Bad Luck, Good Luck, and a Long Story (posted on 5/4/17)

Last sunset from our apartment terrace in Pitsidia, Crete

Last time making our favorite hike - wildflowers in bloom!

WELL, I have to laugh when I read the end of my last post.

The plan as it stands now is to catch the ferry to the mainland, ride back across the Peloponnese and take the ferry to Venice, where we'll begin our ride toward the Alps and Germany. We plan to take our time so as not to hit the Alps too early. And a lot depends on how Matthias' bike holds up. It's making funny (but different) noises again - and that's without the trailer attached.

The only part of that plan that held true involved the ferries.  We left our apartment in Pitsidia bright and early on April 8th - catching a beautiful sunrise - and started to ride the 70 km (~45 miles) to Heraklion. This involved riding over a 600 meter high mountain pass.  Matthias' bike got noisier and noisier as we rode toward the mountain (about 25 km) and then as we were about 6 km (~3.5 miles) from the top, it stopped functioning altogether. Pedals turned, but no longer turned the wheel.  As a reminder, Matthias has a super-slick E-bike with a fancy new (Nuvinci) gear system and a rubber belt in place of a chain.  He wouldn't trust anyone in Greece to fix it (though he did bring it to one guy when it was making noises and the guy just shrugged).  And it's a very heavy bike. And we had the bike trailer attached.  Bad luck!

Bikes loaded and ready to go! - before the bad luck

Now, I have to admit, I was a little less than understanding during the preceding weeks as Matthias was continually complaining about his bike and not being able to get it fixed.  I was worried about the bike making it over the mountain, but as there was nothing to do but try, I decided not to fret about it, and tried to convince him that it was useless (and annoying) to go on about it.  But when tragedy did hit, I must also admit that the tables were completely turned.  I was the blubbering idiot - just wanted to turn back, or stop on the side of the road and cry - while Matthias sprung into action.   He just started pushing his bike up the steep and windy road to the top of the mountain.  Not that he was cheerful about it, but he knew he wanted to move forward.  When we reached the top (with me riding slowly behind), he coasted down the hill for the next few miles. Once we were down the mountain, though, he had to walk/push the bike again (and I couldn't even take the bike trailer for him because my bike doesn't have the needed attachment.)  When we were still about 20 km away from our goal (the Heraklion ferry terminal), we decided to try towing.  We had these big rubber twist-tie-like things that we joined together and fastened to my bike.  Then Matthias held on and I pulled him for quite a distance - basically until we hit the city, where traffic made the towing a bit more dangerous.  So he pushed the final few miles and we made it (surprisingly) by early afternoon, enough time to grab a gyro and beer - our first meal of the day - and make our way to the ferry and a nice restaurant for Greek mezze (appetizers) before the 9pm overnight sailing.

Dinner in Heraklion

On the ferry, we discussed what we should do.  We thought about where we would try to get the bike fixed.  Should we try Italy?  Austria?  Germany?  Of course, first, we needed to travel about 250 kms from Piraeus (Athens) to Patras, where we could get the ferry to Venice.  And then what?  Matthias again came through with a good suggestion - we needed to take it one step at a time, as thinking about the entire journey was too overwhelming. Again, this from the guy who freaks out about something that might happen - surprisingly level-headed in the middle of the crisis.  Huh.

We arrived in Piraeus on Sunday morning, which made it relatively easy to get the subway/train to Corinth, where we knew of a nice campsite.  Arriving in Corinth on Sunday morning also made it easy to tow Matthias the 7km to the campsite - level terrain with very little traffic.  We asked the campsite host if she could help us find someone with a truck to take us to Patras, or somewhere we might be able to rent a van.  She said she wouldn't be able to try until Monday morning (and seemed a bit doubtful).  I asked if we could find something to eat nearby (since we didn't have our bikes) and she responded that we were "in luck", as it was Palm Sunday and all the stores were open.  Well, the nearby supermarket wasn't open, but we were able to get some bread at the bakery (our first meal of the day) and then walk the opposite direction to grab a nice meal at a fish restaurant overlooking the water.  We spent the day and early the next morning reviewing our "options".  We had nearly decided that the best option might be to walk the 120 km over three days (there were campsites/accommodations every 30 km) to make it to the ferry by Thursday.  But on Monday around 11 am we were told that a man with a truck could take us that day.  That was great because there was a ferry leaving late that night, and the next wouldn't be until Thursday.  Some good luck!

Our first night camping - in Corinth

Guy with a truck 

Loading the bikes on the truck

The truck guy came to get us at around noon and the drive to Patras took about three hours.  Along the way, I noticed all the traffic and construction going on and was relieved that we didn't have to walk with the bikes!  I also went online to confirm the ferry was sailing that day.  It was, but the website said it was leaving at 6pm (instead of midnight, as usual) and that it would arrive in Venice at 1:00 am (normally at 7am) two days later.  I decided to spare Matthias those details until we arrived at the port, although he thought it strange when I asked the driver to take us directly to the port instead of leave us in town, probably wondering what we would do with ourselves at the port until midnight.  When we arrived at the port (3pm), I went to buy tickets and the ticket-seller said that the ferry would leave at midnight.  When I asked her to check again, she said, "oh, today it's at 6pm."  So I hopped on my bike and went to the grocery store to get some provisions, we grabbed some food at the port terminal snack bar (for the third day in a row, we hadn't eaten until after 3pm) and then we got on the boat.  Then a little more good luck: the ferry was pretty empty (perhaps a lot of people missed the boat due to the time change!) and they upgraded us to a cabin for just the two of us (I had booked beds in shared rooms).  The ferry company - ANEK lines - was celebrating it's 50th anniversary, so they gave us some pastry and schnapps to enjoy.  And, the manager told us that even though we would dock in Venice around midnight, we could stay in our cabin until 6am.  Whew! So we settled in for two nights/one day on the ferry. More good luck!

Our deluxe ferry accommodations

On the ferry 

Sunset on the ferry

Of course, when we arrived in Venice, Matthias wanted to get an early start and I (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to leave the ship at 5AM (which meant 4:30).  That turned out to be a really good idea.  Though it was dark, the roads were relatively empty and I was able to tow him the 15km (8 miles) to Venice.  It got a little scary toward the end as there is only one road across the bay to Venice, and it was pretty much like a highway. A real white knuckle ride!  Fortunately, for the last 3km there was a sidewalk that made do as a bike path (since it was so early) and we arrived in Venice to find that the only way to the train station was over a bridge that involved stairs.  It turned out not to be as bad as it looked (shallow stairs) and we were able to push up and over to get to the train.  We decided to go to Verona because we could get a direct train to Germany from there, and the train from Venice to Verona started in Venice and ended in Verona.  That was always a big deal for us, because getting the bikes (with trailer and all our bags) on and off the trains usually took longer than the 2-3 minutes that the train would be in a middle station.  Also, you never knew if there would be room for the bikes when the train pulled in.  But at 7AM in Venice, we didn't have a problem, although the train did get pretty packed (rush hour and lots of students) on the way to Verona. But since Verona was the last stop, we had plenty of time to get out.

Sunrise in Venice

On the bridge in Venice

The roads in Verona were too busy for me to tow Matthias to the campsite, but fortunately it was only about 5km (3 miles) away.  Unfortunately, however, it was on top of a BIG hill and Matthias really struggled to push the bike and trailer up the steep incline.  The campsite was really nice, though, and once Matthias got over the climb and we set up camp, we were able to enjoy the view and plan the next steps.  Speaking of steps, the campsite was really close to the city center - down a steep path/stairway that led directly to the old town; it was a workout, but relatively easy without the bikes. Going over our options, we decided to go directly to Germany where we could find an "authorized dealer" to work on the bike. So, we headed back to the train station on foot and bought train tickets to Germany for Saturday, April 15th (the day before Easter) thinking it would be easier to travel on the weekend.  There was a direct train (starting in Verona) at 9am to Munich - where we would be able to catch a regional train to get further north - and we were able to reserve space for our bikes. Then, since it was only Wednesday, we had two full days (and three nights) to explore Verona.  Beautiful town!  Good wine! Yummy food!  More good luck!

Verona Campsite

View from the campsite

Campsite hill from town - taller/steeper than it looks!

Food in Verona!

Verona Scene

Early on Saturday morning, we left the Campsite and coasted down the hill to the river, where I was able to tow Matthias all the way to the train station.  We had ample time to board the train and had reserved seats, so we were able to relax and enjoy the ride over the Alps to Munich.  I was a little sad as I watched the spectacular scenery out the window (we were supposed to be biking it), but progress was being made.  In Munich, we rushed to make a connection to a regional train that would take us to Hof, where I made an AirBNB reservation - $28 for a nice apartment near the train station!!  Being the night before Easter (and rainy, of course) we couldn't find any restaurants open so we had some really bad Chinese food for our first meal in Germany. 😒

Waiting for the train in Verona

View from the train - the valley we were supposed to ride through.

So where did we end up?  We had been up in the air about where to go in Germany.  It was between Berlin (where we bought the bikes in the first place) or Dresden, where we had planned to spend the summer.  We decided to leave it to wherever we could find a place to crash when we arrived.  That turned out to be Dresden, where I was able to find a guy to rent us a little apartment for $20 per night for two weeks. So, one of the last stressful moments (second to last, it turned out) was arriving in Dresden and hoping the guy would meet up with us and the apartment would be okay.  He did, and it was.

First Döner Kebap in Dresden!

What we've seen of Dresden so far, we really like!  We've been here a few times before, but never really out of the tourist area.  We knew the surrounding area is great for biking and hiking, and that's why we chose it, but the city itself is really nice - particularly where the apartment we rented for two weeks is located.  Actually reminds me of some of the neighborhoods in Berlin.  Lots of young people, lots of restaurants, and lots of beer gardens (even better than what we found in Berlin).  Unfortunately, right now it's COLD and RAINY (typical Germany) but the apartment is warm, the bread is delicious and - although it's still too cold for the beer gardens - the beer is ubiquitous.  We'll be alright!

Elbe (River) bike path in Dresden

Dresden Old Town from the bike path

As for Matthias' bike - it was in the shop for about a week, but the damage turned out to be less severe than we (i.e., Matthias) expected. Still, glad we brought it here to be fixed.

Yay!  Bikes are fixed!

But wait, there's more!  I was going to publish this last week because we seemed to be settled, we had decided to make Dresden our base this summer, and I had found a small one-bedroom apartment online that we could rent until October. But I thought I'd wait until we had apartment keys in hand because I didn't want to jinx anything.  It was a great deal: 365 Euros (about $400) per month, including internet, so it seemed a bit too good to be true.  Of course, as we were on our way to get the keys last Friday (with one day to spare in our current accommodation) we received a call saying that the renter wanted an additional 70 euros per month for electricity.  We said no - on principle -  and waited in a cafe around the corner from what we hoped was our new place, wondering if we would still get it.  After about half an hour we found our our original deal would be okay, but that left us with a bad feeling (and I was SOOO ready to celebrate being settled after our long journey!)  But the apartment seemed nice, and once we moved in the next day I figured I would get over it.  That was until the next day when we found water on the floor in the kitchen.  Turns out there's a leak somewhere so we didn't think we'd be able to use the kitchen sink (or the washing machine!) for a while.  That, and the less-than-spotless state of the apartment caused Matthias to have a (perhaps overdue) meltdown.  And of course it was a holiday weekend so we had to wait until Tuesday to call anyone.  So the streak of good luck following the initial tragedy of the bike fail seemed to have ended.

Matthias checking out the damage in the kitchen

But now things are looking up.  Matthias has begun a deep cleaning of the apartment, and although there is still water in the kitchen, it's a slow leak (never more than two small puddles on the floor) so we can use the sink and washing machine until someone gets here to fix it.  And the apartment is nearly perfect for us - a separate bedroom, good internet, TV and washing machine.  The neighborhood is super-convenient (if not as charming as where we were for the first two weeks).  It is steps away from the river Elbe and the bike path that leads to Prague in one direction and Hamburg in the other.  And we have it for the next six months!!  Plan your vacations accordingly!  We are just two hours by train from Prague and Berlin - and pretty accessible to other areas as well. We do expect to be out on the bike trails most of the time, but if anyone reading this plans to visit Germany/Europe do let me know and I'll try to make sure we cross paths!    Bis dann/'til then!

Watching the steam ship parade on the Elbe on the 1st of May (May Day)

Beer Garden on the Elbe  on May Day