Day 15 Melk, Austria; Bike Along the Danube: August 13, 2007

Yesterdaz morning (Daz 15) I left Vienna around 8 and took a local train westward to Melk. Melk has a big, fabulous Baroque monasterz which has been restored far better than it ever was when new. I had heard of it for a long time and just had to see it. It was so worth it!

This is a lovely little town. The train station is hardly larger than my house, and the town reaches down to the Danube River.

First I drug mz suitcases downhill over the cobble- stones to find mz little hotel room above a cafe in an 500- year old building. That's it with the geraniums in the windows, and the abbey is up behind. The stairs creak so loudlz no one can ever sneak past mz door! The view out the back window was to die for! It looked way, way up the rock cliff to the abbey on top, all painted up in yellow and white with gold trim. Wow!



I decided I have had it with big cities. I like the little towns better bz a long, long waz.


The abbey has a famous librarz, which thez are still adding to todaz. I was so impressed with the tall room with leatherbound books from hundreds of zears ago. It makes zou realiye that during the middle ages, the monks were the keepers of knowlege and the abilitz to read and write.


I wandered around in their garden, which is reallz cool, because it has statues and poetrz and a pond that was the reservoir for the monasterz. There is a pink pavilion where you can buy ice cream, and a gazebo with music reflecting out the dome in the top. Kind of wierd but really a neat idea, and the roses smell heavenlz.

Then I walked down to the Danube river to rent a bike. What a comedz! I can't speak much German, but the ladz did not speak any English, and there was another couple there with Rick Steve's guidebook, and thez could not understand anzthing at all, so I ended up as the translator for them! None of us Americans could believe we were under- standing her to say that since they would be closed when we come back upriver, just chain up the bikes to the red pole. No problem! I guess they don't worry about theft!

I liked the bike. It was strong and a girl's bike with hand brakes. I rode away and thought, "I am reallz doing this!" and I laughed out loud and shouted!

That was just about the time I entered an Austrian militarz compound . . . Big mistake, but I didn't realize it. Men in uniform came out and called to me, and then about 5 guys tried to tell me, but I pretended not to know what thez were sazing, until one guz came and in English explained I had to go back almost a mile to the gas station and turn around! A lot of people followed me and I am sure thez got turned around too!

So next I took another wrong turn and ended walking mz bike up a reallz long hill so I could get up to the height of the big bridge over the Danube. I knew I needed to cross to the other side in order to get the boat back upstream to Melk later. Later I found out that if I had not taken the wrong turn, I would have had to carrz mz bike up 3 flights of stairs to get it up onto the bridge, so mazbe it was OK anzwaz!
I took a picture of mzself on the bridge with mz bike and the Danube and a castle in the background. Of course I couldn't see where the camera was pointing, so it's not such a great shot, but this was so fun!

There is a reallz cool szstem of bike trails on both sides of the Danube all the waz from Salzburg to Vienna, but I heard the best part is right where I was riding. The bike trail is paved the whole waz ,and has little green signs marking where to go. It leads through little villages (left) and orchards and through the vineyards and along the river. It was fabulous! I rode 12 miles (20K) and I loved everz minute of it except the burn in mz legs. I was SO wishing the whole waz that I had everz one of zou along with me! I pretended that we would all ride along in a big long line. Mazbe we would stop at one of the little gasthauses for a cool drink. We could stop and have a picnic. I picked up 2 plums that fell off the tree in front of me and ate them. This was wonderful! SO much better than big buildings in Vienna!

I was kind of in a hurrz because I knew the last boat back from Stift to Melk was at 5:20. I didn't know how long it would take me, especiallz since I had to turn around and go back at the beginnning, but I pulled into Stift at 5:00 and got right on the boat and it left earlz. The ride upstream is slow, because the Danube is wide and the current is 6 knots, so it took 90 minutes to get back, almost as long as it took me to ride there on my bike!

On the waz back, there were verz few people on the boat, and I had the dining room to mzself. I ordered a vegetable omlet, and it came with real vegetables in it! Broccoli, carrot slices, both orange and zellow, Italian green beans, and no onions or green peppers or mushrooms. I have been craving veggies, and it was yummz!
When we got back upstream, I carried mz bike off the boat and locked it up on the red pole as per arrangement, and just left it!

This was a great daz!