Tuesday: Danube Cruise / Bike Ride

Up early Tuesday. Strapped the bikes to the car and took off for Krems, a nice little town about an hour's drive outside Vienna, situated in the Wachau region of Austria, right there on that little ol' river known as the Danube.

We got there about thirty minutes before our ship sailed. The idea: take a cruise up the Danube about three hours, disembark, then ride the bikes back to Krems along the beautiful bike trail that runs through farmland, villages, and along the river. It's a trail known Europe-wide and maybe world-wide among cyclists. Our route would be about 35 kilometers.

The ship had a nice open deck on top with a lot of tables, so we sat there. Soon we were joined by an older retired couple from the States, Phil and Nancy. Very nice people. They come to Europe once a year and really seem to enjoy it.

After a three-hour cruise (cue Gilligan's Island theme song) we arrived in Melk. Schlepped our bikes off the ship, then rode about 3 kilometers back to a bridge that deposited us on the other side of the river for the long ride back to the car.

Do I have to mention it was a perfect, sunny day? About 80 F?

We stopped several times for a bite to eat or something to drink or to take photos. It was a leisurely trip and all in all we were on the trail about four hours. Then in the car and 45 minutes later we were back in Vienna, pretty damned tired but having enjoyed the hell out of a perfect day.

P.S.: US Wachovia Corporation derives its name from Wachau.

 Dürnstein, the main tourist attraction of the Wachau. England's Richard the Lionhearted spent a couple of years as prisoner of the Duke of Austria in the castle above the town, now a ruin. 

Every village had a church...

And some had castles.

Inner courtyard of Teisenhoferhof, gothic, converted in Renaissance, cultural center of Weißenkirchen.

Part of the bike path went through the fields;
corn, vineyards, apple trees, apricot trees are some of what we saw.

The bike path wasn't crowded, nor were the villages.
B and her dad did this route before and sometimes it was madness,
there were so many people. Today, nice and quiet!

We passed a commercial flower operation.

Another stretch through the countryside to the next village.

Prandtauerhof, a 700 year-old hotel / restaurant / winery.

B says usually these streets in Dürnstein are jammed with tourists...

This building in Weißenkirchen dates from the 14th Century.

Things I Saw Monday

Airing the bed linen. A not-uncommon sight.

People who seem to love each other. A not-uncommon sight.

A woman licking a toad. An uncommon sight.
(Graffiti along the Danube Canal)

More Graffiti.

Son of the Return of Even More Graffiti.

Sunday Cookout

Sunday, the weather was perfect. No wind, no clouds, about 80 degrees.

We drove to the folks' house in the afternoon for a cookout. The cook: me.

The folks don't own a grill, so H borrowed one from a neighbor. Everything was laid out with surgical precision when I got there, as is H's way: beneath the grill was a drop cloth, in case ashes or charcoal fell on the patio (which is made of stone, so WTF?), a table next to the grill with all the implements in place, the stuff to start the fire with, the charcoal...

I told H: "My dad and I had a tradition when we grilled together. We'd stand around the grill drinking beer and the rules required at least one piece of meat to fall onto the ground and be hurriedly wiped off and put back. Extra points if none of the guests saw this occur."

"Let's go inside and drink a Metaxa," H said, no doubt preferring that as an alternative tradition.
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I'm no expert with a grill. I recently learned there's an alternative to charcoal briquets and that's lump charcoal. This stuff lights easier and burns hotter. I've only used it once but it's my new charcoal of choice, and this is what H had on hand.

I messed up, though. I'm accustomed to lighting charcoal with a chimney, which accelerates the process. With no chimney I futzed around a while before finally getting the stuff to ignite properly, so as a result we ate 30 minutes later than expected. But it gave everyone extra time to enjoy the beautiful day.

We had my "famous" (in my mind only) pork tenderloin, grilled veggies on skewers, and potatoes. B's mom made a couple of different sauces and B brought along a delicious cucumber dip.

B found a nice marinade for the veggies: melt some butter, put in a few drops of walnut oil, a few spoonfulls of white wine, and a couple of crushed garlic cloves. Put the veggies in the pot and stir them around until everything is coated. Pro tip: wood skewers are probably better than metal ones with this marinade, because the veggies tend to slide right off of metal skewers and into the fire. As I found out the hard way.

Everything came out fine, but because there were no hickory chips to flavor the meat with, and because I had to tone down my infamous rub to accomodate the taste buds of the non-cayenne eating family, the pork didn't have its usual BAM! POW! quality.

Still, it did not suck, sitting in the shade with the family, enjoying each other's company.

Every time I do this I realize how much we'll miss it when it's no longer possible...