Day 10--Linz to Krems, Austria

Vineyards & orchards

Friday, July 4, 2008  
Linz to Krems, Austria
Distance: 152.17 km (94.5 miles)

X+-- We continue through farmland, including vineyards, on our way through Melk, where you'll want to stop to photograph the spectacular baroque Abbey of Melk.

A perfect day for such a long ride: strong tailwinds and overcast and cool after last night’s rain. No drastic missteps today as we followed Donauradweg 1 & 6 most of the day, passing through little villages.

Beautiful trail signs marked the Danube Bike Trail for its entire length
through Germany and Austria; our Serbian guide was trying to
extend them into other EU countries along the river

 

Along the Radweg are occasional places to stop for an ice cream cone or a bite to eat. We stopped at 90 km and ate a delicious grilled ham & cheese sandwich and a glass of lemonade, which the woman behind the counter squeezed just for us. This place also had a WC, a rarity along the track, as are trash bins for some reason, but there is rarely a scrap of litter.

Tugboat pushing barge down the river and interesting dome on the opposite side of the river

We climbed a short narrow alleyway up through Grien and then had a fantastic unearned long downhill, across a tall bridge, and then hooked a left and rode the track on the other side of the river. We are beginning to see loads and loads of bicycle tourists, whole families, sometimes with grandparents, all rigged up for camping.

The beginning of the alleyway up through Grein

Apple strudel offered along the track and another religious shrine at trailside

The place where we stopped for our grilled ham sandwich; note all the bicycle tourists. The group in the bottom left photo very curious about these American bicyclists

Grien across the river; the Benedictine Abbey in Melk

The altar and ceiling frescoes at the front of the Melk Abbey

There were many vineyards after Spitz, most of them running across rather than down the slopes, and a lot terraced with old stone walls. Apparently cars can get on these terraces as there would be a car high up and there were little houses also. We also saw cherry, apricot, and apple orchards. This area must be Austria’s fruit basket. Today we saw for the first time a couple of fields of squash, as well as what I think are beets.

Judy walking her bike on the track near a fortification outside of Krems

Krems city gate (Internet) and houses in Krems

We are in the Hotel Klinglhuber, a very different hotel in a very different room in Krems—completely out of step with this pastel old village. Our room is on the second floor and the whole front and side of it is windowed. The bathroom walls into the room are glass also, so there is no privacy at all. This is the second time Judy and I have wound up in what appears to be the honeymoon suite.

Hotel Klinglhuber. Judy's and my room was on the top floor corner that you see. The window wrapped around the room and the bathroom walls were glass also

It threatened rain all day, but we got only a few light showers.

Tonight for dinner we had chicken and pasta and a  tossed German potato and cabbage salad. Dessert was a strawberry/cherry cheesecake. Very delectable.