For me it's always the same, whether I'm away for 3, 7, 10 or even more days... sooner or later I get that strong feeling of nostalgia "Seriously!?! It's day 'x' already? Half of my vacation has already passed!!!".
Then I start down-counting the vacation days left and start prioritization :-) thinking "The best is yet to come!"
In the case of bike-riding, every day was different and unique in its way and in the possibilities it offered. Indeed, "the best was yet to come", as I enjoyed the last days the most! By mid of our vacation we had already become immune to the "discomfort" of the bike-seat and our muscles got used to pedaling 50 to 60 km per day.
Since the second day, we started planning each stop and each sight we would see in the next day. We also kept in mind we had some "wine tasting" vouchers, for the Wachau region ahead of us. But that was part of Day 5.
The plan for this fourth day of our bike journey, was to cycle till we would reach Melk. The old town of Melk is well known for the famous Melk Abbey, that we got the chance to visit, the next morning.
We left as early as we could, 'cause our first stop was only some kilometers away - Grein town.
Even if the weather got a bit "grouchy", Grein town fully deserved the little time we got to spend there.
The spectacular view from Greinstein Fort immediately caught our eye!
Our short visit turned quickly into a photo shooting session, with all "weapons" engaged :) Nikon, Canon, Samsung, Nokia! Below some examples...
From Grein, we took another ferry (small ferry, for people and bikes), because our route continued on the southern bank. We cycled along the Danube until we reached Ybbs. The town of Ybbs is home to a great museum, that very well fit in the picture :-) The Museum of Bicycles (German term Fahrradmuseum).
It's actually funny, when you think about it :) We took our bikes to meet their predecessors.
Even if there was light rain and the weather got a bit crazy, we had our wind and waterproof clothing with us, so we learnt to enjoy bike riding in the rain :-)
It's just like singing, or dancing in the rain :D Don't care about the weather, if it makes you happy!!!
I can remember, at some point, we passed through a town that was occasionally flooded by the Danube waters. The long history on flooding was engraved on a very high pillar: on different heights there were different years engraved: the years of the flooding engraved on the height of the waters... It was frightening just to look up, above and realize the last flooding occurred so recently, in the 2000's. We also saw the Dam, recently built to protect the village from further flooding.
Since it was close to sunset (and we were on the northern bank), we were hoping to reach a bridge soon...
... and from that bridge, we had a first glimpse of Melk Abbey.
During the rest of the day we enjoyed a walk in Melk... and ... star of the evening :) Dinner!!!
...as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, during this bike-ride, I became a "foodie" (though I'm usually not one :P and since I've become a vegetarian-by-choice, in some places it's quite hard to find good veg-food).
But, I must say I was impressed by the local dishes I've tried. I just loved the local Austrian cuisine!!
I remember the top dishes :) Dumpling soup with mushrooms and spinach, Garlic soup, these are only some of the "must try 's"...
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