BIKE THE DANUBE

May 15 Sunday

The tour ended after breakfast and we said goodbye to our group that morning as we departed on our post tour adventure. 

 

 Leaving our big backpacks at the hotel we took daypacks and headed to the train to Melk.  In Melk we rented bikes from the Next Bike racks on the Danube trail.  These bikes were conveniently there, but very heavy bikes to ride.  I would recommend making a reservation ahead with a local bike shop, but on Sunday all the bike shops were closed.  Next Bike allowed you to pick up a bike at one place and leave it down the trail.  The price was also very reasonable.  Our adventure bike ride started in Melk with a day ride to Durnstein – about 20 miles away.  The uphills were very hard with these heavy bikes, but we stopped at sites along then Danube River trail. 

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At Willendorf we stopped at the museum about the famous Venus of Willendorf.  This four-inch statue said to be made about 30,000 years old, was found in 1908 near this village.  The original is in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.  This limestone figure tinted red with ochre is a nude woman with exaggerated features to represent fertility. 

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Next there was a beer stop in Spitz to drink Zwettle Bier.  We were riding the Donau Path following the signs towards Krems.  Next was a Weingut stop – a winery with a wine garden to drink the famous white wine of the area – Gruner Veltliner.  Beautiful terraced vineyards lined the sloping banks of both sides of the Danube – Wachau Valley. 

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Our destination was Durnstein and the Richard Lowenherz Hotel (Hotel Richard the Lionhearted).  The inn started as the farm building of the Clares Convent, but since 1884 the Thiery family has managed the inn.  Each and every guest is treated as royalty.

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Richard the Lionhearted was born in 1157 to King Henry II and Eleonor of Aquitaine.  He was known for chivalry, music, poetry, and eagerness for battle.  Richard was crowned King in 1189. A crusader he set out for the Holy Land in 1190 to battle the Sultan.  Richard needed to return to England as his younger brother John was conspiring to take the throne.  In December of 1192 Richard was captured and imprisoned in Durnstein in the fortress on the hill.  The story goes the singer Blondel set out to find Richard singing outside every fortress until Richard answered his song with the second verse from within the dungeon. 

 

 

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Our hotel room had a lovely balcony overlooking the Danube to watch the river boats go by.  Dinner on the terrace was the best meal we had had so far on the drip.  Along with the spectacular view of the Danube the Gruner Veltliner white wine was the splendid.  The fresh bread and creamy butter along with cold cucumber soup, grilled eggplant, and apricot ice cream with apricot sauce.  This region is especially known for Apricots and of course, Apricot Schnapps. 

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May 16 Monday

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In the morning we were awakened by the Church bells of the hallmark Blue Church of Durnstein Stift.  Breakfast included fresh rolls imprinted with an S for the local bakery, Schmid, which was across the street.  Apricot Juice was refreshing along with tasty Salmon and Eggs.  We met a couple from Virginia who had been there for a few days and chatted about sites to go see.

 

 

After breakfast we hiked up the hill to the castle where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned in 1192. The view of the Danube and Durnstein from up there was breathtaking. 

 

On the way back down the mountain we found a family-owned vineyard with a small refrigerator and cash box outside the gates.  We bought our own bottle of their Gruner Veltliner for 5 Euros.  We had a great discussion with the daughter of the owner of the vineyard.  She had a degree in viniculture and organic farming and answered all our questions on the regional wines.

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Crazy thing - parked down the road from the vineyard was a Vintage Chicago Police Car – Why in Durnstein Austria?  Pete took a picture and laughed.

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In the afternoon we visited the Durnstein Stift, the blue church and abbey.  The museum was outstanding discussing preservation, history, and  construction. The exhibits stressed, "Do what is Good, Preserve what is beautiful, and Search for what is true".  Outside of the blue tower were statues of  the four Apostles and the Virgin Mary, while inside an art restorer worked on the ceiling frescoes.

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The rest of the day we spent tasting apricot brandy, swimming in the pool, and walking the hotel gardens.  For dinner we met up with the couple we met at breakfast at the Alter Kloster.  Dinner was white asparagus pasta and roasted pork with good conversation and a hilarious waiter.  As dinner ended it started to rain, and we ran back to the hotel. 

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May 17 Tuesday

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On our last morning in Durnstein we ate an early breakfast and returned to our room to complete our video proctored COVID test – thank goodness NEGATIVE for both of us.  We needed that to fly back home the next day.

 

 

Packed up, we got back on the rented bikes to pedal to Krems to catch the train.  One of the stops along the path was at Domaine Wachau Vineyard to buy a nice bottle of Gruner Veltliner. The bikes were dropped off in Krems and the train whisked us back to Vienna.  Stopping at the Hotel Stephansplatz, we picked up our luggage and chat with some of the remaining members of our tour.  We saw Kathy, Dave, and Patsy, who had attended the Vienna Opera the night before. 

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For convenience we stayed at the Moxy Hotel at the Vienna Airport (VIE) since our flight was very early.  This airport hotel was modern and trendy with a great bar, restaurant and foosball tables for fun.

 

May 18 Wednesday

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The next morning, we checked our bags thru to Chicago (ORD) and got on the flight to Copenhagen (CPH).  The post tour adventure continued as we again had a flight with a long (six hour) layover.   On landing we took the metro to Nyhaven, where we hopped on a canal boat tour run by Netto for one hour.  This comprehensive, lovely tour took us all over the harbor on a beautiful sunny morning as we saw the palace, royal yacht, little mermaid stature, a variety of churches, and Danish life on the water.

Copenhagen is Denmark’s capital and Scandinavia’s largest city.  Compact - we walked from the train station to Nyhaven harbor. We drank Carlsberg beer, the local drink. The Danes are known for hyggelig – Coziness.  We ate at Hviids Vinstue 1723 – the oldest wine bar having smorrebrod open faced sandwiches of herring, meat, and cheese. The waiters were so friendly and forgiving to us Americans.  If we had had more time, we would have gone to Rosenborg Castle and the Tivoli Garden. 

Back at the airport the “fun” started to begin.  After waiting two hours to board, our flight to Chicago, it was cancelled.  Instead, we were rebooked to fly to Oslo, Norway, where we stayed overnight (at the airline's expense) awaiting our next flight. 

 

May 19  Thursday

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Back at the Airport in Oslo we were then flying to Stockholm (didn’t we do this at the beginning of this trip).  After this flight we needed to have breakfast Bloody Mary’s at the airport bar.  Now SAS Airlines was flying us to Frankfurt Germany, because Luftansa/United Airlines was the only way to get us to Chicago.  So to review we flew from Vienna to Copenhagen to Oslo to Stockholm to Frankfurt to Chicago – exhausting. Our luggage got lost of course, but was eventually delivered to our house in a few days.  Another European Rick Steves' adventure we would never forget.