It was a great day today. The weather was great! Not too hot, not too cold. A headwind, but not too bad!
As the day rolled on, we realised just how lucky we have been on this journey that started one month ago now. The incredible rains had finally ceased but the consequences for many not.
Leaving Salzburg was somewhat easier than other larger cities with the exception of roadworks here and there. Reasonably quickly we were out in the country again. Small villages were the norm. We scouted around a reasonable sized lake, Obertrumer See and then Grabensee.
A few things caught our interest in the town of Mattighofen. That unusual building is the KTM Austrian bike manufacturer so Tony very interested given his racing past.
Unfortunately the cafe that welcomes bikers was closed, but we found another one not too far away.
My front disc brakes had been making some awful noises. Fortunately Tony is pretty handy mechanically and replaced them during our coffee break.
More rural scenes through agricultural fields, small streams, quiet roads, and the occasional village church.
A cycle route runs alongside the edge of the River Inn, the same river that flows through Innsbruck. You will recall that the river was in flood from the terrible storms in Europe in the last fortnight, that had mucked up some of our rides.
We really enjoyed the tracks although predominantly gravel. At least they had dried somewhat with no rain in the last day. The first photo is a lagoon that is off the River. There was a little shack like cottage.
My kids would laugh at the witch on the broomstick as I used to joke that I was a witch per the Roald Dahl book of the same name. It was one of my favourite Dahl books that I used to read to them.
Obernberg am Inn had a very impressive old market square.
We pulled into a service station for some frizzante! Not any ordinary service station as it was just off the autobahn, that seemed to be favoured by more trucks than I have ever seen.
The truck queue for diesel was three wide, 100 metres long. I was fascinated just watching. As we headed back to the river, we past multiple truck parks, where the drivers were napping.
Back onto the river tracks was much quieter and safer.
We reached Scharding, a very pretty village.
This was our last village in Austria, as we crossed the bridge here. The first photo is roughly the border of Germany and Austria. the second is looking back at Austria.
The village on the German side is Neuhaus am Inn. You can see the bridge we had just crossed. Note how muddy the waters are too. The river levels are high.
A few pictures of German villages. Look at that sky!
For our final fling into Passau we found ourselves on a wonderful forest trail. Up and down, challenging in parts, but ever so pretty.
We found our way into the Old Town reasonably easy. It is handy to use the river as your reference point.
Passau is famous for a few reasons. Its location is at the confluence of three rivers, the Danube, Inn and Ilz.
It is very old, first mentioned as a Roman provincial town. With the establishment of an episcopal residence in 739, the city life of Passau began. In the 13th century, bishops became rulers of the independent, small principality. In 1803, Passau became a Bavarian City.
After the successful conclusion of the latest round of ‘where can we leave our bike’ negotiations concluded ( in my favour….they are in the luggage room, not the garage as they initially stated!), we showered and started walking.
We stumbled upon St Stephens Cathedral first. Still open we wandered inside. It was burned down in the city’s 1662 fire and rebuilt by a famous baroque architect, and other baroque artists completed the stucco and frescos.
The organ in the Cathedral is the largest in the world, with 17,974 organ pipes and 233 stops. All five parts of the organ can be played from the main console, individually or simultaneously.
Next we headed to the Danube…..ah, there were issues. That is the cycling path we are due to take tomorrow!
The conjunction point of the three rivers was obviously closed. With the flooding of two major rivers, there would be only one way to see it.
Now this boat ended up reversing. It would not fit under the bridge.
I think the next two pictures are the only way.
A few other shots before we grabbed some dinner. The first is Fortress Veste Oberhaus, one of Europe’s largest preserved castle complexes. It would be interesting to visit but not on this trip.
Back at the hotel, I have been reading the news reports of the flooding devastation in Germany and the Czech Republic. Hungary has been bracing for the full impact and fury of the Danube, sandbagging Budapest. Three weeks ago we rode along the S Bends from Esztergom to Budapest. Most of that would be flooded as it was quite low lying.
Tomorrow we are due to ride on cycle path on both sides. We know this side is ‘unavailable’ and suspect the same for the other. Tweaking will be required.
Final photo. Check this guy out on his bike on the cobbles.
Todays route and chart.
Thanks for reading
Ooroo
About 8 km short of our destination we climbed and I found a seat! Beautiful place!
Then our destination St Johann in Tirol.
We were both delighted with today. It was a great cruiser ride on a day that proved the forecasters as wrong as the pre poll ballots for the recent Australian election. We are hoping that our luck continues!!
At Dobbiaco we turned left (West) to follow a different valley, and the scenery was certainly different. Despite still being in Italy, the language also changed. Signs were now in German. The Tyrol.
More animals to pat.
This old castle is at the entrance to Muhlbach, our overnight stop.
I stayed in Muhlbach last year, en route from Zurich to Asolo. I booked the same overnight accomodation.
Now we had decisions to make. One part wanted to roll on down to Corvara. In fine weather, no problem, but this is an alpine region where conditions can change very quickly. The dark clouds ahead looked a tad ominous.
In the next village, a sign indicated that our route was closed. Looking behind us we could see these workers clearing the railway line from landslide deposits.
On the outskirts of Cortina d’Ampezzo is the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics ski jump arena. Now in a reasonably bad state of repair. I read that the only issue faced was a lack of snow!
For a short distance we rode alongside this canal. The temperature soared…..from 5 degrees up to 9! I needed to take one of my 4 layers of tops off! Which layer shall I shed?
We rode about 10 km of what I now call footpath scootering, hopping off and on the bikes, pushing, criss crossing roads whilst we competed with peak hour Bologna traffic. A few more shots on the way out.
The rivers we crossed were flooded, muddy waters with floating debris.
We stopped for lunch in Ferrara, and were highly impressed with the historical town and buildings we saw. We past one of the historical gates.
For about 15 km we followed the river riding on a cycle path on the flood levee. We turned off the levee to head through this village.
The place was one gigantic artwork.
A few other local photos before we retired for the night.
On the train at 8.42 am and we were heading to Bologna, where the Giro d’Italia had started only a few days earlier. Bologna would line us up with the next day’s ride in what seems to be an improved weather forecast. Not great, but hopefully minimal rain.
Heading back towards our hotel, Tony ordered a caramel cappuccino. I said I’d try one. This is not what I was expecting.
Great 
yakkablog 