Home at Last

While I love to travel and see new places, eat new food and learn new things, I also love the getting home part. Is there anything better than returning to the place you love? If I can see the skyline as we land, I get a stupid smile on my face. No view today, so it didn't happen until I walked out of the international terminal and saw a "Welcome to Chicago" sign. Ahh.

It already feels like my ride was ages ago, even though this is only the 3rd day since I finished. I miss the riding. I didn't know if I would like touring, but the answer is definitely "yes!" It somehow strikes a perfect balance between my need to pushpushpush and my desire to slow down once in a while. I would definitely be interested in doing another one.

Reflecting on my ride, by the numbers:

• Countries biked in: 2
• Kilometers/miles biked: 494/307 (damn!!!)
• Hours biked: 25-30
• Churches visited: umm, lost track
• Abbeys visited: 3
• Churches and abbeys passed without visiting: lots
• Abbeys where I bought beer: 1
• Flat tires: 1
• Blue herons observed: 1
• Wild deer observed: 1
• Domestic herds of deer observed: 1
• Deer eaten: <1
• Beers consumed: umm, around 15?
• Glasses of wine: 5
• Shots of slivovitz: 1
• Naked Germans spotted: 1
• Packers fans met: 1

Heading home... slowly

Today was my last day in Austria. Which required eating an extra roll at breakfast, and eventually buying 2 more to stick in my luggage to ease the withdrawal.

The one thing I wanted to do today was go to the Leopold Museum. Bridget and I had tried to go 3 years ago when we were in Vienna, but their credit card machines were down and we didn't want to withdraw more Euros before heading back to Hungary. So I was curious to see what we had missed. First, though, off on a wild goose chase to store my luggage for the day. I managed to snag the last locker at the Westbahnhof (you'd think they' have more!) and had to do some fancy rearranging and shoving to get it all in. But I did.

It was a nice collection, not - in my mind - worth the $15 it cost to get in. But I'm not a big Klimt or Schiele fan, so maybe some people would have enjoyed it more. It wasn't that large of a collection either. The text was interesting to an extent, commenting on political and social movements at the time of the art, but sometime - again, in my opinion - overanalyzing the ties between the two.

Then off to the Naschmarkt for lunch, where I had the obligatory wienerschnitzl.Yum! I walked around after and bought some cheese (if you know me, you know I had to!) and my rolls.

I decided I wanted coffee and dessert before heading to the airport, so started walking to the Inner Stadt. But on the way I came across this HUGE festival, with national park kiosks, wine/heuriger stalls, and food stalls - woohoo! What a find! I got some apricot ice cream and some Most, which is like a very lightly alcoholic apple juice - not as tangy or alcoholic as cider. Very tasty.

Then it was time to head to the airport... which was an ordeal in itself - there's a fast train (16 minutes!) but it involves roughly 30 minutes of walking and 129 steps. Next time, I'll take the bus.

Now it's off to LHR for a brief hotel stay and an early flight. I can't wait to get home, I miss my little fuzzball and all my friends & family.

Exploring Vienna

Friday was a full day for exploring Vienna. I decided.to go with the flow and see what the day brought. It was hard to leave my awesome, 260€ a night hotel (not what I paid!!!) but eventually I got.moving and checked out the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Truly an amazing place - I spent 1.5 hours in the Flemish/German/Dutch wing alone. After that though, I was museumed out. So I grabbed a bike share bike - you didn't think I was done biking, did you!?- and biked first to a store then back toward the hotel, where I picked up my bags and switched hotels. Eventually I got around to heading to a brewpub where I got a sampler. Then I started to head to the UBahn to go to a heurige (wine place), but in a square on the way they were just starting a live broadcast of the Vienna Opera's performance of Don Carlo. I watched it until intermission, when I was too cold to hang out for another 90 minutes.

Day 6: Tulln to Vienna

And on the sixth day, there were saddle sores! :-(  Thought I thoroughly applied the anti-chafing stuff this morning but I guess not!

The day started gray and dreary, and as I headed out it began to sprinkle. I rode out to the road, thought, then turned back. Bags are supposed to be in the lobby by 9 am but I noted that the closer I got to Vienna, the later my bags were picked up. So I ducked in to the hotel and got my jacket out of my suitcase. Smart move - as I rode in to Tulln, it started to rain,and I would also need the jacket later in the day as the warmth that was forecast never appeared.

I loitered in front of the Egon Schiele museum for 1.5 minutes until opening time, then went through the small museum. I vaguely recall his trial and jailing from art history but not his art, so it was somewhat interesting.There wasn't much of his work - for that I need to go to the Leopold Museum in Vienna.

By the time I finished, the rain had stopped. The ride was pretty uninteresting through Korneuburg (although I added an 11 km detour to a boring town), where I was thoroughly frustrated by the bad signage. I wanted to see the fountain of the pied piper - the town claimed the Hamlin legend as their own. I never did find it, and hunger won out so I headed to the ferry.

I crossed to Klosterneuburg and had a tasty lunch of cream of carrot soup (!) and pork with carrot gravy and a HUGE ball of potato dumpling. Yum. Then I biked up the hill (argh!) to the abbey.

The abbey was founded in the early 1100s by the ruler of Austria. He had a huge plan, but only 1/8 of that plan was ever fulfilled/built - and it is pretty darn huge. I took a tour which was in German, but they gave me an English audioguide so I listened to that while the actual guide spoke. But she said a lot more, so I would listen after my audio ended and try to pick up stuff. One couple had been at Egon Schiele at the same time as me in the morning so they filled me in on some parts, and another woman joined in at the end, telling me the "bricks" we were standing on were wood! So the horses didn't clatter as loudly when they passed through the hall.

After the tour it was onward to the hotel in Vienna. All was fine until I got in to Vienna, at which point the ever changing road names became difficult, and the bike lanes only on some streets complicated matters. By the time I made it to the hotel, my 40 k ride had become 60 km - bringing the grand total to 494 km from Passau.

I rewarded myself with dinner and beer down the street, then headed to a brewery for more beer. After my 1st (small) beer, the guy next to me started chatting - he was from San Francisco. We chatted over my 2nd (small) beer then parted ways. That's one of the fun mysteries of travel - meeting people and chatting, ships passing in the night (or bar or plane or museum), never to meet again. Connecting to other people just as you connect to the places you visit for a moment in time.

Tomorrow, museum(s)!

Random piccies

Solved the photo posting, so here are some pictures... enjoy:

Ready to ride, day 1! 

On the ferry

Maria Traferl church

Melk Abbey

Wine country

Krems

Day 5: Krems to Tulln

After breakfast (no rolls, boo!), I asked reception if I could leave my bike in the garage while I walked around. She said sure, so I went to the city vineyard store and bought a bottle of wine, then walked around for a bit. My Austria book had a cool-sounding museum in it but when I went to the address, it was a less cool city museum. Apparently the book is out of date. I took that as a sign to head out.

I backtracked to Durnstein, as I had missed the monastery yesterday. I was glad I went back, as it was beautiful. I also got to go on one last ferry ride to the south bank!

The ride was fairly unexciting for the next hour or so. I eyeballed Stift Gottweig way up on the hill for about one second before deciding against it. After a bit, I stopped to eat a sandwich for lunch and although I had seen nobody for hours, suddenly a ton of cyclists appeared! All eyeing me and my sandwich! I stopped in Mautern but there wasn’t much to see there. I then rode to Traismauer, which also had nothing to see.

Eventually I came to teeny Kleinschoenbischl. The cycle path blows right by there, but I saw on the information map that there was a heurige (wine house) right in town, so I biked up to the town and around the corner. The heurige was open! I hung out for a while, having first a glass of light red wine then a glass of “sturm” or very young wine, like grape juice with a small kick. I debated getting food but didn’t – a good thing, as it turns out.

When I checked in to the hotel in Tulln I asked about dining. The woman advised I could go to the sister hotel or back to the town center. I looked at the sister hotel’s menu – expensive. So I got on my bike. In normal clothes. In the dark. On the road. With NO HELMET. And it. Was. Awesome.

I had been reflecting all day on how I have not been enraged, or even angry, once while biking here. There is such a different culture that I haven’t had cause. Cars stop for bikes and for pedestrians. They wait until they can pass bikes with a generous space in between, and don’t tailgate or lean on the horn or get aggressive when they have to wait to do so. Drivers do not treat other road users as 4^th or 5^th class citizens, but as equals. It is mind blowing. Europeans who turn up their nose at Americans riding even the shortest distance with a helmet have no idea – they don’t understand the reality of the hostility and danger we encounter every day. How could they? It’s so different from the reality here.

So anyway, I biked to the center for dinner, parking at a post office so I could find the bike later and wandering on foot to look at menus. I liked the looks of the Brauhaus and ordered a beer (duh) and a rustic forester plate. I could tell it had sausage and sauerkraut, which sounded good to me. It was amazingly good!!!!!!! Possibly the best meal yet. Blood sausage, white sausage, wieners, sauerkraut – sour like I prefer – and dense potato pancakes. I tried to eat it all, but there was no way.

A gentle rain was falling as I biked back to the hotel, reveling in my freedom and safety. To go from being hit by a car to feeling utterly safe on the road was an amazing sensation and I almost turned around to ride a little while longer. But there’s always tomorrow and the day after. Then it’s back to reality.

* piccies*

Just want to say sorry, for some reason Blogger is not showing a way to load pictures at the moment... as soon as possible, I will!

Day 4: Maria Traferl to Krems

I am posting this from the lobby of the hotel in Krems, because the internet does not work in the guest rooms. I suppose I should be grateful to be online and not cranky that I can't so this in my pjs!

I had the crazy idea this morning that I would go to Arstetten, which, to summarize, was UP from Maria Traferl. This craziness lasted all the way downhill (35 kmh) to about 1 km of uphill, when I realized there were 4 more km of up. Nope. So, down and to the south side of the river for a while.

My notes are in my room so I don't remember all o the towns I stopped in today; there were a lot. Most were cute if not pretty. I have gotten quite daring after 3 days of biking iun Austria. This morning, I went into a post office, taking only my purse & laptop and leaving the bike unlocked out front. I felt a thrill race through me when I came out to everything, untouched. I had to push it. This afternoon, in Durstein, I stopped in a wine shop and left everything but my purse out front. Unlocked. Still there when I came out!!! I am loving this.

I stopped at Melk Abbey in the morning and caught the English tour. That place is amazing. After stalking m fellow tourists for half of the tour, I finally asked a woman with a midwestern accent to take my picture, and she was happy to do so. Midafternoon, I stopped at a Gothic church to take pictures and saw a Packers backpack - before I could stop myself, I said "Packers fan!!!" The woman laughed, and her husband said "You were at the Abbey!" It was the same couple. We chatted for 5 minutes or so before going our separate ways. I love the random connections travel creates.

Today was a wine day. I was traveling through the Wachau, a noted wine region, and once it hit 3 pm, little wineries opened their doors. I enjoyed trying different wines that I would never see otherwise. Staying in Krems tonight... it reminds me of Brugges in a way although without the liveliness. It's pretty but too quiet. I'm planning to check it out in full light before heading out tomorrow. Which... I am very sad to have only 2 days left. A depression settled on me at dinner when I realized that, as well as that I have only 45 km each day that is left. I started plotting in loops to add distance... I've gotten rather addicted to this!

Day 3: Au to Maria Traferl

This was a tough route to plot. Lots of things to see! So after another fantastic German breakfast (even bigger favorite roll, yum!) I set off. Today’s route: Au-Wallsee-Ardaggen Stift-Ardaggen Markt-Ybbs-Persenbeug-Marbach.

Before I left, I tried to pump up my rear tire. Note: all tubes/valves are NOT alike. This dang valve was like no American valve I had seen. So of course, I let ALL of the air out. Then I pumped it back up. That was hot work. As I climbed the hill into Wallsee, I was really huffing. It was hard! At last I realized the rear tire was FLAT. Damn. I called the tour company and they said sit tight, we’ll call you back. They did and directed me to a repair shop down the street – a jewelry/gardening/auto/bike shop with a little old man who was waiting for me. He chatted at me in German and told me the tire was so bad I’d get another flat in 10 km. So he replaced the tire and the tube. As I paid (*to be reimbursed by tour company), I said “Wie ein neues Rad, ja?” and he agreed: like new. And it was! Much much easier riding now.

Thank goodness, as the climb to Ardaggen Stift was arduous. The church was nice, but the Most (cider) cellar was closed on Mondays, and that was what I had really wanted to go to. Boo! SO I cruised downhill to Ardaggen Markt. The restaurants didn’t thrill me, so I pushed on even though I was hungry, until I came to Wiesen and the ferry to Grein. I love these ferries! The old guy running it chatted at me in German I could barely understand; I told him I was going to eat and come back and he happily told me the roundtrip ticket was cheaper than two one-ways (that, I got, obviously!). What a stroke of luck – I loved Grein. I had read about the theater in the old Rathaus – it’s crazy! Built in 1751 or so, it holds just over 100 people. The original toilet had only a curtain between it and the theater! The first 3 rows of seats locked in an up position so season ticket holders could keep others from sitting in them! And, the prison was in the next room, so they cut a window so prisoners could watch too! Seeing it was nuts in the best way. The rest of Grein was just adorable, and I wandered happily after lunch for some time.

 Then back to the ferry, where the old guy welcomed me back. As I got off the ferry in Wiesen, he shook my hand and wished me a good ride. Super nice. Onward to Ybbs…. Which I LOVED!!! The bike route goes through the medieval town, which was so much fun to ride around. I stopped at the Bike Museum, and the girl working was happy to give me a guided tour in English. I got to sit on a “walking bike” replica, as well as climb up on a penny farthing – holy crap that was high!!! It was a really well curated collection, and I was pleased to have stopped there.

 Off on the last leg to the hotel. When I got to Marbach, I called the hotel per my instructions – it’s in Maria Taferl, way up on the hill, so they come get you. The guy appears and has this cool trailer with bike racks, and as we drive up I am sooooo grateful I did not have to ride up. We arrive at the hotel and it is beautiful. The town is beautiful. The church, perched above the Danube, is beautiful. I can’t think of a better time of day to have arrived here but sunset – to see the pink sun over the Danube and hills was gorgeous. As I ate dinner on the terrace and watched the last of the pink light fade, I thought that there could be no better time to be here…. Although maybe I will change my mind when I eat breakfast on the terrace in the morning.

Day 2: Feldkirchen to Au

I woke up to gray skies. Which was fine – I had an awesome breakfast that included my favorite little rolls with all kinds of seeds. So I was in a cheerful mood as I left the wonderful little hotel.

For those of you following on a map (ha!), my route was Feldkirchen-Linz-Alowinden-Enns-Pyburg-Mauthausen-Au. The ride to Linz was a long ride through nature; very pretty but not too different from a bike trail in, say, Illinois or Indiana. I arrived at Linz with big expectations – it had been a cultural capital of Europe in 2009. It was fine; I checked out some of the sights, all of which were very nice. The city reminded me of a mini-Vienna, as far as architecture.

After walking around for a while I realized that 1) I was hungry and 2) time was tight. So I grabbed lunch form a sausage stand – nothing like wieners & beer eaten standing up! I then circled back to a bakery I had seen earlier that sold Linzer torte. At first bite I was not impressed, but as you get in from the crust there is more jam and it was awesome! I prefer it to Sacher Torte. :-o

 Next stop, Enns, which was MUCH smaller but which I really loved. The architecture was gorgeous, and it had this peaceful air that I enjoyed. I enjoyed it while eating two – yes, two! – ice cream cones and then while drinking a beer. I hung out in Enns so long that it was too late to get in to the memorial at Mauthausen.

In fact this was a slow day overall, as no stores are open on Sunday and everything closes earlier (museums etc.). I had been on the fence about whether to go, anyway, as I’ve seen so many similar memorials, so I was fine with missing it. Onward to the hotel in Au. Which was, so far, my least favorite hotel. But it was fine overall, and I had a nice dinner of venison medallions while plotting the next day’s route. After the first day, I decided that it is well worth spending an hour and thoroughly devising the next day’s route, which paid off today. So that’s my nightly routine now – wash clothes, eat, plot route. Seems to be working!

Beer Roll

Beers so far:
 Innstadt
Baumgartner
Gregorius
Eggenberg

updated 9/9:
Reininghaus
1516 Sephir Dry Ale, Belgian Wit, Eejit's Oatmeal Stout & Weisse
Kaiser Marzen
Edelweiss Weissbier

Day One: Passau to Feldenkirch

Apologies in advance for typos - I can't get the hotel WiFi to work on the netbook, so am typing on my Droid! Alas that means no pics today. :-( I woke up to the patter of rain... Ugh. Luckily it stopped while I was eating my delicious German breakfast. I love German breakfast! Bread, cheese, meat... Yum! First stop was Stift Engelzell, the only trappist abbey in Austria. I love trappists - they make awesome beer. This one started brewing in July. I was sad that, due to the occur weather, my panniers were fairly.full with extra layers and raingear; I could.not fit the 6 pack I wanted to buy. Rar. I pedaled on for a few more hours before stopping for lunch. Thee gasthaus I stopped at was full, so I rode.on to a little roadside grill and got the last table. A couple walked in moments later and after I said it was fine, the waitress sat them at my table. The moment they spoke to each other, I smiled - English! Everyone else so far had been German or Austrian. They were from Toronto, and we had a nice chat over lunch. They have bike ferries every so often - the first one I took across the Danube had a few other bikers on it with me. The 2nd was just me, and the captain asked where I was from. When I said Chicago, he thought and said "Sears Tower," very pleased with himself. After a.minute he added, " the river is green for St. Patrck's day." Ha! That cracked me up. I rode about 10 km down the river only.to find the ferry does not run today. Gah! The trail is impassable, you have to ferry across! I realized all I could do ease bike back to the previous ferry, which I had no idea then how far it was. And as I rode, I.realized I didn' t know what time.it.stopped. I hauled ass as much as I could.on the heavy bike, got to the.landing, and saw I had plenty of time. I had to ring a bell - a.real bell, not.the button for.a bell I.envisioned when I read about this - to get the ferry from the other side. He pulled up and said."Hey Chicago, you are back?!" He didn't know.the other ferry wasn't't running, either. He told me exactly how far I had to ride to Feldkirchen, which as helpful. By the time.I got.to the hotel in Feldkirchen, I had ridden just over 100 km today, a metric.century. That's about 25 km extra! Hopefully that doesn't happen too much! At least it only rained a bit after lunch, although it was chilly. Off to read my route for.tomorrow - tschuss!

A Loooong Travel Day

So I left my house at 8 am Chicago time on August 30th, and arrived in Passau at 10 am Chicago time on August 31st. I am exhausted.

The flight to DFW was fine. The flight from DFW to Frankfurt was delayed, a little, then a little more, and eventually an hour. I had a very nice woman sitting next to me and we chatted a bit, including sharing a laugh over the light in front of her that kept flashing and our window shade which slowly crept up every time she pulled it down. The cabin crew tried fixing the flashing light; no luck. They covered it with a napkin, which barely did anything.

After dinner I went to the bathroom and came back to BOTH of OUR lights on - and they wouldn't go off! The cabin crew eventually shut them off at some main switch, and covered the flashing light with foil. And we eventually got some sleep. At least this was a long enough flight (10 hours) to get decent sleep in between meals.

We got to Frankfurt 1 hour late due to the delay, and then there was the usual wait at the gate, and then the train station was in another terminal.... so I missed the 10:02 train by a couple of minutes. The next train was at 12:02. So one hour delay turned in to 2.

The train ride was very nice, through some beautiful farm country and woods. Then the clouds descended. And turned gray. And started raining.

I finally got to Passau around 5 pm, and the guy from the bike tour showed up 30 minutes later. So I have my cute little bike (picture to come) with panniers, and all of my materials and maps. All I need is a good dinner and beer and I am ready for bed and a fresh start (in the rain, apparently) tomorrow!

Bumpy Start

Finally got packed last night - that bike helmet really is a space hog! I did however manage to get everything into my carryon and a backpack.

After I got up this morning, I noticed Dozy hadn't eaten overnight and when I checked her litterbox, she hadn't pooped. We had been at the vet the day before for a checkup and they had felt stool in her digestive tract, so I knew it was there. I called the vet and there were no doctors in yet. The tech advised leaving authorization for the catsitter to get medical care for Dozy, and let the catsitter know to watch her and check the litter box. If nothing changes, he needs to take her in. :-(  There wasn't much I could do short of cancelling my trip. So I had a chat with Dozy and told her she MUST be there when I get back. I'm going to worry in the meantime.

On the way to O'Hare I realized that I had not packed everything... I had no charged for my US phone or iPod. Damn. So now I have yet another set of chargers, purchased at airport markup.

Hopefully things improve from here. Fingers crossed.

Map of the Ride

This is the map of the ride I'll be doing. It's just shy of 250 miles; I'll average 35 miles a day. Every time I think about it I get a little intimidated - I've never done that many miles per day for more than two consecutive days.

So I will fly into Frankfurt, take the train to Passau, and get my bike and the detailed information on the first night. The next day I start biking!

Packing is a little challenging. The weather looks a little cool, especially at night, so I'm going to need layers. I'll wear the bike shorts while riding - they're a little bulkier than normal shorts. And I want regular clothes for evenings. I'm going to need to be a little creative! Good thing I'm starting now so I have time to adjust.

Countdown: One Week Away!

One week from today I will be winging my way to Frankfurt via DFW! All of a sudden it's almost here. I did start packing this morning - by taking the hand-washed jersey off the shower rod and tossing it on top of my suitcase.

It's a sleeveless jersey, though, and the weather forecast for Passau right now is looking like I may not need it:

Friday

Partly cloudy with a chance of rain. High of 81F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 20%.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm. Low of 54F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Saturday

Partly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm. High of 70F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Hmm. Hopefully it improves before next week.

Countdown!

Just under 3 weeks away! Hard to believe.

After a car v. bike incident earlier this week, I had to take the week off of biking. Next week I'm traveling for a few days so won't be biking then, either. I'm a little concerned about these breaks affecting my vacation, but what can I do... hopefully I'm in good enough shape to bounce back.

I got my Austria guide book in the mail yesterday. It's not a great help for the small towns on the Danube, only covering a couple larger towns and sights. It's very thorough on Vienna of course. I guess this will force me to be more impulsive and go with the flow!

I've read a few blogs about the Danube trip, and that's been helpful. I just found another today, he just finished the same ride, and he likes beer - so it's a pretty good resource! I'm trying to make some notes.

At some point I need to work on a packing list....