11-20 deg C, overcast and drizzly most of the day, with a most annoying headwind of 22km/h, gusting up to 50km/h for the whole 89.3 km ride. Not happy, Jan!
Ride: 89km: total: 590km; ride time: 5h37; total time: 7h30
Our longest ride this trip so far should have been quite easy for us. We knew there would be a headwind, but not that it would be so persistent, drove Wendy even more mad than she is! We stopped for mornos at Korneuburg, and lunch on the side of the path beside the Danube. There were the common obstacles such as roadworks, but then the not so usual ones like a street sweeper moving the built up silt, and other debris off the path, imagine that happening in Aus? We counted 37 beautiful white swans and nine cygnets, just big fluff balls.
We arrived at our hotel for the night - Smile Apartments Goldener Hirsch about 4pm, and we were very thankful. Took us a while to work out that apartment Top 2 meant room #2 on the first floor. There are no lifts in this building as it is ‘listed’ (presumably heritage) so we were extra thankful it was not on the top floor.
No check-in chick, just a numbered code for the door, with payment being made online yesterday. We have a nice room, although it did smell of smoke when we first arrived - might be due to the fact it is above a restaurant and an area where a lot of people gather to talk and smoke (almost compulsory here). After unpacking and a LLD, we ventured out on foot to have a look around, find dinner and find a place to buy some breakfast. Unfortunately, when you’ve had a tough day in the saddle and arrive later than usual, the last thing you feel like doing is wandering. Wendy’s knees were certainly complaining a little this afternoon! We wandered about 250m, turned around and found our dinner venu - Noodle King, ordered, ate and left. Very nice meals and filled the tummies nicely. Back home via the Spa for breakfast makings, and that was the day. Just as we exited the Spa, the heavens opened, complete with thunder and lightning. We sheltered for a bit in a shop entry, then decided to be brave and get wet and get home. We narrowly avoided a lightning strike (we saw the reflection in a shop window on the opposite side of the street), and made it home a little wet, but too bad.
We have a shorter day tomorrow, but with the persistent headwind, so the forecast is predicting anyway. We’ll take whatever mother nature chooses to throw at us, just happy to be here and able to see the beautiful countryside.
Mornos at Korneuburg, Rathaus/Town Hall in the background
Lunch beside the Danube, with some fairly ominous clouds
Mornos for Greg at Kronau
The lady that cared for this little chapel (above), for many decades remembered by the residents of Kronau
Thanks to Google Translate.
The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was the first commercial nuclear plant for electric power generation built in Austria, of three nuclear plants originally envisioned. Construction of the plant at Zwentendorf was finished but the plant never entered service. The start-up of the Zwentendorf plant, as well as the construction of the other two plants, was prevented by a referendum on 5 November 1978, in which a narrow majority of 50.47% voted against the start-up.
Swannies and babies
Smile Apartments
Corridor leading to our room
Inner courtyard of our apartment building
Our room
View from our room
Ride route and stats
The street we wandered up and down and had dinner in
Krems old city gate
Not sure if these are real or plastic but they hung above the street we walked and were very pretty
Dinner
A wet Krems
Some of the paths we rode on today, certainly can’t complain about the quality
Street sweeper cleaning the path.
A very popular eatery next to the unused nuclear power plant, there were about 40-50 bicycles
Turbine housing #6 for a hydro plant at Altenworth, not far from Zwentendorf
Power plant and locks
A huge castle on an even bigger hill
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