clairedavieswriter

And just like that, Team Bernard have reached Austria’s capital city.

It’s always a thrill to cycle into a major city. But of all of us it’s Midge who is the most excited, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who enjoyed early 80s pop (frankly it means nothing to me):

It wasn’t the most scintillating of bike rides. There was quite a lot of this:

And this:

And this:

I have to be honest, and it feels almost heretical to admit, but I’ve found cycling the Danube a bit of a let down.

Perhaps I was spoiled by the variety and beauty of the western part of the country – both the natural landscapes and the human development. But I had this romantic notion that, as well as admiring the majestic river, there would be lovely old towns and villages to cycle through. We’ve passed through some – Krems this morning was one of the loveliest:

But none have had the charm of the Tirol or Bavaria – I guess you spend less time prettifying your home if your village gets flooded every few years. And the natural landscapes have also suffered in comparison with those I passed through earlier. The drought doesn’t help.

But on the plus side, I’ve no complaints about the riverside cycle path itself. The signage, surface, and separation from traffic have been of the highest quality – this cycle lane over a bridge at Tulln today was a good example of all three:

Highlights today included a quick unscheduled circuit of Krems Altstadt, risking the wrath of Guillaume:

Witnessing a swan rescue at Tulln (also a satisfying linguistic moment, as when I asked a bystander ‘what’s up?’ I correctly inferred the meaning of his reply). Phrase of the day: ‘ein Flügel verletzt’ – an injured wing:

Definitely not a highlight, but I’m at least glad I knew that FKK was the German acronym for nudist, or it would’ve been a bit of a shock when a man strode across the road in front of me in the altogether:

I loved this bike bridge, clipped to the underside of an existing vehicle crossing on the outskirts of Vienna. How cool is that?

But my absolute highlight of the day was the 10 minutes I spent watching an otter fishing. He was so close, I could hear him chomping on his catch. Apologies for the terrible photo:

By the way, speaking of nourishment – special mention for some of the ‘produce’ Team Midge spotted in the aisles today. This was an interesting name for a soft drink:

But this takes the biscuit:

Vienna is not quite the end of our journey – we still have one more day’s cycling to the Slovakian border. But we’ve given ourselves two days to explore the capital and catch up with old friends. See you on Thursday for the last leg!