Austria

The rain in Germany falls mainly on my helmet.

| Mairead

That was a very tiring day yesterday. I think it was nine hours on the road….04 07a

(Leaving our little town of Gries Im Sellrain)

It started out slow… Nice roads in Austria. Then it began to rain and get cold. You may remember the cold weather layers we were so eager to get rid of on the first journey through Germany just two weeks ago? Well we were equally eager to get it back on yesterday. But the rain was nice, it makes a lovely pitter, patter on my helmet and when you’re all cosy and warm inside layers of fabric it’s magical. Drank more tea yesterday also, for one thing the coffee is not the same once you leave Italy… and for another holding a mug of hot tea is the nicest thing in the world when you’re cold.

04 07b

(This seems to be the way they stack hay in Austria)

We stayed near Frankfurt last night and we were lucky they had a restaurant and the food was good. The view of Frankfurt was also very good. We could see planes leaving the airport but not hear them – perfect for  a good night’s sleep!

04 07c

(On our way to the motorway)

We have been incredibly lucky with our phone service. Three cheers for Three. We have been using it in on our mobiles in Ireland for more than a year now and for a monthly fee we get free data access. That was all grand and handy but what was a lovely surprise was there’s a Three in the Uk, in Austria and in Italy, so we got free data in those places too! No problem with data roaming and the stories of bills for thousands of euros for downloading an email (unless there’s a bill waiting for us when we get home……) So, yesterday as soon as we left Austria our phones turned back into phones. We couldn’t even check the weather (well, of course we could just look up…) and we had no idea what was happening to Mr. Snowdon. Then when we arrived at our hotel the nice man had to apportion out little bits of paper to us for access to the wifi… “there’s one for your phone and one for your laptop and one for….. and I’ll have to write those in the book….”

04 07d

(Austria, so pretty)

We’ll continue through Germany today and into the Netherlands, so no internet until we hit McDonald’s! Well, to be precise McDonald’s the Netherlands because in my experience McDonald’s Germany don’t do free wi-fi (one participant in my survey…)

04 07f

(Last check of wi-fi before we leave the 3-Austrian borders)

Gratitude List today: Austria – the beauty. Cold weather bike gear – the cosiness. Rain – as it splashes on my helmet. My helmet – as it stops the rain from splashing on my head! Hot tea – just holding it. Frankfurt – the food here in our hotel, the view, the sound proof windows. Three – the free data on holidays.

Until the Netherlands, Mairead

We arrived here in Austria.

| Mairead

We’re staying in a little town in the Austrian mountains called Gries Im Sellrain. And true to its name there was rain. With my new-found appreciation for rain, you can imagine I was very happy.

03 07d

(Near Florence, notice how flat the land is)

So… we left Florence yesterday morning at 8.45am and we arrived here at about 5pm and it’ wasn’t such a bad day. We did have a high of 30 degrees but we had a low of 17 degrees also. It was a bit of a shock to the system when I realised I might be cold. Hadn’t felt that for a while. The reality was that it wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t too tiring. And… it seems my body has got used to travelling for long periods in one position and it wasn’t complaining.

03 07e

(Now you can see some hills in the distance)

I saved myself a lot of worrying and imagining scary things for nothing. Instead I spent my time noticing what was exactly in front of me and appreciating the stuff I liked. Scenery and nature were in front of me. Although Florence is very beautiful, we didn’t see a lot of nature. Not that there weren’t gardens, there were, but we didn’t go to them. We spent time in the streets and the museums and art galleries. So even though we were on a six lane highway now, there was plenty of nature all around us. And it was changing all the time.

03 07f

(The hills and mountains are getting closer)

We stopped every hour (ish) at motorway services and we have it down to a fine art by now. First one, breakfast. Second one fruit and water. Third one, lunch. Fourth one, ice cream or coffee and pastry.Last one shower! That makes five hours of driving and three hours of stops.

03 07g

(And closer)

Yesterday I promised to write a gratitude list and that has made me realise that I appreciate being able to go on this journey. To be able to take the time to do something so different. To have the health, the means and the will. To be able to visit places I have only read about or seen in documentaries. We live in privileged times and we don’t know it.

03 07a

(And finally we arrive in Austria)

While on this road I have been remembering my Dad tell us stories as children about his trip with friends to Rome. The story goes that they drove all the way from Baltinglass in Co. Wicklow, Ireland to Roma, Italy, more than fifty years ago. Before air conditioning, before motorways, before wi-fi! I would love to ask him about it now, but it’s too late, I didn’t know when it was possible to ask that I would want to know. And I would love to see photos of his journey but I don’t know if any exist.

03 07b

(In a little town with a funny church steeple)

So here’s my gratitude list….. Nature, the landscape of northern Italy and Austria from flat lands to huge craggy mountains. Motorway services – really! The journey. Rain… And finally I am grateful that I have the opportunity to write, to take photos and to make you all listen!!!

03 07c

(This is just one of that many signs to tell us… we are welcome :))

 Until Germany, Mairead.

We’re in Italy but first the Austrian waiter….

| Mairead

We finally arrived yesterday evening in Venice or to be precise 15 minutes by bus from Venice. We got a great welcome from our Airbnb hosts with instructions on how to get into Venice, including a bus ticket because they cost double when you buy them on the bus. Then we took off our bike gear (peeled if off really) had a quick shower and went looking for the bus. Before we found it, we found a little pizzeria. It was too much temptation to resist, we were melting with the heat, tired and hungry….. so we had great pizza, cold water and good wine and went home to fall asleep. The tourist  Venice will begin today.

21 06e

(Beautiful Austria)

But the tourist Austria began yesterday. We left our backpackers (backpackers don’t get breakfast included in with the bed) guest house early (8.30am) yesterday morning with a promise of breakfast on the way. Now, this can be a bit of a mistake, because Denis doesn’t eat breakfast and I can’t function without it. So I was more hopeful than certain that I would be nourished before lunch. And within minutes of our leaving the town of Fussen my hope dissipated. We hit a traffic jam on a narrow road. As we had never been on the road so early we thought they would be clear but no, the camper vans and trucks were already ahead of us. The road was too narrow for any handy bike manoeuvres so we waited. Thirty five minutes later we were still waiting there, but it was cool and picturesque, so no rush…..

21 06f

(The reason for the traffic jam)

It turned out to be road works. We were now in Austria. Having travelled for so long on the motorways of Germany we were woken up by our route in Austria. It was beautiful. Cool and shady with amazing views around every corner, so much so my little camera ran out of battery long before the border with Italy. And around one corner there was a restaurant – breakfast! It had taken an hour but the setting was perfect so I didn’t complain.

21 06b

(Isn’t it pretty? Yes Denis, I mean the bike!)

Just as we arrived a bus full of elderly German tourists also arrived, we spotted them just in time and we dashed towards the outside seats. We were fast….. and younger (by a little…) but they still made it to the seats before us.  By this stage Denis was interested in breakfast and was a little put out by our delay so he used his secret weapon – me. I smiled and waved at the waiter and when that didn’t work I followed him into the kitchen. I only succeeded in annoying him and we still had to wait until he served the whole bus.

21 06d

(The waiter. I’m not as charming as I once was…. but charming enough to get a photo and a smile for you guys!)

Off to Venice with some suggestions (thank you Susanna and Marie) will let you know how it goes, Mairead.