June 6, 2017
Day 3 - Rodl to Wallsee
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today was a little less impressive than the first 2 days. More built-up areas to ride though, and the route took us away from the river for a while. On the other hand, a delicious slice of Linzertorte was consumed!
The Rodlhof Hotel probably rated a 6 out of 10. Clean, like all the hotels, but there was a strange vibe to the place. It seemed like they were mostly in the restaurant business and the hotel was an afterthought. Breakfast was just OK, so we rode off a little hungry.
As we worked our way back to the river, the roads were beautiful.
Luckily for our growling stomachs, Linz was only 5km down the road. We crossed over and found a cafe that served Linzertorte. This might have been the highlight of the trip for Robin.
Back on the bike, the rest of the morning was dedicated to circumnavigating the industrial sprawl around Linz. Some of the largest chemical factories in the world are just outside of town. I'm sure they're pretty clean, but I'm glad I don't live downstream or downwind from them!
Our route returned to more countryside and we made our way to Enns, which has a beautiful old 13th century gothic cathedral and some cool old town walls. Navigating the walls was tough with the bike but with some lifting and good teamwork, we managed.
Just speaking for me, it was nice to see some old stones that were not covered with gold leaf.
Finally, back on the road to our final destination - Wallsee.
Wallsee, despite its name, is not on a lake. It's on a promontory overlooking the Danube. Getting to our hotel involved what seemed like the biggest climb of the trip - pretty steep! But we made it and found our hotel, the Landgasthof Sengstbratl, on the main square of town.
The downstairs was a cute-looking pub, only marred by a large group of chainsmoking local farmers.
Luckily they were gone by dinnertime. We ate in the "non-smoking" section of the pub. The fare was the usual fried food - seemingly very popular in Austria.
After the heavy dinner, we felt like a walk, so we ambled over to look at Schloss Wallsee, the local castle. It was closed, so we'll have to come back to visit sometime later.
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 182 km (113 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |