A short stop in Dresden

It's already a few months back that I visited Dresden, capital of Saxony in the East of Germany. I arrived by an overnight train, pretty early and the place was still sleepy. Still, quite a few people were already up and bright on their way on bike everywhere.

Of course, one of the first things I noticed were rental bikes and out came my camera.

A trip to the central cemetery

robably it's not to everybodies taste to spend her/his weekends on a graveyard, but I like to visit the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna from time to time. The Zentralfriedhof is the biggest cemetry in Vienna. It is located in the outskirts of the city (in Simmering) and can easily be reached by bike. There are also various connections by public transport (e.g. trams 6 and 71).

I set off in the morning at the Donaukanal bike path ...

Discover your town!

Whenever I think about city-cycling I think about the German campaign Radlust which deals with the promotion of federal cycling traffic. The term "Radlust" could be translated to "the joy of cycling". The aim of the campaign was to -- literally speaking -- mobilize the unused potential of the bicycle in cities (nearly all households in Europe own at least one bicycle) by remembering their owners about the pleasure of movement:

>> If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. << (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

Whenever I cycle on the weekend myself, try new bike routes or generally explore areas that I have never been to before by bicycle, I too feel this enthusiasm and pure joy of cycling. Last weekend was one of these occasions...

I put on my new stripy jersey dress, carried Paula up from the basement and set off for the unexpected. Also with me, a map printed from anachb.at (useful Viennese-area route planner), sunglasses, a hat and some of my cameras.

The four of us out of town

A few days back Velouria (from Lovely Bicycle!), Jaqueline, Paula and me (anna) headed off for a day trip along the Danube. For not-so-regular readers of our blogs let me note that Jackie and Paula are not real human beings, but our dearest city bikes. Although lifeless they acquired the status of a good companion, and henceforth they shall be treated as such.

Initially we had only planned to cycle as far as Klosterneuburg, but continued along the Danube on the EuroVelo 6 route till Greifenstein. So all in all we cycled about 45 km (that is 28 miles).

Map of the tour [plotted using anachb.at]

Overtaking ships, eating bugs

Well, overtaking ships is certainly not something I do every day, but today I cycled from Vienna to Stockerau (and back) to meet some friends. The easiest way to get there is along the Danube bike trail (Velo Route 6), a very famous and popular bike route among tourists. Beside fully loaded tourists from basically all over the world, one rides along families on their weekend bike trips, sporty road cyclists and old ladies on their shopping trips.

It took me about 20 min to get from our flat to the mighty river and another 1 ½ hours to Greifenstein. There I met up with my friend D. and his wife F. for lunch. Later we cycled together to their home in Stockerau. That's very easy cause there is a river power station and cyclists and pedestrians are allowed to cross the Danube there. To get to Stockerau itself one cycles through a floodplain forest – that's where I ate my bug (well, I spat it out and continued cycling with my mouth closed ;-)).

Cyclists in Stockerau

Stockerau is about 30 km upstream from Vienna and a few kilometers away from the Danube. On the way there I had to cope with strong headwind, but on the way back I could overtake some ships, because I also benefited from a light tailwind. Almost back I got caught by a short shower as I went onto the Danube island (but it was already finished when I left it).

All in all I spend a lovely day on a lovely bike route in Europe. If you got interested you can read more about it on Wikipedia, the EuroVelo 6 website (by bicycle from the Atlantic to the Black Sea) or the official website of the Donauradweg in Upper Austria (German). Or have a look at more personal impressions by the Cycle Tourist or by Filigree from Lovely Bicycle.