Biking along the Danube, from Passau to Vienna (Day 6)

As we were approaching Vienna, we were also approaching the end of our bike tour.

During the last day of the trip, I had mixed feelings:
nostalgia and a bit of regret, 'cause in a few days we'll be back to out "much too static" life
satisfaction and accomplishment, 'cause we were able to keep up with the road
happiness, 'cause I was able to add another fun activity to my list, together my loved one and one of our best friends.

However, we shouldn't draw the line too fast here... we were close to Vienna, but not that close!!!
I'm not really sure why, but this last day was the hardest (effort-vise, I mean).
The bike route from Traismauer to Vienna was nearly 70km long, that meant about 10km longer than what we had gotten used to, the days before.
Also, the sun was playing hard to get :) and soon, the rain became part of the main course.

Before lunch-time, the sun was still up there with us, doing it's job, brightening the day!
Time for a photo shooting session, in the sun-flower fields!!! Everybody pull out the equipment! :D

We decided to cycle on the southern bank, as we wanted to have our lunch brake in Tulln old town center. What I admired along the Eurovelo, that the restaurants, accommodation places (villas, hotels) all bike-friendly. In every location, it was very easy to find a place to park your bike and have a quick visit of the surroundings.

It was only after leaving Tulln, that the sun decided to abandon us and rest behind the clouds... and it was after we entered Vienna, that it started to rain.

When you enter Vienna by bike, don't feel like you've accomplished the mission, too fast.. :) as it turned out, we were not that close to the finish line!

We cycled for more than 10km from the Wien sign, to Prater Park, and then to the Hotel. It was already raining heavily and at some point we engaged in "bike sprints" between bridges :-) It was both fun & wet!
Even tough we reached Vienna before sunset, by the time we reached Prater it was already dark!

When we got to the hotel, we were very tired, it was late and since the weather was not really inviting, we decided to replace the planned evening-city-visit with a nice & relaxing evening in the Hotel lobby (restaurant): chatting, eating and drinking for the success of our great journey!

Cheers! & Looking forward to the next bike trip on EuroVelo routes!

Biking along the Danube, from Passau to Vienna (Day 5)

"Another day, another bike-ride!"
... just like Bugs Bunny used to say, when I was a child... "Another day, another carrot!" ... Do you remember? ;;)

Well, when we left Melk and I thought "Another day, another 60km of cycling!", I did not realize that this day was going to be the most special, the most beautiful of the entire trip!

You must be thinking ... "If you love cycling along Danube, with such spectacular views, how can that get any better"?

So, we have a mostly flat root along Danube, with beautiful sights, beautiful town, villages, Forts, sunny and sometimes rainy weather (this is what we experienced during the previous days).
... and now we add the salt & pepper ;;)
Let's add a visit to the beautiful Abbey (before we left Melk)
Add some "ups and downs" (hills) on the path.
Then, substract the rain.
Add some nice villages along the paved cycle-path.
And the most important factor - add the Wachau beautiful and spectacular wine fields, into the picture...

... and this is how we obtain - what I remember as - the most beautiful part of the Passau - Vienna Eurovelo6 bike-path.

But, first is first, let's come back to the part before we left Melk... because this was the first factor that made this day, the best :-)
Whenever you pass threw this Austrian region, take some time to visit Melk Abbey. The entrance ticked has a fair price and the visit of the Abbey, the views from the terrace and the beautiful Gardens will make every minute of your time worth to be spent there!

The Melk Abbey Gardens are a place for relaxation. I found this small corner with speakers hanged from the trees, to create the sound-environment of an Amazonian forest.

We were on a tight schedule, so I couldn't enjoy the amazonian relaxing sounds for as long as I had wished... We left the Abbey and soon we left the town of Melk and got back to the Danube Bike road... but, as I mentioned, that was a great part of the journey, too! 

This is how we began our bike-ride from Melk to Traismauer! It was already close to mid of the day and this was going to reflect on the arrival hour at Traismauer (yup... it was already dark when we got there, but we made it! :P)

We had our first stop in Spitz, for a tasty lunch. While looking for a good place to eat, we also visited the small town center. As we got back on Eurovelo, we saw there are also Ferry Boats going between towns, on a fixed schedule. As it was close to 4PM, we established that, a Ferry will be our back-up plan, in case we don't have enough time to reach our destination.
But, fortunately, it was not the case! It's good we decided to follow the Eurovelo route and enjoy the beauties it offered!

We had another "break" in Weissenkirchen for some wine-tasting in Wachau region ...and - why not? - some desert! :D We didn't leave before adding a couple of wine bottles to the luggage, also ;;)

Even though we reached Traismauer after sunset ..and very tired..., we had a full day! And a lovely one! I don't know about my friends, but I would rate it as No1!
Also, the accommodation in the small town, has a very special interior our-door yard...
It had that "je ne sais quoi" .

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Biking along the Danube, from Passau to Vienna (Day 4)

Have you ever felt the "mid of vacation crisis"?

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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Biking along the Danube, from Passau to Vienna (Day 3)

After a good night's rest in Linz, we found the city even more appealing than the evening before ;)

The nice, long parks are just perfect for spending weekends and free time. It was Sunday morning and Danube's banks were already a very joyful place: people of all ages were highly engaged in sports: bike-riding, skating, ball-games and so on. We were passing them by, with a smile, gaining energy just by feeling this pulse of this community...

When I come to think about it, this is the best type of travelling I've tried so far :) Meeting other tourists on the cycle-path, proved to be an interesting feeling, because you already know you have something in common - the taste for cycling. From athlete cyclists, that were passing by, in the blink of an eye ('cause they were fast, not 'cause we were slow :-) ), to families with small children that were pedaling on colorful small bikes.
Cyclic, similar to walking, gives you the great opportunity to feel the pulse of the places, see details and things you would otherwise miss. But, unlike walking, it is not so tiring and of course you can ride tens of kilometers each day.

We've had days when we cycled from town to town or village to village and we've also had days when we cycled in nature, without too much civilization. Each experience is unique and gives you a proper amount of satisfaction.

Now we were back on Danube Route 1 (or Eurovelo 6) and Vienna seemed so far away :-) actually about 227km far away :D
The third day of our trip was rich in beautiful places to see, both nature and civilization.
The plan was to have a break in the small town of Mauthausen. Before the proper town visit, we recharged our batteries with good food, coffee and drinks.

.                   

Later on, we reached Au an der Donau, a nice location - with some natural lakes, camping.. and of course - packed with tourists... :-) It seemed to be a great choice for a hot summer day, especially when I saw some teenagers jumping in the lake. However, we were "on the clock", so no bathing, just sunbathing on the bike :-)

The destination for this third day was, again (just like the first day), away from any city, town or village, in the heart of nature: Gasthof zur Donaubruecke, a small, but comfortable accommodation villa, just a few kilometers before Grein town.

Away from the town, but with a great panorama over Grein, from the terrace.

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Biking along the Danube, from Passau to Vienna (Day 2)

Wake-up!
Eat!
Cycle!
Take DSLR Pictures!
Cycle!
Eat!
Cycle!
Take phone-pictures cause getting the DSLR out takes too much time!
Cycle some more!
Eat!
Drink local beer (it's a must)!!!
Sleep like a rock :-) ... till the next breakfast!

...This would be a short version of the next days that followed the first post [read part 1 here]
However, I must tell the whole story! ..as there were some great moments between those cycle-eat-cycle sessions :-)

The second day of our adventure, started with a rich breakfast on the Danube shore...
I always used to say about myself that "I eat to live, not live to eat!" :-) Suddenly, eating became a high priority for me, as water & food are the "bike-fuel" and it's consumed incredibly fast!

Second day's target was Linz, a large Austrian city, settled 50~something km downstream on the Danube. So, we were biking again... surrounded by a fresh and wild landscape... The route was on the southern bank, a small forest on the right side and the Danube waters on the left.

The trees were protecting us from the shining sun, it was a good decision to cycle on that side... the other bank of the river was fully exposed to sunshine... and it can get quite hot in July!

The view, the trees' shadows, the sun, the river, the cycle-path... I loved this part so much!!! ... come to think about it, that part from Donauschlinge to Aschach was my second favorite part of the entire bike-tour.
Now that ranking came up ;) my favorite (#1) part was somewhere in the second half of our journey... and it involved wine fields. But, that's another story :-)

As I mentioned before, at the end of this enchanting forest-path, we reached a small town, Aschach, As a small break from cycling, we "recharged our batteries" with knowledge :) ---> we visited a local crafts' museum where we learnt some interesting things about evolution of boats, tools for building them and other local crafts. In the picture below, outside the museum, a transportation boat build recently for an exhibition, based on the old prototype.

Except for this small town and one other village, we did not see much civilization that day.

As we approached Linz, our destination for the day, the clouds started gathering, but fortunately it did not rain (much :-) ).

Linz is one of the largest Austrian cities and capital of the Upper Austria. Even if we arrived there in the late afternoon, we still got around for a city walk and dinner in the city center... :-) 

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Biking along the Danube, from Passau to Vienna (Day 1)

How do you like to spend the summer holiday?

Are you the "rest and relaxation in the sun" type or are you the "adventurer" type?
I like to think of myself, as a moderate combination of both.

If... you love traveling, you enjoy bike-riding and seek new experiences... here's a "must try":
plan a bike-tour-week with your friends or family! Or, just let one of the many "bike-tours" agencies take care on the planning part for you.

This summer, we biked from Passau (Germany) to Vienna (Austria), about 300km in 6 full days.
And may I state: It was AWESOME!

We chose to let the agency take care on the planning... and on our luggage! :-)
Yes, the greatest benefit (besides getting the planned route, maps and hints) was that our luggage was moved from one location to the next by the agency staff, so this make our bike-journey easier, a lot more relaxed and pleasant.

So, it all began once we reached Passau, the evening prior to our Bike-tour. We met the other groups of bike-riders and our agency responsible (organizer). We got the bike route maps and relevant information.
The other groups seemed nice, a french mature couple, another family with adolescent kids, some group of friends. I was expecting to see much more of those people in the next days. Surprisingly, we did not meet them so often along the way so we did not get to interact much with the other groups. Same cycle path, different people, different tempo :-)

That evening, we were looking forward and pretty enthusiastic, at the 6 days of biking ahead of us. The route for each day was already planned and we received the "check-in" tickets for all over-night stops along the Danube river, until the final "check-point", Vienna.

Our "task" for Day 1 was to reach Donauschlinge, a resort located on the Danube (close to Schloegen), about 50km from Passau.
For all you "non-german-speakers" out there, Donauschlinge can be translated as "Danube's loop" .. and in the end of this part you will see exactly what I mean :-)

Time for "cycling-accommodation"! Since none of us girls was an experienced bike-rider ;;) , we needed some time for accommodation...:
"Oh, my but hurts! Let's mount the silicone bike seat cover!" ;
" ... should have bought those gel-padded bike shorts, that everybody's wearing!"
This "accommodation" took about 2 days!

Ok, let's get back to what's important here: the fresh air, the Danube breeze that I can smell, the wind in my hair, the scenery along the Danube river... relaxing, refreshing, delightful to a <<programmer's eye>>. 'cause yes, in our "not-so-free-time", we are mostly sitting in a crowded room, in front a PC.

We stopped for a "photo session" when we reached one of the great Danube Locks, Jochenstein. This also plays the role of "German-Austrian border".

Also, we waited for a Yacht to see it passing through the lock.. just to better understand the process :) So... here goes!

- on the low water level side of the lock, the ship approaches and enters the gate;
- then, the gate closes and water is released and in a few minutes the water level will increase to the level on the other side of the lock
- the ship must stay close to one edge of the lock, and avoid hitting it...
- once the needed water level is reached, the ship is 'released' to the other side of the lock
Or.. the other way around!

While continuing our journey, we had to follow the instructions very carefully, as there are not many bridges to cross the river and in some areas, traveling on one bank is better than the other.
We crossed the Danube at Jochenstein and found a small restaurant&garden where we had lunch.

Then, we were back on the road, until we saw the Danube's loop and the ferry. Yes, we took the ferry, a small boat for bikes & passengers only. We reached this amazing resort, lost in nature... Donauschlinge... tired after the first 50km by bike, but very very pleased with this first day...
The evening ended with some relax-time at the spa, plus a well-deserved dinner, again, on the Danube shore.

As I promised somewhere above... a beautiful scenery, the Danube's Loop...

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