After taking refuge with my mate Hartwig and his lovely wife in Ljubljana for a few days because of bad weather, it was good to be back in the saddle on a beautiful day in Austria.
Took and early morning train from Ljubljana to St Johann; getting off a train fully loaded with panniers is not an easy task, but manage I did.
My Garmin never ceases to amaze me, giving me direction exactly in line with the route created in Basecamp leading me to my first bike path (compressed gravel) between a river and a B road as I headed towards Bad Gastein surrounded by stunning landscapes. The only downside was it was all uphill but touring is all about coping with what nature throws at you. Trust me, it sure beats sitting in a meeting at work talking a lot of blah blah.
Every picture tells a story and these photos are no different.
I along with a lot of locals stopped to watch this house being demolished....
Today's ride also included going through a couple of fairly long tunnels with a separate bike path.
Bad Gastein is very hilly and from where I ended up in town to my guest house was a 1100m climb; I did not have the energy for that so I cheated and took a taxi ride with the bike and all, Driven by a lovely Swedish lady, married to a local Austrian with 2 kids in their early 20's. She tells me that they met years ago skiing in these parts; he followed her back to Gothenburg to ask her hand in marriage and the rest is history. She was really sweet, quoted my 20 Euros for the ride and the Indian came out in me and offered 10 Euros; not only did she accept my offer but also gave me a drive around the town pointing out places of interest and then brought me to my guest house, I gave her the 10 Euros and a hug as you do to someone so kind.
The waterfall below, in the centre of the town, according to my Swedish taxi driver, generates enough power for 70% of the houses in Bad Gastein.
For dinner, I joined this young lady, Martha (from Ethiopia, as I learned later) who worked as a waiter there, I had a pizza (nice one at that) washed down with the holy water. She came to Tyrol (South Austria) as a 9 month baby, works as a waitress here in the summer and in Tyrol n the winter. She also tells me that she visits Ethiopia every 2 to 3 years with her mum.
That was the end of my first day back in the saddle, on a beautiful day met some lovely and kind people; hoping it stays that way for the next few days.
Took and early morning train from Ljubljana to St Johann; getting off a train fully loaded with panniers is not an easy task, but manage I did.
My Garmin never ceases to amaze me, giving me direction exactly in line with the route created in Basecamp leading me to my first bike path (compressed gravel) between a river and a B road as I headed towards Bad Gastein surrounded by stunning landscapes. The only downside was it was all uphill but touring is all about coping with what nature throws at you. Trust me, it sure beats sitting in a meeting at work talking a lot of blah blah.
Every picture tells a story and these photos are no different.
Bad Gastein is very hilly and from where I ended up in town to my guest house was a 1100m climb; I did not have the energy for that so I cheated and took a taxi ride with the bike and all, Driven by a lovely Swedish lady, married to a local Austrian with 2 kids in their early 20's. She tells me that they met years ago skiing in these parts; he followed her back to Gothenburg to ask her hand in marriage and the rest is history. She was really sweet, quoted my 20 Euros for the ride and the Indian came out in me and offered 10 Euros; not only did she accept my offer but also gave me a drive around the town pointing out places of interest and then brought me to my guest house, I gave her the 10 Euros and a hug as you do to someone so kind.
The waterfall below, in the centre of the town, according to my Swedish taxi driver, generates enough power for 70% of the houses in Bad Gastein.
Comments
Post a Comment