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Mike and Beverly-Vstrom to Romania Ukraine Poland and more
It has been two years since our last (and fourth) motorcycle adventure in Europe. We are planning our 5th month-long adventure which begins on about May 15, 2016. We never intended to make 5 trips but Beverly noticed that there was a hole in our previous European travels. She can't believe that we were going to leave those countries behind. That was unacceptable so here we go again.
Our previous adventures can be seen at: **http://2seniorsonabike.blogspot.com included parts of England, Spain, Morocco, France, Andora, Switzerlandand Germany **http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/eastern-europe-two-v-stroms-59213 included parts of Czech republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania,Bosnia, Greece and Italy **http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/two-v-stroms-scandinavia-mike-64336included parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Estonia andLithuania. **http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...bulgaria-75897 where we added Turkey and Bulgaria plus a little car trip to WW I and II sites. We were reminded that we didn't finish posting this trip. Hmmm, maybe we should finish it. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1590/...0ea0616b_h.jpg2016 motorcycle trip by Beverly Whipple, on Flickr |
Count Down - One More Dayhttps://farm8.staticflickr.com/7742/...bac9785f_c.jpgDSC_4348
Beverly likes to see how small she can pack her personal items. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7462/...d263b393_c.jpgIMG_1489 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] Leaving our home behind for 5 weeks. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/...7bd540dd_c.jpgIMG_1495 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] Off we go. |
May 12
The flight from Seattle to Iceland was easy and we got some sleep. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7081/...cda679fe_c.jpg Arriving in Iceland. No, we are not lost. Iceland Air offers free stopovers so here we are starting our European tour in Iceland. Customs and Immigration was too easy. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/...aab45ac1_c.jpgDSC_4385 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] Iceland is an active Volcanic Island with a population of only 330,000 people. It is part of the EU and is the least dense country in Europe. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/...fa8ec686_c.jpgDSC_4394 We arrived early and had to wait for the car rental place to. Got a small Opel with 164,000 km on it. I was surprised how well it worked. We stayed in Reykjavik at an Airbnb place. Airbnb is a company that coordinates private people and travelers for places to stay. We thought we would try it on this trip. We stayed at Lara place which was walking distance to Downtown. Reykjavik is a small city that is certainly trying to develop the tourism industry. It has a small port and a significant fishing industry. Viking history is the theme. The whole country is an active volcano and thermal springs are all over the island. Iceland gets all its electricity from renewable sources. It feels like a very organized civilized place. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7759/...d31ba0f0_c.jpgDSC_4363 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] The cultural center is the Harpa which houses the symphony orchestra and much more. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7762/...52f53486_c.jpgDSC_4365 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] Inside the Harpa https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/...f8fb7a5e_c.jpgDSC_4379 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/...45c755de_c.jpgDSC_4393 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] Went to dinner at the Viking Bar and had two surprises on the menu. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7394/...81984a90_c.jpgDSC_4392 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/142185260@N03/] We tried the whale but couldn’t handle the smoked puffin. |
May 13
You may have noticed that Iceland is not on our map of planned travels. No, we are not lost. Iceland Air offers free stopovers in Iceland for up to 7 days. Our stay is 3 days. We drove through the countryside along the South coast. It seemed barren. Lava and peat moss mostly on the ground. The evidence of snow covered peaks from below the clouds. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/...c5bc72f4_c.jpg Apparently Iceland plants more trees per capita than any country on earth. We didn’t see any. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/...083986d9_c.jpg Hot springs are everywhere. Iceland generates all of its electrical energy from the geothermal underground hotsprings, wind, solar and water. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7548/...c2ab3b6f_c.jpg Piping the geothermal energy We went to one of the famous ones called the Blue Lagoon. It is supposed to be one of the 25 natural wonders of the world. It is quite touristy and expensive and is supposed to have significant therapeutic value. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/...3580cc04_c.jpg Beverly at the Blue Lagoon https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7299/...187455e1_c.jpg The sediment is said to enrich your skin. So we tried it. I wonder if it is working. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7440/...5d31a23e_c.jpg The Pearl is the fanciest restaurant in town and is built on the water storage system. We were told many times by locals not to buy bottled water as the tap water was the best you could get and the local bottled water was direct from the tap. Must be a boycott on the local bottling company. |
We set out along the south coast to see waterfalls and glaciers.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/...5bf2848f_c.jpg Iceland is 12% covered by glaciers. Despite the claim by the US Republicans that climate change is liberal propaganda, the glaciers are decreasing each year. One glacier was recently reclassified as just a pile of ice. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/...7c458bd6_c.jpg We hiked to the bottom of the Myrdalsjokull glacier which is 600 sq. km. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7201/...e60e1ab2_c.jpg We didn't participate in the 3-hour tour to hike on the glacier. url=https://flic.kr/p/GRqXAC]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7487/...f13ae3b3_c.jpg[/url] There was a rainbow in the waterfall right before the picture was taken. We hiked climbed nearly 400 stairs to the top of one of the waterfalls where we hiked a bit further to see river rapids and more falls. The trail goes even further but we didn't go on. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7652/...d1207cb6_c.jpg Mike climbing over the stile on the trail at the top. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7468/...e61308ae_c.jpg Waterfalls are plentiful and spectacular. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7224/...e4d6f341_c.jpg We found this on a back road that was actually a drive-way that ended here. Our turn around point was at Vic. In 1991, Islands Magazine counted the black sands beach in Vik as one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7238/...44eb1854_c.jpg Rock basalt formations called Reynisdranger at the Black Beach https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7358/...9866f8d0_c.jpg Beverly wanted to touch the Norwegian Sea https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/...ab39d920_c.jpg We ate lunch here gazing at the beautiful panorama One more trip to town and we packed to leave. Flight to Frankfurt leaves early in the morning. We liked Iceland as a novelty. Even in mid May, it was only dark for a couple of hours a night. People were very friendly and the living was easy. |
May 15
Flight arrived in about noon. No customs as Iceland is in the EU. Took the train from the Airport to Heidelberg and arrived at Stefan’s place. Found the bike and started on the preparation. The bike needed new back brakes and rotor, oil change, top box repair, and a good cleaning. We met Chris who is a Cider Maker and Orchardist. He shared some Spanish cider with us which Beverly liked a lot. Met also met Jurgen who is a mining professor from Colorado. His background is in coal mining so you can imagine we shared some lies. Had a great dinner. For about Two or three weeks, white asparagus (spargel) is in season and it is a culinary event in Germany. We get it whenever we can. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/...f0dfc65d_c.jpg There are bikes here from all over. This one parked outside one of the rooms was from Kuwait https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7527/...2a553352_c.jpg Mike packing up, getting ready to go. |
May 16
Spent an easy day getting the bike together and acting like tourists in Heidelberg. Had dinner with Jorgen, packed and were ready to go. May 17 Set out and decided to go to Rothenburg and then overnight in Nuremberg. Of course I spelled Rothenburg wrong in the GPS and went on a wild goose chase up the Autoban. At least it was a good test for the bike. We drive 85mph (137 km) on the Autoban which is fast enough for a loaded down 650 cc bike with two old people on it. Even at that, we have to stay out of the way of the cars doing 120mph or more. Rothenburg is a walled city which is a popular tourist place. The was interesting; the shops were the same as every other tourist place. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7537/...024183da_c.jpg We parked here and had some coffee and pasties. We sat next to couple who were celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary. The woman was in Rothenburg learning a special horse training akin to “horse whispering.” She told us all about it, even demonstrated riding postures: both good and bad. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7316/...d6c350b3_c.jpg Beverly at the Rothenburg wall. Nuremberg was 200 miles away and was our first days stop. The Nuremberg trials was and is an important history event. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7722/...bc3aecee_c.jpg Like most old European towns, it has an interesting past and a historic old town. Here is the church. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7720/...6fee5049_c.jpg White Asparagus at the market. Yum. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7482/...43a7c409_c.jpg We stayed at the Hotel Agneshof in old town. We were able to park our bike right in front on the hotel. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7486/...aaccd3a5_c.jpg Local wine |
May 18
Nuremburg is a big town and now it is time to leave. We are headed out to Passau on the border of Germany and Austria. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/...74b4e94a_c.jpg We went part of the way on the back roads and stopped at a little church bench to have lunch. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7294/...04b7115c_c.jpg We stayed at the Holtel Wilder Mann right in the middle of old town. Passau is a university town with a lively vibe. It is also a port for river cruises which seem very popular. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/...fedb485d_c.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7700/...31409c19_c.jpg Some of the sites. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7225/...7766b822_c.jpg We walked around town and to where three main rivers, the Danube, The Inn, and the Ilz come together. This is Mike at the convergence https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7401/...10740742_c.jpg St Stephens Cathedral has the biggest cathedral organ in the world and the have concerts every day at noon. We needed tickets for tomorrow at noon. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7697/...22e830e6_c.jpg https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/...1a0d2d34_c.jpg We ate dinner at the main town square. |
May 19
We walked around the old town then went shopping for a camera part at the mall. The organ concert was interesting. The second piece was written in an atonal modality, seeming to lack a tonal center. Even though Beverly has a background in music, neither of us have been immersed in this type of music long enough to develop an ear for it. The organ sound is awesome. https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7400/2...5b807652_c.jpg https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7378/2...8f152c54_c.jpg The organ in Passau in the St. Stephens church and the church. We headed out to Vienna on the old road along the Danube River. Very peaceful with nice roads and castles every once in a while. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7037/2...09ae8b4b_c.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7421/2...897148aa_c.jpg We ate lunch in an idyllic spot. We stayed for a while watching the river boats go by. We got on the highway for the last 40 miles and hit some torrential rain. Not much advantage to stopping if there is no cover so we just slowed down and splashed through. Our gear worked well. Took us an hour to get through Vienna traffic to our Airbnb place. Weal is our host. He lives in a renovated old building in what was the Jewish area. At one time, King Joseph wouldn’t let the Jews into the main city. They settled in this neighborhood. All over the neighborhood, there are plaques recording where Jewish people lived who were killed or sent to concentration camps during WWll. Karin, a neighbor whom we met, told us about the building plaques. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7673/2...a1a31e2d_c.jpg This is the plaque that was on our building. Went to town in Vienna. It is ranked as the most livable city in the world. We went to a Hungarian restaurant. Beverly wants to eat all her meals there. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7126/2...07fcb754_c.jpg Then to Hawelka, a quintessential Vienna Café. No food here. |
May 20
Vienna is a beautiful city. Walking, biking, and trams make it easy to get around. There are special markings on the walks for bikes and walkers. Then the trams have their lanes and the cars have theirs. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7397/2...f6316635_c.jpg Bike markings. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7207/2...280a9998_c.jpg Walking/biking way. We walked through the parks, went to the Spanish Riding school which was not showing, got symphony tickets for this evening, and had coffee at the Imperial Hotel which was rated the best hotel in the world. Don’t know about that, but the coffee and strudel were good. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7342/2...e9e81225_c.jpg Coffee and strudel at the Imperial Hotel Every building seemed to be adorned with statues of historic or biblical people. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7489/2...d528d920_c.jpg https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7297/2...f70af81f_c.jpg We had lunch in the park and people watched. In the evening we took the tram to the symphony at the Koncert Haus. It was very impressive. Beverly got some of the music. Most of it was over our heads. Again, some of the atonal music that the people around here must have had a lot more exposure to than us. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7562/2...168b483f_c.jpg Concert Venue https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7618/2...56ed6ef2_c.jpg Concert Hall https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7012/2...e90730f2_c.jpg Waiting for our tram back to our hotel. |
May 21
It is Sunday so we went to a local market for Breakfast. It is a lively crowd. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7156/2...c689c0d2_c.jpg Beverly Working on our blog at breakfast There is an election tomorrow and there is some discussion but nothing like our show in the United States. The main parties are not surviving and the fringe parties are winning. The migrant crisis is the main point of contention. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7408/2...3b5a024a_c.jpg https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7288/2...816c7ec2_c.jpg A little more shopping…. We packed our bike and headed off. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7041/2...39dfa6cf_c.jpg A leisurely ride along the Danube River on a secondary highway. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7354/2...10f9528c_c.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7700/2...f770f28a_c.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7228/2...f4ecfc8b_c.jpg Most of the land along the Danube has been farmland and wind machines. There is an extensive canal system for irrigation. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7571/2...af517cf2_c.jpg On our way to Bratislava https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7385/2...6c20f495_c.jpg https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7169/2...f421498f_c.jpg All along the highways there are paths for bicycles, pedestrians, roller-bladers and such. How wonderful to go on a leisurely bicycle ride not worrying about the cars behind you. https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7369/2...e416a052_c.jpg Into another new country for us, Slovenia. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7296/2...c4e7539e_c.jpg Crossing the bridge into Bratislava. Bratislava is the capital of Slovenia and was at one time the capial of the Hungarian empire. The place was also central in the World wars chapters of ethnic reconfigurations and the creation and dissolution of the Czechoslovak Republic. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7258/2...50068963_c.jpg We had a nice room at the Antares… https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7298/2...0fc91859_c.jpg And they left some local wine in the room for us. We went out for a walk to town and ended up walking all over. The town was bustling and as is the tradition, whole families were downtown walking around, meeting their friends and drinking. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7599/2...0456d8e5_c.jpg Our walking route this evening. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7426/2...20456915_c.jpg This house is near our hotel. We are not in Transylvania country yet but can you imagine going here on Halloween night? https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7426/2...e488f0db_c.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7311/2...8e93a85b_c.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7295/2...36296195_c.jpg The sites of Bratislava https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7366/2...0f06c2d9_c.jpg T-shirt for a friend at home. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7737/2...1a16a951_c.jpg Out to dinner. We met three local young professionals from Italy, Poland and Russia. We are discovering that we are somewhat of a novelty: two old people traveling around on a motorcycle. Th.e Italian wanted to take us home and show us around. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7168/2...c5b53287_c.jpg More sight-seeing walking along the Danube |
May 22 Bratislava to Budapest
We decided that we want to lighten our load. Every square inch makes a difference and we had little too much of this-doesn’t-take-much-space. There is a post office at the mall we walked to yesterday. We stop there first and ship a box back to Germany. We hope the box gets there. Life is much easier on the bike with less stuff. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7441/2...ed57ae44_c.jpg The mall where the post office is. It is not far to Budapest. We went part of the way on Hwy 9 and then the last part on the M1. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7134/2...fb00c903_c.jpg The border between Slovakia and Hungary was deserted. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7523/2...4b3ef4f2_c.jpg Here we come Budapest. The GPS kept sending us in circles while directing us to our hotel in Budapest. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7525/2...4cc68122_c.jpg Eventually we parked in a creative manner near main square to try to figure it out. It is squeezed between two of those metal posts -- a tight fit. As it turns out, our hotel is IN the square. A little drive through the pedestrian square took us there. A parking garage was not far away in a building that also has apartments. They must be high-end apartments when the have a specific parking area for Ferraris. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7501/2...e5007efe_c.jpg The Ferraris have good company for a few nights. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7130/2...b883fc7d_c.jpg Our motel -- Elisas Rooms right on the main square https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7352/2...f8c71c4a_c.jpg View from our room Budapest city is combined from two former cities, Buda and Pest on opposite sides of the Danube River. It seems most major European cities have a history of wars, invasions, and the resulting monuments that record those events. The churches are the main recorders. Budapest has a bustling nightlife. We didn't see much evidence of police. But we did see this interchange which appeared to be the police hassling this guy. https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7601/2...2a8df45f_c.jpg |
May 23
Today we are tourists in Budapest. The Danube river is the center of many of the Larger cities. It originates in Germany and goes through !0 countries before emptying into the Black Sea. River cruising is very popular. A beer on a river boat bar is $3.00 and a beer at a bar looking at the river is $2.00. Beer in a convenience shop is $.90. Capitalism is alive and well, just at a lower level. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7273/2...e3013eeb_c.jpg Having a beer last night at a floating restaurant. The $3.00 beer. Oh wait. It isn't even there yet. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7520/2...31d043eb_c.jpg Enjoying the river. https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7394/2...9beaeba5_c.jpg Before going out of the town today, Beverly sits in the window overlooking the square and has a cup of coffee. Went to the central market and then took a bus to the top of the hill where we visited St Steven’s basilica and the Jewish district. It seems that every town had a St Steven’s church. We crossed the Chain Bridge (1839), visited the Buda castle, The Fisherman’s bastion and St. Mathias. The Hungarian art museum makes a poster card picture with the Danube. https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7260/2...03b91529_c.jpg St. Stevens Church https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7352/2...a878e43c_c.jpg Fisherman's bastion and St. Mathias https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7358/2...d9aeb09c_c.jpg Chain Bridge https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7337/2...6dae5c89_c.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7723/2...3d69d081_c.jpg https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7707/2...fdc47f52_c.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7270/2...eb960b0d_c.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7092/2...0c6f4648_c.jpg Hugarian Art Museum https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7347/2...e5956798_c.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7441/2...03843ebe_c.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7371/2...c72cc667_c.jpg Thai massages are popular as is this kind of pedicure. Supposedly, the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. We didn't partake. We went to a Hungarian restaurant. We got into Hungarian food but after a few meals, it is very heavy. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7796/2...216d8750_c.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7155/2...4b041238_c.jpg Our Hungarian dinner. We went bar hopping and just as we were finishing around 11:00, the place was coming alive. |
May 24
Got ready to go. We had to cross the border into Serbia. We went to Serbia because we had never been there before. The forecast was for Thunder storms so our progress might be slow. Got through the border in the pouring rain. The crossing was very easy. They didn’t even ask for insurance which is the main money making gimmick. Didn’t get pictures. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7532/2...1c4c9644_c.jpg Thunderstorm weather where we crossed the border. We traveled on back roads in Serbia. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7364/2...781ed67b_c.jpg On our way to Kikinda https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7392/2...d5abc583_c.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7626/2...98df0071_c.jpg The roads are shared with local horse carts. The entrance to the town is a beautiful tree lined street. Went to the small town of Kikinda and stayed at a hotel on the main square. I guess we were a novelty as there weren’t many US or Canadian people visit. https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7061/2...a03eb9b8_c.jpg Bike parked in the Hotel Avala courtyard Kikinda is famous for the resident owl population and the remains of wooly mammoths found there. https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7286/2...3ae2227b_c.jpg Beverly with the replica of a mammoth skeleton. They are really big. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikinda https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7733/2...8b3fefcb_c.jpg Mike in the town square which is large for the size of town. This is basketball country and they knew all about the NBA playoffs. |
May 25
The Avala hotel is family owned and it seemed that Natalie was the head person. One of her sons was going to the US to work as a roller coaster operator in Ocean Falls NJ. That was the buzz around town. https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7063/2...42e3a17d_c.jpg Having coffee with Natalie and Dragona who speaks English and introduced us to her town. Someone who stopped by our outside table asked to make sure that we saw the sights in Kikinda. He said "our town has a soul. The people here get along and love each other." It is a nice place. We did notice, however, that a lot of people smoked. We looked it up and discovered that Serbia has the highest rate of smoking per capita in the world. We headed out to Romania. The border crossing was easy. The roads were secondary but in good shape. We were headed for the Carpathian Mountains but we were in a rain pattern so we stopped in Hateg, a good sized town in Romania and stayed at the Fredrick Hotel. Alex at the front desk wanted to travel on a motorcycle so he gave us an upgrade to a Jacuzzi room. It didn’t have a drain plug but the gesture was nice. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7043/2...64601185_c.jpg Parked in front of the Fredrick Hotel https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7320/2...993cd356_c.jpg Our Jacuzzi tub that we couldn’t use. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7307/2...da8acb3b_c.jpg View from our hotel We ate at Café on the Park and had a Romanian fried vegetable and chicken dish. People here generally seem thin and fit. Doesn’t compute with the local diet. |
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