Day 26- Salzburg to Kraiburg

After a really good night of sleep, I was awake at 5.30am …. Yes again!

After a shower and packing we were off for breakfast at a local cafe where I had a jam croissant, blueberry muffin and a cappuccino…. All good stuff for the day ahead to Kraiburg!

The ride for the day started at around 7.30 am

The day started out coolish and as the sun burned off the clouds it turned out quite hot. The top temperature during the ride would have been around 30 degrees.

The day’s navigation responsibilities were left to Steve and he guided us out of Salzburg without any trouble. Shortly after leaving Salzburg we crossed the boarder into Germany. The trigger for the crossing was a text message on my mobile from the service provider welcoming me to Germany…. Funny how they get in on the act!

The ride today was through rolling hills which had farmland and small areas of forest. Over the day we noticed a distinct difference between the farming techniques in Germany from those in Italy and Austria. First the farmers were actually out on their tractors working their properties. Second, the way they store hay for feeding cattle is in large concrete hoppers on each property…. Interesting variation from the traditional hay bales seen in other places.

The first stop for coffee was in a place called Petting where we found a cafe for a cappuccino for Steve and myself and the 3 of us had a “top up” croissant! This was at about the 25 km mark. The cafe was very popular with a group of hikers having morning coffee as well.

After coffee we passed through some lovely countryside alongside a lake called Waginger See. The lake was beautiful with views of the alps on the distance. There were people starting to emerge on the Saturday morning to ride bikes, take a swim, do some fishing or hike.

The next stop was at Englesburg where we found a cafe attached to a retirement village! There was nothing else opened so being seniors we thought it was appropriate…. The staff there were delightful and made us feel most welcome…. This may have been a ploy… but no it was perfectly fine. Lunch for Steve and I was a potato and cream cheese fried nugget around the same size as a hash brown. Chris had lasagna and we all had a cool drink with the weather really warming. Before we left we were able to get our water bottles filled with water and ice blocks for the 20 kms to Kraiburg.

After navigating the second of the designated climbs for the day we made our way to our final destination where thankfully we were able to locate an ice cream shop to have a refreshing drink and ice cream…. Very good end to the day

Kraiburg seems a very old town with a lovely town square with a lovely church where there was a wedding. The guests were dressed in traditional clothes. The men in leather shorts with long socks and the women in traditional dresses…. Looked great!

The days riding was on very good cycle trails with sealed surfaces interspersed with the occasional road. The only difficulty we found was a large pothole on one section of the cycle trail that was in a very dangerous position…. Chris tried to advise a local farmer that this needed some attention and some warning signs…. Not sure whether it would happen!

All in all it was a good day in good riding conditions and we covered 77 kms and climbed about 550 metres.

The ride ended about 2.45 pm which was just as the real heat was coming on…

Today’s photos are:

The route

A view of the Alps as we rode out from Salzburg… we are saying goodbye to them for the time being.

Morning tea at Petting

Some people we met along the way and spent some time talking to them.. very friendly and good to meet them.

Lunch in the retirement village!

They know how to grow hydrangeas! The flower displays in gardens and on verandas is very special

A view of the farmland which was typical of what we saw during the day

Our home for the night…. I am sleeping on the couch!