Maria Taferl

The road is very nice.
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Tried to leave the hotel early as we were awake early but unfortunately we had assumed we would start a bit late and told them we’d have a late breakfast. Had a great chat about various philosophical stuff, 9/11 conspiracy theories, and a bit about God which was fun. For a religious person Gavin made a good job of playing Devil. Makes things very intersting. So we got underway about 10am and started to make our way to Mari Taferl.

The track here was not as pretty as it was a bit more industrialised. Still nice having the river to follow but on the odd occasion when we went a little inland to avoid some of the bigger factory areas it was nice and rural. Riding through streets walled by cornfields like a maze with only one path. Picked a few apples and plums which I love doing but Gavin wasn’t so sure.

A very nice sign to arrive at
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Gavin was also a bit faster than me (funny that), especially as I kept wanting to stop and take photos, so he kept my pace up which was great because I think that otherwise I would have dawdled.

We stopped for lunch in a little cafe by the river and watched as a storm slowly blew in. Gavin wanted to try and ride the piece of sunshine that was still over us but I wasn’t so sure it wouldn’t outpace us. We gave it a go and sure enough, within a km or so we satrted getting wet. Luckily enough there was a nice little spot for a beer. What a shame.

Things got a bit pear shaped
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This ended Gavin and my travels as he was meeting a friend and decided he wanted to get some extra kms behind him and Maria Taferl was not so distant. So I crossed the river en route to Maria Taferl and he took the short side to Vienna.

Arrived at base of Maria Taferl not long after that. Had seen the chapel in the distance and was a little bit nervous because it looked so high. And It WAS!! OMG. Do I really have to ride up that? Well I guess I didn’t but that wouldn’t be a good story so off I went. For a bit. A little bit. Then a pause. Then a little bit more. Pause. Bit more. Watch the cars go past. Then a bit more. Van with trailer full of bikes which I wanted to hi-jack. Then some more. I can make the next corner, puff puff. Pause. Sweating like a pig. Oh good a less steep bit, it must be nearly over! Why did I look at the GPS?! Nowhere near over. AAGGGHHHHHH. Piece by piece until I finally saw the sign. Oh want a beautiful sign. Then a bit more and I was there. And well worth it.

Hotel Rose
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Booked into the first hotel with a view and spent the next hour with another blissful shower and a walk around town. Very nice. Small hill top village with golf course and Gnome garden.

Back to the hotel and fought my way through dancing wedding guests to the balcony for dinner and some beers. Met Joung and Joke, some lovely Dutch people and chatted as the sun went down over the Donnau (Danube). Beautiful. Said our goodnights and was in bed by 10. So close but yet so far. A good nights sleep woiuld elude me.

Local community
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Lying in bed and the lights went out. Blackout. So I thought I’d be useful and take my head torch down. Met a Belgian guy I met earlier who was very obviously in the middle of shaving and offered him the torch. Great. Except he was a bit distracted and went back into the wrong room. Luckily enough it was empty but he was well surprised by the fact that someone had stolen his luggage and his wife.

After he’d finished shaving I was a bit more awake so I thought I might go down and check out the bar and have a beer. It was a dungeon stone style of bar so I wanted to see it candle lit. And it was great. Really medieval. So great my one beer turned into eleven and 2:50am. It’s amazing how one beer will almost always turn into beers. Met most of the staff, including one of the owners mates who was visiting from Australia and helping with the wedding. Very funny hearing German with an Aussie accent.

Dutch friends Jong and Joke
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He had to run when the Groom found the Bride. It seems in Austria that after the wedding the Bride is taken away and hidden somewhere in the town and no one can eat until the Groom finds her. Tricky part is that he has to have a drink in every place that he looks so he’s generally a bit sozzled by the time he finds her. The other great thing is that you can buy a dance with the bride (who was stunning) but I was unfortunately too sozzled myself by the time this information was passed onto me so I missed my oportunity. Bugger.

Beer, great for sunburn
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Finally got coherent enough to get myself to bed, knowing that tomorrow would be a very interesting morning.