BIKE TRIP – SPAIN 2023

25 Tuesday Apr 2023

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Greetings all,

Chris and I are off on another great bicycle adventure. This time we are biking across Spain from the southern most tip of Spain on the Straits of Gibraltar north to San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay.

Our trip began last Monday, April 17. Using our miles we flew first class on Alaska Airlines from Seattle to Miama Beach, Florida. We asked the flight attendant to take our picture and this is what we got.

We spent two days in South Beach where we stayed here

which had a lovely little tea room where we had breakfast every morning.

On Thursday we flew Business Class on Iberia Airlines to Madrid. What an amazing experience that was,

complete with fully reclining seats for a good night’s sleep. We had a lovely fizzie time before dinner.

From Madrid we took a train south to Malaga, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. We spent two days exploring Malaga and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

Alcazaba is a massive fortress built between 1057 and 1063 which overlooks the entire city and beyond.

Here’s the view of the city from the fortress.

One more highlight of Malaga was the Atarazanas Central Market where the locals come to shop. This was the biggest market I’ve ever seen!

So much to explore!

Bike Trip – Day 20 Vienna

09 Saturday Jun 2018

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Schoenbrunn, Vienna

Today is our last day in Vienna. I think we saved the best for last without even knowing it. We headed east this time for a 3+ kilometer walk to the Schoenbrunn Palace, a former imperial summer residence.

This place was huge and amazing and kept getting more amazing the farther into the grounds we walked. We first took a 40 minute tour of 44 out of the 1,441 rooms which lasted at least an hour and a half and was most interesting. (No photography allowed.)

Here’s a picture of the back of the palace (or maybe the front).

And from the back of the palace looking out, this is what you see.

The structure in the background high on the hill is called the Gloriette. (Wikipedia defines Gloriette as a building in a garden erected on a site that is elevated with respect to the surroundings.) We took a circuitous route to the top of the hill and came upon more treasures like this Roman Ruin fountain.

Constructed in 1778 it sympolises both the decline of once great powers and the preservation of remains of a heroic past.

Then there was the Obelisk fountain as a symbol of stability and permanence.

From the Gloriette the view of the palace and gardens was amazing.

This outing took up most of the day with a very long walk

back to our Pension. Here’s a picture of our cozy little room. Barely space for our suitcases but it’s just fine since we don’t spend much time here and it’s in a great location.

Here’s the staircase up to our floor.

And here you can see our window from the walking street side. We’re on the second from the top floor just left of the tree with the window open.

Another siting from our wanderings – the UPS “truck” passed by. Pretty cool, eh?

Our last night in Vienna before we head for home. Dinner .3km from our pension for a wonderful Austrian dinner of schnitzel and Gruner Veltliner.

It’s been an incredible, beautiful trip with so many wonderful memories. And to top it off, we get to see Justin and Lauren in a week up in Seattle. Can’t wait!

Bike Trip – Day 19 Vienna

08 Friday Jun 2018

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Crown Jewels, Naschmarkt, Oberes Belvedere, Vienna

Lots of wandering again today. First stop was the Oberes Belvedere.

This palace was built in the early 16th century with an upper palace (in picture above) and a lower palace divided by a very large French garden.

By 1776 Maria Theresa and her son Emperor Joseph II decided to transfer the Imperial Picture Gallery to the Upper Belvedere. In the spirit of Enlightened Absolutism, they determined the imperial collection was to be opened to the public. Here’s the first room we entered.

And the ceiling in this room with the chandelier.

Here are some of the highlights of this amazing museum.

Vincent van Gogh painted this unusually wide landscape shortly before his suicide. Although it depicts a rural landscape, to van Gogh it represented hopelessness and loneliness.

Claude Monet painted this garden pathway to his house in Giverny on the Seine.

Monet painted this portrait of Paul Antoine Graff chef and owner of a small hotel in Pourville on the English Chanel. Monet enjoyed his culinary skills during his two month stay at his hotel.

The Kiss (Lovers) by Gustav Klimt is the most famous Austrian painting and the highlight of the permanent collection at the Upper Belvedere.

Here’s an odd piece with no description in a room of her own. Those are tweezers in her right hand and a broken piece of mirror in her left.

And this is the room she is in. Nothing in this room is three-dimensional. It’s all painted on a flat wall and ceiling. Pretty amazing.

After spending several hours here we moved on to see what else we could see. Here is Karlskirche, considered the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one of the city’s greatest buildings.

The World War II Memorial.

The Imperial Treasury, located in the Imperial Palace

contains the infamous “Crown Jewels”.

One of my favorite finds on our wanderings is the Naschmarkt.

Over 120 stalls offering food and spices from around the world. We had a delicious gnocchi lunch here.

Stuffed peppers

Olives

Spices

Cheeses

Our last stop was the Ankeruhr Vienna Clock. The picture below shows the correct time of 5pm.

When we finally got back to our pension, Chris picked up a delicious kebob sandwich that we ate in our room while listening to some great jazz guitar music just below our window.

Bike Trip – Day 18 Vienna

07 Thursday Jun 2018

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open piano, Riesenrad, St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna

What a great fun day this was! We started out with a visit to the world famous Spanische Reitschule or Spanish Riding School.

This is the home of the Lipizzaner horses. Since we will not be here for a weekend performance we watched their “morning exercises” to Baroque music. (No pictures allowed inside.) These exercises take place “in a ballroom that seems to be a crystal-chandeliered stable.”

From here we hoofed it over to the great Wiener Riesenrad, or Riesenrad.

This Giant Ferris Wheel was erected in 1897 and was the world’s tallest Ferris Wheel from 1920 until 1985. (For those of you who don’t already know, I am a Ferris.)

It has been a prominent feature of the city’s skyline ever since. It has fifteen box-like cars, similar to the first Ferris Wheel built for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. It is built just like a bicycle wheel with spokes in tension.

Chris was particularly fascinated by the rim-drive mechanism. (You’ll have to ask him to explain.)

The view from the top is great. From here you can see the Donauturm, the tower I went up yesterday as well as the tall black building I photographed a few days ago.

On our way to our next stop we passed by this guy who would run out in the middle of the street when the light was red and juggle.

And many of the buses/trollies have these two flags on top of them.

We are now at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, “the mother-ship of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna”. Built in the 12th century it is one of the most iconic buildings in Vienna.

There is a pain-staking renovation effort underway to clean the black from the facade that was caused by air pollution. They use very small brushes and water so as not to damage any of the detail.

Inside the church is massive.

The stained glass windows are very simple, unlike most cathedrals we’ve seen.

And check out this staircase I spotted way in the back of the church.

Here’s a picture of the the top of the south Tower.

And here’s a picture of the south Tower from a block away.

As we headed back towards our pension we came upon this “theatrical?” performance. Imagine this woman? singing (in a voice like Bernadette’s on Big Bang Theory) “I am Pretty…” complete with musical accompaniment.

Then, while still singing I am Pretty, out come these two performers.

Apparently this troupe is called Souvenirs on Tour. I thought it was great but it was time to move on. After several more blocks of walking we heard music – great piano music and came upon this scene.

He was incredibly good as was the next guy who sat down to play. It’s something called Open Piano. Later in the evening, after dinner closer to our pension we came upon the sound of great music again.

Same piano moved to a different location. Different people playing and once again amazing music. Here’s a snippet of what it was like.

As I said at the beginning what a great fun day this was.

Bike Trip – Day 17 Vienna

06 Wednesday Jun 2018

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Vienna

Today’s the day we pack up the good ol’ tandem and move on to doing the tourista thing in Vienna. Here’s Chris packing the bike in the lobby of this fancy 4-star hotel lobby.

Once the bike was packed we checked out, leaving our luggage at the hotel and walked through a giant park to the Donauturm or Danube Tower. It is the tallest structure in Austira (827 ft.) and among the 75 tallest towers in the world.

From the top you could see forever – almost. This view shows the route we took coming into the city a couple of days ago. We rode along the south (opposite) bank of the Danube coming from the far right of the picture, then as we got closer we crossed to the “island” in the middle, rode along that for awhile and then across the bridge to this side and into town.

After a little picnic in the park on the way back to our hotel we took a taxi to our new “home” for the next several days, the Pension Hargita.

It’s a pretty funky little place in a great location and right on one of the busy bustling walking streets.

Our room is very hot (as have many on this trip) so we set off to explore. Here’s a statue of Mozart, who spent much of his life here.

This is the Schmetterlinghaus. At the far end is home to hundreds of butterflies housed in a tropical rainforest setting (which was closed).

The large middle section is a restaurant.

And a few more sites we passed by.

We are in the old part of Vienna and what I find so striking is the stark contrast between the very old and the very new. Here are some interesting examples.

And now for a couple of other out of the ordinary sitings. This shop sells glasses frames made of wood.

And I think some of you know exactly who this reminds me of.

Even the sky seems out of the ordinary.

We finished out our day with a light dinner at a Vegan restaurant near our hotel. And one last interesting shot for you.

P.S. It’s after 9pm, it’s 76 degrees outside, our room is still hot so our window is open and remember the busy walking street? Well it’s still bustling. But that’s ok – who needs sleep anyway.

Bike Trip 2 – Day 16 Kerns to Vienna

05 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Danube Cycle Path, Vienna

53 miles, 4 hours on the bike

Today is our last day of riding on this wonderful bike trip.

We got off to an early start and it was already 73 degrees. The riding throughout the day ranged from

all flat with a lovely tailwind.

Check out this amphitheater between the bike path and the Danube with the stage out over the water. People could bike to this site from all around the area.

We stopped for lunch at a little, bike-friendly cafe right on the bike path and had their risotto with asparagus – so delicious.

Here’s our first view of Vienna, about 5 kilometers away.

The ride into the city on the bike path was very nice.

Then we crossed the Danube on a special bike/ped path under the main traffic bridge. So cool!

Once in the city we encountered streets like this. Sidewalk with curb, cycle path with curb, parked cars, and then the traffic street. It seems so logical. Everyone has their place.

At last, we arrive at our hotel, the NH Hotel Danube City.

Once again we went out for a walk and saw some amazing architecture.

And how ’bout this “church”?

And here’s the inside.

And check out this bike.

And, speaking of bikes, tomorrow we pack up our bike and spend the next several days exploring all of Vienna.

Bike Trip 2 – Day 15 Marbach – Krems

04 Monday Jun 2018

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Melk, Melk Abby, Wachau

37 miles (some of which was on a boat), 4 hours (also includes boat time)

We started out in the most perfect, beautiful morning. Just the right temperature and beautiful blue skies. Here’s our view at breakfast.

Our first stop was the Benedictine Abby in Melk.

Since we wanted to catch the 1100 ferry we didn’t have much time to explore.

We had a voucher for a ferry ride from Melk to Spitz so we hopped aboard.

We parked the bike in a special bike room

and grabbed a table in the stern in the shade along the port side. A great view from here. Did you notice those dark clouds in the photo above? As soon as we were underway, the skies opened up and poured a nice spring rain. It was fine for us but all the people who, a moment ago were basking in the sun, had to run for cover. The rain stopped after a few minutes, they all scampered back to their seats, got all relaxed and then another dump. The same drill again, and after a few minutes the rain stopped again and everyone settled down. This whole time Chris and I just sat and enjoyed our perfect spot. Here’s one of the castle ruins we saw along the way.

While on this 45 minute river cruise we entered the Wachau wine region of Austria. The whites from this region are exported world wide.

We were very excited and looking forward to this portion of our trip. We’d heard great things about this area and all the great wine tasting opportunities. So as we got off the boat we started looking for the wineries and sure enough they were everywhere. The first one right near the ferry dock was closed but check this out. The line way at the top of this wall is the high water mark from the 2002 flood.

As we continued our search for wineries we discovered that they were all closed on Sunday. We couldn’t believe the tour company scheduled our one day in wine country on a Sunday. Such a disappointment.

We can’t complain too much as the riding was spectacular.

We got to our hotel,

took showers and headed off to explore the town of Krems.

Look how deserted the street is. Nearly everything is closed ’cause it’s Sunday. We walked all the way across town

and had a wonderful dinner in a very eclectic place (2Stein) near the university. Then a really long walk back to the hotel along the river.

Bike Trip 2 – Day 14 Perg – Marbach/Maria Taferi

03 Sunday Jun 2018

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Burg Clam

40 miles, 3 hours on the bike

Almost all of our riding today was on very rural country roads near the Danube.

At about 10 miles we took a side trip to check out Burg Clam or Castle Clam. This involved a steep climb up 700 feet in about 2.5 km. That means it was a 9% and steeper grade.

Built before 1149 this castle became the home of Lord Baron Johann Gottfried von Clam in the early 1600’s. It has been in the Clam family ever since. We arrived just in time for a tour of the castle which we thought would be only 40 minutes. The entire tour was in German and lasted over 90 minutes. We had a handout that was in English so we could follow along. Here are some of my photos from this tour. Here you can see the old against the new.

The inner courtyard.

Our guide explaining how the pharmacist handed out his drugs through this little door.

The formal dinning room of course.

A bedroom.

And the view from here.

Another amazing thing about this castle is that it’s rooms are available to rent and you can have special events there including dining in the formal dining room. And most amazing of all is they have huge rock concerts on the hillside (see my first picture above). Apparently, Nickelback will be there in a few weeks.

From here we biked down the mountain to the ferry and continued on our way up the other side of the Danube to the little town of Marbach.

At the grocery store across the street from the river we noticed these markings indicating two recent flood levels.

Here you can see that they are adding five feet to the flood protection wall next to the bike path along the river.

Our destination for today. The door to the left is the bike garage.

As we wandered through town on our way to dinner we noticed people lining the streets with tree branches all neatly tied against the buildings.

They are expecting their religions leader (like the pope) to be passing by tomorrow.

Bike Trip 2 – Day 13 Linz – Perg

02 Saturday Jun 2018

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Danube, Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial

40 miles, 3.5 hours on bike, flat with some short climbs

Today’s route was to be only 26 miles so we added a couple of detours. The most memorable stop was at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial site. Several people said it was worth the stop.

On Augus 8, 1938, five months after the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, the first inmates arrived at Mauthausen from Dachau concentration camp.

At the end of 1942 there were 14,000 inmates in Mauthausen and some satellite camps. In March of 1945 there were more than 84,000 in these camps. From the second half of 1944 thousands of inmates were evacuated to Mauthausen from concentration camps to the east.

Barracks on the left. Infirmary and crematorium on the right.

Almost 190,000 people were deported to Mauthausen between construction of the camp in 1938 and its liberation by the US Army in May 1945.

Just outside the camp were many memorials.

Such a contrast between the barbed wire sculpture and the peaceful meadows beyond.

We are now settled in Perg at Gasthof Manner.

Definitely not our typical day.

Bike Trip 2 – Day 12 Linz

01 Friday Jun 2018

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Ars Electronica, Linz, neuer dom, Postlingberg

6 miles – walking, 750 feet elevation gain

Since it was going to be another hot day we decided to start out by visiting the Church of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin in Postlingberg.

The best way to access this Linz landmark is to take the Postlingbergbahn.

“This narrow-gauge electric railway has been making the 16-minute journey since 1898. This is Europe’s steepest non-cog mountain railway and gains 750 feet in elevation in a journey of roughly 2.5 miles with neither pulleys nor cables to prevent it from slipping, tackling a gradient of nearly 1:10.”

Once at the top

we toured the Church.

The view from up here is amazing and on a clear day you can see the Alps. In this photo you are looking down at Linz and see the Danube winding its way off into the distance.

We spent awhile walking around the grounds.

As we wandered we heard music, like a band coming closer.

Not only was it a band but following them were people making their pilgrimage to the church.

And after them came the church leaders.

Meanwhile, there were a few other interesting sites to see as well.

The entrance to the children’s petting zoo. Not real sure what the connection is.

Just to get some exercise, we walked back to town instead of taking the tram. And it was really steep downhill walking.

Here’s a very old cemetery we came upon along the way.

Back in town we headed for the Ars Electronica Museum where the focus is always on what’s emerging now. “Here, the themes and issues of the future become the exhibitions of today – specifically technological developments and their impact on society, art and each one of us.” (Justin, you would love this place.)

One of the first exhibits we saw covered the issues of internet privacy including facebook and what kinds and how much data is collected and it’s impact on us. How’s that for current and relevant? The presentation of data that is important to humans was pretty incredible including information on carbon emissions, climate change, ice cap melting and changes in the earth’s surface as a result, including earthquake data.

This structure was created by the drone robot you can see parked to the left.

We had lunch on the top floor and then waited for the only English speaking presentation called Deep Space 8K. This was “a one-of-a-kind experience with 16×9 meter surfaces on the wall and floor featuring visually stunning projections at 8k resolution!’ We wore 3-D glasses and could walk around in the images. Very cool and too hard to describe.

As we crossed the river back to our hotel we passed by these two massive riverboats.

Next stop is the Neuer Dom (New Cathedral).

“In 1862 the bishop of Linz engaged one of the architects of Cologne cathedral to develop a design for a grand cathedral in the French neo-Gothic style to accommodate 20,000 worshipers.” The interior was amazing.

Two levels of huge stained glass windows on either side.

The main altar.

And a smaller altar right behind the main alter.

A look to the back of the church you can see the pipe organ and if you can see the people in this photo you’ll get a sense of the scale here.

We had dinner at a place above the river where we could see the sights of today. Then off to another spot for dessert. We had decided that since we were in Linz we had to have Linzer Torte. – Right?

Now we’ve done Linz. It’s time to move on.

Life in Japan and Beyond

~ Everyday is an adventure!

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BIKE TRIP – SPAIN 2023

Bike Trip – Day 20 Vienna

Bike Trip – Day 19 Vienna

Bike Trip – Day 18 Vienna

Bike Trip – Day 17 Vienna

Bike Trip 2 – Day 16 Kerns to Vienna

Bike Trip 2 – Day 15 Marbach – Krems

Bike Trip 2 – Day 14 Perg – Marbach/Maria Taferi

Bike Trip 2 – Day 13 Linz – Perg

Bike Trip 2 – Day 12 Linz