Biking the Blue Danube

Day 5 Spitz to Tulln

Thursday June 12 2014

Wachau’s best vineyards hug the hillsides between Spitz and Dürnstein, a mere 10 km stretch of the Danube. We have tasted many of the varieties grown in the area and pronounced them perfectly delicious. The vineyards made for one of the prettiest rides, especially when you can see castle ruins and Ancient churches along the same route. 

Dürnstein has several of the most famous ruins in the Wachau region and the Cruise boats all stop to take their passengers on a guided tour of the town. Margaret especially wanted to visit Dürnstein Castle on a hilltop above the town up on top of the hill where King Richard the Lionhearted of England was held for ransom by Duke Leopold V after their dispute during the Third Crusade the winter of 1192-93.The castle has been in ruins since the end of the 30 Years War. After fighting the large tour groups all squeezing through the narrow streets of the village, Marg and I gave up. We never made it to the castle and had to content ourselves with admiring the exteriors of the Augustine Dürnstein monastery and the Mariahimmelfahrt monastery church, famous for its blue-white church tower.

Ray and Jack never attempted to fight the crowds. They waited patiently for us outside the gates of the town. When we finally rejoined them, Ray declared that they had such a stressful time it was time for coffee. We rode 100M to a café with an outdoor patio and shared the best cake we have tasted so far. We figured we all deserved a reward, even though we had only ridden 10 km.

Krems turned out to be our least favourite town, mostly because we got lost and misdirected several times. We started out trying to find a bicycle shop in town listed in our literature so Ray and Marg could find new bike shirts. We found the correct address but finally discovered the shop was no longer there. We gave up and followed signs supposedly directing us to the bike path that would lead to the bridge where we were to cross the river. We got lost twice. Finally a kind local on a bike led us to the right path. We crossed to the south side and continued on. It was lunch time and we still had about 45 km to go. We found a picnic spot with a bench next to the river and ate our picnic lunch. Suitably refreshed, we made it to Tulln, riding through pretty gardens along the river. We stopped by the Nibelungen Fountain where, according to legend, Attila the Hun met Gudrun and proposed marriage to her. It was an appropriate spot for a small wedding party to stop, drink champagne and take pictures.

We continued on to Hotel Römerhof. I was tired and feeling grotty so I stayed in the room, showered and wrote Day1 and 2 write ups while the others went to an outdoor beer garden down the street. As usual, we had dinner in our hotel rather than try to find another restaurant. A group from the Netherlands was also enjoying the excellent buffet. They had travelled by bus from Amsterdam to Passau with their bicycles in a large trailer and were now bicycling the same route as we were, ending in Vienna.

Day 6 Tulln to Vienna

Friday June 13 2014

Rat Catcher of Kroneuburg

I am sure you all remember the story of the Pied Piper of Hameln. Well, our coffe break in Kronenburg, Austria, the home of The Rat Catcher of Kroneuburg. The story is the same; a piper appeared offering to rid the town of its plague of rats. The Mayor agreed and the piper played his flute attracting all the rats in town and led the rats to the Danube where they fell in and drowned. The Mayor refused to pay the full amount, offering only 1/3 of the agreed amount, which the Piper refused. The Piper returned later, played his flute and lured all the children to a ship on the Danube, which they boarded and were never seen again. The only two children left were a deaf girl and a boy who returned to his home for a jacket and missed the boat.

We had left our hotel in Tulln earlier that morning and ridden about 14 km to a dam (Kreftwerk Greifenstein) on which we crossed to the north side of the Danube and rode another 6 km into Korneuburg. There was an outdoor market in progress on the plaza between the Rathaus (Town Hall) and the 1898 Rat Catcher monument of a piper a gold flute. We had our coffee watching all the displays of food being offered. 

Margaret couldn’t resist buying a basket of fresh strawberries, which we carried with us and ate for our lunch. We crossed the Danube on a bridge connecting the mainland to a long, narrow strip of parkland, called Danube Island, which sat in the middle of the Danube. We found a picnic bench opposite a cruise ship landing at Nussdorf and feasted on sandwiches made from our breakfast buffet and sweet strawberries, a real treat. 

From our picnic spot it was a short ride Reichsbrücke bridge where we crossed into Vienna and followed well marked bicycle paths to our Hotel Kunsthof next to the Prater train and underground station. The day had been warm, but not as warm as the previous few days. It was only 1:30PM and we had ridden only 41KM. Our bags had not arrived so we headed to the inner courtyard bar to sit, enjoy a beer or just water, and relax. 

We had to wait until 4PM this time for the bags to be delivered, as there were many stops to be made before reaching what was the hotel for the last night for the majority of bicyclists. We still had time to Show, change our clothes, buy a 48 hour pass for the Underground and find our way to Stephensplatz, where all the tourists, including us go to admire St Stephen’s Cathedral. The 137M (450ft) spire of the church, topped with a golden cross, is the beacon that tells people approaching Vienna that the city is just ahead. We had to admire the church from behind a wrought iron fence inside the church as there was a service is progress, but it was still impressive, although it didn’t match the churches in Melk and Durnstein. It was dinner time and we found an outdoor café nearby for our meal. A good ending to our day and we still had two more full days to enjoy the city.