So we are still on the same magical day that I woke up to snow, I'm just trying to keep each country on a different page.

So after just half an hour back in Germany I crossed back into Austria and was now following the Danube east. This was great because the Danube bicycle trail is very famous and very popular and apparently very beautiful, but I had never cycled along any stretch of it before. On the other hand, it was also not so good, because this section took me through a steep sided valley and it was getting dark. While it may seem that being by a river would mean lots of places to camp, the reality is often very different. I found myself on a bicycle path with the artificial river bank dropping steeply to my left and the road to my right. Beyond the road steep hillside and not a scrap of flat soft land in sight. It got darker and I was soon cycling on into the night, something that was made particularly hazardous by the fact the temperature was dropping below zero and with the melted snow there was a real risk of icy patches that I just wouldn't see in the dark. But what choice did I have, there was just nowhere to camp.

But this was a really great day, and after the magical snowy morning and the wonderful meetings with Fritz and Walter, there was still one more brilliant surprise in store. As I cycled through the small town of Engelhartszell a guy at the side of the road stopped me and said hello. He asked me if I would like to stay at his place for the night (not like that, behave).The conversation went something like:

"Would you like to stay at my pla"

"YES PLEASE!!!"

Michael was so great. He had to go to work for a half hour but he let me in to take a shower while he did that and came back and cooked me a delicious dinner and helped me out with some stuff I needed to do online too. We had some nice chats. Michael also did a bicycle trip with his girlfriend (now wife) in Patagonia. Pictures from the trip were on the wall and I was pretty blown away by how pretty it looked, and how great the pictures were (Michael is a great photographer too.) He also told me about his job where he researches and studies the Danube wildlife and ecosystem (i.e. fish). It was just such a great end to a great day, Thank You Michael!

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