Having listened to pouring rain all night, we were a bit ambivalent to how today may go. But it’s fair to say, we lucked out!
Leaving our accommodation (surprise surprise) later than planned, knowing we had a reasonable ride ahead of us, we decided against visiting the castle in Grein.
So straight down to the ferry landing past a famous sundial (no sun in the sky though) and onto the boat, Evie already asleep!
One last view of Grein before we headed down the south bank, because it was the quieter of the sides.
It was a lovely small road through beautiful trees and back to wooded sides to the river, turning autumnal.
First stop for us was Ybbs, where we specifically went to go to the Radfahre museum (history of bikes). Small but worth a visit.
We went on the penny farthing….
Saw the fire engine bike….
The first inflatable rubber tyres (made by Dunlop)
The army bikes with sword attachments!
A bike with a waterproof cover (we need these back home!)
And a candle lamp (how did they stay alight? And how did they really guide the way?)
Ybbs itself was small but nice, although for a small place it had some massive buildings!
We crossed the hydroelectric bridge to Persenbeug, on top of which was a good view of one of these boat locks
And continued on our was along the north bank. Back through villages and agricultural land, until we found a nice lunch spot at Metzling, on the opposite side side of the river to the Theresien Chapel, a former Cistercian monastery. Looked nice but you can’t be on both sides of the river at once!!
We woke Evie for playtime and wiggle time. She chomped on more cucumber and tomato and then it was time to move onwards. Leaving Metzling, we passed these fun little stick men
We twiddled through the bumpy backstreets of villages because the cycle path was being replaced (will be super nice and smooth for whoever gets to ride on it soon!) until we came to a super curly bridge bike ramp!
The clouds were gathering so I feared they may unleash their worst
But as I said at he beginning, we lucked out and the sky got bluer.
Only 4 km to go to get to Melk, and our goal of reaching the Benedictine Abbey for getting our tickets before 4.30pm, the latest they let people in.
Impressive from a distance and ever bigger as you get nearer, this is now a UNESCO world heritage site.
However, despite its obvious popularity with tourists, there were no signs of how to get there by bike, which was odd considering it must be one of the major attractions on the cycle route. Anyway, we went up through the town (note the up, with the trailer, with a time pressure, equalled hard work!), and mum rushed in to get our tickets just in time whilst I did a much needed nappy change!
You enter through into a very impressive couple of courtyards and We then had 1&1/2 hours to scoot round the buildings and gardens. A well done exhibition of all things church related and super old (artefacts dating back many centuries), then through the library
Down some super fancy stairs
And into a highly ornate church with so much gold and colour
And a very impressive done
Back outside, the views from the balcony show us our route tomorrow
And we see a very old clock, that until recent times was made entirely of wood
Back out into the courtyard
Leaving 30 mins to see the gardens (don’t be late, you’ll be locked in behind massive metal gates!)
I rather likes this (amongst a set)
By going
By feeling
By speaking
By loving
By seeing
By thinking
By questioning
You are
(At least I think that’s how it translates)
And then it was time to leave, bump down the cobbled streets of Melk, and find our accommodation for the night.
Never easy, the owner had to search for somewhere suitable to store the trailer (I think it’s in his own living room!).
Around the world with Evie Bean 