BRAVO CANADA

PB 9 years, 6:27:11

Acropolis

After our epic day yesterday, our plan today is not to walk a half marathon. After breakfast we head out to up the Acropolis.  Early enough in the day that there is no line up yet, in and up we go.

After the Acropolis, we had a gelato on the way to the Acropolis museum. Great museum ,

Of course no trip to Athens is complete without a little Polish dancing....

Poland is celebrating 100 years of independence on November 11. We saw them at the expo, and Belinda was hoping to get a t-shirt,  no luck though.

For dinner we went to the restaurant next to our hotel, ellévoro where Belinda had the five course 42k meal and I had the roast chicken, great meal.

We confirm our game plan for tomorrow. The day! Nervous, existed and anxious. 

Get A Taste of Athens

Arrived in Athens last night after an uneventful trip over. That is after being concerned if Belinda would get out of the north in time for our flight to Frankfurt,  she did, all well. We had a transfer from the airport arranged by the hotel. After a quick check in, we were off to find dinner. Found a little roof to restaurant with a view! Some fried feta and fig jam go start. I had a salad and Belinda a chickpea dish,  and cold beers to round it out.

Up early Friday morning for a run, we head to the gardens near by and get our 6km in. And then we are off to meet Pascal for our food tour of Athens.
First stop, traditional coffee house for Greek coffee, accompanied by loukoumi (Turkish Delight).

Next stop 'Open Sesame' for a koulouri, with a new twist on an old tradition. It is Athens version of the New York bagel, sold all over the streets. We have one filled with feta and the other a Greek salad. Both super yummy.

Then we are off to have loukoumades, a Greek donut smothered in honey.

No food tour would be complete without an olive oil tasting. Followed by Greek yogurt and honey. Man I love Greek yogurt,  nothing like Greek style yogurt back home. Belinda picks up a few items to take home.

Then we stroll through the meat and fish markets. Then we are off to sample. Olives, buckets of olives. Belinda samples a few varieties and has some packaged up to take home for Nick, apparently he loves olives.

Across the street we head downstairs to a taverns for lunch, Diporto taverna. These tavernas are a tradition that is dying. They are not marked and you would never know it was down there. The owner will go to the market in the morning and buy what is fresh and cook it, no menu, no options.
Fish, chickpeas, greens and wine. Tasty!

Next on our agenda is package pick up! I thought I knew where it was, but surprise I didn't.  So back to the hotel to change shoes, drop off Belinda's shopping. And off to the expo. Two metros and a tram,  assistance from a couple runners and we make it. Pick up a few gels, socks and headphones. Get our t-shirt and metro passes and we're outta there. Back to our neighbourhood for dinner. Belinda opts for kalamari stuffed with feta and rice, I had spaghetti Bolognese, no complaints. Now that we've walked a half marathon today, we are done!

Out on the water

We have decided on a 2 hour cruise down the Danube. But first breakfast. Sounds simple, but no. We passed a breakfast place last night and our plan is to go there. After walking around, literally around,  for half an hour we still haven't found it. We do find an alternative, but are informed we can't get food for another half hour. No thanks, we'll continue on and hopefully find our original destination.  And 50 minutes later we do, but they finished serving breakfast at 10, and lunch doesn't start till 11. Really! After a bit longer we find a place and finally eat.

We are all set for our 1pm departure, the fiasco of the morning not quite forgotten. We are on the Swarovski boat.

We sit on top and enjoy the hours on the water.

Mexican tonight for dinner for a change of pace. And an early night (as usual), for tomorrow we are off to Munich.

Is that track 1, 4 or 2 to Passau

So after much debate to where we should go on our off days, we decided on Passau.
Up for a run before our 11:15  departure.

Easily purchase tickets, one transfer required, trip is only 1 1/2 hours. The transfer does not go that smoothly. We are on platform 1, but then advised it has been changed to platform 4, we hussle over. Waiting for the train to arrive we are told it is now platform 2. We make it, but it definitely got our adrenaline up. Once we arrive in Passau we drop our bags at the hotel and set off to explore and climb up to the Fortress "Veste Oberhaus".

After walking around we have lunch overlooking the town.

Passau has been a pleasant surprise.

3 posts in 1

Well a little behind in my blogging. Lisa and Chris have kept me quite busy. Friday morning we left Beilngries for Parsberg.  About 10km had us in Berching. What a lovely town, a little cycling to explore and then we decide to have a beer. Came across a kids park with a zip line, so have that a go and then we  were on our way to Parsberg.

A couple of hills on this route,  I had to work, but a few hours later we were in Parsberg. Great accommodation.  We head off for a quick beer and a bit to eat. Didn't get anything to eat, but did have a few beers. We hooked up with the two Brits and we had an awesome meal at the hotel.

As usual an early night. Tomorrow we are hoping the train to Nuremberg. Once inside the the walls of old town, we see the autumn market is on. 

The smell of sausages is too much, Chris and I have one. I had the Nuremberg sausage and Chris the frankonian. And then we are off to storm the castle. Next up lunch. Since I already had my sausage went for the strudel.

And Janet why there are so few pictures of our meals is that we are so hungry when our meals come we just eat!

Then we hop the tram out to Zeppelinfeld Nazi party rally grounds. Train back to Parsberg and a quick dinner and as usual an early night.

Woke to heavy rain this morning. By the time we leave it has lightened up considerably. We pick up Andy, a chap from England whose wife is not interested in riding in the rain.

And that concludes the cycling portion of our holiday. We had a great time, I'm the only one who took a fall, but no serious damage. In the words of Adam Yates "that's bike racing!"

One final word from guest bloggers Lisa and Chris Cook:

Stay Put Day 2 - Beilngries

Plan for the day: Brenda's going for a run and then we are going to tour around town. Run, check. Foggy when I went out and HUMID!

 Back at the hotel for breakfast,  and get our plan for the day together.
Up the hill to the rock cellar brewery museum and Schloss Hirschberg. Museum is only open to groups today, walked around the Schloss, as you can't go in.

So without being to into either place, back down the hill for beer and lunch.

Cheesy pasta with fried onions for Lisa and I, steak for Chris.  So tasty.
A short stop by the Hör Haus.

A little shopping,  scarfs and shoes. And oh my, more beer.

Dinner at the hotel tonight, and an early night. Tomorrow onto Parsberg.