We got in to Krimml, Austria, at 8:30 p.m. after taking 5 trains from Munich airport. Our plane landed about 10:30 am. Tired. Saw flower boxes on houses in rural green Austria. Lots of outdoor patios, kids playing soccer, back packers and stylish dressers. Stayed at a 6-person rustic home owned by Hotel Klockerhaus in Krimml. Picked up at the train station by the hotel owners including our bikes in the rain. Krimml is like a ski resort area. Zell am See is definitely a ski resort area, colorful and attractive.
Day 2 (Aug 13)
Riding on beautiful path in valley between mountains. Stopping in small towns where people don't speak English. Passed through Mittersill (I think on this day)--nice small town with charming square in center that we did not have time to stay in. Most people are Austrian or German. Buildings are right up next to path and road. Grouped together in clumps with lovely cobblestone streets, flowerboxes everywhere with pink, red and yellow blossoms and wood frames. Walked up mountain to see falls at Krimml. Ate at small town outside of Krimml. Wiener schnitzel--great! Got to hostel at Zell am See late! Approx. 8:30 p.m. Bob and I watched European TV with dubbed movie and MTV and BBC. Saw American actors mostly. Ed and Greg went into town. It was good, full day. It's nice that other cultures thrive as well as ours. Anything is possible. Ours is not the only way, e.g. toilets and engineering on walkways to direct water away from the walking area and buildings.
Day 3 (Aug 14)
Bicycled up Alps after lunch in outdoor café in middle of quiet tiny hilly Taxenbach (well fortified). Took 2-mile detour by accident, but lovely view. Stayed in St. Johanner Pension Wielandner. Dropped in on their annual Untermarkt Festival where thousands of people enjoyed wholesome clean fun in the streets. We had Stiegl Bier. American songs heard by bands, even though hardly any of the people spoke English: "Hang on Sloopy," "Blue Bayou," "Country Road," and "Twist and Shout," among others. Ate Fleisch Kopf, delicious pastry filled with ham. Had room to myself (large). Enjoying the different culture's sights and sounds. Austrians cleaning street all night after festival. We appeared to be only Americans. Firemen and old women were hosing streets down during the night and early morning. Couldn't tell there was a party there the night before.
Day 4 Aug. 15
Bicycled to Werfen, strudel and kaffee in outdoor café (of course) in center of small town under the watch of castle and mountains. Took train to Hallein to see the salt mine. First ate in old restaurant in Hallein. Salt mine tour included cable car trip up and down the mountain. Learned that salt was valuable for preserving food, and kept people in fortress alive when Salzburg was under siege. Buildings built in Salzburg with wealth from salt. Celts originally mined salt (back in 800 AD). Happened on outdoor festival (Feast of Assumption) after salt mine tour at local church. Bicycled to Salzburg.
Day 5 Aug. 16
On the first whole day in Salzburg we walked in Aldstadt [the old city] looking at the fancy shops after breakfast in St. Sebastian dormitory. Rained today. Saw giant chessboard and musicians from Balkans perhaps playing Mozart ("A Little Night Music"). Then walked though the Catacombs and St. Francis Cathedral (added to several times over the centuries). It was first built in 800 AD. Then added onto in 1200s. White Gothic additions were then added in 1600s due to influence of the French?. Styles in interior of cathedral strikingly different. Bob, Greg and I waited for Ed and Tony at dorm, and then we went to famous beer hall, Augustiner Beer Hall.
Day 6 Aug 17
2nd day in Salzburg. We toured the Hohen Salzburg Fortress and after lunch in a terrific outdoor restaurant in between the Fortress and the street level (so we could see the cathedral and picturesque old city buildings. I proceeded to the Rupertinum Modern Art Museum and saw exhibit on Symbolism on Belgium (late 1800s and early 1900s--lots o Freudian symbolism, deep dark and delicious stuff) and Bob and Greg went to the Catacombs. I traveled through a mountain tunnel to find Internet café (called Changes) and didn't know the "@" symbol on the computer so only sent one message through "Reply" method. Noticed a lot of public art, particularly sculptures. Sculptures are mix of modern (stylized) elongated figures and classical. Everything is different. I like it! Thinking I would like to go on to Hungary.
Day 7 Aug 18 Wednesday (Week 2)
Trained from Salzburg to Branau. Saw Hitler's birthplace. At Obernberg, quiet town square, we had the best Apfel Strudel of the trip in colorful restaurant (inside and out with green and white flowery embellishment). Rode approx. 50 miles to Passau, Germany, arriving early, about 6:30. Staying at the phenomenal unique colorful Rotel Hotel on Danube River. Ate on a terrace at the Blauer Bock Biergarten overlooking the Danube before being caught in heavy rain. Then sipped coffee while waiting for a break before peddling in a dramatic dash along the dark dimly lit street next to the river to the wild Rotel Hotel (with shoes and socks in windbreaker). Rotel Hotel looked like a dump on the outside on first impression, but it was comfortable. Bikes were locked in back under cover. Modern little rooms with blue, yellow, red and black highlights, e.g. hinges on doors were painted red. Width of bed as wide as walls. Well designed with shelves. Extra storage under bed and table or chair nested under desk/table. Unisex baths. All of us had singles. Passau a beautiful city located on peninsula between three rivers. The area is hilly with Mediterranean style buildings (pastel stucco) up to the edge of the streets (usual in Austria). Italian architecture influence. The old city had winding narrow roads and alleys. Passau seemed less commercial than Salzburg.
Day 8 Aug 19 Thursday
Drying clothes at Laundromat. Found ATM and Laundromat riding through the city on my bike. Attended the Dom pipe organ concert at noon where thousands of people enjoyed looking at the cathedral and listening to the largest pipe organ in the world. Ate at an Italian restaurant on the terrace outside of the Dom. We bicycled 46 miles along beautiful pathway between forested hills. Stopped at Koppelmyer Pension in Aschach along Danube before Linz. Large rooms (change from Rotel hotel). Ate at Mama Mias restaurant.
Day 9 Aug 20 Friday
Bicycled to Linz. Ate at market on square. Caught in the rain in Linz. Continued early afternoon to Mauthausen concentration camp. Outside camp on bottom of hill was sculpture of heads buried and rising out of the dirt--moving. Many stirring abstract memorials to victims of camp. Saw video on camp and walked through museum at camp. SS guards liked order, family life, like you and me. Stopped raining by the time we left. Saw train station where Jews were taken. Took train from there to Melk.
Day 10 Aug 21 Saturday
Stayed at Hostel in Melk. Toured beautiful Melk Abbey. Bought gold bracelet from Erich Baar in Melk. The bike route wound through vineyards, apricot, peach and plum orchards. Farmer gave me free peach along Danube. Stopped in Durnstein to sample and buy orange Schnapps (Ed and Greg bought). Winding through small villages, one after another, on cobblestone walks, narrow streets, seeing arches over winding steps and inviting nooks and crannies that have served for centuries. Gothic churches and lots of caramel colored wood doorways and window frames and flowerboxes. Everything is clean! Lots of bicyclists streaming along with us. Rain shower forced us inside another Konditeri. Had some homemade Dobest Torte. Terraced hillsides and then Krems. About 20 miles from Melk is Krems. Have modern clean room (for 6) to myself in Hostel International (HI). Met up with Ingeborg and Inge from Germany in restaurant. They are friends who go bike riding every summer. They are going to Vienna too. Group of women sang folk songs in back of us at restaurant. Fashionable Austrian women-sporting pink, red and some with green hair. Saw "gothic" women in Krems with black nail polish, lipstick and long black hair and eyes with white skin.
Day 11 Aug 22 Sunday
Lots of quaint courtyards behind wrought iron gates. Today stopped at Tullin for lunch after 30 miles. Will stay in Klosterneuberg tonight outside of Wien.
Day 13 Aug 24 Tuesday
Been 2 nights at the pleasant Hotel Pension Höhenstrasse in Klosterneuberg outside of Vienna. Bad luck 1st day because hostel wasn't desirable and other hotels full or too expensive and another, the "Bush Reider," was sleazy. Finally, Ed found good one. Single room for me for 2 nights was 370 AS each night. Muslei for breakfast. Toured St. Stephen's cathedral on 1st day in Vienna and walked pedestrian plaza. Ate at the Gulash Museum and had upset stomach Tuesday. Extended stay to Sept. 4 to go with Ed to Hungary. Bob also ill back at Pension. I relaxed at Volksgarten (popular park) next to Hofburg (winter palace). Classic "action" sculpture of Franz Joseph, noblemen and horses and Venus and angels. Old buildings (1200s and later) in the old city. Cyclists and cycle paths to Old City within ring. Lots of traffic. Will head for Bratislava or Hungary with Ed perhaps Thursday. Bicycling to and from city along Danube.
Day 14 Aug 25 Wednesday
Toured Schönbrunn Palace (summer) and Imperial Palace (Treasury in Winter Palace). Bicycled 28 miles. Staying 4 nights at Hotel Höhenstrasse. Ate in cellar restaurant before saying goodbye to Bob and Greg.
Day 15 Aug 26 Thursday
Bicycled 47 miles from Vienna to Hainburg, border town still in Austria. Stopped and met Rick from Pedal Power in Vienna and bought generator (need light). Heard about neat panniers from Germany called "clip and lift" panniers. En route we passed nudist-swimming area that stretched for miles. Stopped for a delightful snack with wine (from Höhenstrasse Hotel) and met and rode with Maria (26 yrs old) and Karolyi (28) from Hungary who were camping and on a budget. They have 5-yr old son. They were on their way home to Budapest from Passau. Ed asked Karolyi how come the "Made in Hungary" sign on his bike was in English, and Karolyi said the English made it sound like a better bike. Met another German couple from Meins, Germany. Pedaled on a dike along Danube against a strong wind. Ate at Hainburg hotel restaurant where we met a waiter who came every day from Bratislava to work in Austria.
Day 16 Aug 27 Friday
Ed and I at hotel in Hainburg enjoying the quiet. Riding to Bratislava which is 10 miles away because of possible rain. At the Judran Grill in Bratislava dinner and espresso were only $3.50 US! Saw lovely church (Nevíte Adoremus Dominumi) built 1636-38. Wealth of art and sculpture inside are contrast to the lack of wealth outside. Never can tell what is behind those doors! Met woman from Arizona who had been in Slovak Republic for 4 yrs as part of Baptist Mission. Also a popular shop owner with loads of memorabilia in what seemed like a hole. Inexpensive crystal in shops! Finding bike paths is challenging. Been studying Hungarian phrases with Ed. Dinner back in Hainburg at Hotel Goldener Krone.
Day 17 Aug 28 Saturday
Rode 37 miles to Mosonmagyarovar, over border to Hungary. Crossed Leith River on a "sleepy dreamy summer afternoon under a clear sky" and had a picnic. Soldiers stationed along the border in cornfields, little towns, looking out for people crossing over to Austria illegally from Turkey, etc. Talked with a friendly curious fellow Karl, in Level, Hungary, who bought us refreshments. Stayed at the Hotel Thermal, which seemed like a popular inexpensive vacation spot for Germans and Austrians. People very friendly in Hungary. Saw the popular thermal baths out back, but didn't have time to use them.
Day 18 Aug 29 Sunday
En route to Gyor, Hungary, stopped after bicycling 27 miles in Asványráró where we had lunch at Restaurant Vadaskert (charming pink hexagonal sided building). Great! Countryside not as orderly looking as it was in Austria. Hungarians don't mind some chaos. Overgrown areas, and treelawns in front of homes. Hungary not as affluent as Austria, but the people seem healthier looking and better off than in Bratislava.
Day 19 Aug 30 Monday
Staying in the Hotel Klastrom. Large breakfast buffet included with room. Rained and museums closed. Visited the Baroque Apothecary and found Internet access on the main pedestrian shopping strip in the old city. Dinner was $8.00 US for 2.
Day 20 Aug 31 Tuesday
Bicycled 12 miles to Pannonhalma after seeing the Imre Patos Art Museum in the Iron Stump Building and the historical exhibition of the Museum "Xántus János" in Gyor. Hungarians came to Hungary in 1000. Displaced the Avar tribes, etc., which had replaced the Romans, who had taken over the Celts. Furniture and artifacts establishing the history all found within approx. 5 miles of Gyor, the "dear fortress" defending Austria from Turks. At train station got tickets for Thursday's trip from Gyor to Vienna.
Day 21 Sept 1 Wednesday
Stayed at PAX (Peace) Pension. Visited Pannonhalma for 11:00 am English speaking tour of Archabbey of St. Martin. It is a Benedectine Monastary and is a World Heritage site (UNESCO). Bicycled back to Gyor and found lodging at clean, quiet and lovely Gróf Cziráky Panzió (with velvet curtains) for last night in Gyor.
Day 22 Sept 2 Thursday
Trained from Gyor to Vienna after folk art shopping and using email. Met Imargard (on train) who bicycled and camped for 10 days. She was on an organized tour for part of the week and then toured with a fully loaded bike by herself. It is raining. Stayed at Pension on Lindegasse, close to train station (West Bahnhof). Saw Italian paintings at Fine Arts museum. Beautiful! Also stopped in art exhibit loaned from the MIHO Museum near Kyoto, Japan. MIHO was established by Japanese female benefactor. At the entrance of the exhibit was a video of I.M. Pei describing the MIHO Museum. Also shopped.
Day 23 Sept 3 Friday
Trained from Vienna to Munich via Salzburg. Seeing again the orange slate roofs and lots of skylights on the homes in Austria. Lot to do in Munich. Ed made reservations at the Hotel Jedermann in Munich main train station. Then we took the S. Bahn (local train) to airport to pack our bikes and confirm Saturday's plane reservations. 2-1/2 hours later we took the S. Bahn train back to the hotel in Munich away from the airport. Ate at another Augustiner Brau (great Bavarian food and beer). Hotel Jedermann was terrific and so was the Frustuk (breakfast) on Saturday.
Auf Wiedersehen, Bonnie
Back to Home
Start of our Photo Journal in Austria
