8/31-That evening we went into the countryside for a dinner. We heard stories about survival on Hvar. The grapes got the European fungus and the vineyards died. So then they grew lavender until a man roasting his dinner started a fire that burned all the lavender. The car was a plus.
8/31- We had a traditional dinner made with meat and gravy cooked in a lidded skillet that was placed in the coals for hours. Local wines and olives and seafood rounded out an excellent meal.
9/1-ride two on Hvar. After a wonderful breakfast on the terrace with a chia seed pudding, Ruben gave a “route rap” outlining our day’s ride. The giant hill (represented by the left side of the black bag) he thought would be great to go down, but cautioned us against trying to ride back up….
9/1-Mia told us this would be the most beautiful ride. And it was gorgeous after we got past the city dump.
9/1-lunch at another small restaurant with the most wonderful ice cream dessert that was beyond creamy, then most of us abandoned the ride to avoid that gigantic hill (even those on e-bikes! Back to the hotel where we enjoyed another excellent meal, the view, and some Hennessy from the hotel staff.
9/2-Today we are off to Korcula, again on a private boat. Mia gave us a Croatian history lesson and taught us some Croatian words. On Korcula we had another lovely ride with unbelievable views. Don’t forget to swipe left to see all the photos.
9/2- we had another big hill to tackle and it was hot. Rhe opted to catch a ride to the hotel instead of tackling the climb, but Paul caught a ride to the top of the climb and finally became the first rider back to our accommodation on an acoustic bike!
9/3-Paul’s birthday started with the balloon-festooned bicycle, which he carried proudly all day. He also got a day without a climb, just beautiful rolling hills along the coastline of Korcula. Then we boarded a water taxi and a bus for the ride to Dubrovnik.
9/3- more pics. Don’t forget to swipe left to see all the photos.
9/3- tonight we had our farewell dinner in the walled city of Dubrovnik. This is an amazing place that cannot be described. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, it’s where they filmed King’s Landing scenes. Cerce’s “walk of shame” road is the Main Street. You feel as if you are in the year 320 AD.
9/4-First we had yet another breakfast for the record books. What do they do with all that food? Then Ivan gave us a tour of the walled city. Then we said goodbye to our Backroads friends.
9/4- more tour photos. The walled city, walking a tower staircase. The streets of Dubrovnik. Learning about coral jewelry. The pillar of shame, where they really do place people who had done bad things before they made them ride backwards on a donkey to their deaths.
9/4-fun fact: they did have trouble shooting Cerce’s walk of shame scenes when the local people serving as extras kept taking off their clothes. I don’t blame them. It’s really hot in there….
9/4- after saying goodbye to everyone, we packed up our bike gear and mailed it home via UPS. It cost $220 US! But worth every penny when we had to haul our bags to almost the highest point in the city to our accommodation that night. Whew! A lovely calico cat was waiting for us in the courtyard.
9/5-Today was all about climbing stairs. We decided we wanted to minimize stair-climbing because it was so hot. Instead of walking the wall, we took the cable car to the Spanish fort at the top of the mountain behind Dubrovnik. Poor choice, as we climbed way more stairs! Paul was soaked in sweat!
9/5-The cable car took us up to a fantastic view of the walled city, Bosnia 🇧🇦-Herzogovenia, and Montenegro.🇲🇪
9/5-Also at the top was a museum about the Balkan war of 1991 to 1995. It was sobering to see a picture of the luxury hotel where we stayed in flames; the dock where we had dinner the night before being bombed, and a map showing (with black dots) the 3,000 sites in the city bombed just 30 years ago.
9/5-There was a water polo tournament going on, but all I saw was this behind-the scenes beauty. The swallows when the church bell rings. Girls negotiating the stairs. Paul pulling in the clothes we hung out the window to dry. Don’t forget to swipe left to see all the photos.
9/5-our last night in Dubrovnik we ate at the Taj Mahal because our neighbors, Michael and Connie, recommended it. I had a lamb pie and Paul had a different kind of “pigs in blanket” concept. Very good. And so we say “Zivjeli” (JEE-vyee-lee) to Croatia 🇭🇷 and head to Denmark 🇩🇰.
9/6-We had a 6:15 flight, so woke up at 3am, walked down all those stairs, and caught a Uber to the airport. While the Split airport was decorated in seagulls, the Dubrovnik airport had jellyfish floating around. Too bad their lights were turned off. You have to look closely to see them.
9/6-And we arrived in the much cooler climate of Copenhagen (yay!). We purchased a transit pass so we could get to our apartment. We passed a huge market where the goods seemed to be used clothing before we found our new digs. A nearby cemetery made me wonder what happened to the wife.
9/7-The Monday morning commute was well underway as we ate breakfast. We decided to go to Køge to see an exhibit about Thomas Dambo, the troll builder. We traveled a long way only to find the museum is closed on Mondays. An evil clown greeted us at the train station.
9/7-We got back to the city in time for our bike tour of Copenhagen. This was a great way to see the sights and get oriented. Maya, our guide, is an architecture student from Germany. 🇩🇪 She had a lovely, understated sense of humor that gave good information and kept us entertained.
9/7-We only had one hitch when the guy in the bearskin hat told us we couldn’t park our bikes near the King’s residence. We moved on and saw two little mermaid statues, Kierkegaard, and a dog.
9/8-Today it was dozens of children passing by our apartment in the morning. The Norrebro neighborhood where we are is full of young people who are having children. I wish we could figure out a way to make that easier in the US.
9/9-Today we took off to explore Christiania, an old hippie area in the heart of the city. You can instantly feel a different vibe when you walk the streets. The signs are everywhere! Be sure to look closely at all four signs on that black building.
9/8-Christiania has only recently made peace with having a police presence due to an increase in drug/gang activity. Otherwise it is a haven for funky art and unique architecture.
9/8-We walked along the lake filled with Christiania homes until we reached the Amagar Baake. This amazing structure houses an energy production plant that uses garbage for fuel.. It also is home to a rock climbing wall and a ski hill “Copenhill”. From the top you can see a cable water skiing park.
9/8-Our final stop of the day was at the food market in Refshaleøen. This amazing place started with a pea patch garden specializing in mushrooms.🍄 We learned that a new favorite beer in Copenhagen is Yakima IPA. They thought it was Japanese. (Yah-KEE-muh)
9/9-We joined a food tour of Copenhagen for the day. Starting at another food market, we sampled cheese. Then to a bakery for cardamom cinnamon buns. We ate Smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches made with EVERYTHING!), beer, hot dogs, more beer, and chocolates. I highly recommend it!
9/9-After the tour we found art in a park featuring giant ticks and the family law courthouse. The Tour de France started in Copenhagen in 2022. And we saw a giant thermometer. It doesn’t go higher than 30 Celsius And the girl on a bike is replaced by a girl with an umbrella when it rains.
9/10-We took a train to Roskilde to see a Viking Ship museum. it was fantastic! They explained in detail how they found the sunken ships, how they salvaged them and pieced them together. Our tour guide is a marine archaeologist student. Her enthusiasm made up for her English deficits.
