Austria

• Thursday, June 25, 2015

• Three Continents

After 36 Days in Austria it’s time for a review. Bicycle paths everywhere which are well signposted. What else does a cyclist wants?! My route led mostly over rivers and lakes.

I entered Austria from Switzerland and cycled along the Inn river. Specifically Innsbruck was nice to visit with the picturesque old town. Jon and Melanie (i’ve met Jon on my last journey in Iran) hosted me for a night. Thanks a lot for that guys!

In Rosenheim (Bavaria) i sad goodbye to the Inn and went past the Chiemsee to Salzburg. The 3 subsequent Lakes Mond-, Atter- and Traunsee wrapped with mountains looked like postcard images.

An another nice stay came soon in Hörsching. The Parents of Nora and Roman (i travelled with them in Tajikistan in 2011) hosted me for 2 days. Along the Danube river, a little bit later, i entered into Vienna- the Capital. The weather changed suddenly into good. From my start on i had 16 days of rain (in total 26 days)!

In Vienna i spent 10 relaxing days with several friends at their home. It wasn’t easy to leave this fantastic friends and the city. But every time i get back on the saddle it feels very good. From Wiener Neustadt i went over the Semering Pass (985 meters) into Styria. In Graz i realized that i had slow seen enough castles, churches and palaces. Even more the beautiful scenery of south Styria with its vineyards gave me a good alternative to that (and some good glasses with wine).

I could stay the last Night in Austria in Deutschlandsberg at Gudrun and Wolfgangs home. We met each other on a campground in Imst some weeks before and they directly invited me. Thank you so much for that! The Radlpass with 18% gradient was a precise definition how i felt to say goodbye to Austria. It was a fantastic time and i want to thank everyone who made it so memory full for me.