Bikes, Boats and Bahn

Whoa.  Looking back I see how long overdue I am for a post. As with most things, the longer I put it off, the harder it is to sit down and do.  But here I am in a hotel in Patras, Greece, with wifi connection.  Matthias is sleeping and I've got no excuses (except for the desire to catch up with Bill Maher, Trevor Noah and the rest....)

Speaking of TV, I visited a mineral water factory in Bavaria - kept thinking of Laverne and Shirley and wanted to throw a glove on one of the bottles and watch it go through the motions.  Kinda like one of those FB posts "Like" if you remember this....

We've come quite a long way since I left off in Bavaria.  We got our bikes tended to (and wallets emptied) in a nice town called Traunstein.  After that, we started riding north, in the general direction of Gommern, where Matthias' parents live.   First, we followed a regional bike trail to a small town called Marktl, now famous (in Germany) as the birthplace of Pope Benedikt.  We had been to the campsite 10 years earlier and had fond memories, and it was still a nice place - a family run farmhouse-turned-campsite.  Another reason we went there was to visit Burghausen.  It boasts the longest castle complex in Europe - we had seen it from across the river on our way to Salzburg and thought it would be interesting to visit.  It was.

Scene riding from Rosenheim to Traunstein

Biergarten in Traunstein - a highlight while our bikes were getting tended to.  Judy is somewhere in the picture  

The "Burg" (Castle) in Burghausen

After that we headed over the rolling hills of lower Bavaria toward Landshut.  We really had no inclination to visit Landshut but there was a good train (Bahn) connection to Gommern, and the campsite was located fairly close to the train station, so it worked for us.  But it's always good to have low expectations, right?  We found Landshut, located just an hour outside of Munich, to be a really nice town.  The campsite was great - quiet, riverside, and totally close to town - and there just happened to be a huge festival going on while we were there (oh darn).  So our last two days of the summer bike trip ended on a high note - great food, music and (of course) beer.

This is a "milk automat" on the road - you bring a bottle (or buy one from a machine) and get it filled with fresh cow milk.  We somehow figured out how to have a taste.  The enlarged picture (possible by clicking) shows it better.  It was quite good. 

Festival in Landshut - the band was awesome!

Must admit, I don't remember taking this picture, but I think it's pretty cool!

Leaving Landshut, we took a few trains to reach Gommern.  Traveling on German trains is wonderful, but with our fully-loaded bikes, and the bike trailer Matthias pulls, it can be a stressful experience.  We did miss one train connection, but that meant we had to have lunch (döner kepab) in Hof while waiting for the next train - a treat, in fact.  And we arrived in Gommern just in time for dinner with Matthias' parents a couple of days before his father's (Achim's) 70th birthday.  Upon our arrival, we learned that Achim's sister, Ingrid, who lives near Bonn, had changed her plans and would not be able to make the trip for the celebration.  While I was sorry to learn that she wouldn't be joining us, it turned out that Achim had bought a lot of her favorite regional eats that needed to be consumed.  As we were enjoying some of the treats, I remembered that Inge was terribly fond of red wine.  And yes, it turned out that Achim bought a few bottles for her, and it was up to us to enjoy them.  JOY!

Red wine!

The 70th birthday party was nice.  I can now understand a lot more German than I could at Achim's sixtieth ten years ago, so I could communicate better with family members.  It was a lovely, typical German affair - Achim invited a man who played the accordion, so there was a lot of traditional music and singing to go along with the eating and drinking.  Prost!

Two of a kind

Family Photo!

It was that kind of night - I ordered a vodka!

Video sing along!

Breakfast the next day - on the terrace.

So, following the birthday festivities, Birgitt and Achim (Matthias parents) took off on a trip to Croatia.  We were waiting for a set of keys to be made for one of our bike locks (Matthias lost his keys in Salzburg), and it turned out we needed to wait nearly two weeks for one of the special keys to come in. So we squatted at Matthias' parents' house for another week, where we did some shopping, bike riding and tv watching.  The key was ready just before his parents returned so we got to visit with them again before heading south - to Greece.

Castle near Gommern - built by the mother of Katherine the Great (Russian Tsarina) who was born nearby.

We took another long train journey back to Bavaria, and luckily made all our connections to Rosenheim, where we stayed at a campsite we visited a month before.  We then rode a few days to Innsbruck, stopping at Kufstein and a beautiful campsite in the Zillertal (Ziller River Valley in Austria) on the way to Innsbruck.  From Innsbruck, we took a train to Bologna.  More on that in a minute.

Back on the Inn River Radweg (Bike path) riding toward Innsbruck. 

OMG - best campsite bathroom EVER!  Seriously, this was the shower room at the campsite in Zillertal.

The view from the Zillertal campground (with our tent in front).

Bologna.  Let me just say I knew Matthias would hate it, but I REALLY wanted to go because I heard it was one of the great places to eat in Italy.  So I basically said, "Suck it up, Matthias, and let's have our 13th anniversary celebration in Bologna!"    By the way, the reason we stopped in Bologna is  because it was on the train line to Ancona, where the ferries leave for Greece.  So we had to stop there anyway.  Matthias wasn't loving it - he really doesn't care for Italy, to put it lightly, and the fact that the campsite cost nearly 30 Euros didn't help.  But we spent two nights there, with a full day to explore the city and EAT.  It did cost a lot, but I really enjoyed it!!

First stop in Italy - deli at Brennero (the Brenner Pass over the Alps) for a snack! 

Gelato in Bologna!!

Scenes from the Anniversary dinner - looks like Matthias could enjoy it after all!

Still eating!

And eating...

From Bologna, it was an easy train ride to Ancona, where we got the ferry to Greece.  I was amused (after being annoyed?) seeing the change in Matthias as we boarded the ferry.  I guess he feels at home in Greece, and I can't really blame him.  The ferry was fun - lots of people from everywhere, beautiful scenery, and interesting accommodations.  We didn't book a cabin (of course) but we did have our sleeping bags and air mattresses with us so it made "deck accommodations" quite comfortable.

Rainbow over Ancona as we were leaving! 

Our dinner on board!

Greece!! (or Albania - I'm not sure)

And so, we just arrived in Patras and booked a hotel for the first night.  Had a delicious dinner by the sea (Matthias couldn't stop talking about how much better it was than in Italy - not sure I totally agree, but let him have the moment) and now I've just finished writing the blog (or blogging, I guess).  Tomorrow we're off on our bikes toward Piraeus and Crete, with a few camping stops on the way.  It's supposed to rain, but can I really complain?  No.