With ever KM covered, I find myself becoming freer, less troubled, open to whatever happens, go with the flow and generally accept the universe, as my friend Athene always says.
With this in mind, I received a text from Jemma, the wife of a friend I used to row with asking if I needed someplace to stay in Vienna as she had a good friend Louise who lived there. How amazing is that!
I gave Louise a ring and before I knew it, I had a set of clear instructions on how to get to her house and what to do if I was early. She asked if I needed to be picked up from anywhere and had that reassuring, practical approach from someone you know you are going to like.
The three of us all set off on the magnificent cycle paths and got some great video (finally) of my actually cycling. Michal had to peel off at Tulln as Michael and I pushed onto Vienna, only 40KM away.
We parted company at the Schemerl bridge, famous for its imposing lions standing defiantly, commanding this section of the fast flowing Donau as it splits off into the Danube Canal that flows through the city.
It was lunchtime on a Saturday and I was on the look out for some kind of gift I could bring. Louise and her partner Christof have a family owned winery Höpler about a couple of hours south east of Vienna , so the rather unappealing bottles of cheap wine at the local supermarkets is not really going to cut the mustard. Not really sure what I am going to be able to bring at this last minute stage, in fact.
I arrive near to the house which is in a super looking neighbourhood. It has a local, village type of vibe and I love the presence of tram lines and overhead electricity cables that power them.
I may as well use the time before they get home to get my bike looked at, as it has been a while and I am in a major city so there has to be a bike shop nearby.
The closest is the rather old school sounding Mountainbiker Rösner & Schütz, which could almost be some financial services or legal practice and I shoot down a rather steep hill, which of course means coming back up and having to negotiate the tram lines as well. The guys are super impressed that I am undertaking this trip and offer me a coffee whilst the mechanic goes about tightening up my spokes and doing something to my gears, which are becoming a bit jumpy. The guy doesn't want to charge anything, but I leave him a €20 although I have a sneaky suspicion that the bike feels a little bit off rather than better. But they were such a great team of guys.
Louise comes down to the shop to and offers to pick drive me back in their large branded car. What a relief, I didn't fancy the hill. When we arrived, I offloaded the bike and set about giving it a good old power wash, amazing how much crap it had picked up.
That task over, Louise took all of my dirty gear with the exception of my swimming shorts and stuffed it into the wash. I borrowed her towelling dressing robe to (barely) cover up and I went downstairs to meet her utterly charming and urbanely cool husband Christof. As we sat in the secluded and lush garden,
drank tea and ate topfenpalatschinken - a local dish much like a pancake with curd cheese - I did think to myself about the strange and yet somehow completely comfortable situation of being practically naked in the company of complete strangers in their lovely home.
They were going out that night, so I helped myself to a ton of pasta and hit the pit. Perhaps its the lure of a clean bed with freshly laundered sheets after a few days under canvas, but I was out like a light.
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