Last day. Vienna euroCycle 2014

PAUL 

We will on the dark side of the moon until Friday 18/7/2014. We got everything packed ready for the trip. The last thing to do is seal lachlans bike correctly. The trip to the airport by courier was quick as was the train trip back. 

The Natural museum was open today. We were in the museum for 2.5 hours. The Venus Of Willendorf display was being renovated, so a temporary, poor display was set up in the meteor room. Not what I would have thought for such a big draw card. Anyway got a picture with the real Venus. Not as good as the Willendorf Museum, Willendorf. 

All exhibits were extensive. The recovered meteors we were much bigger than I expected. Those that were composed of steel displayed a great number of patterns of both thin strands and thick weaves to hold it together. Those that had been cut were highly polished and did not appear to be sealed and were free from corrosion

The "Welcome" piece of gold found in Ballarat was displayed and weighed 68.98 kg. 

The afternoon was spent getting snacks for the trip and sitting In Stadtpark. We had a beer and Pepsi in the cool of the shade. We got a picture of Lachy in front of J.Stauss at least a gold one. 

Sitting at the airport finishing blog. 

Thanks for following our trip. Your comments and well wishes have been appreciated by both Lachy and I. Catch you once we have come from the dark side. 

Stay safe. We hope Emirates are too!

Terror bird. Extinct now!

 Venus, this one is 25,000 years old!!!

Found in iron deposits. 

Welcome gold. 

Giant crab found in Japan. 

SNOW OWLS!

Lachlan and Strauss. 

Vienna

PAUL

Two days in Vienna and the legs are remembering how to walk. Monday was a rest day. We walked but not with a great deal of purpose. Not many photos either. 

We took a river cruise along the Danube and went through a lock. Lach' was very excited. We did not complete the trip. We had just cycled 800km of the Danube and decided to catch the train back to town. The return trip was to be the same route. 

My idea of Vienna was not as I thought. The city is a bustling centre and the area around Stephanplatz wasn't as 'Old' as I thought it would be. I thought some of the smaller cities and towns were 'Older'. 

Our first port of call this morning was the post office. It is far cheaper for excess baggage that Emirates! We then headed to the Natrual Museum, only to find,outfit is closed on Tuesday. Well it is now our second port of call on Wednesday. 

We then visited Mozarts house and museum in town. It was a very big house with the tour starting on level 3. I accidently said "bonjour" to the receptionist and she asked if we wanted the guides,in French. I chuckled and said English please. The audio guide was very good and it painted a good story of his life whilst in Vienna. His death is a mystery. What happened??.

The mid afternoon was in the shopping district. Got a couple of things and went back to pack. We appear to be well under weight. Will find out Wednesday morn when we drop our stuff off at the airport. 

The evening was spent at the Ausperg Palace to watch a chamber,orchestra play a number of,pieces as well as a couple of singers and dancers. The lead violinist was playing a Stradivari violin from 1700, I think? You could pick out his sound! They played the Blue Danube, Lachlan leaned over and said remember the creek at Tuttlingen. :)

We went back into town for an ice cream. Vienna doesn't do ice cream!

Stay safe. We are. 

Holiday huts for fishing. Within 20mins of the city centre. 

Lachy getting ready for the lock!

Flower!

Main shopping precinct. 

Parliament House. 

Ausperg palace. And Lachlan inside. 

Language, is funny. 

One for Lachy. These also came in motored versions. 

No comb. But we did have a left over bike cleaning brush..

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Tulln to Vienna

PAUL

Just 40 kms today. Not a great deal to look at today, we had to keep our eye on the path. Hundreds of cyclists doing the 80k return trip between the two cities. 

We ran into a Dutch cyclist we met in Ingoldsatd and his two friends, an Australian and her brother and Englishman. We spoke to them for around 15 minutes whilst riding and then headed off. 

We arrived in Vienna at 11.30 and had lunch. We did not pass one sign displaying vienna. Unlucky. 

We went of a little ride, watched a little bit of a professional bike ride and headed back to check in just before the heavens opened up for 1 hr. 

We caught a train and headed into the city centre for dinner and a look-see. 

2230 now watching the World Cup final

Stay safe we are!

No photos. Tomorrow

Maria Laach to Tulln.

PAUL

I went for a walk in the morning while Lachlan continued to sleep. The town was peaceful with only a few others up and about. I sat up on top of the hill overlooking the village quietly reflecting on the trip while watching the mist roll in from the west and burn off as soon as it was hit by the sun. Rural Europe is not like rural NSW. There were 4 guest houses in the village and a couple of quality restaraunts. The one in our hotel was full, 30 tables. Not bangers and mash.  We tend to pass these small villages and get to the centres. 

We set off on our ride after filling our bottles and climbed for a kilometre then a good descent to Willendorf. YES, where the fertility goddes was discovered in 1908. The museum was small but the entry price was equal to the display. 

We continued along the EuroVelo 6 until a town called Krems where we stopped for lunch. The Biergarten we stopped at had around 200 people and a small number of staff serving, but the food was great. We shared our table with two Austrians who spoke hand English as we spoke hand Duetsch. The old lady, maybe mid-70s grabbed my arm and wished me well as we left. 

The remainder of the ride was flat and we stopped for afternoon tea a one of the cafés that litter the cycleways along the river. It began to pour so we sat tight til it passed, then headed off to the accomodation. 

We re-met some Scotish-Belgium tourist who are doing the Passau to Vienna stage of the ride with a 13&9 year old at our hotel. We met them at Wallsee, the concrete ornament B&B. 

Only 40km to go tomorrow. 

The village of Maria-Laach.

To the west. 

Self explanatory. 

Venus. Not the real one. She is in Vienna. 

Naughty. 

Oberegging to Maria Laach

In the morning we woke up, and after realising that we had 128kg of stuff we were carrying around(including the bikes) we decided we had to get rid of some stuff. Well, now I have an almost empty pannier and the funny thing is that I can hardly tell the difference:(

We headed off to Pöchlarn to have brekky and we managed to find ourselves a place which overlooked a supermarket. The food wasn't to bad but dad's egg was half cooked but it only cost €4.95 so it wasn't to bad. Dad and I had a few little races to Melk and we had to go around a small wooden bridge. I was going a bit too fast and when I broke my bike skidded/skud and may bike slipped from beneath me. I somehow managed to jump off the bike and still se the bike fall over. I was pretty pumped after that.

We got to Melk and went up to the Benedictine abbey and had a look around there. Dad will tell you more in his post.

We went back down had lunch and headed to our accomodation in Maria Laach. There was 12% hill and we climbed 800m for the whole day so it was a bit more difficult than riding along a river, but it makes the ride more interesting. 

Tomorrow we go to Tulln making a stop at Willendorf to have a look at a fertility goddess for Mum!!

Have a fun time, blogs will stop on Wednesday as that is when we leave Europe. Have a good time

-Lachlan

PAUL

We left some gear at last night hotel for others if they wanted it. No bad stuff, all serviceable. 

It was raining when we left but this soon awaited leaving the road wet but nothing from the sky. We got to the abbey and were greeted by Peter and Paul above the main entrance and they were feature throughout the premises. A very basic abbey but the library and church were impressive. The library was empty when I went in there. I took some photos although you weren't supposed to. The church had only 8 people when I went in and was able to read meanings and view the statues, frescos and decorations. After I left the front of the sanctuary and turned around 3 bus loads walked in and changed the atmosphere. 

We soon left and went to the gift shop and bought some abbey alcohol. All the herbs were squeezed by blind monks. (The Scott's know!) sat night Kristy. 

The ride up the hill was good. The legs were ready for it!

Stay safe, we are!

Bike path with stairs?

How to get cyclists to visit your treasures. Lockers and bike stands 

Stift Melk (Melk Abbey) Peter and Paul 

The first Benedictine rule, HEAR

The symbol of the pilgrim. 

The C13 breviary. 

The high altar. 

Goodbye old friend. Left in the locker for someone else. 

Wallsee to Oberegging

After pulling into a hotel selling a large range of garden decorations from gargoyles, to a 3 piece dragon, I was expecting the room to be mediocre but it was nice and had a brilliant night sleep. While the sleep was great the breakfast wasn't to crash hot and we said we'll stop at the next town for coffee/hot chocolate and a cake. We set off and found it almost impossible to believe that we were doing 23-26km/h with little effort. We got to a town named Grein and had a cake and a small ride around. We got on a ferry to cross the river and some 50 year old man was hitting on 3 late 30 early 40 year old women. 

We then rode for a few more kilometres looking for a place to cook lunch. We found a place to cook, got everything set up but then we said where are the matches!? 5 minutes later at the bottom of dads pannier we found them!! Thank god because I didn't want to be carrying half a kilo of sausages around for another day☺. We headed off and went to our motel. It is TOPS. It was only a 40km trip today but tommorow we head off to the benedictine abbey at melk and will enjoy that a lot.
Enjoy winter -Lachlan

PAUL

I thought we could cook at the guest house last night so we rode to the shops to get food. We couldn't cook as it turned out. Whilst at the shop with a fuel bowser an Austrian came out and told us in German/Austrian there was no fuel and killed himself laughing, and went back inside telling his story to all in the shop. He and his wife spoke to Lachlan while I was shopping. After I finished we had an ice cream outside when the shop owner came out and gave us 4 sachets of rubbing oil for sore muscles and bodies. Very nice!

Out top hotel is called 'Top Hotel'. Lachy's funny

Rubbing oil.

Green after the ferry trip. 

Turtle Rock. 

One of the towns mostly covered by the 11m 2013 flood. 

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Rest Day Linz - Linz to Wallsee

DPAUL

Ourvrest day was to rest. My legs were tired. We caught the bus into town at ten. The i centre said we should go up the hill to the Cathedral. It was good but unfortunately the city was covered in haze so the 400m vantage point was not all that picturesque. 

We did not read all that well and Lachlan and I visited and paid for a three lap fire breathing breathing train trip through the land of dwarves. 

All the kids enjoyed it!!!

We looked around the city which has buses and trams running through the city for say commuting. It began to precipitate with gusto, so we decided to go back to the hotel for dinner and football. 

Linz to Wallsee

It was cool and wet when wevleftvthis morning. I still think he was overdressed. 

Lachy was ready for what was to come. 

We only had to travel 42km today but as we (I) wanted to go to Sankt Florian we ended up doing 60km. 

 I thought I had to go to Krakow for St. Florian. Who was to know that Florian was flayed then drowned with a millstone in the Enns river, in Enns, Austria. St Florian's original grave site is now the crypt under the Bascillica. A millstone is in place, which legend has is 'The Millstone' couldn't us flash,

The church and monastry are on one site but some of the frescos in the monastry show multi gods although the building was built during the time the custodians were Christian.

The tour lasted about an hour before we headed off to Enns for lunch. The next 90mins were wet. Lachlan stayed dry. I got wet feet and legs. The temp' was about 16*C

Our accomodation is a guest house. The front yard is covered in garden ornaments. It is a part of their business. Lachlan said the women reminded him of El' Roman. She didn't ask for passports though. 

We have started talking about where we have stayed, who we've talked to and the food we've eaten. Not long now :(

Stay safe. We are!

Library at the monastry. 

Skull and bones in the crypt. Believed to be over 6000 persons. Carefully laid in place. 

Someone's front door

Rain clouds over the yet to be Blue Danube. 

Passau to Linz, Austria.

PAUL

This was our room last night, you can see why I got up early and went for a walk!!

6m2, 2100mm ceiling, that is the entire room. Laches neck has not disappeared while over here :). 

I got up early and went for a walk to look at the city early. I went by the laundromat and found that it may have been washed away in the floods, so no clothes washing. Things were desperate. 

Got back to the cave and woke Lachlan. He has become accustomed to waking late. That'll go!

We had some brekky at the bakerie and started out for a 50-60k ride. Apparently we climbed 525m today but we didn't notice it. In short we rode 100.5km today and averaged just over 20km/h. While this was flat just like the section from Schaffhausen to Regensburg the scenery was great, mountain, forest, farm, town, and mostly river. The river after Passau has grown significantly. Hopefully the photos will reflect this. We entered Austria today, no big signs and we didn't see the rope line in the river. 

The morning was overcast and  cool. A new tube at the bike shop, lamented over the price of 'stuff' and off we set.  We didn't intend to do the distance we covered but there wasn't anywhere to stay the night. My legs have been tired for a couple of days so two nights in Linz will be good. The information centre offered a good price for the two nights at the hotel so we didn't have to do bookings for prices. 

We leapfrogged a couple of groups as we stopped at different times to rest and view different things. Spoke to a Brisbane couple in their 60's who have been riding since April 30, started in Holland. Another month to go. An Austrian rider with wife and sister were on a 120k day ride, for fun. 

Most of the ride today was not near any main road. While on the rural roads we had a car pass us every twenty minutes. We broke the law by riding two abreast. It is great to ride in almost silence listening to the birds. Haven't seen Bambi in these parts. A nice easy ride on mostly paved roads. Two ferry crossing today. Not sure if we needed to but we were like lemmings. 

It is 2200hrs and I'm sitting on the forecourt of the hotel. About 25*C. No mozzies. Missing my wife. 11 days!

We have 220km to Vienna. So there may be a couple of two night stays other than Melk. 

Stay safe. We are. 

Looking back, Inn and Danou meet at Passau. (Danou-German, Danube-Austria)

The colours in this chook were great. He was looking after his ladies while we had something to eat. 

Nearly blue. 

Getting along. 

Approaching the ferry. 

Linz main drag. 

Deggendorf to Passau

Today was a pretty fun day; we rode 60km and had a better view of the river.

In the morning dad went for a walk and woke me up when he came back. We then headed to the city square to try and find a laundromat. As you may of guessed from the italics, we didn't find one and just had breakfast instead. 

We set off and got lost immediately got lost. We for back on path and headed towards Passau. We came to some Greek restaurant around halfway through the trip. I had Souvlaki with lebet or something  and dad had souvlaki special. That took an hour because the plate and the food that was on it was massive.

Around a half hour later I was sworn at by a man riding a bike because I was on the wrong side of the footpath. He exclaimed "what De f*ck" and some other rudeness afterwards. Could of just said "pardon" or something!? The people aren't as friendly in Eastern Germany as they are in central/Southern Germany.

Tomorrow we go into Austria and I hope I can have some veal schnitzel instead of pig.

Have a great time, miss you all.

-Lachlan

PAUL.

We have budget accommodation tonight, €50. See photo later. The Danou, the Inn and the Ilz rivers all meet and the Danube grows. While it was a good day it was another hot one!

The scenery was good varying between mountains, farm and townships on either side of the path. 

There are many electric bikes in Europe! The new type now in the stores, around €2000+ are bikes with a Bosch bottom bracket with a 250W motor and a 300 or 400 w/hour battery, capable 180km Eco mode or in sports mode 45km/h and 65km range.

We have had to do a few running repairs on the go, brakes and brackets. The major bike stores have around 500 bikes and any accessory you need. Lachlans tyre wore partially away in the box in the way over in the plane. Had to get a replacement. It cost $51AU. The tyre supplied with the bike cost $75 in Sydney. We got the next level up. There may be a couple coming home! When almost all ride bikes things will be cheap. 

We went for a walk through the old town of Passau before and after dinner. There is a picture showing the flood markers. Last year they had a flood of about 11m. Dinner was Italian. Apparently, following the 1660 fires, Italian tradesmen helped rebuild the city, therefore there is a great deal of Italian architecture throughout. See this video of Lachlans desert. 8 seconds. https://www.dropbox.com/s/6alvlbefnzp5jep/Video%206-07-2014%2019%2036%2014.mov

Freiwillige fire station Germany. From front on a very plain steel frame. 

The Danou growing. Many rivers adding to its girth. 

Passau. 

Hard to see but the arch is all crystals and LED's

Flood marker on base of tower. 

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