Leaving Obernzell, Germany,on the ferry.Day 30 - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - Obernzell to Linz - Trip 79.44 kms Time 4:21:03
I slept fairly well. Maybe it was because of the 2 Paracitemol tablets I took before going to bed. No church bells. No traffic noise. Very quitet. I got up at 7. Did some first aid on my toe and some packing before going down to b'fast at 8:00. I was the first to arrive for b'fast. The Dutch couple then came down and joined me. There was also a German couple. The guy had really bad signs of alcohol abuse. His face and nose were all red and puffed up. There were also an elderly German couple and another Dutch couple who were also cyclists.
I asked for the Dutch couple's names and they wrote them out on a post-it note that I provided. They asked if they could take my photo which they said they would e-mail to me. I had given them my card last night.
After paying 26 E for the night I set off to find the ferry to cross over to the right bank of the Danube. I arrived just as the ferry was pulling away. I called out "Bitteschon" and they allowed me to get on. I paid 2 E for the ferry crossing. Once across I set off for Engelhartszell. The paved cycle path soon ran out and I had to cycle on the road. It turned out to be quite hilly. Two girls passed me - one was wearing a New Zealand jersey. I called out "Canada" but they probably didn't hear me and just kept on going. They weren't carrying any panniers. A third cyclist from the same group caught up to me and said "passing". I asked if he was from NZ. He said he was Australian - that his wife liked to wear the NZ jersey. They were on a supported camping tour from Paris to Istanbul! I said I was also headed for Istanbul but I was doing it the hard way. He also said one of the girls in the group was from Canada. Because of my heavier load and the hills I was never able to catch up to them. We did agree to meet in Istanbul but I doubt if that's ever going to happen. It was nice to know that I was not the only idiot cycling all the way to Istanbul.
I cycled on to Wesenufer and Schlogen where I was able to get on the cycle path along the Danube again. From then on it was paved and flat. some barge traffic on the river. A lot of swans. They make quite a racket when they take off. I stopped for lunch at Aschach. Just a Cola Light and a noodle soup (5.80 E). At Withering I once again had to cycle on the road. Since it was a holiday there was not much traffic and thankfully no lorries.
I arrived in Linz at 2 PM. The first hotel I tried was not open until 3 PM. The 2nd was a 3 star at 70 E including b'fast and Wi-Fi. It had started raining and I needed the Internet so I could use Skype to call Johnson Ins to extend my coverage beyond 40 days.
After checking in I went looking for the bicycle room. I had a bit of trouble finding it as it was located about 100M down a sort of alleyway. It looked like a dungeon with huge black oaken doors all along the cobbled stoned alleyway. I had to carry my panniers up the first flight of stairs to the hotel lobby but from there I was able to take the elevator up to the 4th floor.
I was unable to connect to the Internet in my room. On my way down to the reception to get help I discovered that once I was out in the 4th floor lobby I had a connection. There was a coffee table with very low chairs so I set myself up there and was able to call Johnson using Skype. Of course the Johnson operator gave me a 1-800 number to call. It was in Edmonton which is an 8 hour time difference from Austria. I would have to wait until 5 PM local time to call them. In the meantime I typed up Day 28 of my Blog.
I called Johnson Ins. in Edmonton at 5 PM and was able to speak with an agent who said she would look into extending my coverage. We
nt back to my room and did my laundry. I lay down for a nap but the damn church bells kept waking me up.
I went down for dinner at 7 PM. It was still raining. I found a nearby Greek restaurant and had a nice Mousaka and a beer for dinner. When the waiter brought my bill he served me a complimentary shot of Ouzo. Wow!!! that stuff is like fire water.
I forgot to mention that while cycling along the Danube I saw a couple who were holding hands while cycling. How romantic is that!!! I went back to my room and typed up day 29 of my blog before going off to bed at 11:00 PM.
Cheers, Roly
I slept fairly well. Maybe it was because of the 2 Paracitemol tablets I took before going to bed. No church bells. No traffic noise. Very quitet. I got up at 7. Did some first aid on my toe and some packing before going down to b'fast at 8:00. I was the first to arrive for b'fast. The Dutch couple then came down and joined me. There was also a German couple. The guy had really bad signs of alcohol abuse. His face and nose were all red and puffed up. There were also an elderly German couple and another Dutch couple who were also cyclists.
I asked for the Dutch couple's names and they wrote them out on a post-it note that I provided. They asked if they could take my photo which they said they would e-mail to me. I had given them my card last night.
After paying 26 E for the night I set off to find the ferry to cross over to the right bank of the Danube. I arrived just as the ferry was pulling away. I called out "Bitteschon" and they allowed me to get on. I paid 2 E for the ferry crossing. Once across I set off for Engelhartszell. The paved cycle path soon ran out and I had to cycle on the road. It turned out to be quite hilly. Two girls passed me - one was wearing a New Zealand jersey. I called out "Canada" but they probably didn't hear me and just kept on going. They weren't carrying any panniers. A third cyclist from the same group caught up to me and said "passing". I asked if he was from NZ. He said he was Australian - that his wife liked to wear the NZ jersey. They were on a supported camping tour from Paris to Istanbul! I said I was also headed for Istanbul but I was doing it the hard way. He also said one of the girls in the group was from Canada. Because of my heavier load and the hills I was never able to catch up to them. We did agree to meet in Istanbul but I doubt if that's ever going to happen. It was nice to know that I was not the only idiot cycling all the way to Istanbul.
I cycled on to Wesenufer and Schlogen where I was able to get on the cycle path along the Danube again. From then on it was paved and flat. some barge traffic on the river. A lot of swans. They make quite a racket when they take off. I stopped for lunch at Aschach. Just a Cola Light and a noodle soup (5.80 E). At Withering I once again had to cycle on the road. Since it was a holiday there was not much traffic and thankfully no lorries.
I arrived in Linz at 2 PM. The first hotel I tried was not open until 3 PM. The 2nd was a 3 star at 70 E including b'fast and Wi-Fi. It had started raining and I needed the Internet so I could use Skype to call Johnson Ins to extend my coverage beyond 40 days.
After checking in I went looking for the bicycle room. I had a bit of trouble finding it as it was located about 100M down a sort of alleyway. It looked like a dungeon with huge black oaken doors all along the cobbled stoned alleyway. I had to carry my panniers up the first flight of stairs to the hotel lobby but from there I was able to take the elevator up to the 4th floor.
I was unable to connect to the Internet in my room. On my way down to the reception to get help I discovered that once I was out in the 4th floor lobby I had a connection. There was a coffee table with very low chairs so I set myself up there and was able to call Johnson using Skype. Of course the Johnson operator gave me a 1-800 number to call. It was in Edmonton which is an 8 hour time difference from Austria. I would have to wait until 5 PM local time to call them. In the meantime I typed up Day 28 of my Blog.
I called Johnson Ins. in Edmonton at 5 PM and was able to speak with an agent who said she would look into extending my coverage. We
nt back to my room and did my laundry. I lay down for a nap but the damn church bells kept waking me up.I went down for dinner at 7 PM. It was still raining. I found a nearby Greek restaurant and had a nice Mousaka and a beer for dinner. When the waiter brought my bill he served me a complimentary shot of Ouzo. Wow!!! that stuff is like fire water.
I forgot to mention that while cycling along the Danube I saw a couple who were holding hands while cycling. How romantic is that!!! I went back to my room and typed up day 29 of my blog before going off to bed at 11:00 PM.
Cheers, Roly
Arriving on the Right Bank (South side) of the Danube before setting off for Linz, Austria.
Hi Roly,
ReplyDeleteI think you're going to have to get used to the church bells and treat them as ambient noise.
"It was nice to know that I was not the only idiot cycling all the way to Istanbul." Yup, misery likes company ;)
The hotels you get sure differ in their prices. I'm pretty sure that more € doesn't always mean better quality.
Good Luck, Tony
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/06/24/ottawa-flooding-gatineau-constance-bay.html
ReplyDeleteSee what you're missing? Last night at Christopher's the rains were very heavy and we lost power for about 15 minutes. Tony