Biking the Danube!

 

We just returned from a fantastic 2-week vacation to Germany and Austria.   We went with my Dad and Marilynn, but without Jason, because he was unable to get the time off work.   

My Dad has the idea for this trip--he has always been interested in biking the Danube cycling path, which is a generally flat, paved, off-road path that follows the river.  The kids and I have never done a trip like this before--in fact, we had only done about a 10 mile ride ever in our lives--so we were a little bit nervous.

We started with trip with 4 nights in Munich to check out the city and acclimate to jet lag.   Unfortunately, Alaina caught a stomach bug, so she spent the first two days in bed.   

We did have a bit of time to see Munich--the old city was nice but crowded.   Also went to Schloss Nymphenburg.  We enjoyed the food and especially the beer--I am in love with German wheat beer!

  

On our last day in Munich we took a day trip to Tegernsee where we went on an absolutely beautiful hike to a viewpoint over the lake and had a delicious lunch at a mountain hut.   Afterwards, the kids and I went swimming at a beautiful pool on the shore of the lake (and in the lake too), and we all had a wonderful dinner at an old brewery along the lake.   It was a beautiful day!

The next day was a transit day to Schardig, Austria.   Unfortunately, the train line we wanted to take was under repair, so the trip involved 5 different trains, with complicated transfers involving all our luggage.   It was not too fun.   When we got to Schardig we then walked to the bike agency to get our bikes for the journey.   The bikes we got were pretty neat--they had this gear mechanism called the Nuvinci gear shift, which was really nice.

Schardig was a very cute town, and we had a little time to explore before heading to bed. 

The next morning began the bike tour.   We used a travel agency that picked up our bags each morning and delivered them the the next hotel, so we did not have to bring much with us.   Our first 10 miles was a little rough.   We got a late start, Alaina fell, we stopped several times and it took us much longer than expected to make it to Passau, Germany, one of the main cities along the route.  We then had an unexpected detour as the trail was closed due to a motorcycle accident.   So in the end, we made it to Schlogen, our first stop, about 40 miles away around 4pm.   A long day!   

But, most of the path was as advertised: flat, paved, and along the Danube, making riding quite nice:

The next day, we decided to get an earlier start.   We headed to Linz, Austria.   Our ride seemed to go smoother, though our hotel was deep within Linz, away from the cycle path and more treacherous to get to.   We arrived too late to explore much of Linz and the kids were pretty tired.

By the third day, we got our 'biking legs' and settled into our routine.   We also had a shorter distance to travel--only about 25 miles.   Our third night stay was in a very cute little town called Mitterkirchen, on a farm hotel called the Kragelhof.   They made their own ciders, juices and jams, and they were delicious.   One down side of staying on a farm:  there were many mosquitoes--and we had to keep the screen-less windows open due to the heat.   So we all got bitten overnight.

The next day our mileage went back up to 35 miles, but we made it to our destination, Melk, by early afternoon.   We had time to tour the Melk Abby--a huge edifice overlooking the Danube.   We had a great dinner in Melk--it was a very cute town, and also really liked our hotel (though the weather continued to get warmer and again there was no a/c).   We again woke up with mosquito bites!

Our next day we rode through the Wachau valley--this area is a famous wine producing region in Austria.   It was probably the most scenic ride--through vineyards, and small towns--but also it was hilly, which of course made it harder--and it was quite hot.   

 

The kids and I separated from my dad and Marilynn and took  a break to swim in the town of Krems, about 2/3 of the way along the route.   It was refreshing.   That night we stayed in Traismauer, in a hotel that is over 600 years old!

Our final biking day was again forcast to be super hot.   We decided to cut the day in half by taking a train from Tulln to Vienna.   We are glad that we did, because it was almost 95 in Vienna!   Even still, we were proud of our hard work--we biked over 200 miles in 6 days!

In Vienna, we dropped off our bikes, collected our our bags and settled into the Adina hotel, a newer hotel near the train station.   With Air Conditioning!   (Though the lowest you could set the a/c was 18 C, or about 63, and it never seemed to get even that cold).  But still refreshing!

Our first day back in Vienna we took a day trip to nearby Bratislava.   Bratislava was not as interesting as I had hoped it would be, and extremely hot, so the day was less enjoyable than expected.   Still, we got to add another country to our list!

On our last day, we had one full day in Vienna, and it was fun to be back in that beautiful city!   We went to Cafe Central--a place I wanted to visit but we didn't back in April--it was delicious.   I did a little shopping with Marilynn while my dad took the kids BACK to the music museum and then got Ethan a haircut.   We ended the trip at my favorite Viennese restaurant-Figlmueller--it was just as good as I had remembered!

Overall, a very fun trip for all of us.   I am so proud of how well the kids did with the biking--by the end of the trip Alaina usually led the pack everyday!  And it was a great way to 'get off the beaten path' and see a little more of the countryside.   Plus, we got great exercise to work off all of the yummy calories we consumed!