Sleep is not coming as easy as it should. We are eating and going to bed at reasonable times compared with home but the longer restful sleeps are still evading us. We were up for breakfast at 8 am today and again enjoyed a variety of locally sourced organic products. These kinds of breakfasts require an equal and opposite energy output. We really need to start some serious cycling!
Today is moving day and we are ready... we think. Train tickets- check. Panniers packed and ready-check. Hotel paid in full-check. Bikes loaded - check. Out the door and onto the street. On the first push of the crank Scott's panniers tilt back and fall to the ground. Both panniers are still attached to the rack frame but are now resting on the ground! Did the rack break (question mark) No. When fitting the rack to the frame, Scott neglected to tighten bolts that hold the front stays in place. He said he forgot the correct wrench during building and was planning to do it later. Fortunately following Pat's "get there plenty early" policypaid off and after everything was taken off the rack, and the rack stays correctly fastened in place, we were off again.
Sad to leave hotel Stadthalle. The had lots of interesting pieces from throw away items. These two baskets were very handy and looked cool.
We arrived at the train station and after some searching we boarded our designated car 12 for Salzburg. There are two bike positions and bike clamps available for our prebooked bike tickets. We mess with these hold downs and try to find a way to secure both bikes without impeding the doorway or stairs. There are no wordless diagrams showing the correct method but we attached the clamps to the bikes and felt they were secure. Scott, curious as to how others might use these clamps, ran down the train to see if there were any good examples. Upon his return, Pat was getting a lesson from the train attendant. A much better solution was provided but the panniers needed to be removed.
Our bikes firmly attached with the adjustable arms connected to the seat posts. Now why could I not figure that out.
On board the train we also received a clear lesson about the proper masks now required in Austria. The huge stash of medical grade masks that we brought no longer comply with the regulations and we need FFP2 or N95 as known in North America. Fortunately we had heard about this from the camera shop owner and bought a couple in advance. Unfortunately, Pat pulled off one of the two straps in the first few minutes of use. OBB attendant to the rescue and a new mask was provided for one Euro. A bargain price compared to the drug store so we bought four more. The masks are used in many public places but not in the hotels.
Beautiful country side and small towns seen from the train on route to Salzburg.
Upon arrival in Salzburg, we picked up a couple of premade sandwiches and stopped at a park for lunch on route to our hotel.
We had lunch in this park and noted the interesting use of a stone column placed years ago to hold up this limb. The tree was a great climbing tree for kids in the park.
After checking into our hotel and unloading our gear the plan was to ride around Salzburg and get a feel for the town. On Saturday afternoon the main street down to the river was very crowded so we walked our bikes drifting in the masses. At the river there were lots of people along the banks basking in the sun savoring the last days of summer. We guided our bikes to the cycle path and headed south thinking we would cross the river to the other bank at some point. The riding was so nice on the sunny side of the river that we did not stop until 11 kms up river and finally crossed at the small town of Hallbein. Hallbein is a very cute town and a good place to stop as the sun was now behind the higher hills. We found a perfect place in the town square to enjoy a couple of late afternoon bevvies.
Salzburg castle on the hill. We will get up there in the next couple of days.
We might have lingered a bit too long in Hallbein and several kilometres of crushed gravel in the shade (dark) back to Salzburg was not very appealing. We located the nearby train station and took the 20 minute train back to Salzburg. We grabbed a quick dinner on the main road near our hotels and called it a day. Hoping for better sleeps tonight.
