clairedavieswriter

After a restful ramble round Salzburg, and a slightly less restful night due to an unscheduled thunderstorm, Team Bernard were back on the road today, pleased to see the sun shining:

It was another day of beautiful scenery, right from the start:

There were still plenty of spectacular mountains all around (note the young man solemnly mowing a small football pitch for his little brother, who was ‘helping’ to collect the grass):

But today it was the lakes that really stole the show.

First, Mondsee, which is known for its warm water:

I can’t testify to the temperature of the water, but I can confirm that it was incredibly clear:

And close to our destination, Wolfgangsee, named after a local saint:

Aside from these, other highlights today included:

A long spell on what I can only assume was the former railway line to Bad Ischl, which took us (mostly) gently up the hill out of Salzburg:

This upbeat mural in the town of Thalgau. It reads:

“Count the cheerful hours, just like this sundial”!

I enjoyed a little chat with these local ladies:

And I loved this vending machine next the cycle path – selling good quality inner tubes in a wide range of sizes for just €8

Speaking of cycle paths, they were once again almost entirely traffic-free and brilliantly signposted:

Although once again the engineers let us down when we needed them most. The ride from Mondsee to Wolfgangsee is very popular – I saw all kinds of riders doing it, including families with quite small children. But it involves quite a significant climb, as Guillaume delighted in telling me:

But just like on Pass Lueg, the cycle path disappears, and everyone is forced onto the road:

But it’s all relative – I’m only mentioning this because the rest of the infrastructure has been so good. In the UK, an unprotected climb like this would be unremarkable because it’s the norm! So overall, no complaints from me

And it’s always nice to see our progress across the map: today we rode from Salzburg into Upper Austria:

This was my sign of the day, a new one on me: ‘look out for roller skaters’, though to be fair it was justified – I saw quite a few people practicing/training for cross country skiing on roller blades.

Tonight we’re off out to dinner with Austrian friends – the reason we’ve come via Bad Ischl. Bis morgen!