Tilly Tilly Bang Bang…
After Ilanz the Rhine heads through a gorge along with the train but the bike route goes over the top of the mountain to meet back up with the river at Tamins. We decided we’d hop on the train for this short section and save our legs as some of these hills are 15% and are for the hardcore mountain bikers not us. Or maybe we’re wusses as Ben tells me. The train journey is well worth it, winding back and forth along the bank of the river giving spectacular views of the river a few feet away. The guards on the train were the usual helpful souls passing our panniers down to us and...
Read MoreScream if you want to go faster…
“Reed!” Shouted the lady in the hotel at Andermatt as we walked in the front door in a very German Kommandant like manner. “Jarvohl”. I should have replied but being a bit taken aback at being shouted at the moment you walk through the front door when you know Linda is still outside, I timidly replied ” yes”. “Follow me to your room” she continued curtly and we complied immediately. The room itself was very nice with a brand new bathroom (always a hit with Linda) and our hostess was actually very nice once she’d frog marched us to our...
Read More“Hotel Taffy”
Taffy has turned somewhat into a mobile hotel and restaurant over the last few weeks as first we had Lewis come to stay, then met up with Mike and Ali and finally Jacques and Mandy. It’s been fantastic seeing them all and the highlight surely had to be Lewis flying over the handle bars of his bike into a bush as he either lost control of his bike or nobly jumped off the bike to avoid crashing into Linda depending on who tells the story! He was great fun to be with and we all sampled various beers – even Jon who hates them – and Lewis worked his way through a few of the...
Read MoreThey think it’s all over….
1000 km for the trip Lubbenau Spreewald Festival And in the knick of time Potsdam Malbork – the largest castle in the world Welcome home from Tilly! I always feel a bit of anti climax when we return to the EU, whereas Linda feels relief but I have to say I wasn’t sorry to see the back of Kaliningrad. After a smooth border crossing we headed to Malbork in Poland, another UNESCO World heritage site and allegedly the largest castle in the world. It’s remarkable and the camp site was on the river bank opposite – perfect for a couple of days R&R. We seemed to have caught the culture bug...
Read MoreEscape from Cold…itz now warm & sunny!
The Elbe Valley Altkötzscenbroda Altkötzscenbroda Colditz We’ve actually whizzed about since the last blog entry and are now at Radebeul, about 15km downstream of Dresden on the Elbe. We picked this stellplatz purely because it was on the river and away from the noise and hustle and bustle of Dresden – we are definitely acting like grandparents these days! To be fair that’s how we pick most places we go. Anyway, as seems to always be the case we hit the jackpot and Radebeul is a real Gem. We’re now in old East Germany and part of Radebeul – Altkötzscenbroda – was abandoned under communist...
Read MoreFifty shades of G..rain
! To say it’s been wet is like saying the North poles a bit nippy, we’ve had so much rain that, had we been in the States, we’d have seen countless Creationists building Ark’s in their back gardens! But occasionally it stops and the sun pokes its head out from behind the clouds, like a naughty toddler from behind a curtain, just to lure you into a false sense of security and make you get the bike out so that 10 minutes later it can pour down and soak you through even the toughest waterproofs. Waterproofs?! We need wet suits, not shower macks! The weather over the whole of the north of Europe...
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