BIKE & BARGE, RIVER CRUISE - 2019
Cruise: Slovakia & Wien
Instead of touring Brataslava, I decided to bike along the border in Slovakia, cross over to Austria on the so-called Freedom Bridge, and head north toward the Czech border before taking the train to Vienna to meet the ship.
Meanwile, the rest took the Brataslava tour.
The Brataslava tour guide is in yellow.
Brataslava
Back on the bike trail, Devin, Slovakia, is one of two towns before crossing the border
Devin castle
It wasn't until I came upon this bike and barge ship that I realized I was still along the Danube. When the route turned away from the river as I left Brataslava, I thought the Morova was to my left. It actually doesn't flow into the Danube until Devin, just downstream from here.
Nice bike path between Devin and DevÃnska Nová Ves
This park near the Freedom Bridge made for a nice rest stop before crossing the border.
The bike and pedestrian only Freedom Bridge across the Morova is the only bridge for many miles connecting Slovakia and Austria. DevÃnska Nová Ves, Slovakia is in the background.
The Schlosshof is already visiable in the distance looking toward Austria
The Schlosshof once belonged to Prince Eugen of Savoy before it was bought by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.
Dog racing venue between the Schlosshof and Marchegg Bahnhof. You can see the poles supporting swifty's guide wire.
Shortcut thru farmer's field from Marchegg Stadt to Oberweiden
Decaying Salmhof, associated with Nicholas, Count of Salm, in the 16th century. It was supposedly renovated in 2011.
South of Oberweiden. Typical farm scene in this part of Austria. Sort of like Kansas except that here corn and various vegetables break up the the wheat fields.
A new type of roadside shrine to go along with Kapelle, Bildstocks, and crucifixes in diamond shaped boxes.
Shortcut on another farm road to Gänserndorf where I caught the train to Vienna.
I arrived at the Amamagna's dock in Vienna near the Reichsbrücke (bridge) around 3:30Pm; but it wasn't due until about 7:00PM. So I took off downstream towards the Danubestadtbrücke (bridge) and turned right onto the bike path to the Prater Hauptallee (main boulevard). I then turned into the large amusement park, something rare in the US these days.
It was hard to tell the towers containing rides in the Prater amusement park from nearby tall cranes used for construction. I decided to kill time by reading a book on a bench near here and promptly fell asleep, despite all the machine and man-made noise.
The ferris wheel in the background is not the iconic Third Man ferris wheel.
The ferris wheel featured in the Third Man. I saw an advertisement for dinner rides.
The ship arrived not long after I made it back to the dock. But the Amamagna could not dock until two other Amawaterways ships moved. They were scheduled to leave before us; so they had to dock outboard from us. It seemed like it took forever for them to move. I could see the rest of my crew on the top deck talking with the captain. When the other ship finally moved, and the Amamagna had docked, there was a large crowd at the door waiting to board buses for a night excursion. Nevertheless I was signaled to board first and received a nice round of applause.
The next day we opted to take the organized bike tour of Vienna.
Getting ready for a bike tour of Vienna, almost like herding cats. The tour leader was a Viennese tour guide who did a very good job. There was only one umfall (accident); although a young girl did hit a curb wrong and almost went down, but was able to right herself.
Kursalon in Stadt Park. In 1997 we went to a dinner and Strauß concert here pitched to tourists.
Musikverein, home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.
Taking a break in the the Hofburg, the former imperial palace. Normally, cars are not allowed; but today there was something going on.
We happened to catch a band playing in honor of a visiting dignitary
Overnight we set sail for Pöchlarn, a town upstream from Melk, where we arrived in the early morning. Here you had a choice of coach tours back to Dürnstein or Melk, or an organized bike ride from Pöchlarn to Ybbs. Since we had been to these places numerous times, we opted for the bike ride. So we never saw the Wachau between Krems and Melk, the most scenic and famous part of the Danube.
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