Blogs from Lower Austria, Austria, Europe - page 8

Great expectations and a long ride are on today's programme: leaving from Vienna, we want to make it all the way to Stará Turá in Eastern Slowakia. Of course, it takes ages to get everything ready: I still need some supplies (and my bike which had a broken spoke repaired!) from the bike shop which doesn't open until 10am - neither does the outdoor store where I still need to get some fuel for the Trangia. While Richard goes out to buy some food stuffs, I go on my treck of the various shops to get everything we need. Finally, around 12:30pm, we're all packed up and ready to go. Confidently, we start out along the Donaukanal from Vienna centre towards Bratislava. When we get to Neu Albern, signposting of the route stops, and we of ... read more

Nyt on tää Itävallan vaihto puolivälissä. Aika on kyllä mennyt yllättävän nopeasti, varmaan just sen takia, että koko ajan on jotain ohjelmaa. Täällä on kevätkin jo pitkällä. Melkein kaikissa puissa on lehdet, kukkia on joka puolella (voikukat valtaa nurmikoita!) ja muutenkin on tosi vihreää ja keväistä. Krems on siitä mukava paikka, että luonto on lähellä. Viiniviljelmäkukkuloille ja Tonavan varteen pääsee hetkessä ja tuolla Wachau Valley:ssä on kiva käydä pyöräilemässä. Sain tosiaan pyörän lainaksi ja oon päässy ajelemaan sillä ympäriinsä. Koulumatkaankin menee enää n. 10minsaa kun ei tarvii kävellä. Oon kerenny kans vähän reissailemaan täällä. Maaliskuussa käytiin päiväretkellä Bratislavassa. Ihan kiva kaupunki, mutta ei siellä ollu kauheesti nähtävää. Yks päivä riitti siis aivan loistavasti. Pääsiäisenä meillä oli viikon loma ja teinkin ruotsalaisten Elisabetin ja Annan kanssa 6 p... read more

Okay we caught the early train to Vienna via Salzburg and had time to stop and take a look around but decided not too as we would go back to do the "Sound of Music" tour on another day. We arrived in Vienna at Westbahnhof (central train station) but was supposed to be at Sudbanhof (South Train Station) So off we went to find our train. When we arrived at our destination the directions given on the internet left a lot to be desired. After about 15min we finally found our accomodation which was only minutes from the train station with a big yellow sign that read HOTEL! Funny bout that! Anyway it looked like a dump and must say that nearly every time we thought our accomodation looked a bit dodgy from the outside, the ... read more

Melk - What an incredible town - truely just like something out of a storybook - Benedictine Monestry I have video and heaps of photos of this magnificent building that was first started around 1000bc.. People devoted the whole of their lifetimes in constructing it and sadly never got to see the end result that we get today... Totally marvelled at the precision of every line, sphere, curves etc... No modern tooling, yet perfection and meticulous workmanship that has been built to stand for many more centuries.... You note that all of these fabulous structures are perched atop of the steepest locations, great for detering invaders, but really crap for tourist access (Talk about bad forward planning - they should have given us some consideration when they started these things 1000 years ago).... Out of Melk ... read more

The ride intoVienna today was cloudy, but clear and fresh.... Made a good mile and got to see a little of Vienna before I had to hand the bike back.... Well Vienna is everything they claim it to be and more.... Just not enough time to cover the area that I would like... This is going to be quick.... It is nearly 11pm and I want an early start in the morn.... I have about 3 hours left in the centre of Vienna tomorrow, then catch train into Westbanhauf, then train to Linz, then train to Munich Haufbanhauf, then train to Munich airport to catch a flight to Athens by Midnight tomorrow night.... New Rule # 2,356.... Don't stuff this transfer up or I miss the yacht from Athens into the Aegean.... Have said goodbyes to ... read more