England Tuesday June 4, 2013

Today we continue to stay at Parr Hall Farm. It is a lovely B & B in Eccleston.  It is very near Jackie and Dave's house.  Jackie and Dave took us to dinner on Saturday night and then on Sunday we had a wonderful day at the Lake district on Lake Windermere. 
Yesterday we hiked up to Rivington Pike which was an accomplishment considering how out of shape we/I seem to be.  There were some lovely views up there of much of the Lancashire area.  There is a ruin at the top which was built as a ruin and half way up there is pigeon house which was quite large with gardens below.  Several bicyclists made the trek up on mountain bikes and then after a rest rode down the easy way.  The down would have been lovely as long as you found a smooth path as the rd we came up was rather rocky,  I found myself on the ground at one point because of the pebbles in the road being very slippery.  After Aunt Edna and Uncle Frank's.  Marc Sarah and Angel joined us for Tea. 

Pigeon House

 

The weather here has been wonderful as you can see.

 

Beyond Germany

We have been traveling several days now without blogging. The trip from Plauen to Munich was uneventful.  We enjoyed our little stay in Freising with a walk around town and an early night. Everything went smoothly with our early check in from the hotel,  The flight went well.
Once we arrived in Manchester it seemed to take forever to get the car rental sorted out.  Then began our 3 hour trip to go 35 miles to Tony's house.  apparently the street is not recognized on the sat nav and it kept wanting to take us to another location.  Not to mention the numerous wrong turns in round about and getting on and off the motorway by mistake.  finally I decided we need to go into a McDonald's to get Wi-Fi in order to get a MapQuest map.  Good idea but you need a phone to get internet from McDonald's here.  Our phone has been hit and miss.  Finally someone from the McDonalds let us use her phone and printed out directions and we still needed to ask questions on the street. We had a great visit with Tony and his family,  While staying there we went to Fountains Abbey for the day.  It was the first really nice day in a while so people were all over the grounds picnicking and playing,  The ruins continues to be beautiful and inspiring. 

We had Chinese pot luck that night with Tony Eleanor and his children and grandchild.  The next afternoon we headed for Parr Hall farm to our b and b.  We met Jackie and Dave for dinner in a local restaurant and made plans for the following day.  Yesterday we went to the lake district with Jackie Dave and their wonderful dag Bella a rather large Leonburger.  I had never been to the lakes before so I was in awe of the beauty of the mountains and lakes.  Once again since this was another beautiful sunny day there were families out and about enjoying this national park. 

Thursday May 29, 2013

After leaving Prague we took the train to Plauen.  It was a little close to get from one train to another when our train was late  Lots of running and heavy bags dragged through the Bahnhof.  Every time I do this I say  will pack lighter but never do.  In Plauen we stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast as the guests of Kathy's family  There was a wonderful view of the mountains in the background and the cows grazing in the fields below  We tied one on Wednesday night finishing too many bottles to count of wine and of course some schnapps.  Today Bob and I drove to Freisen which is just a few kilometers from the airport,  We stopped on a small town for lunch of schnitzel.  While in town we saw a stork in a nest on top of one of the towers there.  I sit here writing as the church bells ring and and already feel that I will miss this sound.  Bob and I took a walk in the alte stadt  Of course there are churches and a dome in the city.  Tomorrow we leave for England.

Tuesday May 27, 2013

Tuesday May 27, 2013

Today was. An awesome day, especially considering how it started.  We woke up this morning., feeling a little disappointed in our accommodations we are staying in a hostel in the center of Prague   The location is great but we are all sharing a room with none of the amenities like toilets ensuite.  It was also raining this morning and even till we were on our way to the tour people were carrying open umbrellas. We met our tour guide Filip in the square near the astronomical clock.  There he explained the workings of this six hundred year old device. It seemed that every corner we turned there was an amazing bit of architecture from gothic to baroque to arte newveau.  Unfortunately many of the building are in need of cleaning because there is so much soot on them. We also visited many of the city’s churches and squares and learned a bit of history about the city and czek republic.  The famous Charles bridge was amazing with the medieval gates on either side and religious statues all along the bridge on both sides The art and music are alive in this town. Marionettes abound and Mozart’s don Giovanni is performed here in the national theatre.  We finished the day with a visit to hard rock café.  Strangely enough we met a Lansing couple in the booth next to us and one of the managers was from Philadelphia. 

Sunday May 26, 2013

Today we are traveling to Prage and I have a 4 hour bus trip tp write my blog.  It has been several days so  I hope I don’t forget anything.  Three days were spent going to and coming from Vienna.  Thursday we rode our bikes from Tullin which is known as the flower city into Vienna, stopping in Klosterneuberg on the way.  Leaving Tullin we rode on the bike path with flower gardens on either side of the bike path. 

There were several statues of medieval founders of the town.  The previous town had interactive metal characters introducing the town.  Once we got a short way out of Tullin we went through  Ybbs with the bicycle museum.  Just inside the town there was a modern sculpture made with bicycles piled high.  

The highlight of our ride was the stop in Klosterneuberg where there was an abbey from the 17^th century.  The original foundation was sometime earlier.  This was very ornate just as in Melk.  The gold abound.  We also took a tour of the abbey which included thoe church and several views of the gardens and sacristy.  We bought some wine which I hope to drink tonight as we have lots to bring with us , probably too much to bring Stephansdom.  Thee we saw a tightrope walker walking on a cable

between the two towers og the church.  There was a big fundraiser going on in town for Aids\ awareness and this could be why they had other entertainment.

Friday we went into the city and walked for 6 hours ith a few stops for cappuccino.  One of the highlights of the day was climbing up to the ceiling of Karl’s Kirche  and we saw the paintings on the ceiling as well as a panoramic view of the interior of the church.  The church ad very reminiscent of Italian churches I had seen.  The architecture of the entire city is fascinating and drew our attention constantly so as you didn’t know when to stop taking pictures.  In the evening we went to a concert in a palace.  The concert included pieces from Mozart and Strauss.  There were  two opera singers  and some ballet also.  It made for a wonderful evening. 

Saturday we started riding from Durnstein where we stopped to do some shopping, have some cappuccino and taste the schnapps.  This was less than a kilometer down the road.  The wine was so good we had to buy some.  Too bad we cant bring it all home.  We just have to come back for some another time.  All the wines were excellent at the Schneeweiss family winery.  Today we rode through wine country,  the hills were loaded with grape vines.  We then had to eat because I was getting very dizzy from the tastings.  Our tour guide recommended a small restaurant  and we stopped to have deer liver and a strudel. We sat outside but since it was cool e took sheep skins to put on the seats in order to stay warm.  Since we had akk this sopping we were late getting to the boat and had to push our own bikes up the ramp to the Boat.  All was well and we settled in for dinner and packing, since we were leaving the next morning. 

We were unable to get a rental car since the car rentals in Passau are closed on Sunday.  We decided to go by train and bus which was our original plan anyway.  So here I sit writing this and it is pouring rain out.

Arrived at the hostel and it is quite unique.  we are amidst quite a few young people in the center of the old city.  The bathrooms are down the hall as are the showers.

Wednesday May 22, 2013

Today we left Grein early because we wanted ti make it to Melk in time to see the abbey there.  The ride was 50 kilometers mostly through wooded areas with an occasional fortress or church on the opposite side of the river.  The trip as easy.  The pain seemed to have gone from most of our seats.   We had a nice lunch alongside the river at a picnic table in a little town called Pochlarn.  It is a medieval town with a beautiful old city.  when we arrived at Melk we went up to the abbey which was positioned on the highest point of the city.  One comment was that the city was smaller than the abbey.  The library and other rooms were quite ornate with paintings decorating the wall and ceiling of the room.  The church was decorated ceiling and walls also with lots of gold sculpture.  We are having a crew show tonight instead of the last night because there is amajor soccer game scheduled for that night.  The entertainment in the lounge is quite good.  Tomorrow we will be riding into Vienna. 

Tuesday May 21 2013

Today was a short ride but very nice.  Most of the way was on trail along the river without traffic,  There were no ferries.  We did get lost at ne point because the trail led into a town on the road and we had to g on the road for a short while.  There were opportunities to go to a concentration camp and a castle but we decided not to do those.  We did go into a palace in Grein and it was wonderful.  Very different from any I had seen before.  We are now sitting in the lounge drinking wine and playing dice.