Cycling the Ecopista de Évora in Portugal

June 8, 2023 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 8 minutes Throughout Portugal you can find an increasing number of dedicated cycling facilities, often called Ecopistas. Recently I wrote about an Ecopista starting in Vizeu in Portugal. This week, we’ll take you on an interesting ride on the Ecopista de Évora in the Portugese province of Alentejo, known for its cork trees, white washed villages, wine and vistas. Many years ago, I visited Évora (the emphasis is on the ‘E’, not on ‘VO‘), an old city in Portugal. It must have been around 1990-1991. I was there for an agricultural trade show and for a visit to a dealership of the [Read more…]

Ecopista do Dao paved red.

A bike ride on the Ecopista do Dão in Portugal

May 28, 2023 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 7 minutes The Ecopista do Dão wasn’t on the agenda for our trip in Portugal, but we found this gem of a rail to trail in the hinterland of Portugal. Closed for trains in 1988, it is now a paved trail through a lovely, peaceful part of rural Portugal.

bike share

Cycling in Lyon, France

March 26, 2020 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 8 minutes New Hans blog: a trip to Lyon, France in spring was an eye opener for us. It is easy to spend an entire week exploring the city and the area around it.

A bridge connecting with Christiania.

Copenhagen on the Bike

January 21, 2019 Hansonthebike 7

Reading Time: 7 minutes Hans on the bike visited #Copenhagen and cycled around the areas outside of downtown too. Here are some impressions of Copenhagen infrastructure.

Breakfast in Copenhagen

Four days in Copenhagen

January 15, 2019 Hansonthebike 1

Reading Time: 6 minutes Hansonthebike is visiting Copenhagen. With the sun out, we decided to bike around town and take in all the sights. #ottbike

Fruit stand in Catania

Travelling in Sicily: Part 5 – Catania’s Treasures

June 15, 2017 Hansonthebike 2

Reading Time: 8 minutes We arrived in Catania and we left from Catania. On our way to Catania, we made a bit of a detour through some of the most depressing country side I have seen. Add to that the garbage and it makes you realise that Italy is not always that dream place we know from the images. In order not to bother with a car in a city where we were going to walk anyway, we dropped off the car at the Catania airport where we rented it, and took a bus in town to spend the two last days in Catania. [Read more…]

Travelling in Sicily: part 4 – Valley of the Temples & Siracusa

June 13, 2017 Hansonthebike 1

Reading Time: 8 minutes After visiting the north coast of Sicily, we crossed the island towards the next destination: the famous Valley of the Temples on the south shore. The route follows valleys and passes west of the Madonie mountains on highways that are often elevated on a series of pillars. It seems to be a bit of overkill and it definitely doesn’t improve the landscape; the concrete and construction companies must have had a field day, week, year, decade. Interestingly, some of the roads are in pretty bad shape but not much is really being done to repair roads. The road owner closes a lane [Read more…]

Every Italian home has a coffee maker. And so did our AirBnB locations.

Travelling in Sicily: part 3 – Castelbuono, Madonie & Cefalú

May 28, 2017 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 7 minutes After a good night sleep at our second AirBnB location, we spent some time checking out Castelbuono. This town doesn’t get the attention it deserves as it is a nice base for some hiking in the Madonie mountains as well as a location to soak up some of the interior of Sicily. Yet another place with a long history, it is one of the places that is lively enough to spend a few days. It has a lovely old square, a number of tiny groceries stores, restaurants, butchers and bakeries, but unlike for example Cefalú, it isn’t much focussed on [Read more…]

The tiny Fiat 500 is still all over the place in Sicily

Travelling in Sicily: part 2 – Museo Archeologico, Villa Romana del Casale & Morgantina

May 25, 2017 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 5 minutes   Ragusa’s museum After five days in Sicily’s Ragusa, it was time to move on. But not before we checked out a tiny path running through a ravine near the old town. The path itself is not very well used but we found it on OpenStreetMaps. It also is not long and it passes some more caves and former graves. Youth was hanging out there and we had a little chat with some of the kids. While the path continues further we went up and emerged at the top near the Archeological museum. The museum is worth a visit, but very old fashioned [Read more…]