Grado and How We Got Home
Sunday - Monday September 9 - 10, 2018
Sunday
What a night! Janos got up in the night, tripped and sprained his back. When he woke up in the morning he could hardly walk. It was an effort to get to the breakfast room. All those lovely days on the road, then this. We were only thankful that nothing like this happened along the way. Still it left us wondering how we were going to get home if his back didn't get better fast. We had been thinking of cycling to Venice to get the train from there back to Munich, but that didn't seem like a possibility now.
In our Alpe-Adria bikeline guide we had seen an advertisement for a mini-van taxi that offered small groups of cyclists transport to Salzburg. I wondered if there would be enough cyclists heading our way at the end of the season to comprise a small group. We called. They asked us to send an email saying when we would like to leave, from where etc. Almost immediately we got a response. On the day of our choice, which would give us one day in Grado, they had room for us. Yoohoo! The perfect sollution.
Janos stayed in the room for most of the day and with the help of some pain killers was able to hobble to lunch and was even a bit better by evening. What a relief. In the meantime, I strolled the streets of Grado.
What a night! Janos got up in the night, tripped and sprained his back. When he woke up in the morning he could hardly walk. It was an effort to get to the breakfast room. All those lovely days on the road, then this. We were only thankful that nothing like this happened along the way. Still it left us wondering how we were going to get home if his back didn't get better fast. We had been thinking of cycling to Venice to get the train from there back to Munich, but that didn't seem like a possibility now.
In our Alpe-Adria bikeline guide we had seen an advertisement for a mini-van taxi that offered small groups of cyclists transport to Salzburg. I wondered if there would be enough cyclists heading our way at the end of the season to comprise a small group. We called. They asked us to send an email saying when we would like to leave, from where etc. Almost immediately we got a response. On the day of our choice, which would give us one day in Grado, they had room for us. Yoohoo! The perfect sollution.
Janos stayed in the room for most of the day and with the help of some pain killers was able to hobble to lunch and was even a bit better by evening. What a relief. In the meantime, I strolled the streets of Grado.
Good Morning, Grado!
View to the marina from our window
Our hotel
Monday
This morning Janos is feeling much better, not exactly spry but he can move without too much pain. Our 'taxi' is to pick us up at our hotel at 8:45. Punctually at 8:45 the van appears. There are two other passengers and within the next half hour the driver rounds up four more cyclists. Our bikes are secured safely and padded with foam rubber in the van, the rest of the bicycles are in a trailer. The other six cyclists are dropped off at different points in Austria and our driver had offered to drive us all the way to Munich if we wished. For a price, of course, but we felt it was worth it. We paid 200 Euros per person door-to-door, not cheap, but a fair price I felt, and under the circumstances we were only too happy to have found this easy and comfortable way to get home.
We zoomed past all the lovely countryside we had cycled through in the past two weeks, could even see the mountain peaks we had missed on the rainy days, and in the evening we were back in Munich.
This morning Janos is feeling much better, not exactly spry but he can move without too much pain. Our 'taxi' is to pick us up at our hotel at 8:45. Punctually at 8:45 the van appears. There are two other passengers and within the next half hour the driver rounds up four more cyclists. Our bikes are secured safely and padded with foam rubber in the van, the rest of the bicycles are in a trailer. The other six cyclists are dropped off at different points in Austria and our driver had offered to drive us all the way to Munich if we wished. For a price, of course, but we felt it was worth it. We paid 200 Euros per person door-to-door, not cheap, but a fair price I felt, and under the circumstances we were only too happy to have found this easy and comfortable way to get home.
We zoomed past all the lovely countryside we had cycled through in the past two weeks, could even see the mountain peaks we had missed on the rainy days, and in the evening we were back in Munich.
It was a wonderful trip - but I think I am repeating myself. We hope to do parts of it again next year, with additions and variations to the west and east at some points along the way.
Until then ciao ciao and auf wiedersehen!
Until then ciao ciao and auf wiedersehen!