Day 27 - May 31 - Tourists!

 

We wandered and wandered through the Old Town. 

We listened to an organ concert in the Saltzburg Cathedral. 

The 800 year old baptismal font is where Mozart was baptized. This is one of the font's feet. 

An interesting art installation in the crypt, included small wire sculpture presented with a candle in front so that the shadow is part of the art, and "dances" with the candles' flames. Really involving. 12 pieces were there. 

And after lunch we explored the castle. 

And got a bird's eye view of Saltzburg, literally. 

And it wouldn't be a day in Saltzburg without a little Sound of Music reenactment! Rolph? Is that you?

"I have even heard her singing in the Abbey!?"

After so many days of small villages and countryside, the city was a bit of a shock. Lots of English being spoken and tourists and school trips. 

Tomorrow we will leave Saltzburg and leave Austria as we cross into Germany and head for Munich. 

Stage 5 begins. 

Day 26 - May 30 - Stage 4 Complete

Saltzburg!

We did it. 

We completed stage 4 and we are taking a day off to celebrate. 

We stayed in such a wonderful Pension last night in St. Gilgen. The innkeepers were so kind when we arrived yesterday, cold and wet and tired. We had a warm and happy stay there. He recommended restaurants and let us store our bikes in the garage.  This morning we had the best breakfast 😁. No oatmeal this morning. Fresh fruit, croissants, cappuccino, soft boiled eggs. The works!  All included. 

AND as we left we mentioned our fear of the upcoming hills. He immediately went to his paper map and computer and showed us options. What a gift. We went back to our room and replanned the route. We took the 

Only a few kms longer and we missed the tough climbs, we still climbed, but nothing too steep. 

And the descent into Salzburg was the longest most beautiful descent we have had. All bike path. Through farms and fields and forests. 

It got sunny today, but never very warm, so it was perfect for riding. 

Beauty all along the route today. More lakes and fields and mountains. 

We arrived in Saltzburg in time for a quick bike tour of the Palace and Garden (Do Ray Me... Such a great music video filmed there!).  

And stopped at a cute coffee shop. 

Tomorrow we explore. 

Stats:

Cumulative total kms now 1,448

Nomadic life and its limits

 Supposedly, nomadic people could only have 2 children, one on mom's back and one walking. Now that we are nomads these kind of limitations come into play. Not that we are having more children, it's all about food.

The dynamic problem is that carrying food is convenient in that it saves both time and money and allows us to stop and eat anywhere and anytime. Particularly now that we are in the very hilly Salzburg region you can start to lose energy exponentially. However, food adds weight and to a lesser degree volume. My bike does not have the greatest gearing for very steep hills considering the 30/35 lbs that I am carrying and the fact that I am kinda old and was never the greatest cyclist to begin with. So, adding weight on a 10% grade hill may well be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back. I can barely make it up these hills zigzagging as I go.

The food items we generally carry are salami, cheese, a tube of mustard a couple of buns and sometimes a can of tuna and packet of mayo. Obviously the game is to carry just enough until you can replenish but not so much that you can't climb the hill. Generally it works. The diet is not varied but it is satisfying.
Today is Sunday in Austria. All stores close at noon on Saturday and reopen Monday. This raises the level of the game. On Saturday morning when we loaded in 4 buns, salami, cheese and a can of tuna and mayo along with various dried fruit, apples and bananas (see how it adds up) I figured we were good until monday. Of course, we are restauranting for dinner.

 
Saturday lunch it was cold and raining so we restauranted a big late lunch at the end of our ride and ate our salami sammys for dinner. Today we breakfasted the last two packs of oatmeal and planned on hauling our last two buns and tuna for lunch.

 
Staring down the barrel of a cold, rainy 50K today I realized we don't have enough food. On our way out of our "guest house" I asked our hostess if she might have a couple of buns we could buy from her. She did and we barely secured our 10am snack with some jam.

 
We are fully depleted of food as we head out for dinner. Tomorrow we will restock as the stores open but we will stop after the nasty 11% grade hill in the morning.

Day 25 - May 29 - Hallstatt to Wolfgang

We went from one lake to another today. 

Beautiful lakes surrounded by cliffs inviting climbers to the challenge.  

(From Wikipedia)

Hallstätter See or Lake Hallstatt is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Austria. It is named after Hallstatt, a small market town famous for its salt mining since prehistoric times.

This morning is was quiet and calm, with one fishing boat out all alone in the cold. 

Beautiful views of settlements and also of vast unsettled areas. 

The trail around the lake was serious. 

At one point a long metal and rubber path was constructed and bridged over a narrow part of the lake. 

Marc ahead of me on the bridge. 

It was a cold and early start and we got 20+ kms in before the rain started. But it did start and didn't let up. 

And after a good ride we found ourselves on the shore of Lake Wolfgang.

Around it we rode to the far end. St Gilgen. 

And here we will stay. To get warm and rest. Tomorrow we will climb (and descend) to Saltzburg and complete Stage 4 of this adventure. 

Until then, we are warming up with hot chocolate.

And enjoying this lovely little town. 

Stats: