We've been without internet access for a couple of days (except through our phones) so we are behind on or blog posts. This post will only catch us up through yesterday. I know you're disappointed.
Oh, one comment right at the start. Juliet and Phil are sharing authorship of these posts. So far, this means Phil selects and uploads a bunch of photos and then adds text in a spare, efficient style --- think E.B. White or perhaps Ernest Hemingway. * Then Juliet goes through and tarts it up with all kinds of extras, such as adjectives. (Juliet also adds some of her own photos and paragraphs, don't get me wrong). We're both happy with the final result, I (Phil) just want to make sure I get credit for my contribution.
* Juliet's footnote: Hemingway? White? Maybe over-stating just a touch... ;)
And now, on with the blog.
Several people said they like the signage, like Phil does. You need to take a look at the larger image to see that this guy is striding out resolutely with his thumbs thrust forward. Onward!
It's tempting to put photo after photo like this, but the fact is, they lose a lot in being reduced to two dimensions and to being just a few inches across. This area was beautifully lush and green. Miles and miles of bucolic farmland alternating with woods full of bird song. And miles and miles of cycle path without a single parking lot, "staging area," road intrusion, or sprawl development in sight...almost impossible to believe tat this can be done...dedicated bicycle paths that connect across ENTIRE COUNTRIES (Germany, then Austria). And then we realized that even if we tried to do this in the U.S., people would complain that there weren't easily accessible road stops along the way, or fast food restaurants every 2 mies, or...you get the idea. Here, the biggest complaint would be that there aren't enough biergartens or gasthofs en route.
Bicycles and rollerblades are not allowed on this trail, but motorized vehicles out of the Tintin books are fine.
Am I the only one who sees something vaguely sinister here?
Eating some Linzer Torte in Linz. A pamphlet from the tourist centers says the recipe for Linzer Torte is the oldest documented cake recipe in the world. Phil is skeptical.
And....more miles and miles of scenic country roads. We had a several days of terrain like this, although things did change a day later (as we will discuss in our next post).
Interesting point about the unbroken stretches of bicycle paths without the relentless motor vehicle access we're so used to here. (Sigh - when you imagine places like Grand Canyon before they were turned over to motor touring! Although I haven't visited the North Rim yet...)
ReplyDeleteWikipedia on the oldest cake recipe:
"In 2005, Waltraud Faißner, the library director of the Upper Austrian Landesmuseum and author of the book "Wie mann die Linzer Dortten macht" ("How to make the Linzer Torte") found an even older Veronese recipe from 1653 in Codex 35/31 in the archive of Admont Abbey." (I believe that should be translated "How to make zee Linzer Torte" but won't quibble.)
And who knew Fred Astaire's father was Fritz Austerlitz from Linz? Where did Fred go wrong, pastry-wise?
Is there an online route map of your bicycling itinerary? A superimposed progress line would be cool...
Beth, the great thing about having this blog, and your comments, is that we are certain that full research and investigation will be completed for any and all direct and indirect elements of our trip. Sinatra and Linz indeed..not a pairing we'd have hit on outright. Actually, I believe we might have missed that one for a very very long time. Though today, at a wine event here in Vienna, the winer owner I was speaking with was tickled to hear we were from California, because that's where Schwarzenneger was governor. Austrian pride. Love that. I hesitate to say it, but Phil tried a sacher torte yesterday...well, THE original sacher torte, from the Hotel Sacher. I suspect there is a vast wealth of information about that recipe and lineage that we may now have prompted you to probe. Carry on! :) (Oh , and a superimposed on-line route map is a great idea...don't have that set up, but perhaps when Phil gets back from Budapest...or if I get to it before then...lots of photos and other tales to tell on catch-up posts this week, though, so the map overlay may need to wait for a few days...)
DeleteHm, I should probably refrain from further pastry research. Re. map, could you add a page element to your blog specifically to hold the url I included in the comment below? (That is, it would be permanently visible on the side, above About Us.) I think you should be able to do that, though maybe the travel template is more limited...?
DeleteThat's odd. I successfully posted a reply a day or two ago, but it's now disappeared -
Delete(And now it's displaying again, only after I posted the above query. Which suggests that all of my replies here would again be invisible if for some reason I were to revisit these comments...??)
DeleteWhy yes, indeed, there is. Goodness me. You are biking along the Danube, a reasonably well-known waterway with some online map availability. Anyway, now that someone's made a fool of herself, I like this map: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Danube-Bike-Path. There you are a couple of days ago! Linz!
ReplyDelete