Europe

All Around Athens

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During our run-up to the Authentic Athens Marathon, we’ve been exploring this ancient city and preparing for the race. Steve will do the marathon’s 26.2 miles and I’m registered for the 10K.

Entrance to the Athens Marathon Expo

Both races finish in the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympics in 1898 and the finish of the Olympic Marathon in 2004.

Panathenaic Stadium

The all-marble stadium is a key landmark in Athens, so we are excited to finish our races there.

Yesterday we navigated the Athens bus system to get to the Filaro area of town to attend the Marathon Expo. We picked up our race numbers and checked out all of the running-related exhibits at the site.

You never know who you’ll meet at the Expo

This is a traditional step for any Marathon and it’s fun to see the various vendors and try out new products.

Athens Marathon Expo

The first few days here we were on our own but now we are part of Marathon Tours, a travel group dedicated to supporting traveling runners. Our package includes a city tour, welcome cocktail reception and pre-race pasta dinner, as well as other race support.

As part of the group we visited the Acropolis. We’d been here with Mom and Dad almost 20 years ago and boy have things changed!

Parthenon

The site has seen extensive restoration which makes it easier to imagine what it looked like 2500 years ago when it was built.

The Parthenon 🏛 originally housed a 40 foot gold statue of Athena and was a temple honoring the goddess.

Parthenon

In the 2500 years since it has suffered the damages of war and transformations into a Roman palace, Turkish harem, and a World War II sentry. This place has seen history. Now it is being carefully restored.

Besides the Parthenon, various other temples have been restored upon the Acropolis. The Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion, flanked by the beautiful Caryatid Porch, are my favorite parts.

Caryatids of the Erechtheion

Another highlight of our trip so far has been the Greek cooking class we took. Our small group of four learned to make seven traditional dishes including dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and spanokopita (spinach pie).

Steve the dolmade expert

We got the recipes, so be prepared for Greek food coming out of our Prescott kitchen.

Greek Salad

After a final stroll through Athen’s Central Market and the Plaka, we are preparing for tomorrow’s run. More to come!

Olives in the Central Market

View from our room of the Parthenon

Sailboats in the harbor

Parthenon

Happy at the Parthenon

Athens and the Panathenaic Stadium in the distance

Erechthion

Beautiful day on the Acropolis

The Parthenon looms

Theater of Dionysius

Original stadium seats

Athens Central Market

Athens Central Market sausages

Egg delivery in Athens

Ruins in the Athens subway station

Athens subway is clean, safe, and well organized

The Long Road Home

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Phoenix, AZ

As we are in the middle of our long flight home, we can’t help but reflect on what a wonderful vacation we’ve had. The eight hour flight from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, followed by the five hour flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix are grueling, but they are a small price to pay for the wonderful experiences we had at this year’s Tour de France.

We finished our vacation in the fabulous city of Beaune, France. We visited this area two years ago when we followed our first Tour and the city continues to impress.

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Final lunch in France

The medieval walls and turrets that surround the city conjure up images of ancient battles and wine-making monks. This time we had less than 24 hours in this special place but we made the most of it.

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Steve in Beaune

On our final night with our Custom Getaways friends, we enjoyed a fabulous five course French dinner at a Beaune restaurant. With great local Burgundy wine and fine cuisine, we recalled the highlights of our trip:

 

  • The rainy time trial Prologue in Rotterdam, won by “Spartacus” Fabian Cancellara
  • The up-close and personal back-stage access of the start of the race in Brussels
  • Getting Lance Armstrong’s autograph and patting him on the back to wish him good luck on the Tour
  • Riding the closed course during Stage 2
  • Crossing the finish line by bicycle and then having our pictures taken on the podium, as if we were all the holders of the maillot jaune
  • Viewing the race from the Izoard VIP area while enjoying champagne after a sprint finish
  • Riding 100s of miles through the Dutch, Belgian, and French countryside, through polders, cobbles, and vineyards
  • Spending time with new friends from across the globe—Australia, Canada, Belgium, The Netherlands, Greece, USA, and France to be exact
  • Being led by a great group of cyclists and tour leaders: Sandra, Erik, Thomas, Nico, Giles, and our driver Adrian

 

 

 

Custom Getaways allowed us to see the Tour from a perspective that few will ever experience. They executed the plan with precision and flexibility and were attentive to our needs. They adapted to our varying levels of cycling experience and worked to make sure that everyone got what they needed whether it was a short ride, long ride, no ride, vegetarian meals, or medical attention.

All great trips must come to an end. Our end started yesterday when Adrian dropped us at the TGV station in Le Creusot, France. A transfer on the Paris metro and another train to Amsterdam marked the end of our European journey. It certainly will not be our last. For now though, we will continue to follow the Tour daily on the US broadcast from Versus. We will read the blogs and Facebook posts from our cycling friends and wish that we could be there for the Tour conclusion in Paris. Viva Le Tour!

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Just another routine day at the Tour de France

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Beaune, France

Today we had one more day in the Champagne region of France. The beautiful scenery of the vineyards and the French architecture never gets old. Steve rode about 58 miles today with the “fast” group while I took the bus into town to wait for the group and the Tour de France start. The ride was a challenging one, through the hills of the champagne region. One of our group members had a really bad wipe-out, so I was glad to be in the bus.

The Tour de France is like a traveling circus. Each day a new city hosts the departure, which means they must stage the arrival of the teams, their buses, and their cars along with the publicity caravan, the press, and the dignitaries.

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Riders at the start in Epernay

Roads are closed and large event venues are assembled each day just to host the departure of the race. Then, along the race route there are sprint zones and feed zones set up by roving crews that are always a step ahead of the peloton for the entire month of July. At the finish each day, usually in a town over 100 miles away from the starting line, the same thing happens in the town that hosts the arrival of the peloton. At each phase there are moving restaurants, souvenir stands, medical tents, and the like.

We’ve been so lucky because we travel in a bus that has VIP access. For each stage we’ve visited, we have been able to drive within a block or two of the race course. As you’ve seen on previous days sometimes that means we have to drive on the actual course, across the finish line, in order to find our parking space. Spectators along the way cheer and wave to us each day as if we are something special.

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Radioshack team car

This afternoon, after the departure of the riders in Epernay, we walked down the Avenue de Champagnes. This is a beautiful, famous street that is home to some of the most prestigious champagne houses in the world. We took the tour at Champagne de Castellana and then tasted the good stuff at the end. Yum! This was the perfect thing to do before our four hour bus ride south to Beaune.

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Stainless steel vats

We will spend this evening in Beaune and have planned a nice dinner with the group. We expect there will be plenty of good Burgundy wine since this is the capital of the Burgundy region of France.

This will be our last night in France as tomorrow afternoon we will begin the long journey home via Paris, Amsterdam, and Philadelphia. What an adventure we’ve had!

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