Tuesday, 7-31 to Worms

We are in a heat wave, and were determined not to do another long day today. We did a short run to the ancient small city of Worms.

On the way out of Ludwigshafen we passed miles of BASF chemical plants and office buildings, with secure fences and guarded gates. The rest of the ride was dikes, fields and forest paths to Worms and a small, modern hotel perched on the shore of the Rhine. We had a long lunch hour watching the ships pass close by, and an afternoon of resting, reading, and staying out of the sun.

Worms is the city where Martin Luther refused to recant his reformist ideas and was branded an outlaw by the church.

Tomorrow's ride to Mainz promises to be a hot one. We really can't complain about the weather, since until the last week it has been almost constantly sunny and not too warm. No good for the farmers, but good cycling weather. Unusual for this region: usually cooler and wetter.

Monday, 7-30 to Ludwigshafen

An interesting and fun day. We rode five hours in extreme heat to Ludwigshafen, near Mannheim, chosen because our niece Carol and her husband Brian could meet us there with only about an hour of driving. We had a good visit with them and they took us out to a good German dinner in a biergarten.

Ludwigshafen is a busy, gritty small city, but it is also kind of a company town. It is the corporate headquarters of BASF, the giant chemical company. It turned out BASF even owns and operates the excellent hotel we stayed at.

7-29 to Germersheim

A long hot ride today. It got up to about 95F, cloudless, and we were on the road for six hours. The route was pleasant but uneventful: dikes and fields. Late in the day we rode directly beside the Rhine for a while. Germersheim is a small and unremarkable city. Good hotel, but no A/C and not even any electric fans, so uncomfortable. Tomorrow will be better.

Wooden punts on the Sauer

7-28 To Seltz

We spent two nights at Strasbourg, and were glad we did. Yesterday, Friday, we took a boat ride on the canals which circle the city. Although it was cloudless and Florida-hot, we enjoyed the tour. It's a beautiful city and the audio they provided gave us a good feel for the city's convoluted history. For one thing, the city was part of Germany from 1870 untl 1918, and during that time it enjoyed a boom of commerce and building. Germany annexed Alsace again in 1940, but that was a different story. Alsace didn't take well to Nazificaiton. The problem wasn't the Germans, it was the Nazis.

After the boat ride I took the bike to look for a bike shop which could service the disk brakes. The first shop's mechanic spoke only French and could only contribute a referral to another shop. That one was larger and the owner was very helpful. He thought at first the brake pads were worn out, but after adjusting and fiddling, he had the brakes working fine and said the pads still had life in them.  I wish I was knowledgeable about disk brakes- about the only part of the bike I don't know how to handle.

Later on Friday we touched base with our dear niece Carol and tentatively arranged to meet up with her farther north in a few days.

Late in the afternoon we went to the nearby Museum of Beaux Arts, which has a fairly small but top-rate collection. They have two rooms of Italian Renaissance old masters, and much more.  Many of the paintings were marked that they were known to have been in such-and-such museum and appeared as if by magic in the Strasbourg museum when the dust settled after WW2. i.e. Nazi loot. Some of them are "in the process of being returned" to their original owners. High time, I'd say.

Strasbourg is a popular tourist city, but not to the degree as central Prague. And there were noticeably more people traveling with children. I need to mention the cathedral, Notre Dame de Strasbourg. We've seen a lot of cathedrals, but this one is special. Very large, heavily decorated with statues and architectural details from the high Gothic period of 1200-1400. But it's built of local sandstone, which is variegated with a range of  shades of red. Spectacular. I could sit and look at it a long while. And did.

We didn't plan ahead for this extended stretch of France in our trip, and Sandy hadn't made any effort to brush up on her French. She gets tongue-tied, but can undersand people remarkably well.

Before leaving Strasbourg Saturday morning we went to the nearby Cathedral in a light rain and attended Mass there, held in a small side chapel. It is a particular pleasure going to church in the places we visit, when we can.

We navigatied smoothly out of Strasbourg city, for a reason. I discovered and downloaded an app for all the network of Eurovelo cycling routes. I can see our position and the line representing our route. If we make a wrong turn we get quick feedback. I wish I'd started using the app a month ago.

Today was a five-hour ride up the Rhine valley, still in France. Late in the day we actually saw the Rhine, for the first time since we started this part of our trip. At the nowhere town of Seltz the owners of our simple but comfortable hotel were kind enough to give us a ride to a restaurant for dinner, 50' over the German border, but German speaking. After a good traditional Alsacian dinner, the restaurant owner drove us back.

Today's bits of rain and clouds today were a welcome relief from the extreme heat of the last two days. Under the circumstances, Sandy would prefer to stay only in hotels with air conditioning, but there are very few. As a fallback, a bottle of wine does wonders for morale.

Thursday, 7-26 to Strassbourg

After a couple of days in small towns, we headed for the city of Strassbourg.

A very hot day, but it started cool. We rode all the way along the Rhone au Rhin canal on a paved, shaded path. For the first half of the ride the canal was not operational, but later there were working locks. 1/4 mile ahead of each lock there was a rope hanging down in mid canal to pull and signal the lock. There are a handful of large canal boats permanently moored and fitted out as homes, but there were also several large canal boats underway which were restored as private yachts. We made our way without hassle into the city of Strassbourg to our hotel near the city center facing the eye-popping Strassbourg Cathedral: huge and ornate Gothic architecture, built 1100-1250 mainly.

A couple of years ago we had a conversation with a woman in Brittany who said her mother was from Strassbourg, born in France, moved to Germany, moved back to France, moved to Germany again, and moved back to France again. But always lived in the same house.

Wed. 7-25 to Marckolsheim

A pleasant but uneventful ride through villages and fields, then a long stretch beside an old canal. By 12:30 we reached our goal at Marckolsheim, a  small town, chosen because it was the right km of riding for the day. We killed time until we could check in. The hotel manager told us about a memorial and museum of the Maginot Line nearby, so we rode to see it. Attaching a couple of pictures. We figured out that the Maginot Line was not the folly it's made out to be. It was a line of fortresses which could lay down fearsome artillery and machinegun fire to hold back the Germans until mobile reinforcements could arrive. But in the event, the Germans invaded France through Belgium, and most of the French forces were redeployed from the Rhine to the north.  The Maginot Line was poorly armed, manned and supplied, so it didn't hold up for long. The place we visited was a large fortress with a museum inside. About 20 French died defending it. 10 days later, Hitler visited the place along with Gen. Keitel and Martin Bormann. The hotel manager related what his parents told of that time. The Germans brought in a new teacher and principal for the school, and took the old ones out and shot them. Later in the war they were required to billet a German radio crew upstairs in their house. They correctly assumed that Allied bombers would target the source of radio signals so they got out of the house during air raids. The house was blown away along with the Germans upstairs.

Stassbourg

Inside cathedral

Maginot Line remnant

Along Rhone au Rhin canal towpath

Hitler visiting Maginot Line

Jul. 27, 1940  10 days after battle, at Markolsheim.  Martin Bormann on left.

Tues. 7-24 at Basel/Huningue and to Blodelsheim

Monday was a rest day. Unpacked and built up the bike in the morning, walked to the village center, and relaxed.

Tuesday we were on the road again. An idyllic day of bike touring. Cool, clear and calm. Lazy pace, 3 hours of riding. Access to the Eurovelo route was only 200 meters from hotel, so little chance of getting lost there. A hard-packed towpath through woods along an old canal for a while, then a paved path village streets, and quiet roads through cornfields. Had to dodge major irrigation sprinklers several times. We stopped to watch a farmer gather sheep with the help of his dog. Never seen a dog having so much fun. We found the only hotel (Chez Pierre, if you believe) for many miles around at the little village of Blodelsheim. Super friendly people; I think we're the only guests.

We're in Alsace. It's France and the people speak only French, but the town names and local family names are all German. The region was back and forth between Germany and France for a long time, and was an early priority for Hitler.

Sun. 7-22 to Basel

We were up early to catch a train for Basel, Switzerland. There is no direct route from Prague, but we enjoyed that city tremendously and are glad we didn't miss it. The first leg of our trip was to Dresden, Germany, following the beautiful mountainous river valley of the Elbe. We shared a compartment with a family from the extreme northern tip of Norway, far above the Arctic Circle, near the border with Russia. They report there is a U.S. military installation there with a lot of new construction of a major upgrade to their radar surveillance capability. At Dresden (Almost all new since WW2, as the city was famously razed by an intense firestorm from bombing) we connected to a train to Frankfurt, and from there another train down to Basel. The trains were very comfortable, with meal and beverage service to our seats. Wine for Sandy and beer for me cheered up a long trip.

We'd booked ahead for a hotel in the suburbs of Basel, which turned out to be a modest but comfortable spot withing a couple hundred meters of the point where Switzerland, France and Germany meet. We're on the French side.

7-21 and 7-22 at Prague

We took a minibus tour of Prague on Friday. One family on the tour was Italian, so it was a combined tour with a bilingual guide. Turned out her English was unintelligible. I understood 10% of the English and almost that much of the Italian. But we saw a bunch of pretty buildings and there was a spectacular view of the city from the castle complex high on a hill.

Our hotel was excellent but our room was on the second floor overlooking the front door of the Hard Rock Cafe. The noise was such that we partied all night along with them, without the benefit of alcohol. We didn't sleep much, and at our request we were moved to a quieter room in anticipation of an even noisier Saturday night.

Saturday was a rest and chore day. We set out to find an optical shop to get Sandy's sunglasses fixed. On the way we found in the Old Town square that there was a parade of folkloric groups in town from all over Europe and Asia for a festival. In addition to the delightful troupes of dancers, musicians and singers, there was one group of men from Germany who all rang giant (5-gallon?) cowbells. Imagine the sound of 50 men beating on metal garbage cans with baseball bats, in unison. Oh- they were almost all smoking traditional crooked cigars. They could be heard all over the city. We coined the term folkloric terrorism. Onward with the sunglasses quest. They only need a screw in the hinge but the shop we found couldn't provide it, so she has a very becoming pair of new designer sunglasses. Eat your heart out, Walgreen's. We walked to the train station and booked tickets for a Sunday journey to Basel, which will be the starting point for the next leg of cycle touring. Then back to the hotel to catch up on the sleep we missed the night before. And we watched the exciting Alpe D'huez mountain stage of the Tour de France on TV. In the evening we went to Mass at a nearby church with a community of Dominican priests and brothers.

Thur. 7-19 to Prague

We spent three nights at Budapest, exploring the city by hop-on hop-off bus. Besides seeing the various capital city buildings, neighborhoods, parks and monuments, we got a good feel for the city's history. In short, they had a hard 70 years from 1918 to1989. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up after WW1 and Hungary lost most of its territory and Hungarian-speaking population. The economy collapsed from hyperinflation in the 20's, the Nazis took over even before WW2, the Russians installed a communist client government after WW2, and Russia crushed a rebellion in 1955. When they finally broke free in 1989, what once must have been beautiful city, was rundown after decades of neglect. Even now most of the buildings are dark with soot and have patches of crumbled masonry. They have a long way to go, but they are hard at work restoring old government and private buildings. There are lots of cafes, restaurants and pedestrian streets. A lively street scene, and a pleasant city to wander in. It may take a while, but we think Budapest will be a great city again.

We have plenty of time, so decided to visit Prague before heading back to western Europe, and we took a train here on Thursday. A comfortable and restful trip. The first part was along the Danube, and backtracked past the places we cycled through a few days ago. It was fun to see them from a different perspective. We crossed Slovakia (small towns, lots of wheat, corn and other fields) and southern Czech Republic (more farms but then low mountains and forests). Prague has a recent history not too different from Budapest's, but it is a different scene here: a similarly beautiful city, but much better maintained and much cleaner. And the word is out: there are many many tourists from all over the world here, especially around the old town square a couple of blocks from our hotel. It's a fun scene, but also a bit much.

Tues. 7-17 at Budapest

Yesterday we rode the last few hours of our Danube route to Budapest. We have a good hotel room in the center city, which will be our base for a few days of R&R. We'll rest up, clean and pack the bike, and see the sights. Then off on our next adventure, whatever we decide that is. Budapest was our primary goal. We had in the back of our minds to possibly continue south from here along the Danube, but have decided against it: the bike path route is fun but wearying, and we aren't keen on visiting Serbia, given their recent history.

Our first impression of Budapest is a big, busy, beautiful city. Lots of history.

Arriving at Budapest!

Sunday, 7-15 to Szentendre

We quickly checked out of our crummy hotel and headed to the middle of Estergom to look for breakfast. We bought apricots and sweet rolls at a Sunday market and ate them at a nearby cafe before hitting the road.

Today's ride was the best yet in Hungary. We were on a path right by the river for an hour, then crossed to the Slovak side by ferry. Waiting for the ferry we met a couple of cyclists from Belgium, Eddy and Inge Swaeb, and enjoyed sharing stories with them. They are a bit younger than we are, and we share the common interest of being active as long as our bodies allow it.

On the Slovak side of the river we spent about an hour on another beautiful bike path.  Many many local people out enjoying the Sunday, on bikes and picknicking along the river. Another ferry took us back to Hungary, and we bid farewell to Eddy and Inge who carried on toward Budapest on the Danube's northwest side.

Once across the river we had a good lunch and then another hour or so of riding got us to our stopping point of Szentendre. We'd booked a hotel to make sure we didn't get stuck in a dump like last night, and I made the mistake of using Google to get to the hotel. We were on busy streets unnecessarily. In Europe, Google's bike route feature is unavailable.

Our hotel features a spa so we soaked in the jacuzzi for a while before settling down to watch the World Cup final match between France and Croatia. We favored Croatia for some reason, but France whupped them.

After the game we walked the length of the nearby pedestrian street and stopped at an outdoor restaurant for a good Hungarian dinner and listened to a group of four gypsy musicians there playing lively music.

We should reach Budapest tomorrow, and plan to stay there a few days planning our next adventure.

Our route into Hungary has been very interesting. Not always picturesque or easy riding. Hungary is not a very prosperous country yet. Many old buildings in poor repair and not much new construction. The bike paths and the roads are sometimes in rough shape. But the people are friendly, the food is good, and everything is inexpensive. Their currency, the Florin, is equivalent to about 3 1/2 cents US, so the prices are large numbers. But by the time you move the decimal point left two places and divide by three, things cost less half what we'd expect at home. The Hungarin language is a problem. No hint what the signs mean and the town names are often unpronounceable. But menus tend to be multilingual, something not widely found in Germany or Austria.

Saturday, 7-15 to Estergom

As we left Komarom, people were lined up at the ornate town well filling jugs with water. Don't know whether the city water was doubtful; there is an ongoing environmental disaster nearby where there had been an aluminum plant in the bad old days. But we topped up our water bottles at the well to be on the safe side.

Today's route was away from the river and mostly on roads instead of bike paths. We made good time, making one stop at the little town of Sutto to look at a small baroque church. Had a good conversation with the woman who volunteers to keep up the interior of the church. She said it was a lot of work, but... touched her heart. Other than that we stayed in the saddle for the four hour route, and reached Estergom by lunchtime, tired. There are only two hotels in Estergom. The good one was full. The other, the Rugby Club Hotel, has a catchy name, but the catch is that it really is a rugby club facility and the rooms are there to give beds to visiting teams. Clean, but sadly lacking. Most important, there was no hot water. We went off to see the town and left them to work on the hot water.

Estergom was Hungary's first capital, and when the king moved to Buda about the year 1000 the church took over his castle. The cathedral there has been the church center of Hungary since then, and has been rebuilt many times. The most recent version is an immense basilica built in the mid-1800's. Since it is built where a fortress once stood, it is on the high ground and it was quite a hike up many steps to reach the basilica. Turned out they were to have a 6 p.m. Mass so we killed time and stayed for that. There were only a handful of worshipers and we all sat in the dignitary seats in the choir area.

At the foot of the hill below the basilica we were the only diners in a mom-and-pop restaurant, but we got an excellent dinner of tender pork with a mild hungarian gravy. We have been in several restaurants with few customers. I don't know how they survive.

Back at the Rugby Club, still no hot water. We went to bed grubby and disgruntled.

Cardinal Mindszenty's tomb

Look him up if you don't remember him. National hero in Hungary.

Fri. 7-13 the "road" to Komarom

We were faced with the choice of a path in "very poor condition" and several km on a busy main highway with no bike lane and many semis. We chose the path, and boy was it in poor condition. Beyond unrideable, it was in places impassible. The picture shows a spot where the deep muddy pool with rocks the size of bowling balls extended to the woods on both sides. Sandy helped the man in the background pull his bike through the woods. I dragged the bike and trailer through the pit, with the help of a young man who came along on a motorcycle. There was a long series of spots like this. In the end, though, we made it through, and the fact that we were on the "path" by choice helped maintain our spirits. One for the record book.

Fri. 7-13 National Stud Farm at Babolna

Halfway through today's ride we stopped at the Hungarian National Stud farm at Babolna, built in 1789 to breed horses for the Austro-Hungarian army. They breed Arabian thoroughbreds descended from a horse named Shagyra imported from Syria in 1822. We happened to arrive at the time a tour was starting so we got to visit the grounds, the stallions (some as much as 25 years old), the riding school building, and carriage  museum. There's an imperial guesthouse, now a hotel.  It was booked up, but we ended up later at a very comfortable and very inexpensive penzio (small hotel) at Komarom, on the Danube. A sister city across the river in Slovakia was a no-go for the people here from 1918 when the Austro-Hungarian empire was broken up until 1991 when a bridge bombed in WW2 was rebuilt. On the way from Babolna to Komarom we found the world's worst bike path- see today's other post.

At day's end, we happened to meet a man named Jeff from California riding another Bike Friday, but not a tandem. We'd heard about him from other riders, and he about us, but we hadn't connected before. By the way, he was the first other American rider we've met since we started this trip almost a month ago.

Thur. 7-12 to Gyor

A cool, sunny day with a light tailwind.

The route today was away from the Danube, alongside a country road with occasional small towns. The countryside was farmland, very large fields of corn, wheat, hay and sunflowers. They used to be collective farms, but were privatized after the communist period. Good riding, except that the bike path planners forgot that as trees grow their roots do. Many speed bumps. Not an exciting route, but better than yesterday's long stretch on a dike.

We reached the 130,000 pop. city of Gyor by lunchtime, found a hotel, rested up, and took a long walk around town. We visited the national art collection currently housed at an Esterhazy palace, and visited the basilica where we saw the gold-encrusted skull of St. Ladislaz from the 11th century, a national icon with a long history of being plundered, lost, stolen, and burned, each time being redone more elaborately than before.

July 11 to Mosonmagyarovar

We left Bratislava in a very light rain and about 65 degrees. The route followed a flood dike inland through a lot of nothing. Sandy commented we might as well be riding a stationary bike and staying dry.

We soon added rain jackets, then rain pants.

As we passed into Hungary it started to rain harder. That's not the Hungarians' fault, but anyway Sandy started to get chilled. We eventually reached a town with a restaurant, and we stopped to warm up, dry out a little, and share a pizza.

At our goal town of Mosonmagyarovar the rain stopped.  We checked in to a $70 (w/ breakfast) 4-star hotel, cleaned up and rested, then took a walk around town. A distinctly sleepy small city, notable for a crazy number of dental clinics. Turns out, the Austrians come here for dental care because it's much cheaper.

After an excellent dinner we settled down to watch England vs. Croatia in the soccer World Cup semi finals. I don't know anything about tactics, but after watching a lot of World Cup matches at least I can enjoy watching the game well played. The team that passes most skillfully generally wins.

Blog note

When I open the blog site to add a post, I often see a number representing an unopened item. I wonder if those are comments someone has posted.

Using the blog app, I can not see comments anyone has posted. If anyone is reading my posts and wants to comment, please text me a 1-727-465-8025. If you are not reading my blog posts at all, please ignore this message!

Tues. July 10 to Bratislava

After a short ride this morning we crossed the old Iron Curtain border into Slovakia, now an EU and even NATO member. We crossed the Danube to the capital city of Bratislava and left our bags at our hotel in the old town area and went to explore the city. We took a tram tour up to the castle above the city, with a narration which gave us a basic orientation.

Bratislava was a crumbling backwater during the communist era, but seems to have come a long way in the 20-plus years of independence. There are still a lot of rundown old buildings but a lot of building and reconstruction going on. Most notable is the amazing number of sidewalk cafes, bars and restaurants. There's a long tree-lined pedestrian mall in the middle of the old city and other pedestrian side streets. An attractive and appealing central city, but there are also great expanses of drab Soviet-era apartment blocks on the opposite side of the Danube.

After a few weeks in Germany and Austria, I am pretty comfortable in German within the range of my needs and interests, but that language useless right over the border here in Slovakia. After WW2 the majority German-speaking population was brutally expelled. So, no Jews and no Germans. Not even many Czechs. Slovak is a slavic language, written in the Roman alphabet, for all the good that does us.

Hainburg fortifications, Iron Curtain

Hainburg was the easternmost outpost of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries. Still has full 2 km city walls and towers, but the Turks stormed the city in about 1680 and slaughtered all 8000 residents. About 6000 population now.

This gate at the Austrian-Slovak border was heavily guarded during the Soviet era, but now is permanently open.

Mon. 7-9 to Bad Deutsch- Altenburg

A day of contrasts.

We navigated through and out of Vienna without a hitch, thanks to our guidebook, maps, Google Maps, and the help of strangers.

We rode through a huge and beautiful city park, probably a former hunting preserve of the emperors.

We rode the length of Donau Insel, a man-made narrow island in the middle of a canal stretching east from Vienna. Notable on the Insel was its popularity with nudists. It was a clear sunny day, so there were a lot of people out showing what a life of schnitzel and strudel can do. It left us feeling much better about our own bodies.

What we expected to be a long, straight stretch of nothing along the Danube flood dike turned out to be otherwise. The path turned unexpectedly inland and led us to an outdoor cafe, a welcome lunch stop. But we found that the regular bike path was closed for ? and we were directed to a long and difficult detour. First, we rode back to the Danube where we took a bicycle ferry across the river, which dumped us onto a gravel beach. "Just like D-Day, eh?", quipped the ferry captain. Looking to make a beachhead, we dragged the bike inland to a road not intended for wheeled vehicles, leading across a marsh and then up several steep switchbacks to a town above the river. We were ready to call it a day, but there was no zimmer frei or other accommodation. So we followed the detour signs along rough gravel paths across endless farm fields. We were running out of water and getting tired. We finally came on a ruined Roman arch in the middle of nowhere, and while we rested several other riders came and decided it was a good place for a break. Their complaints gave us comfort.

We rode on into a more settled area, and finally came on a cafe/hotel where we could get a room. Showers, cold drinks and a decent supper did wonders for our attitude.

Today was the first in Austria where the bike path was not paved. They saved the worst for last. We're only 13 km from Austria's border with Slovakia.

Mon. 7-9 pics

Ferry

Sunday, July 8 Klosterneuberg and Vienna

We left Krems yesterday morning with a goal of the riverside town of Tulln, halfway to Vienna. On our way out of town we came to a puzzling sign which seemed to say the bike path was closed because of a  running race. Fortunately four other riders came along who had either better local knowledge or better German. We followed them on a circuitous route which led eventually back to the Donauradweg, Danube cycle path. We were on the north side of the Danube even though the route in our guidebook called for the south side, but the path was fine so we continued that way. At one point we stopped and gave our treasure bag of apricots (which we inadvertently froze last night) to two men who are paddling down the river in kayaks as part of an international paddling excursion from Ingolstadt, back in Germany, all the way to the Black Sea delta of the Danube, well over a thousand miles. We saw many of them on the river.
At the same spot, an information board informed us that we could not go all the way to Tulln on our side of the river; luckily we only had to go back 2 km to a bridge.

For all that, we reached Tulln by lunchtime, much to early to stop. So we continued and looked for accomodations downriver. But we did not find anything until Klosterneuberg, only 10 km from Vienna. There we found a good a hotel and the welcome news that we could reach Vienna by rapid transit. So we signed up for two nights so we could visit the city without moving further.

Today we took a series of buses, subways and trams into the city. We visited the Kunsthistorisches art museum, a world-class collection of old masters. We'd been there before, but it was good to see many great pictures we'd remembered, and at least one we hadn't: a large Vermeer of an artist doing a painting- a picture within a picture. It's considered his masterpiece, and he never sold it. We took a sightseeing bus tour of the highlights of the city, and then made our way to the Belvedere Palace with its eye-popping Gustav Klimt collection. Sandy had bought a souvenir t-shirt there years ago, long worn out and discarded, and we bought her a new on at the same shop. We made it back to Klosterneuberg without incident, if you don't count asking directions a time or two.

A very good day, and we were proud not to screw up the navigation of the transit system.

Sunday, 7-8 couple of pics from Vienna

Friday, 7-6 to Krems

A thunderstorm last evening and forecast for rain today 40-60%. We were undecided whether to ride or hunker down, but our hotel was full for the next (Friday) night. That gave us a push to ride instead of looking for new lodging. Turned out to be the right thing to do.

We spent the morning on a guided tour of the huge Melk abbey. Melk was the original capital of Osterreich (Austria), and when the king moved to Vienna in about 1050 he gave his castle to the Benedictines. It's been an abbey ever since, except that the Nazis took over the place during WW2. Most of the current buildings date from the era of Empress Maria Theresa in the 1700's. Spectacular baroque buildings, especially the abbey church, on a grand scale.

Finally on the road in light rain about 1:30 for Melk, a three hour ride.  The route along the way was wonderful. The river winds through mountains and the area ("Wachau") is famous for vinyards and apricot orchards. Our path took us through a series of picturesque villages with narrow cobbled streets. In one of the villages, Willendorf, a paleolithic fertility icon was discovered in the early 20th century. Google for an image of the "Willendorf Venus". Another village, Weissenkirchen, claims to be the original home of the Riesling grape. Apricots are in season, and when we stopped at one point to take a picturea a woman picking them gave us two each: delicious like no apricots I've ever had before.

One of our best days, but by the end we were very tired. We went to the nearest restaurant for a good Italian dinner, and a local farmer there insisted in givingg us a bag of apricots. Those we've eaten are just as good as the ones we ate up in the hills. All the regions apricots and most of its wine are consumed locally.

Thurs. 7-5 to Melk

When we went down to breakfast this morning, we could see police on the ground floor in the atrium, with a dead body covered with sheets. The hotel staff claimed they didn't know anything, and we never did find out if someone jumped or fell accidentally. The police did not seem to be interviewing people, but they didn't transport the body until we were leaving, 1 1/2 hours later. We will not ever know more.

We got an earlier start than usual and rode a long day, about five hours on the path. Good weather, good scenery (another gorge cut through the mountains as they arose eons ago).

In one town, Ybbs (sic), there was a bicycle museum with a large collection of bikes from the 1880's onward, including an early tandem with the handlebars linked so that the stoker could also turn the bars. A bit like in a car giving an additional steering wheel to the one in the passenger seat. What were they thinking?

Reached the town of Melk, with a huge abbey looming above. Small town with an old town square. A popular stop for cruise ships, but none in port today.

We feel like we're getting in better shape. Maybe losing a pound or two. Once in a while we overtake other riders.

Today we passed one couple and I commented in my best German what a fine day it was, but got no response. I thought they were stereotypical stolid Germans. No, they turned out to be English; my German greeting was the problem.

 

Wed. July 4 to Au an der Donau

There was another Au two days ago.

We particularly enjoyed Linz, especially because we didn't expect there would be much to see. It's a modern city on old bones, busy but with many pedestrian streets and open plazas. In the evening the streets were full of strolling people of all ages, but mainly young.

Today we rode 26 km in the morning to Mauthausen and rode up a steep hill to the site of the notorious Nazi slave labor camp there. Not specifically a death camp but over 100,000 died there, from starvation, exhaustion, and disease.  Maybe half were murdered outright, by gas, lethal injection, gunshot or forced suicide. About 1/3 of the camp's buildings remain. There are memorials put up by each of 40 countries which lost people there. We particularly wanted to visit Mauthausen but it was an even worse experience than we expected.

We'd planned to spend the night in the town of Mauthausen, but we both wanted to put the place behind us. After a long wrong-way we rode a few km down the river and are staying at a fancy new hotel on the riverbank.

A warm, clear day. Rain possible in two days.  So far the Donauradweg is better in Austria than in Germany. Better path for riding, better marked, and better scenery.

Happy Independence Day!

Tues. 7-3 to Linz

The first

Monday, 7-2 Into Austria

Another clear, cool day.

We had a fine day of riding once we got clear of Passau, but that was a project. The cycle route required us to take the bike down a winding flight of stairs to the path by the river, even though we could have gotten down there by road withing 500 meters. We got it done, but it wasn't easy. The same thing happened two days ago when we could have simply ridden across an intersection instead of negotiating a staircase to get under the road. Go figure. 

The Austrian border was only a few km into the ride, and the path was paved, flat, scenic and right by the river all the way. Couldn't have had better riding conditions. We crossed the Danube twice by bike ferry to get on the favored side. We stopped at a large resort by the riverside where we got a good room overlooking the river, and had a relaxing afternoon and evening watching the cruise ships and other river traffic, and watching World Cup matches. The Tour de France starts next weekend and we are looking forward to also following that.

Saturday, 6-30 to Hofkirchen

A sunny, warm day. We had a hard time following the route, and decided that one wrong turn tires us as much as 10 km of riding.

We rode through and past Deggendorf, notable not only for its 1350 pogrom in which they burned out the Jews, but for the annual religious festival celebrating the event which the bishop of Regensburg only suppressed in 1968. The Nazis built on a long tradition of anti-semitism. They didn't invent it, and of course Germany had no monopoly on it. Anyway, we felt no need to stop or stay in Deggendorf.

We did stop in the sleepy village of Hofkirchen and stayed at the Gasthof Buckner where Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, stayed in 1745 on his way home from his coronation at Frankfurt. A comfortable but modest inn; don't know if we got the Emperor's room or not.

Sun. 7-1 to Passau

A perfect day. Clear, cool. Lots of Germans out for a Sunday ride, many on the very popular e-bikes. Easy navigation. Stopped at a riverside cafe for lunch of chocolate cake a la mode.

Befor leaving Hofkirchen we went to Mass at the local church, built around 1400 but modern on the inside. I guess old buildings don't survive at all without constant maintenance, and improvements are inevitably in the context of the time they are done.

Reached Passau early in the day and found a very reasonably priced 4-star hotel. Beautiful small city at the confluence of two rivers with the Danube. River cruise ships start here. Have seen on Americans since Zurich, but many here. Strolled old city incl. fine baroque cathedral (pic below) and a fortress castle complex with excellent museum of local history: Celtic, Roman, Prince-bisopric.