We followed the R3 Inn route (Inn being the name of the river out of Passau) and the Alpe di Adria Cycle route from Salzburg to Vienna. We spent a lot of the time on country roads which was great and the rest of the time on Alpe di Adria where the signage left a lot to be desired. We discovered that although there is supposed to be a Eurovelo Route with the appropriate signage, sometimes the local route took precedence and the Eurovelo signage disappears. Who knew?

We found campsites to be few and far between in Austria. However, there appeared to be lots of youth hostels. The youth hostels were not cheap, but a lot cheaper than hotels and a welcome alternative to camping, especially as we were in the Tirol and Alps.

The scenery was beautiful and the Towns and cities were clean, although the Cities did have a fair amount of grafitti.  The Austrian Tirol region is primarily geared for the winter season and skiing. There were lots of small towns and villages that had guesthouses and hotels. In the summer they gear their tourism more to walkers than cyclists. We found the cycling routes very good, especially around Salzburg.

We really enjoyed our tourist days in Salzburg.

We found the Austrians to be very helpful and other touring cyclists stopped and chatted, which is one of the main reasons we like touring.

Austria took in more than 1 percent of its population in 2015 when Europe’s influx of migrants began, many of them fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. Initial sympathy for the new arrivals soon turned to alarm as their numbers mounted. The Austrian government recently enacted restrictions on becoming Austrian citizens, ceasing cash from migrants so that they can pay their own way and ceasing cell phones so the government can see where the migrants came from. “We have very deliberately set ourselves the goal of fighting against illegal migration but also against the misuse of asylum,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a news conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.

We spent an evening talking to young people who worked together in a large company producing semi-conductors, it used to be part of Siemens. The company employs people from all over the world. At our table there was an Austrian, English, Canadian and Bulgarian.   We had an interesting conversation on the education system in Austria. University is free in Austria for Austrians. Foreign students used to get free University education, now they have to pay to attend University in Austria. We also talked about the communist government in Bulgaria. Angelina said that some of the older people miss the regime, because everything was provided for them. They had education, work and homes. They were also able to travel within the communist countries including Cuba and some areas of South America. We had a very interesting conversation discussing capitalism and communism.

The company they all work for pays very well, as it is difficult to get people to work in a small town. However, they all agreed that the area around Villach was great for hiking, cycling and climbing.

We liked Austria.

July 13, 2018

 Friday July 13, 2018 uhhmm, got to be careful today.

Our ride started with a switchback downhill of 8 kms descent dropping 800 metres. The owner of the hotel told us to be careful going down the hill as last week there was an accident between a car and cyclist. An air-ambulance (helicopter) was flown into take him to the hospital. 

It was a little chilly this morning (10 degrees) and we had to wear our thicker windbreakers as we hurtled down the hill.

My top speed was 49 kms, on my brakes all the way down.

The ride today should have been “downhill all the way”, but as we were climbing again Ralf said “This is a great downhill I am climbing”. Eventually, we were going downhill and it was a lovely ride, although the signs left a lot to be desired. 

We are supposed to be following the Cyclio de Alpe Adria Radweg (CAAR).  This morning we followed the R8 signs as well as the CAAR and this afternoon we were following the R3 signs into Villach.

We came across this early Christian church (343). The Romans who had converted to Christianity, spread the word throughout the areas they conquered. A mosaic was donated and was found on the south side of the building. It is protected by a building and the museum was only open on week-ends.

We stopped for lunch in Spital an der Drau, and carried on through farm fields.

As we were getting closer to Villach, we noticed this “ferry” you had to ring the bell and this small boat came over to pick you up. I am not sure if he could have managed both of our loaded touring bikes. We didn’t need his services as we needed to stay on this side of the river.

A very large quarry has cut out most of this hill-side as we were entering Villach.

We arrived in Villach at about 2:30, we called our warmshowers host, who was at work and told us she wouldn’t be home until 5:30.

That is a lot of time to spend drinking ice-coffee and then finding her apartment and drinking more coffee. Eventually, I set my chair up and waited for her next to her apartment.

When Angelina came home we put our bikes in her lock-up, had a glass of beer with her on the balcony, showered and headed out for dinner. When we told her what time we usually got up and started riding she almost had a heart attack. However, when we were chatting to her friends at dinner, she found out that they were planning to go climbing on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. As she was going to get up with us to cook us breakfast, she decided to go climbing with them.

We chatted to her friends for a while and then went back to the flat at about 9:00 p.m. and I was asleep by 9:30. Angelina stayed with her friends and we didn’t hear her coming home.

July 12, 2018

 Look at that elevation gently rising hill – easy peasy – 1,012 metres (3,320 ft) elevation gain, over a 54 km distance. Boy, it was hard work today but totally worth it.

We left the empty Hostel at 8:15, it was a little odd being the only people in a very large building.

We followed the Eurovelo Route 7, Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg and the Tauern Radweg again today. We were only misplaced once, when we crossed the river too early. Once we were back on the right path it was an easy route to follow. Let me correct that, the signs were easy to follow, the route was tough.

As I cycled up one hill I said to Ralf, I am a little conflicted, I love the scenery that hills bring, but I am not a good climber. Although I can now cycle up hills of over 5% quite easily anything above 8% and I am off and pushing. Ralf corrected me – he said that I had just managed to climb a 12% hill. It was only short about 50 metres and I was dancing on my pedals and talking to MrsSweetcheeks to get me up and over the short rise.

The scenery was beautiful, hills covered with mountain flowers and houses clinging to the hillsides. The small towns we went through were very pretty, everything you can imagine Austrian mountain villages are like.

The weather was not what was forecast. It was a little cool to start, then the sun came out and although it wasn’t hot it was a lovely temperature to ride a bike. No rain and no rain for tonight – we could have camped, but we had already booked our accommodation on-line for tonight.

We cycled through road tunnels today. The first one was short only about 500 metres, the second was called the Klamm tunnel and was 1.5 kilometres and the third was another short tunnel. All of the tunnels had a separated bike lane, wide enough for two loaded touring bikes to pass each other. The Klamm tunnel was really noisy with cars whizzing by us at 80 kph. We were safe, however, it was rather unnerving.

After we had negotiated the tunnels we had a slight downhill to Bad Hofgastein. The time was 11:00 and we had definitely worked off our breakfast. We spotted a small café, stopped immediately and I had ham, egg and cheese with salad on a sesame seed crusty bun, and Ralf had salami, with a shared pastry to follow.

I knew we had more climbing to do to get to Bad Gastein, it was the toughest part of the day. The hill up to Bad Gastein was really steep, even Ralf was pushing!

However the waterfall in the Town was stunning.

We got to the train station in Bad Gastein with about 20 minutes to spare. I had assumed that we could get a train from Bad Gastein to Mallnitz and not have to cycle the extra five kilometres to Bockstein. There was no-one at the kiosk to get tickets from so we tried to use the machine. The machine would not sell us tickets with our bikes!

Ralf called the number on the machine and the guy on the other end tried to get us a ticket. The train came and went with us waiting to see if we could get on the next train. The problem was that all the trains stopping in Bad Gastein were fast trains, we needed a local train. We had to cycle to Bockstein to get the car shuttle to Mallinitz.

Now, before anyone accuses us of cheating because we took the train, it is the only way to get through this mountain range. We spotted the train waiting in the station at Bockstein and headed towards it. Again no-one at the kiosk to sell us tickets. The conductor was finalizing the loading of the last few cars and told us to get on the train. We cycled like crazy to get on the front of the train and realized we would have to lift our bikes up to the train – four feet from the platform to the bike-train car! We hoisted those bikes fully-loaded up to the bike car with seconds to spare.

We hadn’t had time to buy tickets. The conductor told us to get them in Mallinitz, which we did. E10.00 for two people including the bikes.

This car shuttle takes bikes and cars through a 1 km long tunnel to the other side of the mountain range. The journey is about 13 minutes, the train is unloaded and it returns with more cars through the mountain range.

July 11, 2018

We were up early ready for an early start and a few hills to climb to St. Johann im Pongau.

Ralf had said it had rained in the night, lo and behold it started to rain at 7:30. That’s o.k. we could wait it out. Not so lucky it continued to rain. We left Salzburg under grey skies and a light drizzle at 8:30.  Farewell Salzburg we enjoyed visiting you.

We were both wearing our heavier rain jackets and I was wearing socks. I am such a fashionista, yesterday red plastic poncho today socks with my cycling sandals! I am so glad I was wearing my merino wool socks as it was rather chilly today – average temperature was 12.5 degrees (54 degrees F).

However, despite the rain and drizzle the scenery was lovely. We cycled through small towns and villages with window boxes overflowing with flowers. The houses were perched in the hills like photos on a chocolate box.  We crossed one stream where the water was so clear, it looked as if it could be used for an advertisement of Evian Mineral Water.

We were so enthralled about the scenery in one valley that we cycled through we got misplaced. We have to be very careful reading the signs, as there are a few different cycle routes. We are following the Tauern Radweg, Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg and the Eurovelo 7. We followed a different sign which could have taken us on a mountain biking route. We spotted an old fella near a small trout farm and Ralf asked him for directions back to the Tauern Radweg. I asked Ralf what he had said as I didn’t understand one word of what the fella had said, his accent was so strong. Apparently neither did Ralf, he said “I don’t understand Mountainese”.   We turned around and headed back to where we think we made the mistake and found the Tauern Radweg sign.  This route likes to take you through the small villages, not away from them.

We also broke the law! We came upon a tunnel or you could push your loaded bicycles over a steep incline. We looked down the tunnel, it wasn’t very long and there was a sidewalk, although it said no cyclists or pedestrians we headed through, rear lights flashing and within 500 metres we were safe on the other side. The tandem riders that were pushing their bike up the steep incline were no where to be seen.

About a kilometre on the other side of the tunnel there were road works.  I pedalled like a demon so that I didn\’t hold up the car drivers.  Fortunately, they were very patient.

We arrived in Werfen, where there is a large castle and lots of tourists.

We carried on to Bischofshofen and stopped for lunch and some coffee to warm us up. There were about 6 other touring cyclists. One lady had a lot of stuff on her bike and a bike trailer with a dog (Shar Pei) in the trailer. I complain about what I am carrying, but a dog – no way.

Leaving Bischofshofen we spotted this art work. I especially liked the world showing Australia.

The route today was mainly on roads with a few sections on gravel paths, about 20 kms on gravel, it was well compacted and quite an easy ride.

Then onto the campsite in Saint Johan im Pongau, which I had read about from another blogger, who did this route last year. At 3:00 there was no-one at the camp-site or gasthaus. A note in the reception area stated they would open at 5:00p.m.

We knew we weren’t going to set up the tent, we would freeze in these cool temperatures and more rain on the way for tonight. Finally the Garmin did its thing and Ralf was able to call several hotels/gasthauses in the area to see if they had rooms for the night. One had apartment style rooms but didn’t rent for less than three nights, the other was over $150.00 for the night, even the Youth Hostel was E80 ($120 for two people).

We had passed a youth hostel coming into St. Johan and realized the hostel Ralf had called was half way up a beejesus mountain, not the hostel we had passed. We cycled back to the hostel – they didn’t open until 5:00. We sat on our bikes wondering what to do, it was only 4:00 but it would be nice to settle in to a room and have a nice hot shower. It began to rain and then the hostel door opened – the receptionist let us in early. We registered, secured our bikes in the bike room and were having hot showers by 4:30. This hostel costs E55.90 ($82.00) without breakfast.

We are the only ones in the hostel, it feels a bit odd. The reception is supposed to be open from 5:00 to 8:00, but nobody is there. Just a phone number to call. Ralf cooked our pasta on the terrace although it says smoking is forbidden. He wasn’t smoking he was cooking!

Due to the rainy weather Ralf didn’t take a lot of photos, but I think he got the essence of the day.

Tomorrow’s weather is going to be much of the same, we have already booked a room in Mallnitz.

July 9, 2018

 The first of two rest days in Salzburg. Yesterday I had picked up a free city map from the Tourist Information office at the Train Station. While Ralf was in the shower I checked on-line to see what the top ten things to do and see in Salzburg. We are within walking distance of the Old Town and all of the Top Ten Things to Do!

A relaxing breakfast of cheesy omelet and good coffee.

At 9:30 we headed out to be tourists. Our plan was to do this side of the river today – Mirabelle Palace and Gardens, Mozart’s House and wander the streets and do the other side of the River tomorrow.

That didn’t quite work out. We had a lovely walk through the gardens of the Mirabelle Palace.

Mirabelle Palace

In the movie, The Sound of Music this is where the kids were hanging from the trees after Maria taught them the Do, Rae, Me song and there father came home with the Baroness. We didn’t see any kids hanging from the trees, but we did see the dwarf garden.

Dwarves

The gardens were beautiful and very peaceful.  The nuns did not burst into \”How do you solve a problem like a Maria?\”

As we emerged from the gardens, almost directly in front of us was the house where Mozart lived in Salzburg. It is a museum, and is supposed to be really nice. However, it was a little expensive E11.00 each (about $33.00) and you cannot take photos inside.

We continued our walk through the city streets.

We realized that we had plenty of time to get to the top of Festung Hohensalzburg castle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the street to get up to the top and took a lift to the Modern Art Museum and a smaller castle in error. It was a “nice” mistake, we were able to walk across the ridge to the Hohensalzburg castle.

Salzburg was a highly fortified City in the 15^th Century. The Hohensalzburg Castle is the highest point and is protected by walls and the mountain. There were other smaller battlements and fortifications that enemies had to overcome before getting to the Hohensalzburg Castle.

During the thirty year war the castle was besieged and the inhabitants of the castle were down to their last oxen. The Commander paraded the oxen on the city walls, then he painted it black and paraded the oxen again. The enemy assumed that the castle inhabitants had lots of food and it would take a long time for them to surrender, so they left. That is why the nickname for people from Salzburg are called oxen washers – “Stierwascher”

The walk across the ridge bought us to about half way up to the castle. The road was very steep and when we got to the entrance there was an entrance fee of E18.60 for the two of us ($30.00). That included the price of the funicular going down. The castle inside is massive. It could hold a small town and did during the various invasions. It was originally built as a church for the Archbishop in the 10^th Century. He must have been a pretty fit guy to hike up the mountain everyday with his shopping.

We took the funicular down and emerged at the Dom Square – the main cathedral in Salzburg.

We sat and had a coffee and a bun and watched people for about an hour, before slowing meandering our way back to our flat.

There is a lot of art throughout the City.  Often created by famous artists.  The Man on the Sphere – represents the ordinary man.  The Gherkins also represent the ordinary human – some are tall and skinny others are short and fat!

Back to the apartment at 4:00 with more wine and dinner of pasta, smoked trout and bread. It is nice to stay in a small apartment in Salzburg and have the time to cook and relax after a day of being a tourist.

July 10, 2018 – Walking 7.6 kms

We could have left Salzburg today but it was nice to have more time to clean the bikes and be tourists.

Breakfast today was avocado with poached eggs and good coffee. We cleaned the bikes before leaving for another walk of the City.

This time Ralf wanted to walk up to a “castle” on this side of the river. The Kapuzinerkirche and Kloster was closed for filming for a murder mystery. The Austrian Crime Series – Stockinger is filmed in Salzburg and the Kloster was the setting for an episode.

As we walked this side of the river we noticed some small plaques on the ground. They are called Stolpersteine or stumbling blocks, they denoted the houses that Jews lived in and what happened to the family. So many people did not even notice these small brass stones.

Here lived Karl Sonneleithner – born 1897. He was “deported” a euphemism for being sent to a concentration camp and murdered in the camp – Castle Hartheim.

 The Zweig/Winternitz family were Jewish, by family history, but did not follow the Jewish faith – not even high day and holy days. However, that would not have made any difference to Hitler – if your Grandparents were Jewish then you were Jewish. Stefan Zeig was a famous author in the 1920’s in Europe and the U.S. 

Olga Zweig hid Jewish families during the war.  She was arrested by the Salzburg Police in 1941 and released in 1942.  She was \”deported\” in 1945 to Theresienstadt where she survived.

After negotiating a very steep road down from the schloss we wandered around the new part of the city for a while, trying to decide what to have for lunch. We eventually went back to where we had lunch yesterday. Then it began to rain. Not again, we are going to get wet. However, we found a Kitschy tourist place that was selling E5.00 umbrellas, which seemed a little extravagant to buy umbrellas for one rain storm. However, they did have plastic ponchos for E2. Donned in the height of fashion we headed back to the apartment.

One little boy said to his Mom “Mama what are they wearing?”. We made quite a few people smile with our bright yellow and red plastic ponchos and our own very large grins! We are keeping these ponchos for future use, I am sure they will come in handy. I will keep them in my bag for when we are next caught in the rain.

On our way back to the apartment, I spotted a phone shop. We have been having a few problems with the phone, because it is in German and we couldn’t get it to switch to show in English. I was the “stupid” tourist and asked the nice young man if he could help me. Lickety split, he switched it to English, now I think we will be able to send text messages and maybe even call people if the need arises.

Tomorrow we are heading south to St. Johann im Pongau. A few hills to climb and hopefully the cycle path will be paved. This is the projected elevation for the next few days!