Another day off in Prague
Today we ate breakfast at the flat and then ventured onto the subway to go to the castle. Monika briefed us on which trains to take and we pulled it off quite flawlessly with a little help from the locals. As we climbed up to the castle from the metro station we noticed that the crowds of tourists were incredible. Yesterday when we were there we didn't notice that there we that many people around, but today the line to get into the church wrapped half way around the big building. There were tour groups everywhere. We walked through the castle gardens which were quite small and decided to get away from these crowds and join the crowds back on the other side of the river.
We were hungry and decided to have lunch in a restaurant. Now, everything in this touristy big city is expensive, but we seemed to find one of the fancier, pricier places in the area. The lunch special they served was tasty but fairly small. We still aren't used to some of the things that go on in restaurants. For example, before bringing our salads they brought a basket of 4 rolls, so we scarfed them down. Later we discovered that we were charge separately for the bread because we ate it. If we had left it sitting there, we would not have been charged. That's unusual for us Americans.
We walked across the pedestrian-only St. Charles bridge which was just packed with tourists and vendors selling all kinds of junk. It was like a scene from the stockyards.
We headed to the south end of the old town area and suddenly the crowds disappeared. There were some really nice churches in this area. We toured through an small monastery and happened upon an old church and graveyard surrounded by a large park area. John found some Frisbee freestylers there. He showed them his one move (which he hit, by the way) and then spent some time talking with them. They are going to the big freestyle championships coming up in a few weeks in Amsterdam that our friends Bethany, Rodney, Dave and Heather are going to.
We walked part of the way back, stopping at a bookstore that we were told might have the cycling route maps of the Czech Republic that our Aussie friends had (no luck) and at the grocery store for a bottle of wine for dinner tonight. From there we took the subway back and enjoyed a nice dinner and dessert that Monika made for us.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
7 June 2007
A day off in Prague
Just down the street from Monika's flat we found a cafe that served breakfast. The menu contained mostly American-like breakfast items which was nice for a change. We walked into the main tourist area of town, got a tourist map that listed all of the must-see sights and began walking around to find them. We signed up for a 2:15 3 1/2 hour sightseeing tour and found a few of the sights on our own until then. The tour was about half bus and half walking with a live tour guide. It was informative and we hit most of the major sites. St. Vitus cathedral, which is across the river in the Prague Castle area, was very impressive but we were sort of rushed through it because it was closing time. At the end of the tour we got to go up the old town hall tower in the old town square and saw a fantastic view of the city. Since it was 5:50 we decided to stick around for the 6:00 dinging of the astronomical clock on the tower. It was supposed to be pretty cool and quite a large cr!
owd was gathering. It was interesting with a few moving figures and all but only lasted a few seconds.
The two tired puppies walked their tails back to the house and then took Monika, our hostess, and her son, Vatek, out to dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant just a few blocks from their flat.
Just down the street from Monika's flat we found a cafe that served breakfast. The menu contained mostly American-like breakfast items which was nice for a change. We walked into the main tourist area of town, got a tourist map that listed all of the must-see sights and began walking around to find them. We signed up for a 2:15 3 1/2 hour sightseeing tour and found a few of the sights on our own until then. The tour was about half bus and half walking with a live tour guide. It was informative and we hit most of the major sites. St. Vitus cathedral, which is across the river in the Prague Castle area, was very impressive but we were sort of rushed through it because it was closing time. At the end of the tour we got to go up the old town hall tower in the old town square and saw a fantastic view of the city. Since it was 5:50 we decided to stick around for the 6:00 dinging of the astronomical clock on the tower. It was supposed to be pretty cool and quite a large cr!
owd was gathering. It was interesting with a few moving figures and all but only lasted a few seconds.
The two tired puppies walked their tails back to the house and then took Monika, our hostess, and her son, Vatek, out to dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant just a few blocks from their flat.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
5 June 2007
Cesky Krumlov to Milevsko
It seems we are just missing some pretty good rains. This morning was foggy and cool as we tried to navigate our way past town. We ran into a detour that we know would have taken us way out of our way, so we backtracked and made it through though we weren't sure we were on the correct road until we had gone 8 km's. Our route started out fairly flat but then the hills kicked in. Forty km's into the day we stopped in Netolice for a snack. Everybody seemed to be coming out this one small shop with ice cream, so we went in and found they had some nice bakery, too. Well, we had to try a couple of items and they didn't disappoint us. Just around the corner from the sweet shop we decided to get more cash and that's when John discovered that he must not have taken his card out of the last cash machine. We discussed how to handle the situation (Marie is carrying a different card) and continued on another 15km's or so and stopped in Driten for more fuel for the body. While eating an !
elderly man was intrigued by John's bike and trailer, so John had to show him how it all connected. Though he spoke no English and we speak no Czech, we managed to communicate quite a bit. As we continued on we rode through a nice area of small lakes and could see what looked like nuclear reactor towers off in the distance. It turns out that our route took us within a 100 meters of the 4 of them. Pretty impressive structures up close. The only thing separating us from them were a few rows of razor wire fencing.
The plan was to get to the campground in Veselicko and see how we felt. If we still had a few kms in us, we would go on into Melevsko and get a room to make tomorrow's long day into Prague a bit shorter. We went past the campground with just enough energy to get us the 8 more kms into Milevsko. Just our luck, however, there weren't any signs for any rooms anywhere on the main road. We wandered up a few side streets and saw nothing. We were amazed because it seems that even in the smallest of villages there was usually a room to be found. We asked a few people on the street and none seemed too sure, but a couple of them told us to go to the Sport Hotel. We managed to find it with some more help, but it was pretty run down and nobody was there. On the way we had passed a street sign that said "privat" and had a stick figure of a bed on it, so we stopped to check the price. It seemed a bit high so that's why we went on to check out the hotel. Well, eventually we sett!
led on that room and then walked and rode our bikes to two nearby grocery stores to get some dinner food. When we don't camp, we seem to become two very indecisive people.
Anyway, the room was very nice and had this bizarre staircase going up to it. It was metal and the steps were only about 6 inches deep. And where it made the turn they were only about 4 inches deep. It's a good thing there was a railing to hang onto!
Kms 98.76
Time 6:03:28
Avg 16.2
Max 50.9
Total 1325.3
It seems we are just missing some pretty good rains. This morning was foggy and cool as we tried to navigate our way past town. We ran into a detour that we know would have taken us way out of our way, so we backtracked and made it through though we weren't sure we were on the correct road until we had gone 8 km's. Our route started out fairly flat but then the hills kicked in. Forty km's into the day we stopped in Netolice for a snack. Everybody seemed to be coming out this one small shop with ice cream, so we went in and found they had some nice bakery, too. Well, we had to try a couple of items and they didn't disappoint us. Just around the corner from the sweet shop we decided to get more cash and that's when John discovered that he must not have taken his card out of the last cash machine. We discussed how to handle the situation (Marie is carrying a different card) and continued on another 15km's or so and stopped in Driten for more fuel for the body. While eating an !
elderly man was intrigued by John's bike and trailer, so John had to show him how it all connected. Though he spoke no English and we speak no Czech, we managed to communicate quite a bit. As we continued on we rode through a nice area of small lakes and could see what looked like nuclear reactor towers off in the distance. It turns out that our route took us within a 100 meters of the 4 of them. Pretty impressive structures up close. The only thing separating us from them were a few rows of razor wire fencing.
The plan was to get to the campground in Veselicko and see how we felt. If we still had a few kms in us, we would go on into Melevsko and get a room to make tomorrow's long day into Prague a bit shorter. We went past the campground with just enough energy to get us the 8 more kms into Milevsko. Just our luck, however, there weren't any signs for any rooms anywhere on the main road. We wandered up a few side streets and saw nothing. We were amazed because it seems that even in the smallest of villages there was usually a room to be found. We asked a few people on the street and none seemed too sure, but a couple of them told us to go to the Sport Hotel. We managed to find it with some more help, but it was pretty run down and nobody was there. On the way we had passed a street sign that said "privat" and had a stick figure of a bed on it, so we stopped to check the price. It seemed a bit high so that's why we went on to check out the hotel. Well, eventually we sett!
led on that room and then walked and rode our bikes to two nearby grocery stores to get some dinner food. When we don't camp, we seem to become two very indecisive people.
Anyway, the room was very nice and had this bizarre staircase going up to it. It was metal and the steps were only about 6 inches deep. And where it made the turn they were only about 4 inches deep. It's a good thing there was a railing to hang onto!
Kms 98.76
Time 6:03:28
Avg 16.2
Max 50.9
Total 1325.3
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
4 June 2007
Haslach, Austria to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
The sun was out this morning as we woke up in the luxury of the indoors. The hotel manager had a nice "help yourself style" breakfast laid out for us and he made us each an egg. We've learned that if you order an egg and don't say how you want it cooked, it will come soft boiled which is really quite tasty.
John successfully navigated us out of town and directly to a 5 km climb to start the day. We climbed and descended the Austrian hills just like yesterday as the sun came and went. After 15 very slow kms we made it to the border of the Czech Republic and were let in with no questions asked.
The terrain seemed to change right away. We commented on how your brains immediately feel a difference once we've crossed a border. It just feels different even though you could be just one km from the previous country. Anyway, the countryside was forested with some open fields but not much agriculture. The hills became shorter, steeper and more rolling. At one point we stopped to look at an animal that we think was a fox but weren't sure even after looking with the binoculars. And while looking at it a deer came walking up right behind it. What a banner wildlife spotting day!
We had a forced lunch stop at the shore of the Noldaustausee (a lake) where we had to wait 45 minutes for a ferry. The sky was now cloudy and threatening and it was quite cool. We were joined by a group of 5 from Austria on bikes taking a short ride who were very intrigued by John's trailer, so he gave them the demonstration on how it attatches to his bike.
After the 2 minute boat ride we were in Frymburk where we went to a Bankomat (ATM) and got our first Krone and spent a few right away at the grocery store. We sat and ate part two of our lunch while the sun came out. Off we went for the remaining 23 kms into Ceske Krumlov, our destination for the day. On the way we went down quite a few amazingly steep and fairly long hills that would have been real buggers had we been going the other way.
Once in Ceske Krumlov we did our best to find the Centrum (city center) and the tourist info office where our Aussie friends told us to stop to get bike route maps. Then we went to the internet cafe to find where our new friends in Prague live. We found them on the warm showers list (a place for cyclists to find other cyclists who are willing to let you stay with them while touring in their area).
Next it was on to some sightseeing. This town is best described as sort of a fairytale land. Being here is like stepping back into the time of castles and knights and all that stuff. It's touristy as the narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with shops, restaurants and pensions, but it was enjoyable to stroll around. We had an interesting treat (didn't get the name). It was sweet bread rolled in either nuts or cinammon and shaped like a 4 inch long bracelet. Very tasty.
After seeing the sights we enjoyed a nice dinner and marveled at the low price compared to everything in Austria. Even in this touristy area the prices were quite reasonable.
At 7:00 we rode back 2.5 kms to the campground we had passed on the way in. There was a large group of middle and high school aged kids camped there and it looked like a tent city. This probably won't be a very quiet night, but we're pretty pooped so hopefully it won't matter. If you get bored with our website you can visit wwww.where2pedalto.com and check out our friends from Perth, Australia who have just started riding from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Kms 47.83
Time 3:35:44
Avg 13.2
Max ?
Totl 1226.6
The sun was out this morning as we woke up in the luxury of the indoors. The hotel manager had a nice "help yourself style" breakfast laid out for us and he made us each an egg. We've learned that if you order an egg and don't say how you want it cooked, it will come soft boiled which is really quite tasty.
John successfully navigated us out of town and directly to a 5 km climb to start the day. We climbed and descended the Austrian hills just like yesterday as the sun came and went. After 15 very slow kms we made it to the border of the Czech Republic and were let in with no questions asked.
The terrain seemed to change right away. We commented on how your brains immediately feel a difference once we've crossed a border. It just feels different even though you could be just one km from the previous country. Anyway, the countryside was forested with some open fields but not much agriculture. The hills became shorter, steeper and more rolling. At one point we stopped to look at an animal that we think was a fox but weren't sure even after looking with the binoculars. And while looking at it a deer came walking up right behind it. What a banner wildlife spotting day!
We had a forced lunch stop at the shore of the Noldaustausee (a lake) where we had to wait 45 minutes for a ferry. The sky was now cloudy and threatening and it was quite cool. We were joined by a group of 5 from Austria on bikes taking a short ride who were very intrigued by John's trailer, so he gave them the demonstration on how it attatches to his bike.
After the 2 minute boat ride we were in Frymburk where we went to a Bankomat (ATM) and got our first Krone and spent a few right away at the grocery store. We sat and ate part two of our lunch while the sun came out. Off we went for the remaining 23 kms into Ceske Krumlov, our destination for the day. On the way we went down quite a few amazingly steep and fairly long hills that would have been real buggers had we been going the other way.
Once in Ceske Krumlov we did our best to find the Centrum (city center) and the tourist info office where our Aussie friends told us to stop to get bike route maps. Then we went to the internet cafe to find where our new friends in Prague live. We found them on the warm showers list (a place for cyclists to find other cyclists who are willing to let you stay with them while touring in their area).
Next it was on to some sightseeing. This town is best described as sort of a fairytale land. Being here is like stepping back into the time of castles and knights and all that stuff. It's touristy as the narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with shops, restaurants and pensions, but it was enjoyable to stroll around. We had an interesting treat (didn't get the name). It was sweet bread rolled in either nuts or cinammon and shaped like a 4 inch long bracelet. Very tasty.
After seeing the sights we enjoyed a nice dinner and marveled at the low price compared to everything in Austria. Even in this touristy area the prices were quite reasonable.
At 7:00 we rode back 2.5 kms to the campground we had passed on the way in. There was a large group of middle and high school aged kids camped there and it looked like a tent city. This probably won't be a very quiet night, but we're pretty pooped so hopefully it won't matter. If you get bored with our website you can visit wwww.where2pedalto.com and check out our friends from Perth, Australia who have just started riding from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Kms 47.83
Time 3:35:44
Avg 13.2
Max ?
Totl 1226.6
Thursday, June 7, 2007
3 June 2007
Passau, Germany to Haslach, Austria
The journey to Prague began this morning with a 15 km backtrack east on the Danube to Obernzell. Once there we knew the routing challenge and the hill climbing were about to begin. We wanted to find the road heading up that was not the main road, highway 388. We tried asking a couple of different people, but none of them knew where it was. They all, however, made it very clear that the road we were going on is very steep.
The initial climb was 5 kms to the town of Untergreisbach where we rewarded our effort with a couple of pieces of bakery. The climb had a few switchbacks but didn't live up to all of the steepness warnings we were given.
From there the hills continued. We went from completely flat riding the past few days to not a single stretch of flat today. And we hit some steep ones. We were tuckered when we stopped for lunch in Wegscheid. When we came out it began to rain. We were in our usual indecisive rain mode (should we wait it out, should we call it a day, should we ride?) but decided to ride. We only made it to the near end of the next town when the rain started coming down harder. We ducked into someone's open garage and waited about 20 minutes before deciding to ride into town and get a room. Well, there were several gasthaus places in town but only one seemed to be open. It seemed a bit pricey and the rain had stopped, so we decided to roll on.
We went up and down, up and down through little villages. The sky still looked threatening, but it stayed dry. At Oepping we decided to leave the main road and take a scenic road for about the last 10 kms of the day. This turned out to not be the greatest decision in hindsight because the map we had wasn't very detailed. We did alright by asking people up to a certain point where we asked someone walking which way it was to Haslach and didn't clearly understand the way he pointed. We ended up climbing about 2 kms before we asked a woman washing her car which way it was to Haslach. She pointed back the way we came to our dismay. She went into her car and gave us a really detailed map of the area and we hightailed it back to where we had gone astray.
Finally we arrived in Haslach but it didn't get any easier for us there. One of our maps showed a youth hostel in the town so we thought we would give that a try. We asked a few people where it was and finally happened upon it. There was no sign anywhere and there was nobody there. There was a sign on the door with a phone number, so we went to a pay phone, called and were told it was only open to big groups. O.K. We had passed a campground sign on the way into town and decided to go there even though we really wanted to stay inside tonight to get some of our damp things dried out. We left the main part of town and went back to the campground to find it deserted with a sign in German telling us where to go for information. We would have just camped there anyways, but the showers were locked and we really needed to warm up a bit. So we rode back uphill into town and stopped at the gasthaus by the town tower. It ended up costing even more than the gasthaus we turned !
down earlier in the day, but at that point it was our only option. The area that we traveled through today has many long walking tracks. At one point we got on what we in the U.S. call rails to trails. Once we left the river the countryside opened up and we could see the big rolling hills that lay in front of us.
Kms 63.81
Time 4:32:15
Avg 14.0
Max 44.2
Total 1178.7
The journey to Prague began this morning with a 15 km backtrack east on the Danube to Obernzell. Once there we knew the routing challenge and the hill climbing were about to begin. We wanted to find the road heading up that was not the main road, highway 388. We tried asking a couple of different people, but none of them knew where it was. They all, however, made it very clear that the road we were going on is very steep.
The initial climb was 5 kms to the town of Untergreisbach where we rewarded our effort with a couple of pieces of bakery. The climb had a few switchbacks but didn't live up to all of the steepness warnings we were given.
From there the hills continued. We went from completely flat riding the past few days to not a single stretch of flat today. And we hit some steep ones. We were tuckered when we stopped for lunch in Wegscheid. When we came out it began to rain. We were in our usual indecisive rain mode (should we wait it out, should we call it a day, should we ride?) but decided to ride. We only made it to the near end of the next town when the rain started coming down harder. We ducked into someone's open garage and waited about 20 minutes before deciding to ride into town and get a room. Well, there were several gasthaus places in town but only one seemed to be open. It seemed a bit pricey and the rain had stopped, so we decided to roll on.
We went up and down, up and down through little villages. The sky still looked threatening, but it stayed dry. At Oepping we decided to leave the main road and take a scenic road for about the last 10 kms of the day. This turned out to not be the greatest decision in hindsight because the map we had wasn't very detailed. We did alright by asking people up to a certain point where we asked someone walking which way it was to Haslach and didn't clearly understand the way he pointed. We ended up climbing about 2 kms before we asked a woman washing her car which way it was to Haslach. She pointed back the way we came to our dismay. She went into her car and gave us a really detailed map of the area and we hightailed it back to where we had gone astray.
Finally we arrived in Haslach but it didn't get any easier for us there. One of our maps showed a youth hostel in the town so we thought we would give that a try. We asked a few people where it was and finally happened upon it. There was no sign anywhere and there was nobody there. There was a sign on the door with a phone number, so we went to a pay phone, called and were told it was only open to big groups. O.K. We had passed a campground sign on the way into town and decided to go there even though we really wanted to stay inside tonight to get some of our damp things dried out. We left the main part of town and went back to the campground to find it deserted with a sign in German telling us where to go for information. We would have just camped there anyways, but the showers were locked and we really needed to warm up a bit. So we rode back uphill into town and stopped at the gasthaus by the town tower. It ended up costing even more than the gasthaus we turned !
down earlier in the day, but at that point it was our only option. The area that we traveled through today has many long walking tracks. At one point we got on what we in the U.S. call rails to trails. Once we left the river the countryside opened up and we could see the big rolling hills that lay in front of us.
Kms 63.81
Time 4:32:15
Avg 14.0
Max 44.2
Total 1178.7
2 June 2007
Au, Austria to Passau, Germany
For the most part last night was eerily quiet except for a few calls from the resident peacocks that decided to sit in the tree right next to the tent. There were just some very light sprinkles overnight and the morning was foggy but looking like it was going to clear. A short day of riding took us into Passau, Germany where we wanted to spend some time looking aound the old city. The 40 km's flew by and we had our tent set up by 11:30. There was a Canadian couple that had just arrived late last night still packing up to start their day and their 6 week trip. We got to chatting and kept on chatting under cover as a pretty good rain shower came through. When the rain ended they took off and we headed into the city to look around and see if we could find a map to guide us up to Prague. The Aussie couple, Robin and Peter, peeked our interest and we decided to go for it. As we were heading into St. Stephen's cathedral, we saw their bikes parked outside and Robin inside so we gri!
lled them for more info. St. Stephen's cathedral was very impressive and holds the world's largest cathedral organ with 17,974 pipes. We even got to hear it being played. Incredible. From there we searched out a book store to find a map of cycle routes in the Czech Republic. We found one that will get us to Cesky Krumlov, where Peter said we could find all the maps we would need to bike the greenways to Prague. With that taken care of we shopped for food for tomorrow since no stores are open on Sunday, then strolled the city some more and made our way to an internet cafe to see if we could get more info on routes up to Prague. No luck. Back in camp John had some repairs to make to his bike due to another spectacular wipeout that bent his two biggest chain rings. So now he has matching road rash on both sides of his body. He had to take the chain rings off and hammer them back into shape (flat). He also found he was missing a screw on his pedal for his clips but another bike!
r in camp had a spare. A test ride around camp seems to indicate that
the repairs were successful. With all tht going on we didn't eat dinner until 8:30 P.M. and as we were finishing up the rains came again. So it was a mad dash to the tent. As we finish writing this the rain seems to have come to an end.
Kms 39.51
Time 2:12:21
Avg 17.9
Max 31.7
Total 1114.9
For the most part last night was eerily quiet except for a few calls from the resident peacocks that decided to sit in the tree right next to the tent. There were just some very light sprinkles overnight and the morning was foggy but looking like it was going to clear. A short day of riding took us into Passau, Germany where we wanted to spend some time looking aound the old city. The 40 km's flew by and we had our tent set up by 11:30. There was a Canadian couple that had just arrived late last night still packing up to start their day and their 6 week trip. We got to chatting and kept on chatting under cover as a pretty good rain shower came through. When the rain ended they took off and we headed into the city to look around and see if we could find a map to guide us up to Prague. The Aussie couple, Robin and Peter, peeked our interest and we decided to go for it. As we were heading into St. Stephen's cathedral, we saw their bikes parked outside and Robin inside so we gri!
lled them for more info. St. Stephen's cathedral was very impressive and holds the world's largest cathedral organ with 17,974 pipes. We even got to hear it being played. Incredible. From there we searched out a book store to find a map of cycle routes in the Czech Republic. We found one that will get us to Cesky Krumlov, where Peter said we could find all the maps we would need to bike the greenways to Prague. With that taken care of we shopped for food for tomorrow since no stores are open on Sunday, then strolled the city some more and made our way to an internet cafe to see if we could get more info on routes up to Prague. No luck. Back in camp John had some repairs to make to his bike due to another spectacular wipeout that bent his two biggest chain rings. So now he has matching road rash on both sides of his body. He had to take the chain rings off and hammer them back into shape (flat). He also found he was missing a screw on his pedal for his clips but another bike!
r in camp had a spare. A test ride around camp seems to indicate that
the repairs were successful. With all tht going on we didn't eat dinner until 8:30 P.M. and as we were finishing up the rains came again. So it was a mad dash to the tent. As we finish writing this the rain seems to have come to an end.
Kms 39.51
Time 2:12:21
Avg 17.9
Max 31.7
Total 1114.9
1 June 21007
Linz to Au
A perfect day -- almost!
The sky was as blue as can be as we said goodbye to our Seattle friends and headed for the Danube. It was an absolutely glorious morning. We did pretty well getting out of Linz which is a fairly big city. At one point we discovered the bikeway on the other side of the busy road and had to do the limbo with our bikes and ourselves under some railroad barricades and across some tracks to get there. But from there it was smooth sailing. We are amazed at the number of people we see cycling this bikeway. There are young and old and everything in between. There are the bikers clad in bright Spandex with fancy bikes and there are people wearing jeans riding very simple bikes. There are commuters, people just out for the day, overnighters staying indoors and campers loaded with gear. We've seen a number of large family groups with the kids hauling their share of the load. Last night there was a group of women at the campground that looked like it included grandma, mom and !
daughters. What a great family outing!
Today's route was again very flat. At one point we took a bit of a detour because of a big rowing competition that was happening on the river. This took us through some farmland for a short time and then back to the water. In Aschach we crossed over to the south side of the river and ate some lunch on a bench on the waterfront.
The river made a number of big turns today and made for some very pretty views with wooded hills on both sides. At one point we saw a swan with 7 fuzzy cygnets. The entire morning Marie commented on how the weather today was ideal, not too warm, not too cool with a gentle tailwind. However, as we rode we saw some clouds building ahead of us and with only 5 kms to go to get to our destination for the day, thunder rumbled and the rain began. We waited out a few heavy showers under some trees overhanging the road. We were able to get the last 5 kms to the ferry crossing in without any rain, but more came as we approached the ferry landing. There is a big hotel in Schlogen, so we parked under an overhang and headed into the restaurant for tea and coffee. Sitting in front of the large windows watching the showers come and go, we were looking at maps and began contemplating leaving the river and going to visit Prague. This morning we met some Aussies who had cycled from Pr!
ague and said they really enjoyed the whole Czech experience. The rain subsided so we went to the small store and bought some eggs tc cook up for dinner and took the ferry across the river to camp on a farm that our Seattle friends recommended. Some more rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance as we ate. After eating we ducked into the dining area for the people staying in rooms at the farm. There were two groups of people and they were all talking with the owners in German. Eventually we got in on the conversation and before we knew it we were both being served a shot of their homemade Schnaps because they all wanted to make sure we had a good time. We smiled and painfully swallowed the potent potion. We talked a little more with the cycling family from Munich, mother, father and 2 quite young daughters no older than 6 years. We were impressed. Tomorrow we enter Germany.
Kms 60.71
Time 3:27:56
Avg 17.5
Max 36.9
Total 1075.4
A perfect day -- almost!
The sky was as blue as can be as we said goodbye to our Seattle friends and headed for the Danube. It was an absolutely glorious morning. We did pretty well getting out of Linz which is a fairly big city. At one point we discovered the bikeway on the other side of the busy road and had to do the limbo with our bikes and ourselves under some railroad barricades and across some tracks to get there. But from there it was smooth sailing. We are amazed at the number of people we see cycling this bikeway. There are young and old and everything in between. There are the bikers clad in bright Spandex with fancy bikes and there are people wearing jeans riding very simple bikes. There are commuters, people just out for the day, overnighters staying indoors and campers loaded with gear. We've seen a number of large family groups with the kids hauling their share of the load. Last night there was a group of women at the campground that looked like it included grandma, mom and !
daughters. What a great family outing!
Today's route was again very flat. At one point we took a bit of a detour because of a big rowing competition that was happening on the river. This took us through some farmland for a short time and then back to the water. In Aschach we crossed over to the south side of the river and ate some lunch on a bench on the waterfront.
The river made a number of big turns today and made for some very pretty views with wooded hills on both sides. At one point we saw a swan with 7 fuzzy cygnets. The entire morning Marie commented on how the weather today was ideal, not too warm, not too cool with a gentle tailwind. However, as we rode we saw some clouds building ahead of us and with only 5 kms to go to get to our destination for the day, thunder rumbled and the rain began. We waited out a few heavy showers under some trees overhanging the road. We were able to get the last 5 kms to the ferry crossing in without any rain, but more came as we approached the ferry landing. There is a big hotel in Schlogen, so we parked under an overhang and headed into the restaurant for tea and coffee. Sitting in front of the large windows watching the showers come and go, we were looking at maps and began contemplating leaving the river and going to visit Prague. This morning we met some Aussies who had cycled from Pr!
ague and said they really enjoyed the whole Czech experience. The rain subsided so we went to the small store and bought some eggs tc cook up for dinner and took the ferry across the river to camp on a farm that our Seattle friends recommended. Some more rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance as we ate. After eating we ducked into the dining area for the people staying in rooms at the farm. There were two groups of people and they were all talking with the owners in German. Eventually we got in on the conversation and before we knew it we were both being served a shot of their homemade Schnaps because they all wanted to make sure we had a good time. We smiled and painfully swallowed the potent potion. We talked a little more with the cycling family from Munich, mother, father and 2 quite young daughters no older than 6 years. We were impressed. Tomorrow we enter Germany.
Kms 60.71
Time 3:27:56
Avg 17.5
Max 36.9
Total 1075.4
31 May 2007
An unplanned day off in Linz
With a little help including a partial escort by a man cycling to work, we were able to find an optometrist that could fix John's glasses but couldn't have them done until 4:00. So we got a tourist map of the city and spent this sunny, warmer day taking in the sites of Linz, Austria. Most of what we saw were spectacular churches with beautiful carved wood, stained glass windows and frescos. We even saw the church where the intestines of some saint are interred.
Marie was suffering pretty badly from a cold, so when the glasses were done we rode back to the campground to relax. It was full of tents tonight and next to us there was a group of 3 cyclists from Seattle. We enjoyed sharing stories with them for the rest of the night.
Kms 15.37
Time 1:16:16
Avg 12.0
Max 58.2
Total 1014.7
With a little help including a partial escort by a man cycling to work, we were able to find an optometrist that could fix John's glasses but couldn't have them done until 4:00. So we got a tourist map of the city and spent this sunny, warmer day taking in the sites of Linz, Austria. Most of what we saw were spectacular churches with beautiful carved wood, stained glass windows and frescos. We even saw the church where the intestines of some saint are interred.
Marie was suffering pretty badly from a cold, so when the glasses were done we rode back to the campground to relax. It was full of tents tonight and next to us there was a group of 3 cyclists from Seattle. We enjoyed sharing stories with them for the rest of the night.
Kms 15.37
Time 1:16:16
Avg 12.0
Max 58.2
Total 1014.7
30 May 2007
Grein to Linz
"Crack of noon Ron" day
It rained lightly most of the night and was still raining when we woke up at 7:30. So we rolled over and slept some more. When we awoke the rain was very light, so we ate breakfast and packed up to go. The church bells were chiming 12:00 as we were pulling out of the campground. We joked calling this a "crack of noon Ron" day in rememberance of our friend Ron that we rode with in 2001 down the west coast of the U.S. He always slept late and napped throughout the day but still made it into camp at the end of the day at the same time as us.
It rained on us lightly for just a little while but then stopped. Today again was very cool and the dampness added to the chill. We rode taking short breaks until we got to Mauthausen at about 3:00. There we decided to be like the Europeans and have a substantial lunch and a smaller dinner. Plus this would get us out of the cold wind for awhile. John had a plate of grilled sausages with french fries and Marie had some delicious dumplings stuffed with meat and some sauerkraut on the side. To top this off we went next door to the bakery and enjoyed a piece of Sachertorte.
Then it was back out into the cold for the last 25 kms. We lost our way a couple of times, but otherwise it was smooth sailing until the light rain began again with about 15 kms to go.
The campground was right next to the bikeway, so we pulled in and set up. John rode his bike about a km. into town to get us some groceries and took a little spill on his way back but only scraped his elbow and hip a bit. Then after his shower he was tightening the screw on his glasses so the lense wouldn't fall out and the frame broke. This was a serious problem and we spent most of the rest of the night thinking of ways to deal with it. Tomorrow will be interesting.
Kms 58.33
Time 3:42:32
Avg 15.7
Max 32.4
Total 999.3
"Crack of noon Ron" day
It rained lightly most of the night and was still raining when we woke up at 7:30. So we rolled over and slept some more. When we awoke the rain was very light, so we ate breakfast and packed up to go. The church bells were chiming 12:00 as we were pulling out of the campground. We joked calling this a "crack of noon Ron" day in rememberance of our friend Ron that we rode with in 2001 down the west coast of the U.S. He always slept late and napped throughout the day but still made it into camp at the end of the day at the same time as us.
It rained on us lightly for just a little while but then stopped. Today again was very cool and the dampness added to the chill. We rode taking short breaks until we got to Mauthausen at about 3:00. There we decided to be like the Europeans and have a substantial lunch and a smaller dinner. Plus this would get us out of the cold wind for awhile. John had a plate of grilled sausages with french fries and Marie had some delicious dumplings stuffed with meat and some sauerkraut on the side. To top this off we went next door to the bakery and enjoyed a piece of Sachertorte.
Then it was back out into the cold for the last 25 kms. We lost our way a couple of times, but otherwise it was smooth sailing until the light rain began again with about 15 kms to go.
The campground was right next to the bikeway, so we pulled in and set up. John rode his bike about a km. into town to get us some groceries and took a little spill on his way back but only scraped his elbow and hip a bit. Then after his shower he was tightening the screw on his glasses so the lense wouldn't fall out and the frame broke. This was a serious problem and we spent most of the rest of the night thinking of ways to deal with it. Tomorrow will be interesting.
Kms 58.33
Time 3:42:32
Avg 15.7
Max 32.4
Total 999.3
29 May 2007
Melk to Greis and the change.
Last night was a carbon copy of our stormy night at Lake Balaton. The wind began to blow in strong gusts and then the rain came. By morning the rain had stopped but the wind continued and again it was not in our favor.
We bundled up and took off along the river which unfortunately acted as a wind tunnel. The going was slow but then again we could be back home working. The sun tried to peak out from time to time but the clouds won out today. We saw that the temperature only reached 15 degrees celsius. We stayed on the south side of the river and enjoyed the views of all the small villages sitting on the river with the hills behind them. We decided to call it a day after 50 km's because it looked as if it might rain again. With the tent set up and us cleaned up we walked the cobblestone streets of town and bought food for dinner. We finally found gas for the stove so we cooked tonight. It takes quite a while to boil water so we may have to ditch the stove or keep it and a bit of food to cook in case of an emergency. They don't seem to have "just add water" pancake mix. I think we need to tell Krusteze to look into the European market. We write tonight in the warmth of the campground bar. Wha!
t happened to spring?
Kms 48.17
Time 3:01.07
Avg 15.9
Max 28.4
Total 941.0
Last night was a carbon copy of our stormy night at Lake Balaton. The wind began to blow in strong gusts and then the rain came. By morning the rain had stopped but the wind continued and again it was not in our favor.
We bundled up and took off along the river which unfortunately acted as a wind tunnel. The going was slow but then again we could be back home working. The sun tried to peak out from time to time but the clouds won out today. We saw that the temperature only reached 15 degrees celsius. We stayed on the south side of the river and enjoyed the views of all the small villages sitting on the river with the hills behind them. We decided to call it a day after 50 km's because it looked as if it might rain again. With the tent set up and us cleaned up we walked the cobblestone streets of town and bought food for dinner. We finally found gas for the stove so we cooked tonight. It takes quite a while to boil water so we may have to ditch the stove or keep it and a bit of food to cook in case of an emergency. They don't seem to have "just add water" pancake mix. I think we need to tell Krusteze to look into the European market. We write tonight in the warmth of the campground bar. Wha!
t happened to spring?
Kms 48.17
Time 3:01.07
Avg 15.9
Max 28.4
Total 941.0
28 May 2007
Zwentendorf to Melk
Another warm morning greeted us today. We were up a bit earlier than usual, had a banana for breakfast because no stores are open on account of the holiday. Our friends
from Munich were just stirring as we were heading out. The first 25 km's were rather bland passing through an industrial area. We stopped to have some breakfast at a restaraunt in Rohrendorf and had another learning experience. The scenery picked up as we moved along with views of castle ruins and quaint cities on the other side of the river. We stopped at a ferry crossing in Weissenkirchen for lunch which consisted of two leftover rolls from breakfast with liver sausage, a cookie to share and a banana a piece. Yes, our food supply has just about run out. We heard there was a pretty neat abbey to see in Melk so we continued on. A few km's before Melk we saw a sign for a strawberry stand, so we rode up the road and wanted to purchase just a couple of handfulls, maybe 20 berries, so we picked them out and then when we asked how much, the guy said no charge. After setting up camp we rode up to the abbey to have a look around. It is huge and sits on a hill overlooking Melk. One !
of the highlights of the abbey included the library with books going back to the 1300's with over 100,000 books in all. The other highlight was the church. Just amazing. On the way back to camp we toured the narrow cobblestone streets of the old town. Dinner in a restaraunt rounded out the day. As we write it seems a change in the weather might be coming through. It has been trying to rain for the last couple of days but nothing has come of it. Now there is a cold wind howling and Marie is sitting in the tent with her fleece jacket and rain jacket on and in her sleeping bag. As for rain it has just sprinkled so far.
Kms 68.51
Time 3:56:52
Avg 17.3
Max 47.3
Total 892.8
Another warm morning greeted us today. We were up a bit earlier than usual, had a banana for breakfast because no stores are open on account of the holiday. Our friends
from Munich were just stirring as we were heading out. The first 25 km's were rather bland passing through an industrial area. We stopped to have some breakfast at a restaraunt in Rohrendorf and had another learning experience. The scenery picked up as we moved along with views of castle ruins and quaint cities on the other side of the river. We stopped at a ferry crossing in Weissenkirchen for lunch which consisted of two leftover rolls from breakfast with liver sausage, a cookie to share and a banana a piece. Yes, our food supply has just about run out. We heard there was a pretty neat abbey to see in Melk so we continued on. A few km's before Melk we saw a sign for a strawberry stand, so we rode up the road and wanted to purchase just a couple of handfulls, maybe 20 berries, so we picked them out and then when we asked how much, the guy said no charge. After setting up camp we rode up to the abbey to have a look around. It is huge and sits on a hill overlooking Melk. One !
of the highlights of the abbey included the library with books going back to the 1300's with over 100,000 books in all. The other highlight was the church. Just amazing. On the way back to camp we toured the narrow cobblestone streets of the old town. Dinner in a restaraunt rounded out the day. As we write it seems a change in the weather might be coming through. It has been trying to rain for the last couple of days but nothing has come of it. Now there is a cold wind howling and Marie is sitting in the tent with her fleece jacket and rain jacket on and in her sleeping bag. As for rain it has just sprinkled so far.
Kms 68.51
Time 3:56:52
Avg 17.3
Max 47.3
Total 892.8
27 May 2007
Brunn to Zwentendorf
We said our farewells to our fantastic hosts. They will never know how much we appreciate all they did for us. Leni even sent us off with a bottle of wine!
As we figured, we had a little trouble getting out of the city but with some help from a couple of folks we were soon on our way. The city traffic was very light being a Sunday morning. Our packs were also a bit light because we had very little food and could see trouble ahead because all grocery stores are closed on Sundays and tomorrow is a holiday and everything will be closed again. Our only hope will be restaurants and gas stations.
Our plan for the day was to return to the good old Danube. The route we had planned was a squiggly one and some of the roads were very minor. In Breitenfurt we climbed the steepest hill of the trip so far. It was only about a 1/2 km long, but it was a real lung burner.
We faced a little confusion on the bikeway in Tullnerbach-Lawies where we met Rudolf and Haimo who said we could ride along with them up to their turnoff point but didn't recommend the route because the hills were too steep and we wouldn't be able to climb them with our gear. We accepted their invitation and appreciated their hospitality. They left us after about 5 kms and then we climbed the long hill ahead which wasn't all that steep.
We found a pizzaria open in Sieghartkirchen and enjoyed a nice pizza pie while learning a couple of new German words. From there it was smooth but very warm sailing to the Donauradweg (the Danube bikeway). The trail was quite crowded. Within the first 2 kms, we stopped at a small refreshment stand where we enjoyed a new bakery treat called Bauernkrapfen. It is a light, fluffy sweet bread covered with powdered sugar. Who would think that something with "krap" in the name could taste so good.
After passing quite a few cyclists and even a couple of horsedrawn carriages, we arrived at the campground in Zwentendorf. We paid for our campsite at the nearby bar/restaurant where we were told they closed at 4:00 today (it was now 3:45) but there were other cafes in town. So we set up, showered and walked through town stopping to take in a few minutes of a soccer match going on just up the road. Back at the campground there we now 2 other touring cyclist couples. After enjoying a nice dinner in town, we shared stories with our camp neighbors, Marieke and Harmjan, from Munich. They helped us enjoy the bottle of wine that Lena sent with us.
Kms 55.21
Time 3:27:14
Avg 15.9
Max 51.3
Total 824.3
We said our farewells to our fantastic hosts. They will never know how much we appreciate all they did for us. Leni even sent us off with a bottle of wine!
As we figured, we had a little trouble getting out of the city but with some help from a couple of folks we were soon on our way. The city traffic was very light being a Sunday morning. Our packs were also a bit light because we had very little food and could see trouble ahead because all grocery stores are closed on Sundays and tomorrow is a holiday and everything will be closed again. Our only hope will be restaurants and gas stations.
Our plan for the day was to return to the good old Danube. The route we had planned was a squiggly one and some of the roads were very minor. In Breitenfurt we climbed the steepest hill of the trip so far. It was only about a 1/2 km long, but it was a real lung burner.
We faced a little confusion on the bikeway in Tullnerbach-Lawies where we met Rudolf and Haimo who said we could ride along with them up to their turnoff point but didn't recommend the route because the hills were too steep and we wouldn't be able to climb them with our gear. We accepted their invitation and appreciated their hospitality. They left us after about 5 kms and then we climbed the long hill ahead which wasn't all that steep.
We found a pizzaria open in Sieghartkirchen and enjoyed a nice pizza pie while learning a couple of new German words. From there it was smooth but very warm sailing to the Donauradweg (the Danube bikeway). The trail was quite crowded. Within the first 2 kms, we stopped at a small refreshment stand where we enjoyed a new bakery treat called Bauernkrapfen. It is a light, fluffy sweet bread covered with powdered sugar. Who would think that something with "krap" in the name could taste so good.
After passing quite a few cyclists and even a couple of horsedrawn carriages, we arrived at the campground in Zwentendorf. We paid for our campsite at the nearby bar/restaurant where we were told they closed at 4:00 today (it was now 3:45) but there were other cafes in town. So we set up, showered and walked through town stopping to take in a few minutes of a soccer match going on just up the road. Back at the campground there we now 2 other touring cyclist couples. After enjoying a nice dinner in town, we shared stories with our camp neighbors, Marieke and Harmjan, from Munich. They helped us enjoy the bottle of wine that Lena sent with us.
Kms 55.21
Time 3:27:14
Avg 15.9
Max 51.3
Total 824.3
26 May 2007
Sightseeing in Vienna (the second of 2 days off the bikes)
We enjoyed another nice breakfast. Leni had developed a cold during the night but still insisted on driving us to our sightseeing destination today rather than letting us find it ourselves on the underground.
We arrived at Schloss Schonbrunn (a fairly well-known castle). Again it was very hot out and we did the outdoor tours first. We walked up a big hill to the Gloriette for a nice view down to the castle and the surrounding city. Then we went to the maze/labyrinth area. We walked through the maze fairly quickly because it was small. The labyrinth consisted of a mathematical brainteaser, a glockenspiel that allowed you to create a song by jumping on squares on the ground, and a trick mirror. This whole area is geared toward kids, but it was included in our tour ticket, so we went in and enjoyed it. The playground had a cool play backhoe to operate and move some sand around. Next we viewed the private garden and then went to an apple strudel baking demonstration which included a teaser sample of this sweet treat. Finally we took the headphone guided tour of 40 of the castle rooms. Very extravagant!
From there we found our way back to the old part of the city and wandered through the open-air market. There were many gastronomical temptations there. We wandered a bit more and eventually made our way back to the house in the first try!
Lena had tickets for a concert, so Elisabeth came over and made us dinner. We wanted to do a load of laundry. Elisabeth didn't know which cycle to choose on her mom's machine, so she called Leni's best friend who lives 5 houses away and she came over to try to figure it out. She wasn't sure either, so she took our smelly clothes to her house and washed them for us!
Elizabeth helped us with some route planning, giving us some very helpful maps. We watched some of the Live Ball 2007 on T.V. This was an Aids fundraising fashion show where people dress up just crazy with body painting and all kinds of crazy costumes. We had seen them setting up the stage for it yesterday as we walked in that area.
We enjoyed another nice breakfast. Leni had developed a cold during the night but still insisted on driving us to our sightseeing destination today rather than letting us find it ourselves on the underground.
We arrived at Schloss Schonbrunn (a fairly well-known castle). Again it was very hot out and we did the outdoor tours first. We walked up a big hill to the Gloriette for a nice view down to the castle and the surrounding city. Then we went to the maze/labyrinth area. We walked through the maze fairly quickly because it was small. The labyrinth consisted of a mathematical brainteaser, a glockenspiel that allowed you to create a song by jumping on squares on the ground, and a trick mirror. This whole area is geared toward kids, but it was included in our tour ticket, so we went in and enjoyed it. The playground had a cool play backhoe to operate and move some sand around. Next we viewed the private garden and then went to an apple strudel baking demonstration which included a teaser sample of this sweet treat. Finally we took the headphone guided tour of 40 of the castle rooms. Very extravagant!
From there we found our way back to the old part of the city and wandered through the open-air market. There were many gastronomical temptations there. We wandered a bit more and eventually made our way back to the house in the first try!
Lena had tickets for a concert, so Elisabeth came over and made us dinner. We wanted to do a load of laundry. Elisabeth didn't know which cycle to choose on her mom's machine, so she called Leni's best friend who lives 5 houses away and she came over to try to figure it out. She wasn't sure either, so she took our smelly clothes to her house and washed them for us!
Elizabeth helped us with some route planning, giving us some very helpful maps. We watched some of the Live Ball 2007 on T.V. This was an Aids fundraising fashion show where people dress up just crazy with body painting and all kinds of crazy costumes. We had seen them setting up the stage for it yesterday as we walked in that area.
25 May 2007
Sightseeing in Vienna (the first of 2 days off the bikes)
We woke rather early for a day off because Leni wanted to show us how to get into the city and show us around a bit. When we entered the house she had a breakfast spread fit for a king laid out for us. After breakfast we were driven to the underground station by Ernst, Elisabeth's boyfriend, and Leni showed us the ropes to get into the city on this subway train system. Once in town she escorted us to some of the sites and then over to St. Stephen's cathedral. We toured the inside and then decided to take the guided tour of the catacombs beneath the church where all the bishops are buried. Leni sat at a cafe and waited. The tour was interesting even though the guide had a heavy accent and spoke very quickly. The coolest part was at the very end when we looked into a room that had skulls and bones stacked like wood from floor to ceiling. Creepy!
Leni took us to the visitor center where we got some information on bus tours and then showed us the opera house. She headed home and left us on our own to wander around. We ate the sandwiches she packed for us (amazing, hey!) and then took a 1 1\2 hour bus tour that was o.k. but not great. After the tour we walked back to the Hofburg Palace where we were going to take a guided tour, but we were too late as it closed in one hour. So we walked down the road taking some photos of some of the cool buildings we had seen from the bus. We grabbed a kabob for a late afternoon snack and then headed back to the house on the underground. We were feeling confident as we sat on what we thought was our last train after successfully making the required transfer. Suddenly we were the only ones on the train as it pulled away from a station and stopped about 100 meters down the tracks. We panicked a bit when we saw the conductor get out of the train and we were still locked in it. J!
ohn pounded on the window and asked him what was going on. He was going down to the other end of the train to drive it back in the opposite direction. This was apparently some kind of express train that didn't go all the way to our stop which was the end of the line. So we got off at the first stop and then waited for the next train that went all the way in our direction. That's called learning the hard way.
We successfully navigated our way back to the house from the underground station, a 25 minute walk that we had quickly drawn a map of this morning as we were being driven there. After a quick shower, Elisabeth came over and the 4 of us drove to an old town close to an hour away where we enjoyed a buffet style Austrian dinner accompanied by a roaming musical pair playing waltzes and polkas on an accordian and a violin.
After dinner we were driven up a big hill (saw a cute little fox cross the road in front of us) to an overlook by an old church. As we were walking to the overlook from the parking lot there was a small fireworks display right there at the hotel by the church. The view of the city with the lights at night was nice. We were all very tired when we finally arrived back at the house. It was a very exhausting day of sightseeing, but it sure was nice to have so much help from our new friends.
We woke rather early for a day off because Leni wanted to show us how to get into the city and show us around a bit. When we entered the house she had a breakfast spread fit for a king laid out for us. After breakfast we were driven to the underground station by Ernst, Elisabeth's boyfriend, and Leni showed us the ropes to get into the city on this subway train system. Once in town she escorted us to some of the sites and then over to St. Stephen's cathedral. We toured the inside and then decided to take the guided tour of the catacombs beneath the church where all the bishops are buried. Leni sat at a cafe and waited. The tour was interesting even though the guide had a heavy accent and spoke very quickly. The coolest part was at the very end when we looked into a room that had skulls and bones stacked like wood from floor to ceiling. Creepy!
Leni took us to the visitor center where we got some information on bus tours and then showed us the opera house. She headed home and left us on our own to wander around. We ate the sandwiches she packed for us (amazing, hey!) and then took a 1 1\2 hour bus tour that was o.k. but not great. After the tour we walked back to the Hofburg Palace where we were going to take a guided tour, but we were too late as it closed in one hour. So we walked down the road taking some photos of some of the cool buildings we had seen from the bus. We grabbed a kabob for a late afternoon snack and then headed back to the house on the underground. We were feeling confident as we sat on what we thought was our last train after successfully making the required transfer. Suddenly we were the only ones on the train as it pulled away from a station and stopped about 100 meters down the tracks. We panicked a bit when we saw the conductor get out of the train and we were still locked in it. J!
ohn pounded on the window and asked him what was going on. He was going down to the other end of the train to drive it back in the opposite direction. This was apparently some kind of express train that didn't go all the way to our stop which was the end of the line. So we got off at the first stop and then waited for the next train that went all the way in our direction. That's called learning the hard way.
We successfully navigated our way back to the house from the underground station, a 25 minute walk that we had quickly drawn a map of this morning as we were being driven there. After a quick shower, Elisabeth came over and the 4 of us drove to an old town close to an hour away where we enjoyed a buffet style Austrian dinner accompanied by a roaming musical pair playing waltzes and polkas on an accordian and a violin.
After dinner we were driven up a big hill (saw a cute little fox cross the road in front of us) to an overlook by an old church. As we were walking to the overlook from the parking lot there was a small fireworks display right there at the hotel by the church. The view of the city with the lights at night was nice. We were all very tired when we finally arrived back at the house. It was a very exhausting day of sightseeing, but it sure was nice to have so much help from our new friends.
24 May 2007
A day of kindness
What a day today was. Somehow our pocketmail device got screwed up (probably John's fault), which led us to get up an hour earlier than we thought. We navigated our way through town without a problem and made our way to Fertorakos. From there it was only 3 km's to the border. Well, in our search for a bakery to spend our few remaining Forint coins we missed the bikeway to Austria. Our error was not discovered until we reached the village of Balf for the third time in three days. We retraced our way back to Fertorakos and crossed the border on a cycle and foot path. The plan was to ride to a town close to Vienna and camp or get a room, then go into Vienna from there for a couple of days. When we reached the town of Rust several cycle ways appeared and thoroughly confused us. Then along came two gentlemen riding the cycleway around Neusiedler See who guided us 13 km's to Donnerskirchen. There were some small mountains ahead of us and as we were looking at a town map we asked another gentleman named Ekkehard if he knew where the info center was. He wasn't from there but invited us for a drink at the restaraunt just 50 meters down the road. Here is where we experienced our first taste of almdrudel. Ekkehard was a biologist studying beatles and even had a live sample in a film cannister. He also gave us a nice map of Austria.
From here it was up over the hills to Hof, where we started to think about finding a place to stay. We knew there was no camping but figured maybe we would get a room. We rode past a few small villages that we could have stopped in but we were feeling good and decided to head for Perchtoldsdorf where one of our guides from this morning said there was a huge campground. The riding started to get a bit more nerve racking the closer we got to Vienna and keeping on route was tough. We came to a split in the road where we weren't sure which way to go. Marie did her best polite German and asked a woman coming out of a flower shop the way to Perchtoldsdorf and if there was camping. She asked another person walking by and was told there was none. This was not what we wanted to hear. She went back into the flower shop and called the police in Perchtoldsdorf and was told there was none. Hmmmmmm
Now what to do? Well, Elisabeth suggested that she drive John to the campground in Vienna (we didn't know there was one) to show him the way. So off they went leaving Marie sitting in front of the flower shop with the bikes. It turned out that that campground didn't open till June 1st. Elisabeth made a few calls and told John that we could camp in her mother's garden (backyard). It was over a half hour before they returned to Marie. Now how to find her mother's house? Again Elisabeth came through by driving ahead with us following and her pulling over to wait for us to catch up. Two km's later we were setting up our tent in Leni's garden. We were welcomed like family. After showering, we walked next door to a restaraunt for a very nice dinner. Leni must have been worried we were lost because she came over just as we were finishing up. Back at her house we enjoyed a shot of schnapps and conversed the best we could with our little German and her little English then called it a night.
Note: This is a holiday weekend with a huge concert at Castle Schönbrunn for aids with many dignitaries attending including good old Bill Clinton and Sharon Stone.
What a day today was. Somehow our pocketmail device got screwed up (probably John's fault), which led us to get up an hour earlier than we thought. We navigated our way through town without a problem and made our way to Fertorakos. From there it was only 3 km's to the border. Well, in our search for a bakery to spend our few remaining Forint coins we missed the bikeway to Austria. Our error was not discovered until we reached the village of Balf for the third time in three days. We retraced our way back to Fertorakos and crossed the border on a cycle and foot path. The plan was to ride to a town close to Vienna and camp or get a room, then go into Vienna from there for a couple of days. When we reached the town of Rust several cycle ways appeared and thoroughly confused us. Then along came two gentlemen riding the cycleway around Neusiedler See who guided us 13 km's to Donnerskirchen. There were some small mountains ahead of us and as we were looking at a town map we asked another gentleman named Ekkehard if he knew where the info center was. He wasn't from there but invited us for a drink at the restaraunt just 50 meters down the road. Here is where we experienced our first taste of almdrudel. Ekkehard was a biologist studying beatles and even had a live sample in a film cannister. He also gave us a nice map of Austria.
From here it was up over the hills to Hof, where we started to think about finding a place to stay. We knew there was no camping but figured maybe we would get a room. We rode past a few small villages that we could have stopped in but we were feeling good and decided to head for Perchtoldsdorf where one of our guides from this morning said there was a huge campground. The riding started to get a bit more nerve racking the closer we got to Vienna and keeping on route was tough. We came to a split in the road where we weren't sure which way to go. Marie did her best polite German and asked a woman coming out of a flower shop the way to Perchtoldsdorf and if there was camping. She asked another person walking by and was told there was none. This was not what we wanted to hear. She went back into the flower shop and called the police in Perchtoldsdorf and was told there was none. Hmmmmmm
Now what to do? Well, Elisabeth suggested that she drive John to the campground in Vienna (we didn't know there was one) to show him the way. So off they went leaving Marie sitting in front of the flower shop with the bikes. It turned out that that campground didn't open till June 1st. Elisabeth made a few calls and told John that we could camp in her mother's garden (backyard). It was over a half hour before they returned to Marie. Now how to find her mother's house? Again Elisabeth came through by driving ahead with us following and her pulling over to wait for us to catch up. Two km's later we were setting up our tent in Leni's garden. We were welcomed like family. After showering, we walked next door to a restaraunt for a very nice dinner. Leni must have been worried we were lost because she came over just as we were finishing up. Back at her house we enjoyed a shot of schnapps and conversed the best we could with our little German and her little English then called it a night.
Note: This is a holiday weekend with a huge concert at Castle Schönbrunn for aids with many dignitaries attending including good old Bill Clinton and Sharon Stone.
23 May 2007
It was another scorcher out today. We planned on taking in the baths today and to do some chores. We finally did find our way to the info center and were told that the only baths around were in Balf where we were going to stay yesterday. Since it was so hot the baths didn't seem all that appealing anyways, so we did some chores and wandered the streets of the city for a while, had some lunch and then hiked back to the zimmmer. While eating lunch we decided to ride back to Balf for the baths since they are supposed to be world famous. That being said, there are no signs to them and we had to ask at 3 different places to find them. We ponied up the forints to enter and were a bit disappointed. The thermal bath area was 25 feet by 25 feet and the water temperature was only about 96 degrees. You were only allowed to stay in for 30 minutes, which turned out to be good because we started to get chilled. Well, maybe not. We also brought down the average age of the other 10 bathers !
to around 85. That along with the cute swim cap that you must wear topped the experience off. Sorry, no pictures of that!!
John discovered that It was another scorcher out today. We planned on taking in the baths today and to do some chores. We finally did find our way to the info center and were told that the only baths around were in Balf where we were going to stay yesterday. Since it was so hot the baths didn't seem all that appealing anyways, so we did some chores and wandered the streets of the city for a while, had some lunch and then hiked back to the zimmmer. While eating lunch we decided to ride back to Balf for the baths since they are supposed to be world famous. That being said, there are no signs to them and we had to ask at 3 different places to find them. We ponied up the forints to enter and were a bit disappointed. The thermal bath area was 25 feet by 25 feet and the water temperature was only about 96 degrees. You were only allowed to stay in for 30 minutes, which turned out to be good because we started to get chilled. Well, maybe not. We also brought down the average age of the other 10 bathers !
to around 85. That along with the cute swim cap that you must wear topped the experience off. Sorry, no pictures of that!!
John discovered that his derailer must have been bent when the bikes tipped over yesterday, so after we returned from the baths he twisted it back into place. They are not perfect but will do. Another hike back into town for an ice cream and to activate pocket mail completed the day. Well almost, when we returned to the zimmer Csaba, the owner's son, was locked out so we sat and kept him company for a while. He is trying to learn english and we did our best to help him along. It is interesting that we are in a land where we can't speak their language and they apologize for not speaking better english.
his derailer must have been bent when the bikes tipped over yesterday, so after we returned from the baths he twisted it back into place. They are not perfect but will do. Another hike back into town for an ice cream and to activate pocket mail completed the day. Well almost, when we returned to the zimmer Csaba, the owner's son, was locked out so we sat and kept him company for a while. He is trying to learn english and we did our best to help him along. It is interesting that we are in a land where we can't speak their language and they apologize for not speaking better english.
to around 85. That along with the cute swim cap that you must wear topped the experience off. Sorry, no pictures of that!!
John discovered that It was another scorcher out today. We planned on taking in the baths today and to do some chores. We finally did find our way to the info center and were told that the only baths around were in Balf where we were going to stay yesterday. Since it was so hot the baths didn't seem all that appealing anyways, so we did some chores and wandered the streets of the city for a while, had some lunch and then hiked back to the zimmmer. While eating lunch we decided to ride back to Balf for the baths since they are supposed to be world famous. That being said, there are no signs to them and we had to ask at 3 different places to find them. We ponied up the forints to enter and were a bit disappointed. The thermal bath area was 25 feet by 25 feet and the water temperature was only about 96 degrees. You were only allowed to stay in for 30 minutes, which turned out to be good because we started to get chilled. Well, maybe not. We also brought down the average age of the other 10 bathers !
to around 85. That along with the cute swim cap that you must wear topped the experience off. Sorry, no pictures of that!!
John discovered that his derailer must have been bent when the bikes tipped over yesterday, so after we returned from the baths he twisted it back into place. They are not perfect but will do. Another hike back into town for an ice cream and to activate pocket mail completed the day. Well almost, when we returned to the zimmer Csaba, the owner's son, was locked out so we sat and kept him company for a while. He is trying to learn english and we did our best to help him along. It is interesting that we are in a land where we can't speak their language and they apologize for not speaking better english.
his derailer must have been bent when the bikes tipped over yesterday, so after we returned from the baths he twisted it back into place. They are not perfect but will do. Another hike back into town for an ice cream and to activate pocket mail completed the day. Well almost, when we returned to the zimmer Csaba, the owner's son, was locked out so we sat and kept him company for a while. He is trying to learn english and we did our best to help him along. It is interesting that we are in a land where we can't speak their language and they apologize for not speaking better english.
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