Regensburg

The history of Regensburg dates back 2000 years ago when Stone Age Man settled on the banks of the Danube River. In 2006, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage sight because "it is the only authentically preserved large medieval city in Germany."  Here are a 
few shots of some of the architecture seen around the city:

We spent the morning walking through the streets of of this charming city and doing some window shopping.  We then headed to the Wurstkuche for lunch.  It is located in a 900 year old building that was used to feed the workers who built the Stone Bridge right next to it.  The restaurant serves the most delicious sausages and sauerkraut with amazing grainy mustard!  They are rumored to serve 6,000 sausages daily. . .you can either get 6, 8, or 10 in a serving.  I went for the six :-)!

Delicious!!!  I know there are only 5 on the plate I had already eaten one before I remembered to take the picture!

Stone Arch Bridge

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to get fitted for our bikes and then took them for a little test ride to see if all was good.  

We got a bike trunks and headed back to the room to pack them with the essentials we would need for each day while riding.  Rain jacket, snacks, locks, kleenex, etc were all stuffed into the trunk.

The group gathered together for the first time for a drink in the square, there are 19 riders and 4 guides for this trip.  It will take a day or two to learn everyone's name, it looks like a fun group.  The oldest rider is 77!  I continue to be amazed on all our trips how many people in their mid to late 70's are doing these types of trips . . .I hope I grow up to be one of them!

Sisters from Sheboygan!

Our cycling group

Me just drinking some beer!

Jeanna is already sleeping because we have a 7am breakfast and 8:30 Safety Meeting!  Tomorrow we ride 59 miles so I better get to bed!

The 48 Hour Day

The travel karma was good to us this trip.  We were worried about some thunderstorms in Erie so we left a little early for the airport.  The skies were cloudy but clearing as we headed out of New York into Pennsylvania so I was feeling better about getting out of Erie.  Our back up plan was to just drive to Detroit if there were any delays so we could make our flight.  I really didn't want to do that - we are not good at driving long distances and Detroit was outside of our 3-hour radius!!  As we approached the airport a single big black storm cloud hung over it - Jeanna and I burst out laughing because it was so crazy!  The cloud finally past and we spent 2 hours waiting for our plane.

The plane ride to Detroit is very short, flying time 35 minutes, so I was reading a magazine during the flight.  I hear a little boy behind me say "Daddy, what is that smoke?", we were flying in a cloud so I thought he meant the cloud.  Then I looked down at my feet and it looked like someone had started a fog machine. . .the flight attendant assured us it was normal condensation inside the plane!

We arrived in Detroit early and had a 5 1/2 hour layover.  I made the mistake of watching House of Cards on my iPad through Netflix and didn't want to quit watching to board the plane!  The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful but I only slept about 3 hours :-(!  

We still had a 3 1/2 - 4 hour train ride ahead of us so we collected our bags and got on the bus to take us to the train station.  Our train was supposed to leave from Track 4 so we were waiting on that Track. . .all of a sudden a Porter who I talked with earlier came and grabbed me and said our train was on Track 5!  We gathered our luggage and did an OJ Simpson down the track to get in the right car!!

Jeanna and Paula giving the traveling thumbs up!!

 

Jeanna and Paula tried to stay awake on the train ride but just couldn't make it happen!!!  We arrived safely in Regensburg and checked into our hotel.  We were all exhausted but trying to do the right thing but getting out and walking around.  We had our first German Beers and had lunch.  Our friends, Barb and Dede arrived from LAX so we met them for a drink and tried to keep ourselves awake until 8pm!

Jeanna is snoring beside me as I type and I just almost fell asleep waiting for the pictures to load so I am off to sleep as well.  Tomorrow we are going to do a city tour and meet our fellow bikers.

Gute Nacht jeder!

Willkommen!

"How would you like to bike across Austria along the Danube to Vienna?" asked our friends Barbara and Dede last fall.  I thought to myself "Okay, it is not hiking", I had put a ban on hiking in 2013 to let my knee have a break - this could be fun.  So here we are on the eve of departing for Germany to make our way to Regensburg were we will meet up with the rest of our group.  We are using ExperiencePlus, a group that was recommended to us by my friend, June.  She did the trip last September and thought it was fabulous. . . then again she is an avid cyclist and is doing some trip every year!  I am a pseudo-cyclist so we shall see how this goes!!!

The trip will be 8 days and 7 nights, we will bike 495km (306 miles) during our adventure!  The first day we will bike 60 miles!  Everyone says that the route is relatively flat and you basically have all day to make it to your destination.  I am counting on the flat part and hoping that the day can broken up with some sightseeing to some time off the bike seat :-)!

We have been busy packing and getting all our gear together. . .lots of layers for various conditions, bike shoes, pedals, biking shorts, sunscreen, and Hoo Ha Ride Glide. . . .yes - Hoo Ha Ride Glide!
Ride Glide is a must for long distance rides!  I remember some really awful stories of blisters and rashes during the Minnesota AIDS ride when I did it 15 years ago. . .we used vaseline then but now there are a couple of products!  The packaging on this one is very creative and gets good reviews - we will let you know!!!

Tomorrow we will pray for good travel karma as we fly from Erie, Pa to Detroit to Frankfurt!  We will arrive in Frankfurt early in the morning in Thursday and hop on a train to Regensburg.  Regensburg is the northernmost extent of the Danube.  Looking forward to another great adventure!!!

Auf Wiedersehen!!