Slosh and Schloss
This morning hurt our brains. There were so many decisions to make. We had stuff to leave in the car, stuff to pack in panniers and stuff which needed transferring from car stuff to panniers. And we had to get it right or face difficulties for the next seven days.
Perhaps I should explain our plan...
We are leaving the car in Passsau and taking the tandem from here, down the Danube to Vienna. After spending a couple of days in Vienna, we are HOPING to put the tandem on the train to return to Passsau. (We shall find out if we can when we arrive in Vienna) From there, we are driving to Zell am See for another week of sightseeing, cycling and whatever else grabs us.
It doesn't matter how insistent the weather app is, there's always a little part of me which hopes it's wrong if it prophecies doom. When we left the hotel - eventually - it wasn't raining.
400 yards down the road, it was spitting. Better put our coats on, we thought. 400 yards further down the road it became painfully obvious that our capes would be a good idea. No sooner had we put them on than the heavens opened. We're talking big style, constant, find your way in, rain. Our aim was a simple one, come down the hill from the hotel and follow the Danube. The Danube is a vast river, even at this point in its life. Really, how hard could this be?
Very hard, it seems. Things weren't helped by my cape covering the sat nav display. I'm glad it did though. I imagine the device copes with rain, but being submerged? We found a big rivery looking thing. Aha! The Danube. Let's follow it. But no, this was just a tributary. We probably made about six about turns, negotiating traffic as we went. All the time, the rain hammered down. We both experienced that Slosh, Slosh, Slosh, with every turn of the crank as our shoes simply filled up with water. Eventually, we did find ourselves at the edge of what could only be the Danube. It's width at Passau is the length of two football pitches and it still has 1,000 miles to go!
As we made eventual progress down the Danube, we kept spotting little groups of cyclists huddled under shelters. Not us, of course. We're the Caped Crusaders. Now these capes are completely waterproof. They collect water in the 'apron' of the cape which needs to be emptied at regular intervals. But, no amount of capage was going to keep the water out today. It found its way in wherever it could. By the time we stopped for coffee about 20 miles in, we were drenched.
We entered a coffee shop. The lady said something in German. We looked at her, blankly. She shouted "Don't sit on the pillows if you are wet!" We obediently untied the seat pads from our chairs and formed puddles on the wooden chairs.
Now it was time to cross the Danube. We followed the sat nav, which took us into a courtyard and to a door. Inside the door was a very long flight of stairs. This can't be right. We came out again. The sat nav took us back in. Alas, it was right. The way to the bridge was up this long flight of stairs. Now climbing long flights of stairs with a tandem that you can't really lift whilst wearing cleated shoes in the wet is no fun. It took all our combined effort. It seems that the bridge is part of some sort of hydro electric plant which spans the river, and cyclists are kindly allowed to use the facilities to cross over. (See pics)
Once we had crossed, the rain stopped. This was very welcome. Now we could actually look at where we were. Steep wooded hills rose on both sides of the river which meandered its way picturesquely around. Every mile or so, there would be either an imposing house of a castle perched right on the top with what must have been very impressive views of the valley below.
The blue danube was a sort of green with grey bits. This isn't as the song suggests but I suppose 'The green with grey bits Danube' isn't such a catchy title. The next forty miles were truly beautiful. We stopped and ate a couple if rolls 'purloined' from the breakfast table this morning for lunch. As we sat, all we could hear was bird song. It was utterly tranquil and still.
We did see plenty of other cyclists, as we expected to.
Our communication with them tended to go as follows.
Us: Hello.
Other cyclist: Ha ha ha ha!
Oh well, what can we expect, wearing capes. We eventually took them off.
A while later, Kate said in hushed and incredulous tones, "They're still laughing at us!"
We have found people to be generally quite humourless. We have obviously found their weak spot when it comes to mirth and merriment.
As we came into one of the many villages, Kate remarked how there is always a faint smell of sausages. "Oh well, not the wurst smell", I quipped...
As we neared our place for tonight, we stopped and I had Apple Strudel. I have now had Snitzel, Struesal and Strudel. And we've only been here two days!
Our accommodation for tonight is a castle. It's amazing! And it's huge. We have a big suite which we can schloss around in. (See what I did there...)
This is a good thing because we have some serious drying out to do. There were a couple of tiny holes in the bag which I put in the pannier for my clothes. The water got in and soaked everything. I've found that one of the best ways to dry something out is to wear it. It feels better with time....
The trouble with this Schloss is that it's in the middle of nowhere and does no food or drink. Not even a kettle in the room. So it's water to drink from now until ten miles in, tomorrow. (And we've had enough of water) We came prepared, having bought food for a picnic on our private terrace but I couldn't arf do with a cuppa...
Glad to see that you are on your way even if the weather isn’t great. Don’t worry about the Germans we know they lack our sense of humour - although Batman and Robin coming the other way must have been something they don’t see everyday! I’m guessing Kate is sending the Bat signal from the last pic?? š¤£. Have fun, more tales soon.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Ya, Batman und Robin is more than they can cope with, I think!
ReplyDeleteMore challenging weather today. Apparently, it's now going to be nice....