Two Wheels move the Soul

The Citadel Besancon France Next day we moved on to Besancon since on previous trips we'd see the “Citadel” on a hill over the town. We walked up to it and while it was interesting, and a WHS, we found an ancient gate dating back to approximately 175 AD, built in honor of Marcus Aurelius’ far more intriguing. Marcus Arelius Gate To think the Roman Empire extended this far in 175 AD. This is a beautiful town in eastern France we’d highly recommend people visit. We also had one of the best Mussels and Fries we’ve ever had by using Google Maps and Google Plus and following directions to a place that looked deserted but was a very good restaurant. Moselkern and Roots On the move again we arrive in Moselkern and hike to Burg Eltz. If you said we’ve been here before you’d be correct. Back in 2004 we visited Moselkern and Burg Eltz and we wanted to get back to funky back country villages and scenery. Here we hike back into the Castle for the picturesq

Lacets High in French Alps Last year we came to the Annecy region for the first time and really enjoyed the beauty of it.  This time it was to use a great hotel we had found to stage a re-visit to the LACETS from the 2015 Tour de France, and have a picnic there at a place we knew. It just so happened a local bike club was riding by at the time we were there. Popular since Tour De France came through On the return trip to Annecy we saw a Chateau in the distance, and drove to it. It was Chateau Miolans a chateau that later became a prison for celebrity prisoners like the Marquis de Sade. On the road to Albertville, so interesting when you gunkhole. Chateau Miolans

The Matterhorn In all of time we have ridden Europe we have never been to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. Last year we had it scheduled if weather permitted, and it didn’t so this year we followed the weather and a nice window opened at just the right time for us to seize it; so we did. The drive from Mennagio to Domodossola was extremely difficult since it crosses back and forth between Italy and Switzerland and roads are in many case 1 lane in width for a couple of kms. All the time around some difficult terrain, but we made it to Tasch, the base of getting to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. We arrived just early enough to be able to do our ascent and hike down that afternoon, under crystal clear blue skies, absolutely no cloud and excellent temperatures. The 1 ½ hr descent was a lot tougher than expected though with our calves and thigh muscles burning a lot then and today. Sandra on the Descent On our drive to Martigny in southern western Switzerland today we marveled at the o

Almost same picture as 10 years ago Hedges are taller is all After a great meal at the Locanda de Convento, the very best Gnocchi I have had, though the Hungarian Bistro’s was superb as well, and an overnight stay there, we drove across the top of Italy and headed to Mennagio on Lake Como. A nice lunch on a vista overlooking the lake and then Gelato in Mennagio we headed just west of town to a hotel we had stayed at 10 years earlier.  That story is so memorable for us since it was truly “a dark and stormy night”.  We had on that occasion around the 22 May 2006, chosen to ride over the Gotthard Pass from Switzerland into Italy. Rain turned to snow, the Gotthard was closed and we detoured with the rental moto to take a lower pass that snow hadn’t accumulated on. Because of the storm everything had closed down, no gas stations and I was running out. The trek from Lugano to Mennagio I always characterized as driving inside a firehose, super dark and wet.  Finally we saw the

Budapest Parliament Buildings at Dusk After our visit to Esztergom is our 48 km drive into our hotel in Budapest. We arrive before rush hour and getting settled was pretty easy. Out for a bit of a walk and a nice meal before bed we realize we are really well situated for taking in the sites. As most already know Buda   Pest is made up of two cities with Buda being the west city (older) and Pest the east city (newer). Buda has the old castle, St Matthias Church St Matthias at Dusk and the Fishermans Bastion. Parliament from Fishermans Bastion Pest has more modern hotels, restaurants etc. From our experience now, we would say Pest is much busier, noisier, with Buda being more congested, and slower. Shoes on the Danube Jewish Memorial The best treat of our stay was a small restaurant called the Hungarian Bistro. It was so good the first day we ate there after seeing the “Shoes on the Danube”, about 4 blocks away, that we made a special trip back there a second

String Orchestra in Bratislava playing "Let It Be" Bratislava is a Slavic city only 60 kms from Vienna, but a world apart culturally. When I worked in the International Security arena, I spoke frequently to a Czechoslovakian woman, from the former Soviet state, who escaped across the border into Austria, and she told me about her final call to her mother when she got cold feet and wasn’t going to go through with it. Her mother told her to stay strong and go, and, afterwards she realized how fortunate she was to escape at that time. She never did see her mother alive again unfortunately. One girl lost her way and wondering "Are we Done yet?" We got into our hotel early in the afternoon, checked in, tram tickets bought and we were on our way to the old town. 20 mins later we were in the town centre where we toured the old castle/palace, the old town and most fortunately on a gorgeous sunny hot afternoon took in a free concert in the old town square ju

Esztergom Hingary Basilica From Slovakia Difficult to gauge magnitude until you realize how big the Cruise ship is   Esztergom you say? Never heard of it. Well I hadn’t either until I had started watching the CBC TV series “X Company”. I learned from the background to the show that Esztergom was substituted for Paris in the WWII series drama.  When I searched it out online I found out that Esztergom has the 3 rd largest church in Europe, sits on the Danube, was the original capital of Hungary and where King Stephens, Crowning of King Stephen 1000 AD later St Stephens was crowned Hungary’s first king on Christmas day 1000 AD . If driving up to Spis HRad was awe inspiring so was approaching this mammoth cathedral on a promontory bend on the Danube River. We enjoyed the hike up to the church and took the additional hike up nearly 400 steps to the Dumo  where you get an amazing view of the Danube some 800 feet up and look back over some of Slovakia.  Old Soviet

Esztergom Hingary Basilica From Slovakia Difficult to gauge magnitude until you realize how big the Cruise ship is   Esztergom you say? Never heard of it. Well I hadn’t either until I had started watching the CBC TV series “X Company”. I learned from the background to the show that Esztergom was substituted for Paris in the WWII series drama.  When I searched it out online I found out that Esztergom has the 3 rd largest church in Europe, sits on the Danube, was the original capital of Hungary and where King Stephens, Crowning of King Stephen 1000 AD later St Stephens was crowned Hungary’s first king on Christmas day 1000 AD . If driving up to Spis HRad was awe inspiring so was approaching this mammoth cathedral on a promontory bend on the Danube River. We enjoyed the hike up to the church and took the additional hike up nearly 400 steps to the Dumo  where you get an amazing view of the Danube some 800 feet up and look back over some of Slovakia.  Old Soviet E

  Spis Castle when you first see it After some visiting with family in eastern Poland just off the Ukraine border we head for the Dukla pass. This pass separates Poland from Slovakia and was a strategic stronghold since if you could hold this pass you could keep the Russian from advancing on the Germans in Slovakia. An observation tower, Observation Tower Dukla Pass and open air WWII museum are in the vicinity. Open Air Museum Piece Sandra showing Magnitude of Roadway Wooden Churches in Slovakia As well this area of Slovakia, like much of it bears a lot of similarity with Romania, in particular the wooden churches.  However these are not adorned with paintings like the Orthodox churches of Romania. Our day ends in Bardejov,  Beautiful Bardejov Walls the old town is a WHS site because of its castle walls. After a walk around town we retire to the Zornicka Penzion located in Bardejov Kupele, a recuperative location 5 kms outs

Warsaw Uprising Museum The next day we moved on to Warsaw specifically to see the Warsaw uprising museum. Our hotel the Villa Amfora was perfectly situated to allow us off the Autobahn and into town in no time flat, plus a 1 ½ block walk to the Warsaw train. Two stops later and you are at the Museum for the Warsaw uprising ! WWII Supply Plane Dropped canisters Parachute Drop Zones This museum highlights the uprising of the Polish people during WWII, the betrayals from the Allies and the Russians, the Occupation by the Russians until 1989 and now how Poland has developed a military capable of defending itself. Canister Contents I was unaware that the French foreign minister at the outset of WWII talked the Allies out of taking any action against Germany when they invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. He was later proven to be a Nazi sympathizer. Strange Bedfellows who betrayed the Poles I was aware that Stalin and Hitler negotiated a deal in August 1939 that had