17 May: Day Two in Stellenbosch

Today we have another Wine tour. This one is a hop on hop off bus where you can go to up to five vineyards. It’s a beautiful day, lovely day to be doing a vineyard tour.

The first stop was Simonsig where we had a bubbles tasting. Then Delheim Estate where we taste some very nice Chenin Blanc, then an amazing picnic lunch at Warricks vineyard with pate, crusty bread, cheese, salad, cheese cake, fruit and rose.

1st stop on the Hop on Hop off wine tour

Simonsig Estate

2nd Stop Delheim

Delheim tasting rooms

Delheim Estate

Warwick Estate

Warwick picnic

 

Warwick picnic

Then off to Remhoogte vineyard where we met a group from Scotland who are celebrating a 40th, previously they have done turning 40 celebration trips to Las Vegas and Prague.

Then the last vineyard of the day – L’avenir, which is next to a very nice lake. It was very nice relaxing in a bean bag by the lake watching the water flow past.

L’avenir

L’avenir

4th vineyard Remhoogte

We had dinner at the Stellenbosch Hotel. Outside was a group of singers, and I was included in the group. Given my inability to hold a tune I just hummed and clapped my hands.

We shared a very nice Leaping leopard chennin blanc (had this previously in Arusha). I had a very nice lamb curry and deconstructed lemon meringue pie.

Dinner at the Stellenbosch Kitchen

Dinner at the Stellenbosch Kitchen

Dinner at the Stellenbosch Kitchen

My last day as a tourist

I woke up really early today, with a mixture of being excited to be going home to see the family, and sadness about saying goodbye to Europe, the tour, the tour crew and the other riders.

I had to leave at 2pm to make sure I was at the airport on time so I tried to make the most of the time I had. I went the Fado Museum; it is really worth a visit.

The Fado Museum

They had instruments on display plus a tour with head phones in English giving the history of Fado. There is also a couch area you can sit in and go through 30 of the most famous Fado artists with photos, information on them and audio recordings. It made me wish I had pushed myself a bit harder and gone to one of the many Fado bars last night.

A sign at the Fado Museum

Fado instruments, they have double stringing

At the museum on the wall there was a saying that I really liked:
“Fado is sung as if tomorrow would not happen, as if this was the last song one would ever sing”.

A picture at Fado museum – looks very relaxed

I looked around the wharf and saw the Atlantic Ocean, the river Rio Tejo, and the Ponte 25 de April Bridge, plus saw more buildings with amazing ceramic fronts.

View from the wharf area of Lisbon

The Rio Tejo (River Tagus) just as it meets the Atlantic Ocean, with the Ponte 25 de April Bridge in the background

Last night we had hugs good bye with the tour crew and Danya and Jan, and then I bumped into them all again today, so the farewell hugs were repeated. Then before I knew it, it was time to go to the airport for the long flight(s) home.

Interesting buildings in Lisbon

As many of you already knew, and others have discovered, I am a specialist at getting lost so I really appreciated the email Christiano sent to us all today:

“Getting lost will help you find yourself”

 

Day 33: Bratisalva to Hengko – 95k

2,764km down: 3,461km to go.

So I was up early today. I slept badly but had my bags out by the required 6:30am.

Today we were in three countries, amazing. We left Slovakia after 8k and crossed into Austria, and then it was about 60k before crossing the border in Hungary. We left the city in the usual convoy but it did not take long as there were only two sets of lights to get through. Once we got out of the convoy I was enjoying riding, looking at the views.

I went through a town for about 5k into a headwind and was wishing I was going the other way, well you know what they say about being careful what you wish for. Yep, I had missed a turn so I got my wish, cycling 5k back. With the wind behind me it was not so bad, I got up to about 45k an hour on the flat. Thankfully the turn that I had missed went the other direction so even though the wind was not behind me it was not coming straight at me.

Austria, or at least the bit I saw, is quite a pretty country. There were huge wind farms which made ours look like play farms. The houses looked newer and of better quality material than the Slovakian houses.

We spent the whole time in Austria on a bike path (it was often a road but we had 20k that was just bikes). There were an amazing amount of bikers, the most I have ever seen, and whole families as well.

Just after the border into Hungary, in Fertod, there was a castle called Esterhazy Castle, with the most amazing gardens. Here is a link to it: http://www.esterhazy-palace.com/en/media/our_photos.html. There is also a you tube of the castle on the link.

The flags had been removed from 8k onwards to where we were staying, so I had to back track a couple of times checking I was going in the right direction – especially before I went down a large hill.

We are staying at a place called Termal Kemping. Today was meant to be 95k but for me it ended up being 110k. Tomorrow is a very short day only 60k, so will be almost like a rest day, but after that there are four more days until the next rest day and very, very hilly!

The ride begins: day one

45km down: 6,180km to go.

Day eight of my trip, and day one of the cycle journey – off we go!

We were meant to set off at 7am today (Sunday) and the kitchen was going to open for breakfast at 6:30 for us. However it opened at the usual time of 7am, so we  didn’t set off until 8am.

We had a guide to take us out of the city to Peterhoff and he showed us some of the important sites on the way, including the square where the Russian revolution started. It was only small ride today so we were at the hotel by lunch time. It was very strange riding on the other side of the road.  I was interested to note that I put the opposite foot down when stopping compared to most of the other riders, which of course makes sense as you get used putting down the foot closest to the kerb.

It was my first experience of riding in 30-plus degrees, it will take a bit of getting used to. 115kms tomorrow in this heat will be an expeiernce but no doubt will get quickly acclimatised to it, plus it is flat for the first week.

Interesting points for today

• There are over five million people in St Petersburg alone.
• As there are only about 30 summer days that there is no rain, and it is 30ish degrees, the Russians make the most of every park – there numerous people sunbathing on the benches by the canals.

St Petersburg Night Tour

Last night (Saturday) I went on the tour to see the bridges being raised. They are raised to let the ships come through on the Neva River at night.

Apart from me the people on the tour were all Russians, so the tour operator at the hotel said either I go and the tour is all in Russian or I don’t go. As it was the last night in St Petersburg I went. It was amusing, they got on and off the bus frequently and often at places I had already been to, but I got on and off every time in case we were suddenly going to get on a boat. I kept my one  eye on the tour operator the whole time. We got back to the hotel at 2:30am so I have been a bit tired today (Sunday).

It was worth it though to see the city lit up at night. Once the bridges were raised a ship sailed past straight away.

Raised bridges (from Casa Leto)

The Russians also light candles, put them into square kits and send them up into the sky. It is very pretty seeing them floating up and dissapearing into the sky.

Last day in Russia

Now it’s Saturday afternoon, and my bike is all put together and working – always a relief. The tape my son put on the bike to show where the seat and handlebars should be was a great help in setting up.

I have packed my stuff into two bags, one of the bags is already packed in the van and I will not see it again for five days so hopefully I have got it sorted. I remembered in time that I needed my passport to cross into Estonia in four days so was able to dig through and get this out. We can ask for something from our non-daily bag if it is urgent, but certainly I do not want to be the first – especially as the tour guides said at least three times “don’t pack your passport in your non travel bag”!

After packing I was tired so I decided to have a nap – luckily I had packed first because I woke up at 6pm which was the time we had to get our bags down to the van.

A number of the tour group were heading off to the summer gardens but I have already been so I headed up to the local James Cook (there are three in St Petersburgh). I had native steak caked in Parmesan, fresh garden salad and ludlow potatoes (these turned out to be brown baked fries I think). It was ok, not a lot of taste with the steak but good to try something different.

Tonight if there are enough people booked from the hotel I am going on a night tour to see the bridges being raised on the Neva River so the ships can pass through. I will not get back until 2am so will have to set my alarm. Tomorrow is a very short ride (only 45 km) so I can catch up on my sleep with a nap in the afternoon.

Points of interest

• Russian supermarkets do not stock a lot of things that we take for granted such as plasters and snap lock bags. Luckily I worked out that an “Aптека” is a chemist and there is one just up the road so now I have two more boxes of plasters.
• Russians do not acknowledge or thank you if you hold open a door for them or step aside to let them pass. I guess with the population you would be constantly stepping aside and saying thank you. On the other hand, as I have already mentioned, Russian children do stand up on the metro for older people.
• At the supermarket there is only one door in and out the size of a standard front door at someone’s house, so unless you barge in you can be there for a long time. I have not yet got the knack of shoving my way in front of people, but if I lived here for a while I am sure it would quickly develop.

Today was 32 degrees and I have been eating the most ripe delicious peaches. It seems strange to have been in winter a week ago, and now be in the middle of summer. Apart from the first two days there has been no rain. Igor says that they get maybe 30 perfect summer days in the whole of summer and I have been lucky enough to have had five of them. Hopefully this will remain so for tomorrow.

So, tomorrow the tour begins – off to Lisbon we go.

Riders briefing and plan of attack

Hard to believe that I have been here for 7 days already!

I just had the first riders meeting and got to meet all the rest of the group – 19 riders in total, age range is mostly late 50s to early 60s, a lot of the group have retired.  There are three riders in their late 20s or very early 30s. Two have just got married and this is their honey moon. The tour guides: there are four tour staff, Christian the leader from Brazil, Miles the cook, and Ciaran and Gergo are the bike mechanics and one of them each day will be the sweep. The sweep is the person who rides at the back of the group.

Daily routine  

• We get up and pack up our bags and tents (if camping) by 6:30 am. 6:30 am we have breakfast and then head off on the road.
• The lunch truck will be each day at halfway point, give or take a few kms.
• We will get to the stop point for that night by mid-afternoon, then we either make use of bike shop time or we have free time to explore.
• Then we have riders briefing about the next day, put up tents if camping and have dinner. After that we have free time to explore. It is light until late for the first 6 weeks, we will be going to sleep in our tents in the light and waking up to the light.

Tomorrow (Sunday the 8^th) we will leave here and ride all day in a convey  to Peterhof. The first day is only 45km so we will be there by midday. We are staying in a hotel so we will have all afternoon to explore –maybe I could have another go at seeing the castle? I will see, I have read the guidebook and there is nothing stand out about it – the gardens are the highlight so maybe will look around the rest of Peterhoff instead.

Plus my bike will of course be back together so can ride around Peterhof and give my poor feet a rest. I have looked at my bike a few times this week and considered putting it back together, but the cables and derailer etc look really complicated, and as I want to be able to ride it I decided rather than break something I will wait for the bike workshop today and leave it to the two mechanics.

Day two: Monday
We will be riding from Peterhof to Kingisepp: a total of 115kms. Mies advises it is mostly flat the first week so it gives us time to get adjusted. After two weeks of not riding I am itching to get back on the bike!

We have to wear a fluro vest with reflective strips for the whole ride.

Navigating will be interesting – at the riders meeting each night we will get an outline for the next day.
1.  They will give us the kilometres to each major turn and the names of key intersections
2. The  ride is flagged for us with orange tape at the main turns (but as Miles said we can not rely on that, as before in some towns the street cleaners or police had torn down all the flags before the riders got there)
3. Some of us have phones and gps and maps (I have all 3)
4. Plus we have the cellphone numbers of all four of the tour guides
5. Plus there is the sweeper at the back.

I still expect that there will be times I get lost but Christian says “Do not think of it as getting lost, think of it as an opportunity to interact with the locals”. I expect to have lots of these opportunities.

So today is about packing the stuff into two separate bags –one of the bags we only get on rest days, putting the bike together and getting ready to go.

I am going to walk up to the cynermarket (supermarket) and get snaplock bags (hopefully) and more plasters. My left foot has one small blister but my right foot is covered in them – I must put more pressure on one foot when I walk. The room cleaner must wonder what sort of wounds I have by the number of used plasters in the bin each day.

Interesting things today 

• At the supermarkets, banks etc,  they put all the banknotes 50 rubble and bigger through a scanner to check it is not counterfeit. Either this is a significant problem here – which you wonder how it could be given the scrutiny – or Russians are by nature cautious.
• There are beggars here, not a lot, but a few old women who sit with a cup in front of them, some of them do this for hours at a time. I see one old lady every day when I am going and coming back from the city. I always give her my coins. Sometimes it is quite a handful as they have many coins smaller than 1 c so it may seem a lot but in reality it may only be the equivalent of 10c. Igor says it is very hard for elderly people if they only have a pension it is not enough if they have no savings or family to help.

Friday’s sightseeing adventures

Today I went to Peterhof to see the palace and the gardens. I went by hydro boat and went out to the Baltic Sea near the gulf of Finland. It took 30 minutes to get there. When I got there you could only buy tickets to the lower gardens at the first gate. I had a good look around – they go forever: fountains, statues, moats, small amazing buildings, also there is a beach.

Peterhof Lower Gardens, from Stephendanko)

I sat on the beach and rang my daughter Kelly as I was having trouble checking my credit card balance and needed her help. It was pretty amazing sitting on a beach in the sun talking to Kelly in winter in New Zealand. I was lucky enough that Kelly was with two of my other daughters – Tracey and Shellbe – so I got to talk to them quickly as well.

After looking around the gardens I decided to see the palace. The notice in English said “tickets inside” so I joined the line and waited for ages. Every ten or so minutes a women would pop her head outside, have a look, and duck back in. Finally the line started to move, I got near the top and asked the lady at the door if tickets were inside and she pointed that way so I gave my bag to the cloakroom and joined the line. So I get to the entrance and the women starts yelling at me and pointing, and to the Japanese chap behind me. I figure out where I have to get tickets and ask where, at which points she starts screaming in my face. The Japanese man started having a major melt down so I left him to it. It was strange – none of the tourists even blinked an eye at the commotion.

So out I go to find the ticket office, I get to an office that says clearly in English “ticket office open”. There is a queue of confused looking people, and there is a Russian guard moving a crowd control fence backwards and forwards, and lots of people trying to talk to him. I finally get up to him and after 5 minutes of him moving the barrier backwards and forwards he gets frustrated with speaking Russian to me and says in English “tickets are closed, come back at 1600”. I don’t think so, it’s only 11:30am, I will not hang around till then!

I do lurk around for 30 or so minutes visiting the chapel etc and go back past the ticket office just in case. There he is moving the crowd control barrier backwards and forwards, speaking Russian, and there is another crowd of confused people. I wonder to myself why not just lock the door and put “come back at 4pm”?

The Peterhof Palace (from Wikipedia)

So I caught the boat back to the mainland and walked around for a couple of hours taking random photos, watching the crowds, and enjoying the sun – 20 degrees today! I then returned to my mission of finding the third floor at the Hermitage Museum and I do! I am pleased I found the third floor, there were some very nice paintings and statues including some paintings and pots by Picasso. I stayed at the museum for a couple of hours looking at stuff I had not taken in the previous time, and I also found my way back to the Peacock clock. I bought a DVD that has the museum and the clock opening in it.

Peacock Clock (from Wikipedia)

I also saw the hanging garden again which I imagined as different from the reality. There are a number of hanging gardens at the palaces, they are gardens above the ground floor that the rooms open onto like an upstairs courtyard.

I then decided to go back to a restaurant that Igor had taken me to on the first day called Terrassa. It is on a roof top with a nice view so I thought it would be a great place to have a meal and a cold wine. I was pretty pleased I managed to find it! I got shown to a table and there I sat. I got the attention of the wait person a few times but no menu, after 40 minutes of no service I got up and walked out. I did tell the maitre d’ why I was going – clearly the Russians do not like single women in their nice restaurants by themself either.

Instead I went to a place along the Nevsky Prospect and had a cold beer called a Blanc and seabass and vegetables and watched the crowds.

I was walking around with my headphones playing the music on my phone today. I am not sure what I have done but the music is a mix of a continuous one song of the Doors and one of Ludovico Einaudi  and so on.

Thoughts for the day

• The Russians have lots of coins, they have 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c, and they also have smaller than 1c – one of which says 10. The metro ticket office people get quite excited if you try to use one of those by mistake.
• When you go to the ticket office at the metro or the museum or anywhere, you can’t actually see the people, there is a gray screen with a slot in the bottom for you to put you money in. It’s quite disconcerting especially if you not really sure what you’re doing. They don’t like you looking up at the screen trying to see in either.
• In Russia the tourist attractions are set up for Russians,and there is an assumption that if you are not in a tour you can speak Russian.

So please note, that is two days in a row I have not got lost! I am now going with Daphne, Shirley and Wally to have a drink. Tomorrow (Saturday) we meet the other riders and have our riders briefing.

Discover Catherine’s Peacock Clock (skip to 1:16 for the clock)

Quick Friday morning update

This morning I met a number of the tour riders at breakfast: Rob a retired accountant, and Jenny a Doctor, both from Australia, John a retired professor from Canada,  Michel from Montreal – Michel has done two of these rides already including the tour d’Afrique (the tour that originally piqued my interest in all of this), Brett from Australia, and three  ladies in their 60s who have done 3 rides before – Daphne, Shirley and Wally. They look like they will be a lot of fun. Wally’s bike did not arrive with her but thankfully it arrived a day later. The riders are friendly and seem a down-to-earth bunch, my fears of being surrounded by gazelle-like athletes clad in Lycra that will be too fast for me are unfounded.

I am off to find the boat to Peterhoff and then plan on to returning to the Hermitage this afternoon. There is an amazing clock there I want to take a photo of, it was a gift to Catherine the Great (from one of her 22 lovers). It is the size of a phone box but longer. It is gold and has a peacock, an owl, a monkey and birds. When it strikes the hour the peacocks tail opens, the owl blinks and the monkey waves its hand – hard to explain but I think it is fantastic.

Plus I do not like things to defeat me so I am going to have another go at finding the third floor at the Hermitage!

Lost in translation

Today (Thursday) I got up and got to the bus stop in time for the trip to Pushkin to see the Catherine Palace (designed by Rastrelli). What I had not realized was that I had been booked on a Russian speaking tour, for Russian tourists! Luckily I was sitting next to a very nice lady – Irene, and her grandson. Irene is a English teacher so she was able to translate the main features of the tour for me.

When we got inside the Palace we had to put slipper covers over our feet and put on an audio system, I did try to explain I was English but realized that until I had an ear bud fixed in my ear I was not going any further. It was interesting for a while having Russian in one ear and Irene’s explanations in the other. Then the bleeding obvious occurred – turn off the sound you idiot.

Once again an amazing castle – beautiful rooms, statues, floors. There was a Roman bath house, and a band rotunda where we got to hear the most amazing Russian male singers.

Catherine Palace (from TopTravelLists)

 

This is also the place of the Amber Room, the 8th wonder of the world. It was looted by Nazis during the way, and the contents have never been recovered. A replica has been recreated, at the small cost of 12 million dollars, and reopened in 2004. The room is made up of thousands of pieces of amber, plus the room has pure gold fittings, the rest of the castle is covered in gold leaf.

The Amber Room (from MNSBC)

 

Without Irene this tour would have been a challenge, especially as the last 30 minutes was free time that we could do what we like – suddenly people went in all directions and without Irene I would have had no idea what was happening, or that we had to met the bus at 2 – or even where the bus was, as it was not where we had left it! This does explain why  the trip only cost $1,000 rubles (approx $40 NZD) in total for the bus and entry to the palace and garden. Irene is here for a week, and is was showing her 13 year old  Grandson around St Petersburg. I have traded email addresses with her so now I have made two Russian friends.

After returning from this trip I had coffee, and then as I have blisters from the days of serious walking, I decided to come back to the hotel to eat, it will be interesting to see what the menu is like.

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Things that have interested me today:

1. In Russia nobody wears hats and hardly anybody wears sun glasses.

2. Dogs roam around like they used to in New Zealand, in groups of two or three quite happily. No one seems to take any notice of them and they seem very placid.

3. Everywhere you go there are brides. Everyone wants to fit their wedding into the three months of summer, this means there are weddings every day at the castles. Today we saw five wedding groups. The males wear cream suits and the brides wear white traditional meringue looking dresses (not sure of the spelling, I mean the small Pavlova things).

4. Most Russians – unless they are wealthy – live out in what they call the districts, they go on for miles. Igor catches the metro and then the bus to get home. Today on the way to Catherine Palace we drove for an hour and still had not gone past them all. They look like block after block of council flats, but in brick. There are clusters of 5 to 6 of them but are surrounded by nice park areas.

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I have managed to get through the whole day on my own and not get lost!

Two more days until the bike ride starts, one more day of being a tourist. Saturday is rider briefing and putting the bike together.