Sonntag (Sunday): I'm back. After collapsing in my bed for the night. Then being woken up by fireworks at about 11:30 pm. I had to stand tip toe on a wobbly, wooden chair and strain my neck to see them out of my sun window. After about 15 minutes, I gave up due to many trees and buildings obstructing my view. I'll admit, I got a little teary eyed- 4th of July nostalgia. Anyway, back to the bike trip. Melk to Krems. I'm the world's greatest, if I must say so myself. Truthfully, it was mostly flat but still, biking for so many hours in the sun is something to be triumphant about. "I am the champion my friends. . ." (Here I go with ellipses again, sorry Mutter.) No Vater, I did not complain though near the end I thought I might crumple and end up as a tangled heap in a vineyard. The last few inclines really gave my thighs a run for their money. It could have been partly due to the fact that my bike seat was too low. I felt like my knees came up to my ears while pedaling. But all's well that ends well.
I quickly gave up the photo ops after the first few attempts to multitask (biking and snapping photos) ended in near fatal fender-benders. Don't worry, I was still able to capture the scenery in between mad dash biking. Our day went like this:
5:50 AM-Rise and Shine it's Tushy whooping time. We had to catch the 6:19 bus to make it to the meeting spot by 7:30.
7:30 AM-Bus ride to Melk Abbey
9 AM- Tour of Melk Abbey
12:00-5 PM- "I like to ride my bicycle. I like to ride my bike," with a few stops in between
7 PM- Back to Vienna
9 PM- Pass out on bed
Melk Abbey Church
I spy with my little eye. . .Arthur Pendragon!!!
"Red, red wine you make me feel so fine." -those green lines are all grape plants
Love for the Grape Lady
Austrian Cemetery: I want flower beds for my grave.
Tour de France, here I come!!
PS: hope you caught my many song references. I feel like a mad, music guru.
PPS: Why am I not in these pictures? You may wonder. Because I looked like a slob. Bike shorts and all. I'll save those pics for home viewing. I'm definitely investing in some real bike shorts when I come back to AMERICA.
How amazing that you have found a new interest in life--biking. I cannot believe you did all that biking without any kind of training. It did look like a beautiful ride and I loved your musical references. They were very clever. What is the history of the Melk Abbey Church? It is beautiful. The cemetery plots are so beautiful. Who takes care of them? I can't wait to see all these things.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you got your tushy whooped.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, remembering your first stint on the rode bike (which was short to say the least) I'm quite astounded that you made it :) Maybe you'll get mad into biking like Vati and run around in matching spandex. His new biking suit is particularly amusing, what with all the expletives pasted on the booty-I believe I mentioned it before. I recall a few times when you suddenly became soccer/basketball/running/outdoorsy/sporty....obsessed in the past, do you think that will happen with cycling? (in which case I'll tell Vati not to buy another bike quite yet) I do feel for you though, biking without proper padded shorts and all. I have spend a few rides, ridden to the point of exhaustion, in sweats and they were less than pleasant. Too bad you did not post any photos :(
The countryside looks phenomenal, very Merlinish. The Earl and I have been watching some of the third season and basically, we see Merlin in every aspect of our lives. is the castle abandoned? I for sure want to see some Castles and keeps while we are there!
I appreciated all your song references, particularly Red Red Wine which is one of my favs, and I was reminded to put the cowboy song on my ipod in preparation for the rodeo.
The cemetary over there looks quite bild-esque. I would not mind sitting around with Debbie R and the Tongans in one of them for the evening.
PS: next time, go outside to watch the fireworks.
PPS: your patriatism never fails to dazzle me, shouting "AMERICA" and all :)
of course, the Abbey looks amazing, very done up! It looks sort of Byzantine??
ReplyDeleteWho is the Grape Lady?
go lese meine kommentare auf ihren anderen beitrage!!!!
ReplyDeleteis that arthur's castle!?!?!?!?!?! i just finished merlin!
ReplyDelete