Our journey to the Danube got off to a difficult start when we were caught up in yet another snowstorm of such ferocity that we had to put socks on our hands to allow us to keep cycling. However, when we finally arrived in Stuttgart, a trip to the community thermal bath thawed out our frozen bods. The next day saw us whizzing downhill in the sunshine (reaching 54km per hour) to finally hit the Danube!. Since then we have followed the river through wooded gorges and past rocky cliffs. In Donauworth, superhosts George and Fernanda joined us for a night of camping fun, although as usual we were in bed by 10pm.
Then tragedy struck! Harriet, confused by the child-lock cap on her fuel bottle, spent a little too long bending down to investigate. A sudden, intense, back spasm rendered her almost immobile and forced us to spend four days in Neuberg – a very pretty Renaissance town, but somewhat limited in its entertainment. After four days of eating buttered pretzels, watching children’s films (Wind in the Willows, The Princess Bride...), stretching gently and hobbling around the town, her back improved, and we were back on the road.
Our last few days in Germany were wonderful – we drank beer in the oldest monastic brewery in the world, Weltenberg Abbey (the rest of our cycling day was even more wobbly than usual), and spent a lovely day off in Passau, camping by the Ilz river and climbing to the top of Veste Oberhaus to look out over the city (and sample more German beers in the process).
From Passau, we crossed into Austria, and since then we have had beautiful sunshine and beautiful scenery. In Vienna we stayed with Piotr, a friend of Jonathan’s who he met in the Philippines nine years ago. Piotr gave us an expert tour of Vienna, showing us the all the hidden gems of the city, and was incredibly generous to us during our stay, cooking us delicious feasts to replenish us, and also inspiring us greatly with stories from his own worldwide cycling trip. As a parting gift he gave us a loaf of his wonderful home baked bread which kept us going for the next 340km, and two pairs of odour-controlling woollen socks knitted by his mother (thinking back he may have been trying to tell us something!). Piotr – thank you so much again for welcoming us into your home. We left feeling refreshed in both body and spirit and ready for the next part of our cycling adventure. You are a great friend and let’s not wait another nine years for the next reunion.