September 5, 2014
Spitz
What a change in the weather. There was not a cloud in the sky, I didn't wear my coat all day and by early afternoon the temperature had climbed to about 28 degrees..
Coffee with a group of Scottish cyclists at Ybbs then on to Melk. Melk is dominated by a massive Benedictine Abbey built in baroque splendour at the beginning of the eighteenth century as a symbol of joy and optimism after the Turkish wars and the successful Counter-Reformation. It is a huge draw card for visitors. You see it for many kilometres as you approach the town and it dominates the landscape. Clearly the Abbey was not the only thing of interest in Melk today as we approached there were huge numbers of passenger liners docked, rafted up to each other and docked at the other side of river - there must have been at least 8. Tour buses where ferrying passengers from the boats to the town, around 2km away - a few hardy souls were walking. As we burst into the square it was a mass of humanity. Long tables were set up, you could smell chickens roasting everywhere, there was a stage with chairs set up in front of it and a brass band all dressed in heavy hot clothes were playing rather magnificently. It was hot so the tar was beginning to melt on the road - no one was sitting on the arranged chairs they were all huddling in the shade as close to the eis cafes as possible. We saw our Scottish friends, listened to the very good band briefly, had an ice cream and left for the comparative quiet of the Wachau.
The Wachau is the premier wine growing region of Austria and our destination was Spitz. We were now feeling confident about accommodation but we had not factored in the fact that it was the weekend, it was fine for the first time for two of three weeks and the Wachau is close to Vienna and an extremely popular destination as people come, bring their bikes, drink wine and ride their electric bikes from one small wine village to the next. Coming into Spitz I saw a guest house, yes that would do so in I popped in 'Belegt'. Never mind I will just try the next one. Then we noticed a cyclist in front of us going into each guest house and coming out again, the message was clear. Plan B ( we are not yet up to plan Z, the survival blanket we are carrying) find the Information. There is a fantastic woman in the information, she had a list of all the vacancies in town and rang and confirmed a room for us. We felt rather smug and set off, it was well out of town up a steep hill and eventually we came to what we thought was the place, a rather run down house with a lady outside. I approached her and don't know what happened but she said there was no room go on up the hill. On we went up the hill and came to a Zimmer Frie sign. There was a rather wild looking woman outside who just waved her stick at us and shouted nein, nein. We retreated clearly plan Z was approaching. Back to the first house - I banged on the door but no answer. Lets go back to the Information Plan?. Almost there and I see a Zimmer Frei sign by a flower shop , unlikely but I will try it - called out to Ken who didn't hear me and zoomed on. The wonderful conclusion is that we have a beautiful room above the flower shop overlooking the garden. What is more Ken eventually came back from the Information and found me.
I have got on to booking.com and we have a room booked in Tulln for the night tomorrow! I forgot to say that Ken saw a single cylinder Steyre sitting by the roadside - the first for days. I didn't notice it but have seen the photo as you will !
Today's ride: 76 km (47 miles)
Total: 1,943 km (1,207 miles)
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