September 14, 2011
Through Linz to Grein: Sunshine turns to rain
We met a very nice couple at dinner last night, Michael and Julie. Michael is from Vienna and Julia is American - they live in Phoenix. It must be great for Michael to be able to show Julie such a beautiful part of his home country as they cycle along. Dinner time is always a lucky dip for us. Our German is so poor that we are lucky if we recognize one or two ingredients in the long description of the dish. Ken goes by the theory that if it is too cheap it won't be big enough (very unlikely that anything will be anything but huge). I am looking for the word katoffel as I love the way they cook potatoes. It is very handy if the waitress remembers who orders what as when our meals arrive we don't know whose is whose. We have really enjoyed all our meals and haven't had nasty suprises. One meal arrived with a heap of grated white stuff on top. A fork full of grated raw horseradish is very hot and I had learnt the word for horseradish (forgotten it now). It is also very obvious why apple strudel is so popular. I have never seen so many apple trees so heavily laden in all my life. The paths are lined with them and at this time of the year they are dropping all over the ground. They need to be used somehow. In one supermarket Ken saw a Braeburn apple labeled as coming from New Zealand - astonishing who would ever buy them with all the local apples ripening.
Today's ride lacked the magic of yesterday's. It was easy and pleasant but just not that exciting and involved a very long detour where flood protection work is being carried out, At about 11.30 the sunshine turned to drizzle and by the time we reached Grein it was raining heavily so we were pleased to stop and find a dry refuge. We sat in the bar and watched the other drowned rats arriving, It is fun in these places as they empty out completely in the morning, they from about 2.30pm onwards cyclists start to dribble in. They all have a garage for excellent bike storage and extremely comfortable large rooms with en suites. In these smaller towns cycle touring is obviously an important part of their economy and cyclists are very well catered for. Grein is a pretty little town with a castle, we passed through here last year on our trip but on that day there was sparkling sunshine which always does a lot for a place.
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Today's ride: 76 km (47 miles)
Total: 2,333 km (1,449 miles)
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