Very sadly our last ride today on this part of the trip - and they left the best till last!
A 42K ride today through the apparently famous Wachau Valley and it certainly lived up to the hype. Started on a foggy morning at about 9.30 and took the longer option for the day heading for Krems across a brige constructed partly by the Americans during 1945 as half had been bombed by the retreating Germans. Beautiful city.
5K into the historic village of Durstein where we climbed (on foot) the huge hill to the RuineDurstein which was the castle where they held Richard the Lionheart for three years for ransome on his return from the crusades. Very difficult climb but Elizabeth managed most of it apart from the final vertical bit to the castle itself.
Needed coffee and apple strudel after that - and then continued with the river on one side, vinyards on the other and the mountains further on - magical touring on bikeways again. Weissenkirken (White Church) was the next village where we had wine-tasting (great whites but only OK reds) - picture postcard scenery along the way, riding in 25 degrees, part cloud cover and on flat bikeways - it doesn't get much better that that!
The rest of the journey to Melk was along the side of the Danube through village after village with beautiful churches, town squares and great little spots to stop for ice-cream or coffee (tough)
Arrived here at 4.00 exactly on required schedule after what was probably the best day's riding we've done on one of these trips. Amazingly, we have not had one bad weather day (last week's trip lost two days to rain apparently) and each day has been just great in both scenery and riding conditions. Can we recommend this trip?? ABSOLUTELY!!!
Travelling day tomorrow - we arrive back in Passau at about 10.30 and then head for the station where we get the train to Brussells (about 7.5 hours) for the "battlefields" part of the trip - will be a pretty brief blog tomorrow night!
Elizabeth's cold is a little better and she managed the whole day's ride well - a couple of easier days ahead as reward!
Trivia: The monastry here in Melk was founded in 1068 - that's a while ago!
Cap report: It stayed on the boat all day so it was quite safe!
cheers all
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Friday, 19 September 2014
2014 - Day13 (!!!!!!) - Vienna
Today was a rest day from cycling. We were still in transit to Vienna when we headed for breakfast and saw mostly rural landscape with lots of little fishing shacks built on stilts along the river as we passed.
After breakfast we had to wait until 10.30 for the English briefing so spent time on the upper deck watching as we approached, entered and lifted in one of the biggest locks on the Danube - fascinating. Incredible how the captains navigate into such a confined space. Also found that not only the top sunroof lowers to let the ship pass under the low bridges but also the whole wheelhouse descends and disappears into the ship - will have phots of the process and some will be on facebook.
After an early lunch we did a bus\walking tour of Vienna. Sounds snobbish, but now that we've seen all of what are considered the "great" cities of Europe we can make a judgement on which is the most beautiful overall and Vienna has to take the prize we think. The "ring-road" with its beautiful trees and just magnificent public buildings and parks with statues to Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven etc sets Vienna apart I think. We were able to find our way around it really easily in the free time given on the tour. Passed the stables for the Spanish horses and this time they were "at home" unlike last time so we got to see them.
Back on board at 5.00 for a early dinner as some are off to a concert which we decided to miss wich was just as well as Elizabeth has a bad headcold (a fair bit on board) so quiet, early night for us. Sadly said good-bye to John and Barbara who were our designated "table mates" on 22A as they stopped in Vienna to have a few days here before flying home to U.S. They were great company which worked out well as that was not the case for every table.
Tomorrow's (final!) ride is through the apparently spectacular Wachau Valley which is the big wine-growing area of Austria - sounds like a heap of fun!
Trivia: Johann Stauss was a huge hit with the ladies of Vienna and was in the habit of giving away locks of his famous black curly hair - only problem was he used to actually take it from his pet black poodle!
Cap report: beside me as I type!
After breakfast we had to wait until 10.30 for the English briefing so spent time on the upper deck watching as we approached, entered and lifted in one of the biggest locks on the Danube - fascinating. Incredible how the captains navigate into such a confined space. Also found that not only the top sunroof lowers to let the ship pass under the low bridges but also the whole wheelhouse descends and disappears into the ship - will have phots of the process and some will be on facebook.
After an early lunch we did a bus\walking tour of Vienna. Sounds snobbish, but now that we've seen all of what are considered the "great" cities of Europe we can make a judgement on which is the most beautiful overall and Vienna has to take the prize we think. The "ring-road" with its beautiful trees and just magnificent public buildings and parks with statues to Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven etc sets Vienna apart I think. We were able to find our way around it really easily in the free time given on the tour. Passed the stables for the Spanish horses and this time they were "at home" unlike last time so we got to see them.
Back on board at 5.00 for a early dinner as some are off to a concert which we decided to miss wich was just as well as Elizabeth has a bad headcold (a fair bit on board) so quiet, early night for us. Sadly said good-bye to John and Barbara who were our designated "table mates" on 22A as they stopped in Vienna to have a few days here before flying home to U.S. They were great company which worked out well as that was not the case for every table.
Tomorrow's (final!) ride is through the apparently spectacular Wachau Valley which is the big wine-growing area of Austria - sounds like a heap of fun!
Trivia: Johann Stauss was a huge hit with the ladies of Vienna and was in the habit of giving away locks of his famous black curly hair - only problem was he used to actually take it from his pet black poodle!
Cap report: beside me as I type!
Thursday, 18 September 2014
2014 -Day12 (Visegrad to Esztergom)
Longest ride of the tour today - ended up being circa 63k with a town tour along the way but (again) just a great day's riding in perfect weather. Three crossings of the Danube by ferry as we went on to an island (Kisoroszi) and then looped back again.
The great thing about this trip has been the ease of cycling - pretty well dead flat on really good surfaces (mostly) and the scenery is constantly changing - but continually ending up back along the beautiful Danube.
Stopped in Zebegeny for morning tea - Lesley the tour director recommended a little cafe where we had beautiful torte and coffee (its OK - we're riding) before continuing past beautiful rural countryside to exit the island via ferry again.
Had to 'push" it to the next ferry as it left at 1.45 and you had a long wait if you missed it and we got there with a few minutes to spare.
Arrived at Esztergom after stopping at a beautiful park on the side of the river for packed lunch - got here at 3 in time to climb up to the massive basillica on top of the hill. Had to be back on the boat at 4.30 as we left port at 5 to head for Vienna where we dock at about 1.00pm tomorrow.
Hard to believe we have only one more ride on this tour - in the beautiful Wachau Valley. on Saturday. After a few days' riding, feeling terrific!
Trivia: The basillica we visited in Esztergom this afternoon is the largest church in Hungary. The painting on the Altar is considered the largest oil painting on a single canvas in the world.
Cap: still smiling!
The great thing about this trip has been the ease of cycling - pretty well dead flat on really good surfaces (mostly) and the scenery is constantly changing - but continually ending up back along the beautiful Danube.
Stopped in Zebegeny for morning tea - Lesley the tour director recommended a little cafe where we had beautiful torte and coffee (its OK - we're riding) before continuing past beautiful rural countryside to exit the island via ferry again.
Had to 'push" it to the next ferry as it left at 1.45 and you had a long wait if you missed it and we got there with a few minutes to spare.
Arrived at Esztergom after stopping at a beautiful park on the side of the river for packed lunch - got here at 3 in time to climb up to the massive basillica on top of the hill. Had to be back on the boat at 4.30 as we left port at 5 to head for Vienna where we dock at about 1.00pm tomorrow.
Hard to believe we have only one more ride on this tour - in the beautiful Wachau Valley. on Saturday. After a few days' riding, feeling terrific!
Trivia: The basillica we visited in Esztergom this afternoon is the largest church in Hungary. The painting on the Altar is considered the largest oil painting on a single canvas in the world.
Cap: still smiling!
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
2014 (Day11) - Budapest
OK - missed the deadline for finishing last night's log so need to start with a report on the tour of Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) last night.
Best way to summarise is to say we've probably beeen in two of the most beautiful cities in the world in the last 24 hours. Bratislava has about 500 000 inhabitants so is nowhere near the size of Budapest (2 million) but it is BEAUTIFUL - buildings, squares, quirky statues and tree lined avenues - only there for a few hours but would love to go back for more. Wonderful riverside walks as well.
Great duck dinner on board last night as we sailed to Budapest where we berthed at about 9 this morning. Did the hop-on-hop off tour all day covering a fair bit of the city - again beautiful with some memorable buildings - St Stephen's Basillica undoubtedly one of the most beautiful churches in the world - exquisite internally, beautifully proportioned and not overdone. Boulevards best also and trees lining streets everywhere. I think it is a city seen at its best from the inside rather than looking at the vista from outside. Partly damaged in WW 2 and anti-communist uprisings but most has been well restored. Bullet damage still visible on some buildings
Curency is interesting - 1 Euro =350 Ft so you walk around with a lot of big notes. Currency is very low at the moment - I had the most beautiful lunch - grilled tuna marinated in ginger and honey with mustard salad (yep!) for 1990 Ft which equates to about $10. Everything is VERY cheap.
No riding today but a 69k ride tommorrow doing the Danube "knee" and an island so sounds like fun. The variety of the riding and scenery has surprised us (pleasantly) and he organisation/planning has been faultless - a fantastic tour.
Trivia: The river Danube is 2860km long, rises in the Black Forest (Germany) and flows nto the Black Sea and travels through 10 counries. The speed at which it flows is incredible.
Cap report: not even close to losing it!
Best way to summarise is to say we've probably beeen in two of the most beautiful cities in the world in the last 24 hours. Bratislava has about 500 000 inhabitants so is nowhere near the size of Budapest (2 million) but it is BEAUTIFUL - buildings, squares, quirky statues and tree lined avenues - only there for a few hours but would love to go back for more. Wonderful riverside walks as well.
Great duck dinner on board last night as we sailed to Budapest where we berthed at about 9 this morning. Did the hop-on-hop off tour all day covering a fair bit of the city - again beautiful with some memorable buildings - St Stephen's Basillica undoubtedly one of the most beautiful churches in the world - exquisite internally, beautifully proportioned and not overdone. Boulevards best also and trees lining streets everywhere. I think it is a city seen at its best from the inside rather than looking at the vista from outside. Partly damaged in WW 2 and anti-communist uprisings but most has been well restored. Bullet damage still visible on some buildings
Curency is interesting - 1 Euro =350 Ft so you walk around with a lot of big notes. Currency is very low at the moment - I had the most beautiful lunch - grilled tuna marinated in ginger and honey with mustard salad (yep!) for 1990 Ft which equates to about $10. Everything is VERY cheap.
No riding today but a 69k ride tommorrow doing the Danube "knee" and an island so sounds like fun. The variety of the riding and scenery has surprised us (pleasantly) and he organisation/planning has been faultless - a fantastic tour.
Trivia: The river Danube is 2860km long, rises in the Black Forest (Germany) and flows nto the Black Sea and travels through 10 counries. The speed at which it flows is incredible.
Cap report: not even close to losing it!
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
2014 - day 10 (Devin to Bratislava)
Another perfect day for cycling - a bit overcast but no rain, cool, only a few hills and mostly just cruising through the Austrian countryside on specially made bikeways.
We left the Danube behind for most of the day and cycled through rich farmland for most of the time. Amazed by the bikeways. Today we cycled 45 km - every bit apart from a few through town sections was on bikeway - a lot of it built on the top of quite high banks. A couple of special bikeway bridges as well.
For lunch we stopped at the recommended "Forst-haus" where they served the biggest schnnitzels you've ever seen (we shared one and even then only just managed) along with beautiful cider. Went down well.
Through a few more beautiful little villages and we crossed into Slovakia and over a massive bridge (cycle was under) and into Bratislava which looks incredible. We are doing a tour late this afternoon but will publish this blog now and see if I get time to add more after the tour - we are having tea as soon as we get back from the tour and then the boat sets off for Buda-Pest so wi-fi may not be workng. I'll report on the Bratislava tour tomorrow if that happens.
Food on this boat is terrific - beautiful lamb last night, duck tonight and every afternoon they have a "coffee and cake" time which is not helpful to the diet at all.
Trivia: Schloss Hof, a beautiful palace we passed today was built by Prince Eugene who was a Frenchman who drove the Turks out of Austria.
Cap report - neeed I say anything?
cheeers all
We left the Danube behind for most of the day and cycled through rich farmland for most of the time. Amazed by the bikeways. Today we cycled 45 km - every bit apart from a few through town sections was on bikeway - a lot of it built on the top of quite high banks. A couple of special bikeway bridges as well.
For lunch we stopped at the recommended "Forst-haus" where they served the biggest schnnitzels you've ever seen (we shared one and even then only just managed) along with beautiful cider. Went down well.
Through a few more beautiful little villages and we crossed into Slovakia and over a massive bridge (cycle was under) and into Bratislava which looks incredible. We are doing a tour late this afternoon but will publish this blog now and see if I get time to add more after the tour - we are having tea as soon as we get back from the tour and then the boat sets off for Buda-Pest so wi-fi may not be workng. I'll report on the Bratislava tour tomorrow if that happens.
Food on this boat is terrific - beautiful lamb last night, duck tonight and every afternoon they have a "coffee and cake" time which is not helpful to the diet at all.
Trivia: Schloss Hof, a beautiful palace we passed today was built by Prince Eugene who was a Frenchman who drove the Turks out of Austria.
Cap report - neeed I say anything?
cheeers all
Monday, 15 September 2014
2014 - Day 9 (Engelhartszell to Aschach)
No hills, no rain, cool, no traffic, quiet countryside along the banks of the "blue" Danube - sounds like pretty good cycling and it was.
Had to collect our numbered bikes from the 130 unloaded beside the boat this morning and register them with the tour director, collect locks, toolkits etc so it was about 9.30 by the time we got under way. Prior to that we had breakfast of course - very well presentedd and all good. On days when we cycle all day, we collect all the required ingredients from the buffet, make our rolls/sandwiches etc and then have them wrapped and packed for us to take as lunch - muesli bar, banana/fruit added.
Today as basically a ride along the paths that run on either side of the river. We had to cross twice using little ferries that charge 1.50 Euro and another 1.50 for a glass of scnapps to make the crossing more enjoyable! We're not converts to the joys of Scnapps but it's all good fun.
We met Efti our tour consultant from U-Tracks - she gets to do 2 trips per year which is pretty good. She is lovely - fell in love with one of the crew from the Greek Island cycle/sail last year - so she's heading back there after this trip.
Scenery is beautiful as you'll see from the facebook photos - very fast flowing river with hydro plants and locks along the way. VERY relaxing ride today and we were back on board at 2.00. The boat leaves here at 3.30 and we head for Devin where we arrive at 9.00 tomorrow morning and do a ride to Bratslavia (43km) - have to get the blog done before the ships leaves here as the wi-fi does not work while we are sailing!
Great start - if the rest of the ride is as good as today we'll have no complaints.
Trivia: The Abbey in Engelszll is the only Trappist Monastry in Austria - but they've been there since 1293!
Caps still good
Had to collect our numbered bikes from the 130 unloaded beside the boat this morning and register them with the tour director, collect locks, toolkits etc so it was about 9.30 by the time we got under way. Prior to that we had breakfast of course - very well presentedd and all good. On days when we cycle all day, we collect all the required ingredients from the buffet, make our rolls/sandwiches etc and then have them wrapped and packed for us to take as lunch - muesli bar, banana/fruit added.
Today as basically a ride along the paths that run on either side of the river. We had to cross twice using little ferries that charge 1.50 Euro and another 1.50 for a glass of scnapps to make the crossing more enjoyable! We're not converts to the joys of Scnapps but it's all good fun.
We met Efti our tour consultant from U-Tracks - she gets to do 2 trips per year which is pretty good. She is lovely - fell in love with one of the crew from the Greek Island cycle/sail last year - so she's heading back there after this trip.
Scenery is beautiful as you'll see from the facebook photos - very fast flowing river with hydro plants and locks along the way. VERY relaxing ride today and we were back on board at 2.00. The boat leaves here at 3.30 and we head for Devin where we arrive at 9.00 tomorrow morning and do a ride to Bratslavia (43km) - have to get the blog done before the ships leaves here as the wi-fi does not work while we are sailing!
Great start - if the rest of the ride is as good as today we'll have no complaints.
Trivia: The Abbey in Engelszll is the only Trappist Monastry in Austria - but they've been there since 1293!
Caps still good
Sunday, 14 September 2014
2014 -Day 8 (Fussen to Passau)
Mostly a travel day today. Left Fussen at about 10 this morning and got here about 12.30 - easy travelling via about 5 or 6 autobahn (thankfully with sat-nav's guidance) - in the rain but we seeem to arrange the rain on our "travel" days so all good.
Driving on the autobahns is interesting - sit on 120k (legal) on cruise control - few speed signs, no police, no speed cameras andyet traffic is very well behaved - but Porsches go past VERY quickly (as do Mercs, BM's, Audis and VW's - hardly a japanese car in sight. We passed the huge BMWfactory outside Munich with thousands lined up outside (couldn't they spare just one???)
Just some thoughts on Germany:
Driving on the autobahns is interesting - sit on 120k (legal) on cruise control - few speed signs, no police, no speed cameras andyet traffic is very well behaved - but Porsches go past VERY quickly (as do Mercs, BM's, Audis and VW's - hardly a japanese car in sight. We passed the huge BMWfactory outside Munich with thousands lined up outside (couldn't they spare just one???)
Just some thoughts on Germany:
- Just as green as Ireland
- VW's seeem very popular
- Porsches areVERY fast
- The people are very friendly and happy (except today's taxi driver)
- Villages are beautifully kept - when you leave one the next steeple comes into sight.
- They have the best corn crops I've ever seen
- Everything is big - factories, power stations, roads, - Everything
- We'd love to come back
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