Spanish. Next time I will eat at one of the restaurants in the Louvre. It was nice to get away, though. The noise and the rude photographers were too much for us.

We returned to the museum and found the Holland and Flemish paintings. These rooms were much less crowded and much more quiet. The lines for the toilets were very short and the facilities were a lot cleaner than the ones on the main level. The quantity and quality of the paintings were wonderful. We recognized many paintings from before and many from school texts, magazines and other books that we have read.

We were worn out at around 2:20, so we picked up our checked coats and headed for the nearest sortie.

The Metro ride back to our station was much easier. When we got to the hotel, our room was being cleaned so we sat in the lobby and watched as a Rick Steves tour group gathered for a Paris to Rome trip.

When our room was ready, Ann took a rest while I went to a grocery store on Rue Cler and bought some dates and almonds for our snack time.

We went for dinner at Le Perit Cler, a small bistro that was a short walk form our hotel. Ann had grilled chicken with potatoes and a small salad. I had Beef Bourguignon with noodles. We had a Cote du Rhone to drink and baba au rum for dessert. We really enjoyed the lively energy of this bistro that had mixture of locals and tourists. We will go back. 

After dinner we strolled over to the Eiffel Tower.

Paris

I intended to write about the rest of our bike and barge trip in The Netherlands while we were on the train from Amsterdam to Paris. It did not happen. Although the train ride was smooth and fast, the seats were too cramped for my legs and elbows to maneuver and type on my iPad. So those of you who are interested in that part of our trip will have to wait until I create my journal on our website. It will have a lot more information plus a bunch of photos. There will be lots of pictures of windmills and tulips.

We arrived at Gare du Nord mid-day on Saturday the 26th. We decided to forego Metro and take a taxi to our hotel. It was a lot easier on my back without lugging our luggage on the underground.

Hotel Muguet is near the Eiffel Tower. We saw the top of it this afternoon but we have not walked over to it yet. Our room is large compared to other Paris hotel rooms we have stayed in. Twin beds are on one end while a writing desk and table are in a sitting area. The bathroom is roomy and has a combination bath/shower. We are in the interior on the second floor facing a very quiet courtyard.

After checking in, we put our feet up for a while until we started to get hungry. Taking Rick Steves' advice, we walked over to the Rue Cler and had dinner at Cafe du Marche. It is a relatively inexpensive cafe (this translates to "not quite as expensive"). Ann had a quiche and salad while I had a typical Parisienne steak and sautéd potatoes. We split a small carafe of pouilly fuisse and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. We ate in a covered area outside and were thankful for the enclosure when there was a cloudburst during the middle of our meal.

After dinner we strolled up and down Rue Cler and walked back to our hotel.

Today was Ann's birthday. We started celebrating by eating at our hotel's breakfast. I say celebrating because nothing is cheap in Paria. We had fresh orange juice which we squeezed ourselves in a juicing machine. The French coffee was good and strong and did not taste like wet socks. Croissants were flaky and the cereal and eggs were fresh.

After breakfast we walked over to the Musee d'Orsay and spent most of the day there. This included lunch in the cafeteria - pasta for me and salmon for Ann. It is always an extraordinary experience to visit this museum. The paintings are fantastic. We split up in the museum with Ann using a guide book while I listened to Rick Steves audio tour on my iPhone.

As we walked back to our hotel, we visited two other museums using our newly acquires 6-day museum pass. We were dodging rain storms on the way.

Ann's birthday dinner was at Chez Pierrot, a small bistro that was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. I made reservations for 7:00 through an online French reservation system. When we arrived, the waitress did not seem to know about it. No problem though, there were very few customers. It was a small bistro with a couple of fixed price menus. Ann had rump steak with a creamy pepper sauce along with potatoes and a salad. I had a appetizer of deep-fried squid and sardines, a main course of sole and salmon with ratatouille. We both had a peach tart for dessert. We split a bottle of Pouilly Fume.

We retraced our route and found our way back to the hotel without a map.

First Day Of Riding In The Netherlands

Sunday - After our bike fit we said good bye to our boat and pedaled away form the pier. It was a slow start with 22 people trying to get accustomed to their bicycles. Ann had an hard time with her electric assisted bike because it was so heavy. Starting and stopping were delicate balancing acts.

We quickly fell into a pattern. Sietse was our guide. Without him it would be impossible to follow all of the bicycle paths. Whenever we reached a turn, he would holler "corner" and the person behind him would stop and make sure the the rest of the group would make the turn. Steven Kiel, one of our group, volunteered to be our sweep. When he reached the corner person, we knew everyone was accounted for.

Sietse was a teacher in his past life and he was very good at explaining where we were and what we were looking at. What we were mostly looking at were canals, dairy farms, wild flowers, water birds, wind mills, country houses, small villages, etc. Because he was telling us about the local flora, fauna and culture, we made lots of stops. This was frustrating to me until I realized that this was why we were here. There was no need to see how fast I could cover the daily mileage.

Our first major stop was at a dairy farm where we had a tour. We saw very young calves, milking apparatus, cheese making equipment (this farm's major business) and lots of cheese in storage. We were served lunch which was bread and generous samplings of about a dozen types of cheese, all produced by this farm.

We had no route sheets or maps, but Sietse knew where we were going. We were soon back on our supposed route being good ducklings following our father duck. There were lots of other cyclists on the trail being Sunday and Easter Sunday. Most of them were typical Netherlands cyclist dressed in regular clothes, not helmets and riding bikes with upright handlebars and few gears. Lots of families were riding together and some had dogs in their baskets. We saw people of all ages - ranging from very young to those older than us. Some bicycles were equipped with seats or trailers for toddlers.

The weather was very nice - lots of sunlight and temperatures in the 60's. The dreaded Netherlands winds were mild.

After making lots of stops for mechanicals and sight seeing, we eventually got back to our boat in late afternoon just in time to clean up before dinner.

Jantien, who is co-owner of the boat with Henk, is the boat's manager and cook. She fixed our dinner along with Iveta, a young crew member form Slovakia. Our other crew member is Denisa, also from Slovakia. Denisa is our bar tender and server. Dinner was three courses - soup, entree and dessert. We had fish tonight.

After dinner Sietse reviewed today's ride and tomorrow's route. To do so, he drew
Them on a flip chart - we are low-tech. Then it was off to our room and bed time.

Our cabin is equipped with two beds, a small closet, a reading desk and a bathroom. It is very compact but very functional.

Busy In The Netherlands

Our day starts at 8:00 for a buffet breakfast. We are on our bikes shortly after 9:00. Our rides last until late afternoon. Then we have a little time to clean up until dinner. Atfter dinner we take a walk through the port's town. By 9:00 or so, we are back on the boat. I am either too tired or the internet is not working so writing this blog is not happening. I will catch up when we get to Paris. In the meantime, we are well and enjoying ourselves a lot.

Bicycles And More Bicycles - Onward In The Netherlands

I have not written about bicycle culture in The Netherlands. In Amsterdam, bicycles outnumber cars at least 10 to 1 and maybe higher especially in the old part of the city. This could be a result of gasoline prices that are around twice those in the US. It could be that parking is severely limited and expensive. It could be that it is difficult to drive around all of the canals and over the hundreds of bridges. It could be that there are bicycle lanes on most of the streets as well as special traffic lights. It could be that there are huge parking garages and reserved spaces for bicycles. In any case, the city is overwhelmed by peddle power. The bicycles are mostly equipped with upright handlebars and limited gears. Riders rarely wear helmets and dress like normal people.

We started our cruise this morning during breakfast. We left Amsterdam and cruises for an hour or so.  When we stopped, we got off of our barge and were fitted to our bicycles. Ann has an e-bike, an electric assisted bike. It is very heavy but practical. It is a bit clumsy to start and stop, but the assist feature makes pedaling a lot easier. My bicycle is not as heavy as hers, but it has a triple in front and an 8-speed cluster in back. I will probably never get out of the middle chain ring during our tour.

There are 22 of us following a ride leader who is part of the bike and barge tour company. There are no maps or route sheets which makes following the leader mandatory. Because the riding abilities of the people in the group range from expert to beginner, the pace is dictated by the slowest rider. One of us volunteers to be a sweep.

Because of intermittent internet problems, I will try to continue this blog later.

Last Day In Amsterdam

After a leisurely breakfast, we packed and checked out of our hotel. As we were doing so, I noticed a photo behind the counter that showed the hotel owners on each side of Bill Clinton. He stayed at the hotel many years ago as a long-hair bearded student, according to the owner. He stopped there a while back to revisit, not to stay.

We struggled to get our bags down the narrow stairs and out the door. We wheeled them a half-mile to the waterfront and left them on our boat. We could not get into our cabin yet so we went on another walk. It was Saturday so we decided to go to a local outdoor market. The weather was sunny and even warm in spots.

The market was huge with clothes, meats, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, breads, snacks, etc. we bought some really good apple pastries. After the market, we went back to the boat to see what bicycle equipment they supplied. Helmets and water bottles were included, so we did not have to buy them.

Lunch was at a small cafe where Ann had a ham and tomato toast which I had a hamburger with fries. Not too bad and not the best.

We wandered around the canals and killed time until it was time to officially board our boat. Our stateroom is fairly large with two single beds, a very small closet and a cramped but functional bathroom. There is porthole where we can look out but can't open. The staterooms are at water level while the main deck is above.

We had an orientation meeting where the crew was introduced - three women, a male captain and a male bicycle guide. There are 22 BAC members from various parts of the US. We followed the BAC custom of introducing ourselves.

For dinner, we had mustard soup as a starter. Pork chops, broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes gratin. Dessert was cherry cake. To settle our meal, we took a guided tour of parts of Amsterdam that we had not seen.

Bed time was around 11:00.