Posts Tagged ‘biking’

Baños is a small town in the highlands of Ecuador, about 4 hour south of Quito. Last weekend I took a school-organized trip with about 14 other students and a teacher. Overall it was a great trip and I had a good time, but it wasn’t necessarily perfect…

The good:

• Location – Baños is a beautiful city nestled in a valley with lush green mountains, a river, hot springs, and lots of waterfalls.
• Friends – The group was really fun and we all got along well despite the cramped conditions in the van (see below). I roomed with my new friends Stephanie from the US, and Christina from Germany.
• Activities – There are tons of fun activities to do in Baños. On Saturday we road bikes and explored a few of the waterfalls. Two of them we hiked right up next to. Sunday I indulged a little and got a great 1-hour massage, while others went ziplining and horse-back riding.

The bad: (more…)

Ahh, beautiful Tuscany! Now I see why people fall in love with this place. There’s just something addictive about the pretty scenery, charming small towns, and relaxed feeling you get in Tuscany. We wished we had more time there, and Ben and I both agree this is one place we will return to.
 

It seems like so long ago that Ben and I went biking along the Danube River in Austria, but it’s only been a little over a week. Compared to where we’ve been since – Budapest and Venice – it was so sunny and even hot.

So anyway, while we were in Vienna I read about this bike trail nearby along the Danube River, and we decided to give it a shot. We wanted a little change from the big city sightseeing; to head into the country and get some exercise other than walking. So we headed to Krems, Austria on a morning train (more…)

Our couchsurfing host in Vienna rock climbs after work twice a week, so she took us with last Monday.  We had fun and totally wore ourselves out. Our hands and forearms were really  sore after 2-3 climbs (but I think that means we weren’t doing it right…).
 

I’ve been slowing down on the blog lately, I know.  It takes a bit of time and usually I enjoy it… but the last couple of weeks I’ve been appreciating my time off and relaxing a little more (in other words, being lazy).  So for those of you who are following along, here’s a quick update.  I hope to post more about these places later.

FYI, even when I’m not posting I usually keep the “Where are we now?” box on the right side of the page up to date, and every once in a while I update the map on the “Travel Plans” page at the top menu.  And if that’s not enough, join Facebook and add Ben and I to your friend list, we add things there occasionally too.

Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic) – 3 nights in a hostel in this small medieval town.  We had a good time wandering the streets, and also hanging out with the hostel managers and guests.

Guten tag! We just arrived in Innsbruck, Austria last night and are heading to Salzburg this afternoon. But first, here’s some miscellaneous photos from the last ~week.

Annecy

On our way from Southern France to Chamonix in the French Alps, we stopped overnight in Annecy. We didn’t know it before, but this is a popular resort city on a nice lake in the mountains.

On Friday, my Mom, Ben and I rented bikes and rode outside of the city.  It was really fun, and a bit of an adventure since the signs were hard to follow and we got lost.  But the scenery was really nice and we got to see an old windmill!

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Ben, Beth and I rode a “rails-to-trails” bike ride in Northern Idaho called Route of the Hiawatha.  It’s an old train route in the mountains, going through 10 tunnels and over 7 trestles (bridges).  The coolest part was a 1.66 mile long tunnel!  The tunnel was pitch black (bike lamps required), and super cold.  It was damp and only 40 degrees F inside.  We were warned ahead of time to go slow, because if you go fast you’ll get mud splashed in a straight line up your back.  Sure enough, a few guys sped past us and they all had thick mud streaks right up their backs!  Anyway, the scenery was gorgeous and we had a really fun time.  The trail is 15 miles long downhill, then you take a bus back up to the top.  Here’s a few photos from the ride.

Start of the adventure:                                         The view:

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