Days 39-43

The campsite in Vienna
Was full of vans, and hikers,
So we squashed in between festival goer's
And a bunch of hairy bikers!

Linz to Vienna

Now, as you know, I don't like to harp on about all this spectacular scenery we are seeing, but Austria has been...well, spectacular! The all round vista, at all times, has been lush green mountains covered with tall trees, with the occasional grand baroque tower poking out if the tree tops. Every village and town had been picture perfect, all houses in perfect condition, gardens in full bloom, elder flowers scenting the air and not a blade of grass out of place. (This is mostly due to the automatic robot lawn mowers that are constantly prowling the lawns, frantically searching for that stray blade.) Add to this idyllic lakes for swimming, the best cycle path signs so far, and a fantastic wine growing region, and I think I've harped on enough.

The main disappointment for us budget travellers has been the expense here, and the difficulty in free-camping. Their are physically few places you can pitch a tent, due to the proximity of the river to the trail - usually only a few feet - and on the other side the steep slopes of the valley, and the only possible places have been signed "VERBOTEN" and a picture of a tent with a cross through it. I am taking an educated guess that this means forbidden, not welcome.

We are constantly scanning the tree tops for spectacular castles and ruins that could otherwise be easily missed. However, the towns are so full of great buildings it would hardly matter if you missed one.

The Wacchau region was unknown to us, but Austria's wine growing region is well known here. We found a "heuriger" - for local wine tasting, after a cooling dip in the Danube after a long, hot day's cycle. The chilled white wines were delicious, and very different from anything we've tasted before, as was the red we tried, which they've only been able to grow in the last 10 years due to increase in temperatures here. The Familie Rinner were happy to explain about their wines and schnapps they sold at their "Heuringenschank" as we sat on the terrace overlooking the vineyard. Every wine had to be grown within 10kms of where it is produced, giving it a completely pure taste. Even the water they served tasted different, fresh from the mountains.

And so we reached Vienna. After 8 long, hot days in the saddle out bodies are very ready for a rest. My knees start to swell after about 5 days and Steve's sense of direction goes a bit random. And guess who we met here for some Wienerschnitzel?
Dave!
He also brought along a solar panel that Steve had ordered, finally deciding to give up the ghost with the dynamo, which has never charged a thing in the 6 weeks we've carried it around. So far the panel is working splendidly.

We spent our rest day cycling around Vienna, which once again, unbeknown to us, was a public holiday, making it very easy to circumnavigate. Its difficult to describe what Vienna is like, you have to see it for yourself to appreciate the vast array of magnificent buildings, one after another, after another...