July 7, 2018

We were awake at 6:30 and out of bed by 7:00. We tried to be as quiet as possible not to wake the rest of the apartment, but it is very difficult with old wooden floors. We ate breakfast and tidied up and we were away by 8:15 a.m. No-one else was awake. I left a note thanking all of them and inviting them to stay with us in Canada if they get the chance. I will definitely leave a good recommendation on the warmshowers website.

We crossed the Inn River and followed the R3 Radweg.

Again the route was mixed gravel and a few paved roads. I am getting really fed up with gravel paths, it is hard on the hands, shoulders and butt. We are both hoping that crossing the Alps will be on paved roads otherwise I have told Ralf I am catching a train. The other thing today that really annoyed me is that we are heading south – we should have tail winds. The last 20 kilometres we were struggling against a head wind.

We met up with another cyclist today – Alberto from Italy. He asked if he could join us. It was early on in the route and we were still on paved roads. Ralf told him our average speed and we liked to stop to take photos. He was happy with that and told us he had been on the road for 3 weeks from Denmark down the Elba, through the Czech Republic and into Germany. I think he needed some company.

Cloisters Along the Route

We chatted for a while and then we hit the gravel paths and we had to concentrate on the soft gravel. With all the rain yesterday the gravel paths were really soft in places.  

I helped Ralf push his bike up these stairs, Alberto helped me and Ralf helped Alberto – Team work.

Alberto stayed with us for about an hour and then dropped off the back and we didn’t see him again.

There were some hills to climb today which is fine it is good practice for the Alps to come. However, climbing a hill that is soft gravel is a real pain – I did say some bad words today.

We crossed into Austria within a kilometre of crossing the river from Passau.

As we cycled through the few villages we noticed that all of the stores were closed – Closed on a Saturday – Yes, at noon all of the stores were closed in the small Towns.

We were in this Town and all of the houses were a different colour.  It was decreed (way back when) that because most of the inhabitants were illiterate, the colour of the house would denote what the business was i.e. – butcher, baker, pharmacist, etc.  We were going to stop for lunch, however, the cafes were preparing full lunches of bratwurst and potatoes.  That is a little heavy when you have some more miles to do.

Fortunately, around 2:00 we were in Brennau am Inn – the end of the day for us (or so we thought). The bigger chain supermarkets were still open. I popped in to buy our evening supplies and something to eat for a late lunch.

Then everything went pear-shaped! The first camp-site was obviously closed. The second “camp site” was for camper vans only and looked very sketchy. The Youth Hostel had disappeared off the face of the earth. I was about to throw a temper tantrum as we had no place to stay and everything ached from riding on gravel for 90% of the day. Then an older guy in a red car stopped in the middle of the intersection and asked if we needed help. He pulled up on the side walk (as you would). We told him we were looking for the Youth Hostel or a camp site. No idea about a youth hostel, but he did direct us to the campsite that I had found on the internet last night – Gasthoff Pruster with five tent places. It was another two kilometres. He gave us directions and then asked if we understood him and gave them to us again.  Thank you kind Sir.

When we arrived at the Gasthoff we saw the camper vans on gravel sites. Ralf went into the gasthoff and the owner came out and showed us a sloping grassed area. I was ready to lose it completely. However, we set up our tent on the only flat spot and after showering in a clean and new shower block we headed to the restaurant for a beer, to relax. We noticed one couple eating this lovely bratwurst with roast potatoes and sauerkraut. We got the menu – E5.50 – that was a no-brainer. We would eat dinner in the restaurant and watch the footie at the same time – England won! The camp-site was E12.50 – Ralf paid for dinner including four beers and the camp-site for less than E40. 

This cheeky little sparrow was hoping for some scraps.  He wasn\’t going to get anything from two hungry cyclists.

The day started off well, and finished well but the middle bit left a lot to be desired.

Brannau am Inn is the birthplace of Adolf Hitler- surprisingly there is no statue of him, no plaque on the Rathaus that says “Hitler was Here”. However, ironically there is a centre for Muslim relations, a centre to help refugees integrate, and a large muslim population. I think Hitler would be turning in his grave (lol).

It is 7:05 Ralf is gently snoring in the tent and I am relaxed, at last.

Although we got totally turned around in Brannau am Inn, we are 5 kms further along the route and the radweg continues about 500 metres from the camp-site. Absolutely no idea how that happened. Tomorrow should have been a 75 km day, now it should be 70 kms. Ralf has plotted two routes – one along the path and one along a road that may or may not have a cycle path running next to the road, but the road route will be paved.

This flower is for my next door neighbour, Diane, who is not a gardener, but is looking after our house and house plants for us while we are away.  Maybe we could \”plant\” these in our front gardens.