Every day when I’m travelling I see something cool. Sometimes it’s just the colour of the sky or the crispness of the snow, other days it’s a momument, a building or archeological remains.
It’s a short day, so we get up a bit later, take our time with breakfast and leave around 9h30. We get turned around leaving town, but once we find the right waterway we’re off. The weather is still stormy and windy and we’re expecting rain, but it’s a beautiful road along the Maas river.… Continue reading CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES – LE CHESNE: 50 KM
We follow the Maas river south the whole day on the Trans-Ardennes route, though fortunately the river loops back and forth so we don’t have the wind straight in our faces the whole way. The weather is pretty stormy with fast moving clouds and occasional rain squalls. When it rains, it rains a lot but… Continue reading GIVET – CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES: 85 KM
to Namur Today is the longest day (counting in kilometers), so we have breakfast at 8 and leave around 9h30. The first stretch is supposed to be really easy, since it follows an ancient railroad, however it seems that though the incline is small, it’s significant and continuous, so it’s basically a long way slightly… Continue reading GELDENAKEN – GIVET: 95 KM
to Leuven We packed most of our gear on Saturday, got some new t-shirts etc. and checked the bikes, so on Sunday morning we just need to have breakfast, load up and start cycling. I go to the bakery to get pistolets for a carb-rich start of the day and we try to finish off… Continue reading LINT – GELDENAKEN: 82 KM
We get up and start packing. I fold all the dirty clothes in one side of the trunk, determined not to open the zipper until we’re near the washing machine at home. We leave around 9 with an ETA of 3 pm at La Butte au Bois, a Relais & Chateaux hotel with a Michelin… Continue reading A smooth drive to la Butte au Bois
This is our last walk and we had some doubts about whether we wanted to actually do the steep climb. However our legs are in pretty good shape in the morning so we set off to Gfäll after stopping at the Edeka store to get some sandwiches for lunch. The road to Gfäll is the… Continue reading Der Grosser Rachel
Up at 7 am, breakfast at 8 as usual. We plan to leave from the hotel on foot and do loop walk number 5. When we leave around 9 it’s still pretty chilly, although the sun is out today and there is not a cloud in sight. We start off on rural roads between snowy… Continue reading along the Grosse Ohe river
Today is our day off, so we are determined to get up late and not do too many steps. We leave for Passau around 10 am and follow the two-lane road down to the Donau. The temperatures must have been very low during the night, because the trees are thickly covered with hoarfrost and make… Continue reading no hiking today !
When we wake up the light outside is grey, the valley is completely covered by a dense cloud. We stop by a grocery show in Grafenau to pick up sandwiches for lunch and then set of to Waldhäuser. When we climb out of the valley by car the sky is bright blue and the sun… Continue reading to the top of the Lusen
Wake-up alarm at 7 am, breakfast around 8 am is becoming our habit. We try to leave around 9 am to maximize the daylight hours. Since it starts getting dark around 4 pm, you need to start early enough. Today we walk through the Tier-Freigelände, which is a free zoo spread over 2 km². the… Continue reading a walk through the zoo
As I’m not entirely recovered from a respiratory infection we decide to start off easy. After a decent breakfast from the buffet, we take the car to the Kurpark in Grafenau. We’ve checked the weather forecast and we’re prepared for cold weather: I have three layers of wool and a down body warmer on top,… Continue reading Aussichtsstein & Baumwipfelpfad
a visit of the castle garden As the castle brochure boasts of a large private garden, we set out after breakfast to discover it. We follow the map to the entrance and descend through the dry moat to the tiered garden. The hill side is pretty steep and the garden is definitely not wheelchair accessible.… Continue reading a long drive to Bayern
The total driving time to our destination Grafenau in the Bayerischer Wald is estimated by Google Maps to be 9 hours for 800 km. because we don’t want to drive all day, we’ve decided to leave on Thursday afternoon and do a short stop. Arne’s car is supposed to get its winter tires and scheduled… Continue reading to the Rhein valley
Today will be mainly filled with eating, so we plan carefully. Breakfast around 8, then a small walk through the fields to the next hamlet to work up an appetite. Back at the hotel we get installed in the bar where Arne reads and I continue with the almost-ending job of sorting pictures and writing… Continue reading chillax
It should be a seven-hour drive to Kaikenried in Germany, where we have booked a room with Voll-Verwöhnpension for two nights, which means breakfast, lunch, dinner ánd tea with cakes included. I pack while Arne prepares lunch (same again) and we set of before 9 am. First I drive a long stretch on two-lane roads… Continue reading more driving, but also a castle
To avoid the crowds, we get up at 6h30 to get dressed and prepare our backpack. Breakfast at 7h30, we get French toast and pancakes without asking for it, but we consider it an investment for all the calories we’re going to spend today walking. I make the lunch bag (same as usual, but we’ve… Continue reading Plitvice NP
Check out is at 10 am, so we don’t dawdle with breakfast and packing. It’s a five-hour drive, back up the coast and then over the inland highway. We pass by Ston again, we have learned they grow really good oysters here (a different kind than in western Europe), but decide it’s a bit early… Continue reading to Poljanak
Up early, quick breakfast and then out to wait for our pick-up. It’s about 15 min late, but the ride itself is a comfortable bus with 18 passenger seats. The guide gives us some general background info while driving to the border to Montenegro. Our first stop Kotor is at the end of an impressive… Continue reading Montenegro
Dubrovnik (16.845 steps, 11,89 km, 82 floors) We’re meeting our guide at 10 am, so we have time to fix our breakfast at ease and have a relaxed morning. Breakfast is oat porridge with banana, chopped nuts and chocolate (from our stash at home) and some local honey to sweeten it up. I sort and… Continue reading In and around Dubrovnik
beach & drive (7.900 steps, 5,58 km, 50 floors) We’re driving to Dubrovnik today and want to take the ferry at 3 pm. We get up late (after 8 am), we have a long breakfast (pancakes with Nutella and strawberries, again) and take our time packing. We make the final arrangements for our guide to… Continue reading to Dubrovnik
Breakfast is served from eight, so we endeavour (and succeed) to get up late. There is not much available at the buffet, but our hostess (the same as yesterday, she is the owner of the apartments and restaurant) promises she can make anything we ask for. For starters she brings us a freshly made smoothie,… Continue reading Mljet and a first
Febe writes 