Riding a on train – think of you again

We start to write this blog update on a train from Budapest to Prague with quite a lot to share since our last post. As anyone following our regular Instagram posts will know, we’ve remained busy on our journey which has made the more time consuming web updates a challenge … but we’ve just departed Budapest station and have just over 7 hours on the rails so what better way to pass the time than to crack open the portable keyboard (another of Richard’s gadgets) and start typing.

Our last post concluded on Day 47 camping at a Canoe Club. We awoke to sunny skies and having become quite adept at packing up all the camping gear and re-packing the bikes we made our way to the cafe at a nearby supermarket for breakfast and supplies. We have learnt that you are never quite sure where you might find somewhere to eat lunch. Sometimes there are a proliferation of eateries and stop-off points on the route and other times you can cycle for miles without even seeing somewhere to even get a drink. So whenever possible we try to stock up on provisions in the morning either at a supermarket or bakery to avoid us going through what we call the “hangry” phase of cycling where hunger and tiredness might ‘slightly’ affect your mood. To borrow a phrase from Dr Bruce Banner – you never want to see us Hangry so buying enough food and water had become an essential part of the routine!

It was pleasant day of cycling with a brief stop-off at Neuburg where we enjoyed an ice-cream gazing at the impressive local castle (Schloss) before setting off for the campsite Richard had identified whilst undertaking the usual planning the night before when he decided to really roll out the barrel (see below).

That evening we ate at the campsite restaurant which, on a scale of campsite restaurants, was one of the better ones at which we had eaten. Whilst being served by the young lederhosen clad waiter we enquired why there seemed to be a lack of chicken on any of the menus we had seen in the region. He couldn’t really offer any explanation but it had become quite noticeable to us that chicken rarely featured on any menus we saw – pork was definitely the favoured meat and the nearest to chicken you could find was turkey – strange bunch!

Day 49 took us into Bavaria and a shorter day in the saddle with a ride along tracks lined with crops of hops which were the source of the beer brewed by the monks at the worlds oldest monastic brewery at Weltenburg which Richard obviously felt duty bound to sample before we jumped on a boat for a short ride that avoided a steep climb.

When pre-booking accommodation you never quite realise where you might end up and our stay in Kelheim was a case in point. We were greeted by the proprietor who spoke little English but made it clear we were staying in the “schaferwagen” which sounded exciting until we learnt it translated to shepherd hut and our neighbour for the night was a braying donkey. However, had it not been for the stifling heat it would have been a lovely place to stay (and we did enjoy a relax by the small but cold pool) but the provided fan seemed to have been designed to make the air inside the hut warmer rather than cooler!

A shorter day in the saddle on Day 50 allowed us time to lunch in the bustling town of Regensburg and to explore a little before cycling on to our Gasthof for the night in Donaustauf where we enjoyed a traditional dinner in the garden of the family run Gasthof.

The next day took us 62km further along the German Danube and ever closer to Austria. We found a Gasthof that offered both camping and rooms and when we discovered that camping was actually just a rough patch of grass we were relieved when the owner confirmed he had a room available. We enjoyed a drink before retiring to our room for a rest. The owner was a flamboyant and friendly character who offered us the extensive(!) choice of either a hot or cold dinner which was basic but enjoyable. Despite claiming to speak English, the German owner’s language skills were limited which might have been a blessing when Janine got onto the subject of Jersey’s occupation during the Second World War and Richard had images of Basil Fawlty.

After dinner, we chatted for some time with a retired German couple (Winifred and Julianne) who were touring by camper van. We didn’t mention the War and we had a nice chat before retiring for the night.

Day 52 started with rain and we sheltered in a bus stop for the worst of the wet weather. The route took us to Passau – the city where the Danube meets two other rivers and stayed in a nice hotel that offered an elevated view of the city.

Slightly fed up with German food, we found the local Indian restaurant and enjoyed a good old Ruby before an evening stroll around the city which we revisited the next morning for breakfast before setting off again along the Danube and into our next country – Austria. We were particularly excited about this part of the tour because it would conclude in Vienna where we had planned to meet our boys for a 5 day break.

The further we ventured into Austria we cycled some lovely picturesque stretches of cycle path. Passau to Vienna is a very popular section of the Eurovelo 6 and there was a noticeable increase in the number of cyclists on the route.

We returned to our faithful tent on Day 53 and camped at a nice family run site where we ate dinner and had a video chat with Richard’s family to wish his Mum a happy birthday.

Day 54 was a lovely day in the saddle where we stopped off at a kind of country club overlooking a lake for lunch – but not before having a bit of fun with the video camera.

The good food and drink, coupled with the view and laid back music made it quite hard to get back in the saddle but we eventually forced ourselves away from the restaurant knowing that Vienna and seeing our boys again were just around the corner. We ended the day at a hotel in Austria’s third largest city – Linz where we happened across a Syrian restaurant which to Richard’s disappointment was also non-alcoholic!

Day 55 saw us travel 61km from Linz to a campsite at Grein which would have been nicer if it hadn’t been located next to a motorway and the showers were more than just tepid. Anyway the next morning we squeezed our bikes on a small cross river ferry to the south bank.

Our destination on Day 56 was Melk and a favourable tailwind helped progress to our accommodation from where we walked to a local restaurant to sample the local fare and Austrian wine which went down rather well. From Melk we travelled on Day 57 through vineyards and apricot orchards to a “beach club” that had wild rabbits obliviously hopping around as we arrived. We stayed overnight and Richard became adventurous with a dessert choice which it turned out was an apricot wrapped in a kind of mashed potato crumble – interesting!

We awoke on Day 58 to rain but needed to keep moving to make our Vienna rendezvous so to the surprise of the wife who ran the establishment we set off in the rain hoping to find somewhere for breakfast. After about 15km we had some luck and found shelter and an eatery that offered a hearty breakfast which we devoured as the rain cleared allowing us to reach the town of Korneauburg and check into our hotel before the heavens really opened up and we witnessed the heaviest downpour of the tour. We enjoyed an evening meal after the clouds cleared in the town knowing we only had a short trip the following day to our Airbnb in Vienna where we would meet the boys for a much anticipated break.

Day 59 took us into Vienna having completed 2,777km. For the next four days we had a great time with the boys sampling all that Vienna had to offer. It was so nice being back together as a family and we all really enjoyed ourselves as can be seen from the journey summary video below

And if you didn’t recognise the song from the blog title, here’s song of the week inspired from where this blog was written