Krems-Tulln

Posted on by John and Jenny

Krems is Austria’s oldest town and was at one stage as big as Vienna (nine centuries ago though); it marks the end of the Wachau valley.

Krems est la plus vieille ville d’Autriche et fut à une époque aussi importante que Vienne (bon, ça fait quand même 9 siècles); elle marque la fin de la vallée de la Wachau.

 

Further downstream is Tulln and, along the river is the Nibelungen fountain representing Attila facing Kriemhild (Gudrun). According to the legend, it was in Tulln that he first saw her and, struck by her beauty, proposed to her.

This town is also the birthplace of Egon Schiele.

Plus en aval, à Tulln, le long du fleuve, se trouve la fontaine des Nibelungen qui représente Attila faisant face à Kriemhild, également connue sous le nom de Gudrun. Selon la légende, c’est à Tulln qu’Attila a vu Kriemhild pour la première fois et, frappé par sa beauté, l’a demandée en mariage.

Tulln est également la ville de naissance d’Egon Schiele.

Wachau valley

Posted on by John and Jenny

The Wachau valley is fertile and apricot, peach, pear, apple and walnut trees share the land with vineyards.

Villages are typical of wine-growing areas and quite different from all other Austrian villages so far.

One last crossing of the Danube to reach the camping in Rossatz with views of Dürnstein and its ruins where Richard Lionheart was held prisoner for two years.

La vallée de la Wachau est fertile et les abricotiers, pêchers, poiriers, pommiers et noyers se partagent les sols avec les vignes.

Les villages sont typiques des régions viticoles et différents des autres villages autrichiens.

Une dernière traversée du Danube pour arriver au camping situé à Rossatz, en face de Dürnstein et ses ruines où Richard Coeur de Lion fut emprisonné pendant deux ans.

Melk abbey and the Monty Python

Posted on by John and Jenny

Melk baroque Benedictine abbey towers over the small town of the same name.

L’abbaye bénédictine de Melk, de style baroque, surmonte la petite ville du même nom.

 

As I visited, the paintings in the garden pavilion kept reminding me of the Monty Python sketch about Michelangelo (no kangaroo there 😉)

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Lors de la visite, les peintures du pavillon de jardin m’ont rappelé ce sketch des Monty Python.

 

 

Grey days

Posted on by John and Jenny

The day was grey and overcast while I cycled through small towns to cross the Danube at Mauthausen. The Memorial of the camp is situated on a hill about 4 kms out of town but I decided not to go and instead pedaled my way out and stopped for the night at Grein.

It rained heavily during the night but the tent was dry – until I packed it.

The second day was shorter, about 3 hours, under constant rain, doing my best to avoid the many snails along the way.

Un jour gris et couvert à pédaler à travers petites villes et champs avant de traverser le Danube à Mauthausen. Le mémorial du camp de concentration est situé sur une colline à 4 km de la ville mais je décidai de ne pas m’y rendre et j’ai continué à pédaler jusqu’à Grein.

La pluie est arrivée pendant la nuit mais la tente est restée sèche – jusqu’à ce que je la plie.

La deuxième journée de vélo, sous une pluie constante a été plus courte, environ trois heures. J’ai dû m’appliquer à éviter les nombreux escargots sur le chemin.

Berliner Höhenweg day six: Griezer Hütte to Kasseler Hütte

Posted on by John and Jenny

This was a reasonable pass, followed by a hike around the edge of the next valley, at about 2,000m.  The path was okay, though steep and narrow in parts, so you needed to pay attention because of the rain. 

Again, my camera was in my bag to stay dry.

Again, this hut was built by the Griezer section of the German Alpine Club.

That evening the person responsible for the hut told us that the weather forecast for the next day was bad; that the usual nine-hours hike would probably take eleven hours; that the path would be slippery and dangerous; and that nobody should hike it alone. 

The next morning, we all decided to go down to the valley.

Along the way I have made some new friends, who all showed patience with my poor German.

 

 

Linz

Posted on by John and Jenny

A rather dull and hot ride but the camping, offering no shade, was right next to a lake, so a dip was welcome.
Later, a 5km cycle to Linz, the city was crowded and festive because it was hosting its bi-annual street arts festival.

Une balade un peu ennuyeuse et chaude mais le camping, sans un brin d’ombre, était idéalement situé à côté d’un petit lac, un plongeon fut donc le bienvenu.
Un peu plus tard un tour à Linz, à 5km, la ville était en fête car leur festival des arts de rue, tenu tous les deux ans, en était à sa deuxième journée.

Berliner Höhenweg day five: Berliner Hütte to Griezer Hütte

Posted on by John and Jenny

This was the toughest day.  Threatening weather meant an early start.  The climb to the pass was not too demanding, but we passed the beautiful, mirror-like Schwarz See.

The black clouds beyond the pass meant we should not wait at the top.  So I started my descent down the cliff face holding the cable. 

The rain started.

It was a steeper via ferrate than the previous day.  The rain made the cable cold and wet, and my fingers started to get numb.  I was scared.

My new-found friends, two families with four teenage girls, found it a giggle. 

So what a wimp am I? 

This hut was built by the Griezer section of the German Alpine Club.  A man working there played accordion in the evening.

 

First day in Austria

Posted on by John and Jenny

Entering Austria in the morning, the day was spent along quiet cycle paths, passing through natural reserves and using a first ferry for bicycles only, when the left side has no trail for a while.

Entrée en Autriche dans la matinée, la journée s’est passée le long de pistes cyclables tranquilles, à travers des réserves naturelles. J’ai pris un ferry pour vélo pour la première fois quand la rive gauche n’offre aucun sentier pendant quelques kilomètres.

 

Along the way were very tall (up to 2m) bushes with flowers that seemed to belong to the orchids family.

Il y avait de grandes plantes (jusqu’à 2m) dont les fleurs semblent appartenir à la famille des orchidées.

 

The river is wide enough for water-skiing, there were people kayaking, and the camping was, again, right along the edge of the water, at Kaiserhof.

Le fleuve est assez large pour permettre la pratique de ski nautique, j’ai passé des kayakeurs et le camping, à Kaiserhof, avait à nouveau les pieds dans l’eau.

Berliner Höhenweg day four: Furtschaglhaus to Berliner Hütte

Posted on by John and Jenny

This hike crosses a saddle.  From the saddle it is a short climb to the peak, the Schönbichler Horns at 3,134 m.  I left my pack at the saddle and climbed to the peak.

The view over the surrounding alps is beautiful as you are above most of the surrounding peaks.

The descent is somewhat tricky, and I learnt what “via ferrate” is in German: “Klettersteig”.

The Berliner Hütte was built by the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club in 1879 and is grandiose.  Early photos show it at the edge of a glacier, which is no longer there.

 

 

 

Passau and the three rivers

Posted on by John and Jenny

Every person I met in Regensburg said the same: take the train to get to Passau and start cycling from there. This is what I did and briefly visited the town, known as “the city of three rivers” because the Ilz and the Inn, which comes from the Swiss mountains, both join the Danube.

Toutes les personnes à qui j’ai parlé à Ratisbonne m’ont donné le même message : prenez le train jusqu’à Passau et pédalez depuis là. J’ai suivi leurs conseils et rapidement visité la “ville des trois rivières”. L’Ilz et l’Inn, qui prend sa source dans les montagnes suisses, joignent toutes deux le Danube à cet endroit.

 

The three rivers are all different in colours. The water in the Ilz is dark, almost black (no photo), the Danube is blue-brown but the Inn is much lighter, almost tending to silvery-grey. The simultaneous joining of the Ilz and the Inn create a new river twice the width of the old one. In fact, the river’s conjoining with the Inn creates headaches among hydrologists and geographers: for the Inn is clearly the wider of the two rivers and carries more water, and has travelled further to get here.

Les trois rivières sont de couleurs différentes. L’eau de l’Ilz est sombre, presque noire (pas de photo), le Danube est bleu-brun mais l’Inn est beaucoup plus claire, tirant vers le gris argenté. La jonction simultanée de l’Ilz et de l’Inn créée une nouvelle rivière, deux fois plus large que l’ancienne. En fait, l’arrivée de l’Inn pose des questions aux hydrologues et géographes car l’Inn est clairement plus large que le Danube, a un débit plus fort et a voyagé plus loin pour arriver ici.

 

After Passau, it was a short twenty-something cycle to a camping on the water’s edge, in Kohlbachmühl, still in Germany.

Le fleuve devient plus large et plus fort et je l’ai suivi pendant un peu plus d’une vingtaine de kilomètres avant de camper au bord de l’eau, dernière nuit sur sol allemand.

 

Anne and Lucien whom I met on the train to Passau and with whom I was to spend a lot of time with until Vienna.

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Anne et Lucien, que j’avais rencontré sur le train pour Passau et avec qui j’allais passer beaucoup de temps jusqu’à Vienne.