It was so nice to just follow a path along a river in this beautiful part of Europe. Even though my way of getting to Salzburg was a little cockamamie, I was just enjoying passing through these scenic towns and getting some kilometers to finally fly under my feet. I was able to go from Wesenufer to Braunau am Inn in a day by following the Donau River to Passau and then heading south along the Inn River to Braunau. The path from Passau was packed dirt and very easy to ride with some hills. This was my 2nd day of riding on my trip from Linz to Salzburg.
There are paths on both sides of the river and you can decide to ride in Germany or Austria. I stayed on the Austrian side for the most part. I focused mostly on just moving my bike in a southward direction once I reached Passau, but I did stop in scenic Schärding for lunch.
I spoke to a woman in her 60s who was riding her bicycle through the forest behind me for a few minutes who had a wonderful, colorful ensemble with matching Converse shoes. She was just joyful and peaceful with a great smile. As I left the square, an older man in a suit struck up a conversation with me and offered to walk me to where the bicycle path continued. I didn't know exactly where it was. He spoke perfect English and told me that he had worked in the states when he was younger. He had a bicycle and a serious tone, and gave me a mini tour with some advice to stay on the Austrian side. He was the first person who thought it was very practical and doable to ride across the Alps and then to curve toward Rome for the rest of my trip, given the time I had left. It gave me more confidence. He rode with me to the path and bid me adieu. People were friendly and more willing to smile at me around here. I was impressed by the everyday people who were riding bicycles for transport. In Europe, I saw many older people riding bicycles to run errands.
I kept pedaling all day steadily along the river, with the goal of Braunau in my mind. I knew there were some campgrounds around there, and I felt ready to camp. With such a long day, my phone was low on charge by the end of the day. I was able to turn it off during some of my ride, but it was still drained. I reached Braunau before dusk. I was riding along the gravely side of the river when I saw a lady smile at me that was on a bridge. I mumbled some friendly sound at her as my first mutterances are kind of deutschish if I'm deep in thought. I continued on and stopped once I saw a steep hill that would lead to the river and probably the campground. I wanted to make sure if I was descending that I wasn't about to make a mistake that I would have to climb out of.
It happens that I meet most people when I actually pause to look at my map. This was another example of that happening. This friendly, enthusiastic woman approached me on her bicycle and yelled to me, "Deutsch or English." It was the same woman from the bridge. I sheepishly replied, "English." She said, "I knew it! I thought you said something that sounded like English. Are you looking for a place to stay?" I was. She invited me at once to stay with here, and I accepted. There was something about her energy that I loved and I trusted her immediately. She insisted on calling my cellphone before I followed her to her house, so that someone would be able to find me, and to prove that I could trust her. I let her do that even though I thought she was being dramatic.
We biked the short distance to her beautiful home where she lived with her partner and two teenage children.
We talked and talked and she found out that I was an English teacher by training. She immediately started calling people that she knew at the school to see if I could visit. I ended up with an appointment to talk about public schools in the United States to an English class at a local high school. Monika also had me cooking up a traditional Austrian dish that was a sweet hot doughy dish with fresh plums called
Kaiserschmarren. She just sort of shook the ingredients together in a bowl until it was the right consistency. "Now, you will be able to make Kaiserscharren for you family." It was just like how my mother makes pie crust: I have not made a successful pie to date. While we were eating Kaiserschmarren with sour milk, we got a call from the English teacher at the school, and I found myself with a time to go to the school to "teach" in the afternoon. Monika says, "yes, please stay a week. It looks like you will be here at least two nights. And besides, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow"
Indeed, it looked like I was going to be staying two nights. She also offered to help me with laundry too. I hadn't really seen a laundromat in a while, so it was a big help. I also realized I was going to speak at a school when I only had one dress, shorts, leggings, and a few workout shirts. I just decided to wear what I had to match what I had been through. I didn't have room to carry more.
This was not the end of this day yet. Monika suggested that we drive out to Burghausen, Germany to see one of her favorite places in the world, Burghausen Castle, the longest castle in Europe. I didn't realize that it wasn't going to be very visible in the dark. It was pretty incredible that we were heading out here. I admired her energy.
It was raining lightly and there were fences around a main building that we snuck around. Everything was closed up. Heavy little seeds from a tree kept falling and spooking us as we were walking around. The rain picked up as she told me about an artist who painted a picture for her on a tree. It was dark, but we were able to see some of the painting. She never saw the artist again.
After that, we went to this bar that had art everywhere in the building. You can see a portrait of Monika here. We snuck into the men's room to admire the art there.
We met a French cartoonist and a lady who was hosting him in her home. He was a couchsurfer. We talked for a while and then drove back to Braunau. In the car, we discussed t old Leonard Cohen versus young Leonard Cohen and the relationships in our lives. I tried to be honest, and I tried to stay awake too. It had been a long day. I hadn't expected all this. I was thankful.
There are paths on both sides of the river and you can decide to ride in Germany or Austria. I stayed on the Austrian side for the most part. I focused mostly on just moving my bike in a southward direction once I reached Passau, but I did stop in scenic Schärding for lunch.
I spoke to a woman in her 60s who was riding her bicycle through the forest behind me for a few minutes who had a wonderful, colorful ensemble with matching Converse shoes. She was just joyful and peaceful with a great smile. As I left the square, an older man in a suit struck up a conversation with me and offered to walk me to where the bicycle path continued. I didn't know exactly where it was. He spoke perfect English and told me that he had worked in the states when he was younger. He had a bicycle and a serious tone, and gave me a mini tour with some advice to stay on the Austrian side. He was the first person who thought it was very practical and doable to ride across the Alps and then to curve toward Rome for the rest of my trip, given the time I had left. It gave me more confidence. He rode with me to the path and bid me adieu. People were friendly and more willing to smile at me around here. I was impressed by the everyday people who were riding bicycles for transport. In Europe, I saw many older people riding bicycles to run errands.
I kept pedaling all day steadily along the river, with the goal of Braunau in my mind. I knew there were some campgrounds around there, and I felt ready to camp. With such a long day, my phone was low on charge by the end of the day. I was able to turn it off during some of my ride, but it was still drained. I reached Braunau before dusk. I was riding along the gravely side of the river when I saw a lady smile at me that was on a bridge. I mumbled some friendly sound at her as my first mutterances are kind of deutschish if I'm deep in thought. I continued on and stopped once I saw a steep hill that would lead to the river and probably the campground. I wanted to make sure if I was descending that I wasn't about to make a mistake that I would have to climb out of.
It happens that I meet most people when I actually pause to look at my map. This was another example of that happening. This friendly, enthusiastic woman approached me on her bicycle and yelled to me, "Deutsch or English." It was the same woman from the bridge. I sheepishly replied, "English." She said, "I knew it! I thought you said something that sounded like English. Are you looking for a place to stay?" I was. She invited me at once to stay with here, and I accepted. There was something about her energy that I loved and I trusted her immediately. She insisted on calling my cellphone before I followed her to her house, so that someone would be able to find me, and to prove that I could trust her. I let her do that even though I thought she was being dramatic.
We biked the short distance to her beautiful home where she lived with her partner and two teenage children.
We talked and talked and she found out that I was an English teacher by training. She immediately started calling people that she knew at the school to see if I could visit. I ended up with an appointment to talk about public schools in the United States to an English class at a local high school. Monika also had me cooking up a traditional Austrian dish that was a sweet hot doughy dish with fresh plums called Kaiserschmarren. She just sort of shook the ingredients together in a bowl until it was the right consistency. "Now, you will be able to make Kaiserscharren for you family." It was just like how my mother makes pie crust: I have not made a successful pie to date. While we were eating Kaiserschmarren with sour milk, we got a call from the English teacher at the school, and I found myself with a time to go to the school to "teach" in the afternoon. Monika says, "yes, please stay a week. It looks like you will be here at least two nights. And besides, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow"
Indeed, it looked like I was going to be staying two nights. She also offered to help me with laundry too. I hadn't really seen a laundromat in a while, so it was a big help. I also realized I was going to speak at a school when I only had one dress, shorts, leggings, and a few workout shirts. I just decided to wear what I had to match what I had been through. I didn't have room to carry more.
This was not the end of this day yet. Monika suggested that we drive out to Burghausen, Germany to see one of her favorite places in the world, Burghausen Castle, the longest castle in Europe. I didn't realize that it wasn't going to be very visible in the dark. It was pretty incredible that we were heading out here. I admired her energy.
It was raining lightly and there were fences around a main building that we snuck around. Everything was closed up. Heavy little seeds from a tree kept falling and spooking us as we were walking around. The rain picked up as she told me about an artist who painted a picture for her on a tree. It was dark, but we were able to see some of the painting. She never saw the artist again.
After that, we went to this bar that had art everywhere in the building. You can see a portrait of Monika here. We snuck into the men's room to admire the art there.
We met a French cartoonist and a lady who was hosting him in her home. He was a couchsurfer. We talked for a while and then drove back to Braunau. In the car, we discussed t old Leonard Cohen versus young Leonard Cohen and the relationships in our lives. I tried to be honest, and I tried to stay awake too. It had been a long day. I hadn't expected all this. I was thankful.
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