Early on in the day we passed into Austria, the first time Kieran has made a land border crossing. it proved a little anticlimactic as we initially rode past the signs which were less than obvious, but we did manage to get a photo or two to mark the occasion.
Given that we were in Austria, the only reasonable thing to do was to have Sacher Torte for morning tea. This was taken at a beautiful spot on the river, with a stunning outlook.
The bulk of the ride was through what is essentially a gorge, with the valley walls rising steeply from the riverbanks. It made for spectacular views for most of the day, which is not done justice by our attempts at photography. Mostly this was also along dedicated bike paths, which proved to be a very nice experience. We had one small delay after morning tea where a section of the path was temporarily closed to avoid the potential crushing of cyclists by trees which were being felled up ahead. It was surprising to see just how many people built up at the stopping point - when you're all going in the same direction you have no sense of what the traffic volume is. We did however get passed for the 3rd day in a row by the same couple. We can't work out how it keeps happening as we presume they are leaving us far behind.
We lunched at our finishing point in Aschach, where we saw our speedy duo again. They kept moving after lunch while we checked into our hotel, so we don't expect that we'll be seeing them again...
All in all, it was a very pleasant day's riding. We recovered enough for a stroll and an ice cream this afternoon, followed by finding a very nice little Italian restaurant in one of the back streets. Walking in to see it full with people suggested that it was a good choice, even before the food arrived (confirming the impression!). A night cap at a little open air bar overlooking the river completed what has been a very enjoyable and picturesque day.
Relive 'Danube day 7'
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