The morning in Salzburg started with some bike servicing. The previous day's ride from Zell am See had been mostly off-road on gravel and rough surfaces. As a result the derailleur on my Brompton was jammed with mud and needed cleaning, and Naveen’s bike had a puncture, but thankfully the tire had deflated slowly and gave in only once we reached the doors of the hotel we were staying at in Salzburg.
We were sad to be leaving Salzburg having seen so little of this beautiful medieval town. The narrow lanes and tall buildings, the castle atop the hill, the Mirabell gardens is what we managed to experience as we ride through the town on our way out towards Mondsee.
The list of things we didn't see is much longer – Mozart’s house, the many museums and palaces, Hellbrun palace, Salzburg Cathedral, the Von Trapp house. But we were sure that better things awaited us on the route to the three lakes.
The weather forecast for the second day's 95km ride from Salzburg to Gmunden was grim but not severe, so we thought we would be ok with multiple layers and waterproof gear. The first 20km was a constant and gentle but unrelenting climb through meadows and villages. As we emerged from the climb and joined a road it started to drizzle so we thought that would be a good time to stop for coffee or anything hot.
We found a little café that we initially thought was a church. As we crossed the road to investigate a lady emerged from the café and smiled at us. She asked us if we were going inside, and when we said ‘yes’ and that we were going in for some coffee she seemed a little disappointed, but as she walked away she encouraged us to try the local food “Ees fery gut,fery fresch, allso fery cheep. Ja?”
Walking into the restaurant was a little bit of like one of those scenes from an old western. As the strangers walks into the bar everyone goes quiet. All eyes turn towards you. No one smiles. Everyone just stares, wondering who you are, where you're from, and why you're here and if you're going to mess up their cosy hangout.
We eventually were given a table in the corner, and although the service was a little slow to start with, it picked up speed and got a lot friendlier once the waitress figured that our efforts at translating the menu wasn't just to practice our German. What followed, was without a doubt, one of the best meals of our lives.
After a very heavy lunch we were blessed with a series of long downhill stretches, but our going was slowed down by the search for toilets. We luckily found one at a small café. It was here we got our next serious lesson in German.
As Naveen walked out of the café he was murmuring to himself ‘Bach gaye’ (‘that was a close one’). I won't go into the details of what happened next but it's just important to clarify the following. Damen in German doesn't mean ‘The Men’, and Herr in German doesn't mean ‘Hers’.
We soon reach the first of the three lakes we going to be crossing starting with Mondsee which was beautiful.
This was followed by Attersee which was stunning and this section involved the highlight of the day. Transecting the 1.1km cycle tunnel at Sankt Gilgen.
As we got closer to Gmunden the rain starting coming down harder and harder. With the phone stored in the waterproof case we struggled to find the right direction and eventually too shelter in a petrol pump convenience store. Stepping inside and seeing the small crowd of men who drinking and smoking it seemed that this place also doubled up as the local pub. We loaded up with drinks and snacks, but seeing that the light was fading fast we decided to make a last dash for the hotel which was barely 5km away.
We reached the hotel soaked, shivering and sore from a long days ride in the rain. Thankful that the room was cosy and warm, we unpacked and settled down to enjoy a tasting of the local wine, and then slightly drunk and very tired, I wandered of to sleep. Dreaming of the days ride and the adventures to come tomorrow as we would finally reach the blue waters of the Danube.
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