Where I got lost in Vienna. As I was leaving this complex my GPS told me to turn right at the next roundabout. I looked up to see if I could spot the roundabout and the next thing I knew I was boucing down some steps. Thankfully they were very short steps but they sure gave me a scare!!!Day 33 - Sunday, June 26, 2011 - Klems to Vienna - Trip 98.13 kms Time 5:30:26
I had a good night's sleep for a change. No church bells. No street noise. No leg cramps. Ummm must have been that 1/2 L of white wine that did the trick. I got up at 6:30 AM as I wanted to get an early start for Vienna not knowing what to expect once I got there. Bandaged up my sore toe and went down for b'fast at 7:30 AM. Quite busy in the restaurant. I returned the modem and paid 67 E for my room. Returned to my room and collected my panniers, etc. Loaded them on my bike and set off for Vienna at 8:40 AM.
After finding the cycle path along the Danube I crossed over the bridge and followed the route on the Right Bank (South side) of the river to Hollenburg. I then had to make my way around the power station at Altenworth and on to Zwentendorf, through 4 other small villages, then Tulln. I stopped at a Gasthof on the Danube at Muckendorf for lunch at 11:50 AM. At this point I had managed to cycle 63 kms since leaving Krems. The route was very well signed, paved and no hills all the way. Also there was no one, or hardly anyone else on the route. Not like yesterday. Although after lunch there were more people out cycling, jogging, walking their dogs, etc. I noticed that the houses along this stretch of the river were all 2 level homes probably because of flooding. The main living quarters were above the garage/car port.
I crossed over to the Left Bank (North side) of the river at the Kraftwerk Greifenstein. (After dark you have to use the speaker phone to ask the attendant to open the gate). I arrived on the outskirts of Vienna at 2:00 PM. As I got nearer to Vienna I could hear very loud musiic coming from a park across the river. Later on I was to find out from Martin and Book 3 of the Danube Bike Trail that this was the venue for the "Donauinselfest" the city's annual mega-party. The music (noise) could be heard for miles around. As expected it took me and my GPS 1.5 hours to find Martin's apartment on Gassergasse. I rang the bell but got no answer. Martin had said he might be out as he had to pick up some people at the train station. I went down the street a little ways to the Cafe Poesie and asked the barmaid for help re calling Martin on my cellphone. I couldn't figure out how to do the + sign. Because the cellphone was in French she also has some difficulty but suggested I try 0043... and that worked. I was able to let Martin know that I had arrived and that I was waiting for him at the Cafe Poesie. While waiting I had a beer and started filling in my journal for the day.
Martin arrived at 4:30 PM and we walked back to his apartment. I put my bike away in the ground floor storage room and we took the elevator up to Martin's apartment on the 5th floor. A very nice 2 bedroom apartment. I had a shower and a beer before we went out for dinner.
We took the tram into centretown to the University area and had dinner at a local restaurant which featured a nice patio overlooking a park. I had chicken brochette with rice and tzasiki sauce and 1/4 L of white wine. Afterwards I noticed there was a basket on the table with an assortment of bread rolls and huge pretzels. I shared a pretzel with Martin. When I asked for the bill the waiter added 2 E on for the pretzel!!!
My foot was to sore to go walking about to do any sightseeing so we took the tram back to Martin's apartment. Martin very thoughfully asked if I had any laundry to do which I did. Did a load of laundry and put it on a clothes rack to dry. I was able to check out the Internet after plugging into the router with a CAT 5 cable. No problem making a connection.
Martin had to get up early for work the next day and I was quite tired so it was off to bed at 10:30 PM.
Cheers, Roly
I had a good night's sleep for a change. No church bells. No street noise. No leg cramps. Ummm must have been that 1/2 L of white wine that did the trick. I got up at 6:30 AM as I wanted to get an early start for Vienna not knowing what to expect once I got there. Bandaged up my sore toe and went down for b'fast at 7:30 AM. Quite busy in the restaurant. I returned the modem and paid 67 E for my room. Returned to my room and collected my panniers, etc. Loaded them on my bike and set off for Vienna at 8:40 AM.
After finding the cycle path along the Danube I crossed over the bridge and followed the route on the Right Bank (South side) of the river to Hollenburg. I then had to make my way around the power station at Altenworth and on to Zwentendorf, through 4 other small villages, then Tulln. I stopped at a Gasthof on the Danube at Muckendorf for lunch at 11:50 AM. At this point I had managed to cycle 63 kms since leaving Krems. The route was very well signed, paved and no hills all the way. Also there was no one, or hardly anyone else on the route. Not like yesterday. Although after lunch there were more people out cycling, jogging, walking their dogs, etc. I noticed that the houses along this stretch of the river were all 2 level homes probably because of flooding. The main living quarters were above the garage/car port.
I crossed over to the Left Bank (North side) of the river at the Kraftwerk Greifenstein. (After dark you have to use the speaker phone to ask the attendant to open the gate). I arrived on the outskirts of Vienna at 2:00 PM. As I got nearer to Vienna I could hear very loud musiic coming from a park across the river. Later on I was to find out from Martin and Book 3 of the Danube Bike Trail that this was the venue for the "Donauinselfest" the city's annual mega-party. The music (noise) could be heard for miles around. As expected it took me and my GPS 1.5 hours to find Martin's apartment on Gassergasse. I rang the bell but got no answer. Martin had said he might be out as he had to pick up some people at the train station. I went down the street a little ways to the Cafe Poesie and asked the barmaid for help re calling Martin on my cellphone. I couldn't figure out how to do the + sign. Because the cellphone was in French she also has some difficulty but suggested I try 0043... and that worked. I was able to let Martin know that I had arrived and that I was waiting for him at the Cafe Poesie. While waiting I had a beer and started filling in my journal for the day.
Martin arrived at 4:30 PM and we walked back to his apartment. I put my bike away in the ground floor storage room and we took the elevator up to Martin's apartment on the 5th floor. A very nice 2 bedroom apartment. I had a shower and a beer before we went out for dinner.
We took the tram into centretown to the University area and had dinner at a local restaurant which featured a nice patio overlooking a park. I had chicken brochette with rice and tzasiki sauce and 1/4 L of white wine. Afterwards I noticed there was a basket on the table with an assortment of bread rolls and huge pretzels. I shared a pretzel with Martin. When I asked for the bill the waiter added 2 E on for the pretzel!!!
My foot was to sore to go walking about to do any sightseeing so we took the tram back to Martin's apartment. Martin very thoughfully asked if I had any laundry to do which I did. Did a load of laundry and put it on a clothes rack to dry. I was able to check out the Internet after plugging into the router with a CAT 5 cable. No problem making a connection.
Martin had to get up early for work the next day and I was quite tired so it was off to bed at 10:30 PM.
Cheers, Roly
No comments:
Post a Comment