Vienna to Passau, approx. 325km

We had planned to have 2 days in Vienna but ended up having 3. We spent the first 2 roaming around the city which seems so dense with interesting things to see and do. Unfortunately, we only browsed the surface but, man, we were both left wanting more. More culture and more sachetorte. A rich city indeed but unfortunately, we don't share this quality making our experience one best summed up by "touch with your eyes and look with your hands". Our third day was a bit more frustrating as we had planned to leave but were unable to do so due to bad (really bad) weather. It was freezing and raining. We hoped it would calm down for a while but once it became clear we wouldn't be going anywhere that day, we headed accross the campground over to "Happy land" where we were able to swim some laps in an indoor pool. We followed this little bout of cross-training with a hot chocolate and giant piece of chocolate cake in a cafe nearby. Yumilicious! When we got back to the campgroud, we decided that it was way too cold and wet to cook and eat outside so we had a giant schnitzel mit pommes in the campground restaurant. We then cocooned into our tent hoping for better weather the next day.


Ferry crossing on the Danube

It was slightly more adequate cycling conditions when we got up so we eagerly packed up and got going for a long day of cycling. The wind was really strong making our debut difficult and slow. Eventually it got a little better although the weather never quite cleared up. Riding along these long stretches of rivers can be a bit tedious. It doesn't offer much diversity and the kilometers go by quite slowly. Once in a while, the path veers away from the banks of the river and, on the first day, we went through a series of lovely villages full of picturesque gasthause selling local wine and apricot jams. The villages were bursting at the seams with well-fed tourists which reminded me of places like St-Paul-de-Vence, beautiful but hard to bear.


We were relieved to see that the traditional Bayern Lederhausen are still very much in vogue

Our second and third day went very much the same, sometimes following the river and other times, going through small towns and villages all along the way. We have been cycling quite long days making it a bit challenging in pretty easy conditions. Most of the time, we just babble away, thinking about all the things we want to do when we get to Nice and random things like the bread Chris' mum used to make when he was young. Sometimes, we tune out and just pedal mindlessly as the scenery changes subtletly along us. Our speedo is now over 2000km and we still have about as much to go. For now, we continue along the Danube through Germany, towards France and Switzerland. Next time I write, we should be in Ulm.
Tschussy!!