Our Last Leg: The Road to Vienna

Breakfast was early on the day we rode out of Waidhofen. After we ate we made a quick detour to Opa’s house to say goodbye to him. We took some pictures and he photographed us riding away. We took the same route out as we took in. It was a bit hilly at first, but flattened out toward the Danube. It was cold. We stopped at a little bus shelter to throw on more layers. We rode past Ybbs, the town we stayed in before, and rode to a tiny little town called Diedersdorf. There were no rooms available there so we had to ride on to Krummnussbaum where we found a place. Tiny town + early sunset = lazy evening in the hotel room. We cooked some food, watched TV, and caught up on journal entries until bedtime.

The next morning we had our breakfast, talked with the owner of the house for a few minutes, then headed back to the Danube bike path. A few kilometres later we came to Melk. This town boasts an impressive Benedictine Monastery perched on the hill over the river. We rode up and took a break to see the tour. The one hour guided tour took us through the museum containing history of the Benedictine Order, the monastery, along with some interesting local history. We also got to see the marble dining room with a flat wooden ceiling that is made to look rounded by the paintings (an optical illusion that is impossible to see through), the library containing over 100,000 volumes, and the church which is filled with ornate gold decorations that seem to make up hundreds of pounds of gold. In reality only 2 Kg (or about 4.5 lbs) of gold were used.

After our tour we returned to our bikes, but only for a few minutes. We were starving, so we stopped for a quick meal in the town center. We continued down the Danube for a bit more riding before stopping in Aggsbach Markt where we found a cheap private room just up the road from the bike route. We settled in and took a stroll through the woods up into the hidden valley.

After eating our own breakfast we rode through the cold nastiness. The whole day it felt like we were riding through a thick cloud. Low visibility, a fine mist, and dead surroundings. No one is out and about on a day like this… no one but us, that is. We couldn’t have had worse luck for our ride through the Wachau, Austria’s beautiful wine region. Not to mention the fact that in November the vineyards look really sad: brown, yellow, lifeless. Nevertheless, this gloomy scenery had a mysterious beauty that only a Northwesterner could truly appreciate.

We rode in to Zwentendorf at the end of the day excited to get out of the miserable weather and into a nice cozy bed. We must have rung doorbells at 4 or 5 separate private rooms only to be greeted by astonished faces and turned away…“Sorry, we’re closed for the season (what are you doing our here now?!)” Not one place in the whole stinking town would give us a room. Sad, tired, hungry, and wet we trudged on to Pischelsdorf, the next tiny town. The Gasthof there had a room for us, thank God. We took our showers and ate our dinner then relaxed in the warm dryness as much as we could. We had a feeling the next day would be worse.

And it was. Still foggy and lifeless. The only change was that the rain was a little heavier, but not unbearable. After breakfast we rode off. This would be our last day of riding for the whole trip. And despite the wet and gloomy weather, we felt especially appreciative for this last riding day on our grand journey beginning all the way in Amsterdam. It didn’t take too long to get to Vienna that day, much less time than we thought, actually. It was finding our way from the city’s outskirts to Paul’s cousin’s apartment that was hard. Our trip ended much the way it began. Riding, lost and confused, in a giant bustling city. One major difference though. In Amsterdam, we were swept away in a raging current of bikers as we helplessly navigated to our campsite. Vienna, on the other hand, is really not set up for cyclists. We dodged cars, walked our bikes down stairs, and asked other tourists to peak at their maps (we didn’t have a good one). It seems after two and a half months of bike touring arriving in a city, completely unprepared, didn’t get any easier. But that’s all part of the fun, figuring out how to find your way.

And we always manage, somehow, to figure it out. Now we’re safe and sound in a cute little Vienna apartment relaxing after a hectic day’s ride. In a few minutes we’ll head out with all three of Paul’s cousins (Sebastian, Anni, and David) for a little nightlife! We have less than a week here in Vienna to not only see the sights but also prepare our bikes for the flight home. Hopefully there will be time enough to share those details in a final blog entry. Stay tuned!

- http://www.saraowens.net

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