Biked for almost 40km today along the Danube River - some places right beside the river and more often inland. What a picturesque part of the world. Little old towns with streets so narrow we had to stop to let other bikers pass in the opposite direction - coarse there were lots of bikers. Past vineyards terraced high up the mountain sides on both sides - it was hard to stay on the trail. The wineries have little colorful ribbons and wreaths along the trial where one may stop and taste their variety. Not that we stopped all that much :--) but it is amazing the small patches of hillside where they have planted vineyards. The folks along the trail often have little fruit stands out close offering the riders cherries or walnuts or berries and little cafes take advantage of the passers by. No cars on the trail - only in towns a few places. Of coarse each town has a very old church that is usually on a hill overlooking the rest the town. And many places along the route were visible still working castles and some in various stages of collapse - high up on strategic points usually overlooking the river. We had planned to get to our destination at Krems in time to catch the ferry cruise home but we arrived in about 3 hours so had 2 1/2 hours to fill in at Krems before the boat left for back home at 3:45. Record time eh?? It helped that it was downhill most of the way - we had planned it that way. It took as long if not longer to make the return trip by ferry cruise boat as it did to bike going there.
