Skip to main content

//Day 75 /25-05-22 /Anneheim-Bad Gastein

Wow…day 75…tempus fugit. Last night a thunderstorm went through the valley, a lot of lightning, thunder and shaking of my tent..the tent and I survived but I must say I was happy when the storm headed to other places. I woke around 6.30, a shy sun was enough to dry my wet tent. I packed Black Horse and started riding to the horizon…correction to the mountains. 
My aim today was to cycle to a camping close by the train station of the Tauern tunnel which connect two valley’s (the Möltall and the Gastei valley). The sun disappeared after it has dried my tent and the rest of the day it was grey with often rain….
I’m still on the the Alpe Adria cycle path towards Salzburg which is really beautiful. Most people I met came out of the opposite direction (Salzburg). A lot of organised cycling touring groups, with my 55 years I probably was the puppy on the path…..










The tunnel is located at 1200 meters so most of the day I had to climb. Although  bad weather, the views were great. When I arrived at Mallnitz , where the camping and one side of the tunnel was, it was raining cats and dogs..The camping was empty….and the announced restaurant/shop was closed…I turned around and headed for the train through the tunnel. I waited 30 minutes and stepped on the train which would bring me though the tunnel in 15 minutes. I hoped that at the end of the tunnel the sun would be shining….reality was that it was still raining cats and more dogs. I checked booking and found an (the only) affordable hotel in Bad Gastein, some 5k away. Bad Gastein was/is a spa-ski-resort.  In the 19th century it was fashionable resort visited by the rich and famous which stayed in the Grand hotels build on the hills of the town. Today Bad Gastein is mostly known as ski-resort, the Grand Hotels renovated, new ones build, the town tries to keep up appearances but not sure if it succeeds. The town is also known for a big waterfall.

The hotel I’m staying is such an old Grand Hotel which has been “hipstered-up” ; common work spaces, common kitchen,…most of the guests young worldly  people…(except for me and a lost German motorbike rider…). A nice place. 
Every bar and restaurant in town was closed though. So I was happy to use the common kitchen to prepare the food I bought in the local Spar. I was not the only one in kitchen…..





















Tomorrow I will cycle to Salzburg, the weather will improve so I hope I can camp again. I also need to decide which direction I want  to take to get home…..

Lessons learned : 
  • A common kitchen is a great way to meet people.
  • The sun does not always shine at the end of the tunnel.



Comments

  1. Voor mij een bekende streek al is het heel lang geleden, de foto's die ik zag deden mijn hart wat sneller kloppen, zo een mooie natuur, bergen, watervallen ....

    ReplyDelete
  2. The views are freaking beautiful! Love it! Last days... almost home! I will miss your daily stories! 😢

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hopelijk vandaag een droge dag.
    Wel mooie fotos en uitzicht.
    Het thuisfront begint te naderen, hopelijk nog goed weer voor de komende dagen.
    Groetjes

    ReplyDelete
  4. De 2de en de 3de !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

/Day 86 /05 -06-22 /Halle-Gent (Home)

Pip the home-rabbit didn’t kill me. At least not yet, but I probably will as result of sleep deprivation. I learned the hard way that rabbits are nocturnal animals, during the night the Pip made a lot of noise drinking and scratching…Today a good rabbit is a rabbit in combination with prunes… After breakfast I left Hannah, Alec and Oscar around 9.00 and cycled to Dilbeek to pick up Maarten and Inge who would join me cycling to Gent. On the way to Dilbeek another friend, Jurriaan, informed me that he would join as well. For my last TBBCA cycling day the weather gods have foreseen most of the day rain  but eventually it was only the last 20 K that I needed to cycle in the rain. Not to to bad.  Thanks to Maarten leading the way we soon arrived in Schellebelle to say hello to another friend, Nico to have some refreshments and chocolate waffles….The last 20 K I cycled along the Schelde to home…I took the scenic route through the city center… and surprised the kids with my arrival…....

/Day 85 /04 -06-22 /Remersdaal-Halle

The roosters of the nearby farm thought it was a good idea to wake me up at 5.15. I waited until 6.30 to get out of my bed and breaking up my tent. There was nothing to eat so early on the camping so I left on an empty stomach around 7.20. For the first time in 85 days I misread my GPS and started descending a road, unfortunate the wrong road…After I realised I took the wrong road I climbed the hill back up via an other road to eventually arrive on the correct cyclepath. Today I would cycle to Halle, 140 K away,  via the outskirts of Liege, through Limburg, Haspengouw, Heuvel land and “the green ring” around Brussel. I also passed Borgloon to say halo to Rudi, a docent of my art academy, who has a solo  exhibition  in the Graethempoort. It was great cycling most of the day ; mostly small roads, through fruit orchards, 2 bigger forests, great views, small villages.The closer I came to Brussels though the more I was confronted with the lack of decent and safe cycling infras...

/Day 84 /03 -06-22 /Remagen-Remersdaal

I was awake by 5.30 thanks to many birds making a lot of noice. I stayed in bed until 7.00 and was ready to go by 8.00. In Remagen I bought breakfast at the bakery and cycled afterwards the last kilometers along the Rhine.I also passed the remnants of the Remagen bridge which was was captured intact by the allies during WWII and scene for heavy battle as the Germans tried to destroy the bridge, which  it eventually did.  Leaving the Rhine required some climbing to get out of the Rhine Valley. A short but steep climb brought me in a different landscape. Big fields, low rolling hills…Most of the day this would be the landscape, not  to bad but also nothing extra-ordinary. The cycle path often ran parallel to quite busy roads which spoiled somewhat the fun.  In the afternoon I cycled though Aachen. I had never been to Aachen before and the  city center  looked very pleasant. The icecream was also of reasonable quality, no Amerena and Malaga this time but yoghu...