Riding in Riccione

We arrived last evening in pouring rain, which didn't bode well for cycling, but today we had blue sky and warm temperatures.  Brad rode in one of four groups, who all arrived at the Dory Hotel owners parents' farm in time for a BBQ lunch.  Non cyclists like myself arrived by mini van to join them.

The view Brad's group had on the climb up to San Marino

They stopped for coffee and gelato 

Brad arrives at the farm - they rode 62 km with an elevation gain of 1006 meters

Travel day

Today we go by car to the Munich airport - Stephanie and Claudia have very kindlÿ offered to drive us - then we fly to Bologna, Italy, take a train to Riccione, and a taxi to Hotel Dory, the famous "bike hotel" - well pretty famous with Brad's cycling friends back home!

Here are a few more photos from our excellent visit with our friends:

One of the horses Claudia's daughter rides

Figure on the bridge looking to see how construction on the cathedral was going - the builders were competing!

If you touch this wee fellow carved on a wall in Regensburg, you'll never be as poor as a church mouse!

Regensburg, Germany

We are in a village close to Regensburg visiting friends; it's been wonderful to reconnect and meet their husbands.  We've had a fabulous time going to a local Octoberfest, visiting the stables where they ride, and walking in the old historic part of Regensburg.

Claudia on the left and Stephanie on the right - we met on a riding holiday in Ireland in 2008

In front of Walhalla, built by King Ludwig
Read more about it HERE

The view of the Danube river from the Walhalla

The 12th C stone bridge over the Danube

The cathedral from the bridge

Flying from Reykjavik to Munich

Today is a travel day - we leave Reykjavik and fly to Munich, then take a shuttle to Zeitlarn.
Here are a few more photos from our time in Iceland:

Inside Harpa, the concert hall and conference centre

The yellow bike is part of a gate at the start of the car free zone

Taken from the bus on our tour of the countryside

There were SO many beautiful sweaters for sale in the shops...

Golden Circle tour

We left Reykjavik at noon for a tour of the countryside.  We were a group of 14, with a guide from France, who works here in the summers.  Our first stop was at the geysers and boiling hot, very clear pools.  Then it was on to the waterfall.

In the distance are all the people waiting for the geyser to blow, cameras and phones ready...

Too hot to touch!

Gullfoss waterfall

Our last stop was at the National Park where the open air parliamentary assemblies were held in ancient times.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and you can read more HERE

We were dropped off at the parking lot at the bottom of the trail that takes you between two tectonic plates, and our driver gathered us together to explain that this time he would pick us up at a different spot - the parking area at the top of the trail, in 40 minutes.  Read on to see if we all made it!

On one side is the North American plate, and on the other the Eurasian

You can read more about the geology and continental drift on the official park website HERE

Another view of the plates, with the valley and mountains beyond

We reached the top, found the van at the appointed time, and waited, and waited... we were missing one person...  several people said they'd seen her on the trail, and Brad remembered that she had still been in the van when the guide was giving us instructions on where he would pick us up.

Finally he decided we had to go back down to the first parking area to see if she had walked back, so leaving two people at the top in case she arrived there, he took us on a wild ride on a twisty road - he knew several people in the van were due back in the city for another tour and didn't want them to miss it.

He drove like a bat out of hell - I think we were all hanging on and fearing for our lives a bit - as we got to the lower parking lots, heading past the first few, I spotted her orange jacket, and shouted "there she is" - a very apologetic person climbed aboard and off we went to pick up the other two at the top.  We made it back to Reykjavik in time for those folks going on another tour.

Reykjavik, Iceland

We arrived at 0930 and caught the bus to downtown; the landscape looked quite barren, with few trees.  It was raining lightly, but later when we went out walking it stopped, and was cool and cloudy.

We had coffee at a cafe across the street from the enormous Lutheran church, and had a great view from a table on the second floor.

Taken through the cafe window - the sides are stylized basalt columns, common in Iceland.

Outside the cafe where we had coffee and carrot cake

Inside the church, a fellow was playing the organ

The view from one of the windows at the top of the church tower - there is an elevator thank heavens!

This steel sculpture on the waterfront is called Sun Voyager

Heading home through the Fraser Canyon

Instead of driving back the same way, we went west on the quiet road beside the Nicola River, to Spences Bridge, then south down the Fraser Canyon.  It was the original road to the Interior, and was part of the Gold Rush Trail back in the 1850's.

An Anglican Church outside Spences Bridge, built around 1915

We stopped in Lytton to see the clear Thompson river joining the muddy Fraser river

We had a quick look at the Hell's Gate tram

Wading into the Fraser river in Yale 

It was a great trip - fun to visit the farm, plus stopping to see the sights along the way.  The weather was beautiful too!