Danube - Austria Sept 3

Passau to St. Agatha

What a gorgeous day.  The original group of four has now been expanded to six.  Scott's wife Debra has joined us as well as Barry's wife Wendy.  The merry six of us headed out on our way this morning.  We had a short day and rode only 45k.  It was a sunny to overcast day.  We had a leisurely ride along the Danube.  It was an almost completely flat ride on the north side of the river.  On the north side the river runs along a steep almost cliff like bluff.  It is heavily wooded and very picturesque.  

This is the scene as we left Passau.  There is a stronghold that guards the entrance to the Danube.  It has walls that run all the way up the cliff to the castle on the high point.  It controlled both the Danube and the River Ilz that came together at this point.

A little farther these two are joined by the River Ill.  The River Ill comes down from the Alpine Region and brings a great deal of silt with it.  It is interesting to see the three rivers come together.  The Danube and Ilz are fairly clear and clean looking.  But the silt filled Ill river overpowers the other two and creates a murky Danube from Passau onward.

As we rode along we were making good time on a short day.  So a coffee/coke stop mid morning was in order.  We had pastries and cakes in the town of Erlau.  The fountain above was near the cafe and it had a Roman soldier holding a jug of water that was pouring out and putting out a house that was on fire.  I'm sure there has to be a story behind it but I did not discover it.

After another hour or so we came across this quaint little restaurant right on the trail.  As you can see in the picture, it is in the valley just below another castle on the hill.  We had another one of those light lunches... 😳  it was roast beef with potatoes smothered in gravy.  Mmmmm was it good and it was huge.  When we arrived at the restaurant we asked the waitress how much farther until we are in Austria.  She looked quite puzzled and told us we already were in Austria.  And after a little more conversation we discovered we had been in Austria for some time.  We had crossed the border without nary a clue or any fanfare.  Woohoo, we are in a second country.  We had ridden across Germany and we didn't even know it!

The restaurant  had some pretty unique  stools at the counter.  What do you think?!

We then proceeded down the trail to complete the final 10k.

This was an old house that they were fixing up that looked magnificent.  You could see in the back a very old set of ruins that they were working off of.  It looked as if it was a hunting lodge from way back.

We took a ferry across the Danube to get to the place where the hotel would come and pick us up.  That was due to the steep climb up to the hotel.  In many of the other trips I have taken they would have made us climb up on our bikes.  But these monstrosities of a bike are so heavy that would be problematic...

The hotel we are in is quite fancy with a spa, sauna, indoor/outdoor pool and a panoramic view of the countryside.  It fits in the WOW category.

We were treated to a sight as we sat down to dinner...

A hot air balloon came drifting right by the hotel and restaurant where we were.  We were first alerted to its presence by the sound of the flames igniting to heat the balloon.  It was a sight that even the wait staff all had to see.

The panoramic view from the deck of the hotel was something to be seen.

They say you can see for 100k, regardless, the view was spectacular.  As we sat on the balcony and looked out, I saw a little village appear out of the haze.  It was far off in the distance.  One minute it was not there and the next...  It look Brigadoonish.  It was a small village with a church and a high steeple.  Something out of another time...  Hauntingly beautiful!

The dinner was fabulous and topped off by...

A fantabulous sunset that made you sit back in wonder.

What a day...  Can't wait for tomorrow!