Home Bound

In the Birmingham International Airport with my last English breakfast which I always enjoy due to the variety of items on the plate: over easy eggs, sausage, thick slice bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, half tomato, and potato paddies. It will be good to be home, but first, I have a three part flight.

Hanging in the UK

Hanging in Market Harborough with Shirl and Lee, and with Veronica in Leicester until my flight home Monday morning. Pictured below, from Veronica, are Scottish Eggs which have chopped hard boiled egg centers surrounded by sausage meat, rolled in crumbs and deep fried. Tasty! Then let there be ice cream in Market Harborough. Thank you so much Shirl and Lee for your hospitality.

Safely Home

After two days of travel, four trains, a train delay, a ferry crossing, and a late evening bus shuttle, seven of us are all back in the comforts of our homes and our wonderful tour of France, a small part of Switzerland, and Germany becomes a memory as we readjust to daily life and all that entails. The adventure for Frank and Eileen continues as they are off to Iceland from Munich for another adventure. Thanks Lee and Adrian for getting us all home. Traveling is also about adjusting as we go since we can't always expect things to go as planned. In the end, we got a few extra hours in Munich and Paris, and we are all safely back home. Job well done and another tour of a lifetime. Pictured below is Lee and the can of tuna he found in his panniers when we got home.  If you ride with Lee, you know there is food around but you have to get it from him.

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Bikes on Trains

Seven bikes and panniers; space is a little tight on the train.

The Road Home

The road home back to the U.K. was not actually smooth. The overnight train was late arriving in Paris so we missed our connecting train. We rescheduled for the mid-afternoon and delayed our ferry crossing. On the positive side, we got to spend a few hours in Paris near the Nord Train Station.

Exploring Munich

We took the early train from Passau to Munich so we would have some time to exploring Munich before our overnight train to Paris which departs at 10:50 pm. Munich is the largest city we have visited during our entire tour and the crowds of people we encountered is a testament to its status as a major metropolis. We had time for lunch and beer and a quick visit of the sights. Pictures from Munich below.

More Passau

A view of Passau from the hill, along the Danube River, and late night jazz with Kirk Lightsey on the piano.

Roaming Passau

Based on the Weather Channel, rain is expected again in the afternoon so I set out early to explore Passau which included a short organ performance at the cathedral, a real sleeper. Met up Adrian and Doug and had lunch at SensAsian, their motto, "you'll never wok alone". The food was good but I'm not real sure what Asian cuisine they represent, a little of everything I guess. My lunch is Ramen with roasted duck.

Out and About in Passau

The rain finally yielded to a great evening dinner with the gang to celebrate the successful conclusion to our tour with plenty of beer (wine) and food. Pictured is my entree of Pork tenderloin with mushroom sauce and spatzl. Other pictures are Passau at night.

Passau

We are in Passau, the designated ending place for our tour and we finished our last ride as a group staying together rather than separating into our usual smaller subgroups. The rain returned last night and we rode our last day under cloudy skies with the slightest of sprinkles. No time to explore Passau yet but we are settled in a hotel, the Altstadt and the room is pictured below. A steady rain started soon after we checked in and continued for about 5 hours. Last picture is our room view. First three pictures are from the city of Vilshofen. Time to clean up and dry things out, and for some beer.

Another Beer Garden in Deggendorf

Fifty plus miles to Deggendorf during a warm day where we again, camp in a beer garden along the Danube River about a mile plus from the town square. Doug and I do a quick exploration of the town centre and return to camp for dinner and beer with the gang. 2.60 euro for a half liter of good beer in a great value and unheard of in France. I am sad to say that tomorrow is our last day of riding and we will reach Passau but also looking forward to some more comfort since we have camped a lot on this tour. However, it has been a wonderful way to visit France, Switzerland, and Germany.

A Day in Regensburg

After some morning chores around camp tending to our bikes and laundry, Adrian and I spend the day exploring Regensburg and rendezvoused with the gang at 5:00 for dinner and some beer. Below is the Regensburg Minster and the historic stone bridge.

Making Regensburg

For the last several days, we have been riding on a lot of hard packed, and sometimes loose, gravel bike paths. I will have to say that the bike paths beyond France have not been up to the French standards we've become accustomed to. The gravel paths generate a lot of dust and dirt, and covers our bikes and panniers with it. That being said the highlights for today, as pictured below, were the church in Weltenburg and our short ferry ride from Weltenburg to Kelheim along the gorge in the Danube River. Besides picturesque cities and villages, we also rode under blue skies for a second day. Nighttime and morning temperatures have been cooler make it feel more like fall. We are camping in Regensburg and will take another rest day tomorrow. Adrian and I tried to get a room near the downtown centre, but most hotels were full or too expensive since it's Friday.