We had a delicious breakfast at the Hotel Berghof in Obernberg. Today is Sunday, often a tricky day to find an open bakery, so we asked if we could make sandwiches for lunch from the ample breakfast buffet, and pay for them. No problem making sandwiches, and no charge either. Just a big smile, and "Of course!". What a nice way to start the day.
I think this is one of those days we will always remember, for all kinds of different reasons. First off, the Radweg is great. As Keith said, fairly early in the day, it is unpredictable. It felt like a surprise around every corner, and that is fun.
We were rolling, and having a great ride. We came across three young men on a bridge and stopped to chat. They were from Afghanistan. They were refugees and walking for a better life. Germany was the goal, and they were within 5 km at this point. The youngest was fifteen, the oldest twenty. We had a long conversation with them. They said they walked about 60 km a day. We offered them the only things we could, which was best wishes and some Euros. These were the first of over a hundred refugees that we encountered over the next few km. before the bridge to Germany. The next group we saw were families with very young children. I gave one little one my orange and received a heart warming smile in return. The father was very interested in my map...they knew they were close to the border, but didn't realize how close. And so it went. We gave what we could and wished them all the very best of luck. It felt very inadequate. We felt incredibly lucky. They all asked where we were from and lit up when we said Canada.
The first three young men. The one on the right spoke excellent English. They had other family members both in front of them and behind them.
We always asked if we could take a picture if their faces were going to be in it. The people we met seemed to be in good spirits and were excited to be so close to their goal - Germany. We hope it works out for them. Many of them spoke good English and expressed their hope and desire for a safe place to live.
It was heart breaking. Can you imagine leaving your home, your culture and family members? We saw mothers pushing strollers and small children walking along side.
Back when we first met the young men Keith had noticed a car stop for this group. It was an Austrian couple who picked up this couple, with an elderly woman in a wheelchair, and drove them to the border. That was a concrete way to help.
Once past the bridge to Germany there were no more refugees. We carried on, quiet with our own thoughts, until we stopped for coffee in a cute little village. Of course I can't remember the name! Here we misplaced the bike path, resulting in Keith carrying both bikes down a set of stairs. This was due to a detour, compounded by my desire for coffee. We had tea in a thermos, but that wasn't going to cut it with me.
Up a long hill. This one had a stop sign just before it started, so no advantage from momentum. The stop sign was because two bike paths crossed at this point.
Now the plan when we started the day was to put in 75 to 80 km so that we would be within very easy striking distance of Salzburg tomorrow. Then we came around a hairpin turn and saw this.
Burghausen. Laura recommended we stay here. We had no idea.
We are still on the Austria side here, but it wasn't long before we were on the German side, looking for accommodation. Spontaneity is important on bike tours.
We had the most comic accommodation search ever. We found a likely looking spot, but couldn't figure out how to get in. An older women (meaning older than us) with excellent English, came rushing down to help. Once she found out we were Canadian, she treated us like rock stars, because she said Canadians had been so kind to her when she lived in Montreal for five years. We couldn't use our cell phone to call the Pension owner, as it has the Austrian SIM in it, so she hustled Keith into the schnapps store across the way and had the man who runs it make the call. Then the most frenetic and eager to please woman came rolling up on her bike and it got even funnier. We were in the room and trying to find out the price...I don't know how to describe the exchange, but it was priceless. Anyway, the price was right, the room is great and we went straight up to explore the castle.
Keith took 159 photos today, and most were after we arrived in Burghausen. After a lengthy exploration of the castle complex, we came back down and explored the town. We went out for dinner ( we should have shared) and are ready for bed. We are hoping for an early start tomorrow. Hah! How about an earlier start than usual. What an amazing day.
