Episode 5: Day 5 and 6: Spitz to Tulln
and on to Vienna
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Vienna Interlude
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.
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