I do believe that hotels and guest houses exert a gravitational force. Help yourself buffet breakfasts, free wifi and warm and dry sitting rooms are hard to leave behind. The Mönichkirchen guest house was only €30 inc. beer and breakfast so down on the €41 of yesterday.
Huh: takes about 10minutes to freewheel 5 miles downhill– but I don’t like to think how long it takes me in the opposite direction!
From Pinggau it was a push up a 14% hill to Friedberg, which felt easier than the drawn out slog of yesterday. It’s all relative. Then the clouds let down lots of wet stuff again so I take shelter in the town square under a thoughtfully provided awning, waiting for the rain to stop/pause or just go easy. Just as I wrote those words – the awning decided to roll itself up! Either there’s a sensor that can tell the rain is lessening or someone is standing nearby sniggering, with their finger on the close button.
The road continued up and down, with a bit of a dogleg to St Johann in der Haide and up to magnificent views of the valleys and Sankt Magdalena – finally arriving in Wagerberg which is the end of this stage of Eurovelo 9. I spotted a sign for a guesthouse – and cycled back to it – only to find it was deserted. ON again, I saw a small sign for ‘FAm-Dao’ and ‘Zimmer Frei’, so I rang the doorbell.
The door was answered by a petite Vietnamese woman who spoke no English – so out came my point-it book. Yes she had a room – in fact she had several and a large, and comfortable upstairs with a kitchenette, all empty. Price – including breakfast €25 (if this downward trend continues they’ll be paying me to stay with them). It’s also useful to know that a ‘Zimmer’ is a room – not a walking aid.
I discovered the strawberries I’d bought had leaked juice all over my bag – and over my knitting – gasp! I tried to soak it off but not having much success. I thought I might have time to catch up on daily drawings, but Mrs Dao, for that was her name, wanted to know all about me. With the assistance of google translate we asked each other questions – though she would not use the keyboard. I was curious as to why she appeared to be all on her own in this spacious house, and not even any other guests. She has been in Austria for many years and has three children – all at University in Graz. But Mrs Dao was far more interested in my trip – and seeing photographs – therefore it was about midnight before I went to schlafen and I was too tired to do any drawings or blogging. Managed to skype Steve and Seth though – and wish Seth good luck on his move to Bristol next Saturday.
Huh: takes about 10minutes to freewheel 5 miles downhill– but I don’t like to think how long it takes me in the opposite direction!
From Pinggau it was a push up a 14% hill to Friedberg, which felt easier than the drawn out slog of yesterday. It’s all relative. Then the clouds let down lots of wet stuff again so I take shelter in the town square under a thoughtfully provided awning, waiting for the rain to stop/pause or just go easy. Just as I wrote those words – the awning decided to roll itself up! Either there’s a sensor that can tell the rain is lessening or someone is standing nearby sniggering, with their finger on the close button.
The road continued up and down, with a bit of a dogleg to St Johann in der Haide and up to magnificent views of the valleys and Sankt Magdalena – finally arriving in Wagerberg which is the end of this stage of Eurovelo 9. I spotted a sign for a guesthouse – and cycled back to it – only to find it was deserted. ON again, I saw a small sign for ‘FAm-Dao’ and ‘Zimmer Frei’, so I rang the doorbell.
The door was answered by a petite Vietnamese woman who spoke no English – so out came my point-it book. Yes she had a room – in fact she had several and a large, and comfortable upstairs with a kitchenette, all empty. Price – including breakfast €25 (if this downward trend continues they’ll be paying me to stay with them). It’s also useful to know that a ‘Zimmer’ is a room – not a walking aid.
I discovered the strawberries I’d bought had leaked juice all over my bag – and over my knitting – gasp! I tried to soak it off but not having much success. I thought I might have time to catch up on daily drawings, but Mrs Dao, for that was her name, wanted to know all about me. With the assistance of google translate we asked each other questions – though she would not use the keyboard. I was curious as to why she appeared to be all on her own in this spacious house, and not even any other guests. She has been in Austria for many years and has three children – all at University in Graz. But Mrs Dao was far more interested in my trip – and seeing photographs – therefore it was about midnight before I went to schlafen and I was too tired to do any drawings or blogging. Managed to skype Steve and Seth though – and wish Seth good luck on his move to Bristol next Saturday.
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