The
convent in the town of Melk. I had lunch on the porch of a restaurant and
had this as my view. I didn't do too many miles that day but between the headwinds
and the heat, it felt good to quit early and have a big lunch.
Some of the great people I met along the way who were also touring. From left:
Mitsu was riding his bike with gardening gloves and a very nicely pressed
button down shirt from Frankfurt to the Black Sea, and was going to throw
his bike into the sea when he got there. Taeko had ridden from west of Paris
and was kind of making her route up as she went. Mother and daughter duo Barbara
and Natalie from soutwest Germany were riding from Passau to Vienna. Photo
taken outside Krems Hostel as we're loading up the bikes in the morning.
This
is me a couple hours later. Krems is on the north sure of the Danube but just
as you leave town heading east the path takes you across to the other side
of the river where it stays until you get to Vienna.
Vienna
Austria: I stayed at a campground on the north side of the Danube for a few
days and crossed over every day to go in and explore Vienna. It was about a
20 minute ride each way and looking back I should have just stayed at one of
the hostels in the city. But it forced me ot see more of the surrounding untouristy
areas this way so it worked out well.
This
was taken outside the Belvedere Museum in Vienna.
The
next morning I went to go check out the convent.
Supposedly
the bike path was better on the north shore of the river in this area so I
crossed back over to continue east past Melk. This was probably one of the
best days as far as the scenery goes. Going from Melk to Krems you go through
the Wachau region which has got great wines. Riding through villages like
this one in Grimsing was incredible. They would just pop up every 5km or so.
The old churches and buildings were amazing.
When
I got to Durnstein I walked up to the castle where Richard the Lionhearted
was held prisoner for a year and got a great view of Durnstein. Then I continued
on to Krems where I stayed for the night at the hostel.
