Castle on the Hill

Still riding the Wimbledon high we boarded a flight to Vienna, Austria. The buildings are so inspiring it’s no wonder so much classical music was composed here.

We spent the day wandering and in the evening we went to a string quartet concert in St. Peter’s church. Of course there was also good beer, food, and coffee along the way.

We had missed climbing the tower or St. Stephen’s church (337 stairs up!) so headed there first thing in the morning.

We packed up our rented panniers and bikes to start our journey along the Danube River to Budapest. Perhaps now would be a good time to mention that our longest ’training ride’ was about 25kms and that the itinerary for Day 1 was 337 stairs up (and down), plus 74kms on the bike. Though there were times that saddle-ass was setting in, the route was flat and scenic. We lucked out with pleasant temperatures, overcast skies, and a tailwind most of the way.

It was exciting when we got our first sight of Bratislava’s castle.

We have 2 nights in Bratislava to rest our butts and check out the sights. It’s one of Europe’s smallest capital cities but has big bang for our buck in tourist sights.

Next up: 4 consecutive days on the bike. Eep!