vienna

Vienna or weim as the sign posts in the area call it, you get a lot of that what we actually call places in English is nothing like how its pronounced or written locally, the Danube its self gets called and spelt different on its journey to the sea the first German i spoke to about it way back at the start of the trip every time i said Danube he corrected me and said what sounded more like the Doh-now the spelling throughout Germany and Austria never has a B in the name! all the signs in Austria for the official route are spelling it the Donauweg which translates to English as the Danube way
         

Vienna ( i had the old ultravox song in my head a lot that day this means nothing to me lol) is much larger than i thought i Knew it was  a big European city but just not that big! I firstly went for a beer at a brau house to check my phone app for accommodation yet again i was unlucky i was later to find out there was some sort of conference going on! but i managed to find a place reasonably priced nui hotel which i just had to find once booked . I used google maps and headed across town checking at various street corners i was headed the right way, speaking of right way the city has lots of cycle paths which is fantastic except for a person who drives on the wrong side of the road i need to constantly remind myself yo cycle on the right because the cycle paths are on both side of the road and narrow in places other cyclists get ratty if you are on the wrong side
     

   Once i found the hotel and got booked in the receptionist said i was room 716 she would open up the garage door for my bike , whilst unloading the bike i got chatting to an elder;y cyclist who was doing a personal circular journey from his home town of Munich his bike was laden but he said that was because of his camping stuff but its winter season  now and the camp site was shut, the garage has access to the lift i looked at the buttons there was K and E at the bottom then 123456 -D i was on the 7th floor WTF lol !
   

   my room was fine though i liked the hotel it was quirky and i had a beer at the bar, before heading out the place was busy, my tram had to stop to allow the passage of a huge parade by people protesting about the climate change, it was the number two tram and i had taken a phone photo of my start station and asked some one when i got of at the busy part of town where the tram back will depart I had a few beers and some dinner and a stroll round the churches monuments and sights of that area, I visited an Irish bar but just had one beer as it was tiny and mobbed and in Austria they still smoke in the bars and this one had a fog of fag smoke in it, there`s also cafe`s now where you can have a beer and smoke cannabis i had a beer in one of these and you could certainly smell the sweet aroma of the cigarettes! other cyclists that i had met had cycled passed fields of hash that day, I hadn't seen this but it did make me laugh they would need armed guards on any farmers fields in Scotland if they wanted to grow cannabis, but here was two seperate cycling couples that cycled along spotted it stopped took pictures smelled it to be sure and never knicked any!
   

It was raining when i woke in the morning, i got all dressed for the rain and had a cycle round some more of the city sights. reaching Vienna was a milestone and at the start of my rough plan i had planned two days in Vienna to get a chance to see it all but i was starting to feel it was just too big for me and expensive i was tantalising close to Bratislava its got its plus and minuses travelling by bike but its a pest having to leave it loaded up outside shops bars and restaurants, especially when you need to leave it where you cant see it. I cycled to the hydrofoil ferry and had a look at that, on the way to the hydrofoil staiton which is up the danube canal a bit of a distance from the actual danube river but right in the centre of the main part of the city, i cycled passed the famous reisenrad ferris wheel inide Prater park. there was loads of locals heading in dressed in what i would have called bavarian tradition costume but they were defo heading for some beer tents inside the fun park, I filled my water bottles from one of the many city center water fountains and moved on to schwedenplatz to check out the hydrofoil prices and time scale
 

it was two pm and I still had a fair bit to cycle to Bratislava fifty kilometers away. i had only spent one night in Vienna it was cold and wet the super fast hydrofoil takes you to Bratislava in an hour and a forty five mins, basically I had options? book another night here in Vienna? start cycling out of town? ask how much was the ferry and was there any that day? I asked it would be 38euros for a window seat for me and five euros for the auld dear locked outside? leaving at four PM

Melk - Vienna

       

A good Breakfast was included in the price of my posh bedroom which also had a lovely view out the window up at the huge Benedictine abbey ,I was dreading paying at checkout because i was still thinking the waiter had just got his English wrong!but no it was seventy euro 60 cents i collected the auld dear from the garage the seat was needing more work done it and I still hadn't got round to fixing that front brake, the weather was beautiful and i briefly spoke to a dutch couple on hire bikes as i left the hotel.
       

I went of along the shore and somehow found myself in a military base with no way out except back the way i had came, i met a bunch of Canadians in their 60s on hire bikes how were making the same mistake as me, as usual after a quick chat they wanted to know what a Scotsman thought about brexit I gave them my standard reply that i love being a Scotsman firstly a European secondly i felt i wanted to be European more than British, and i asked them how they felt being neighbours to the peoples republic of Trumpistan which gave them a laugh and said at least bojo wasn't as bad as trump, I said i wasn't so sure about that!

          I found my way out of town up a steep path and over a large suspension bridge to the other shore, I could have chosen to stay on that side but the other side from what i had read was more scenic, I wasn't wrong this time I had indeed made a wise decision this section along here was beautiful cycling through orchards and vineyards and picturesque ancient villages, 
   

 my favourite among these ancients towns i passed through was a place called Durnstein this has an old castle on the hill and a big statue to Richard the lion heart on the outskirts, this is because it was here that Richard apparently insulted local king Leopold and was captured and imprisoned for his insult the English then paid a huge ransome to pay for his release, his brother john raising taxes in England at the time didn't impress robin hood, this handsome amount of money was used by king Leopold to strengthen this town, now many of the hotels and bars pay tribute to Richard the lion heart, he was a Plantagenet so I am not a fan as this was long shanks (Edward the hammer of the Scots)great great uncle, he is an English hero for doing well in his battles against sultan salamin in the crusades

          the area is also famous for a type of grape and the ancient town centres narrow winding cobblestones centre has lots of bars and tourists shops selling Riesling grape products as this region is where this type of grape originated from, there is a wine museum which i didn't have time to visit and i would have absolutely loved to have taken a vineyard tour here there is a hill called thousand bucket hill which at this time of the year i stopped to watch the people harvesting the grapes with cute little tractors going in between the rows of grape laden vines, an absolutely stunning days cycling again in glorious weather,
       

       

leaving Linz

     leaving the excellent student style apartment in linz in the morning wasn't easy at 39 euros a night ideally placed and it being wet outside! i tried to talk myself into having a day catching up with organising flights and the route ahead, it would have been great to have had a day wandering around the shops and then have dinner and beers in town there seems to be a good ex pat community here they even have rugby clubs, i took my time getting organised having the bike in the room i  should have been quicker but it was still 10AM before i got going. my breakfast at denns bio was ace.
   

i basically got back to the waterfront then went for the same bridge i crossed yesterday then swung a right and headed downstream it was as easy as that to get back on excellent cycle paths, the cycle path signs changed style entirely in Austria from Germany there wasn't as much detail most of the time and occasionally the actual cycle route is on both banks of the Danube so the sign for your destination can sometimes point two ways? i knew i had some distance to do so i kicked up a pace, until about five mile out of town, i stopped as I recognised the Scottish fella i spoke to briefly the previous evening, turns out he was also a Kenny and Kristy was an american from LA,

           we cycled together until two PM chatting non stop along excellent country cycle paths we even stopped to try a bit of stolen raw corn on the cob, It was a bit dry mulch like but ok, i later discovered it was probably the type of corn they use for cattle feed a harvester just mulches up the whole plant its not harvested for the corn as such, we cycled into Austria`s oldest village a place called enns, where we had lunch we had a chat  over lunch and a radler about our cycling objectives, their pace was slow and they had lots of tourists sites they had circled on their map that they would like to visit, I looked at their wish list, i was loving their company and the banter was great but! there was no way i would get to my objective that day (our objective) the town of melk was a long way down the river, our lunch was nice and we headed of in different directions i took the direct route they went to visit the concentration camp and the Celtic village,

      i took the less tourist a swift route supposedly, we parted at enns after a very pleasant lunch together,  I took the fast bank they took the tourist bank! my route was well marked and paved with not that much to stop and see, i just kept cycling the rest of the afternoon, I was still ten mile from melk when i had to stop and get the batteries for the head torch in and put it on as light was fading fast, It was off with the sunglasses and head-torch on for the last hour, i eventually rolled into town at roughly eight at night i had a daunder around then opted for a beer in a central location to find a place to stay, i asked the waiter for a dark beer and sat down, my beer had just arrived went i got a tap on the shoulder I turned around and it was Kenny and Kristy, I had to say there was no way they had cycled into town, they laughed and said OK we wont lie we talked a man with a van into taking us here before it got dark.

      I asked the waiter if there was rooms available here and if so how much he said 70 euro 60 I said OK i will take it once i had signed the paperwork with no price on it I worried about it all night he must have got the room price wrong! the place was a palace like spacious room with a chandelier and all the opulent trimmings, i had put the bike away in the garage and quickly showered before joining Kenny and Kristy for dinner the kitchen was closing at nine i just had time we were there last customers and had to go find the late bar for the end of the evening

taking the auld dear to bed

     

   I arrive in linz around 1700 which was fine i felt i had plenty time to check out bars and accommodation (i was wrong) i checked my apps and google maps I thought I would try asking at a local hotel but it was an electronic check in at the first one i seen, it was asking me if i was a BOT the question the website asked me to prove i wasn't a bot was an Austrian knowledge question which i obviously got wrong ! . by then it was 6pm i opted to go for a beer at an Irish bar the Austrian temple bar where the Irish bar man suggested i tried this student place to stay dr karl grunner hause multi plex, i had another beer chatting to him and his only other customer at that time a dutch man who wanted to talk European politics which was fine we had a good chat but it was late now and i wanted to get unpacked,

         when i left the Irish bar there had been a downpour while i was in there and it was now dark, i turned the corner and bumped into two other touring cyclists i heard them talk and knew the bloke was Scottish they were cold and tired and wanted their hotel, so i only spoke briefly to them about accommodation they had also had trouble finding a place and guessed there might be an event on in town? when i found the place the Irish bar man had recommended I was fair chuffed, he was a life saver what a place and what a deal 39 euros with great WiFi it was perfect, i asked the girl at reception what i should do with my bike she said just take it up to your room, and held the doors open for me as i shoved the old dear into the elevator to get up to our floor

      By the time i was showered changed and organised it was dark and late, i should really have spent time getting my shit together but i wanted food and a beer and went out, as i walked along the water front pondering how it was a fair walk back to the centre bar area i came across one of the electric scooters i used in Mannheim and caching bonus the same company operated it! magic! i scanned the qr code ( i had to use the phone torch to illuminate the code) then i was off scooting to the bar, i went to a pub called Chelsea bar where i ended my scooter ride. I went in and realised i had left my wallet at the digs BUGGA back on the scooter then! all the way back to dr karl grunner hause student accommodation, collected my wallet went to get back on the scooter BUT my app said the scooter you are trying to use has no battery left! find another! there was none close that i could see on the app, walking it was then

     I enjoyed my beers in Chelsea bar it was a great place with friendly helpful British and Irish staff they told me there was a good ex pat community there and a rugby town, the owner was also a cyclist and gave me an address for a book shop and a book on cycling great place, i found a scooter when i left and had a pleasant scoot back to my apartment veggie burger and juice shoved in my jacket for my room

    when i left in the morning i had sussed the area there was a denns bio place close by for my breakfast this is a chain i have learned about while on the move its like holland and barret with a-cafe and deli all organic with loads of vegan choices i had an awesome breckie of soup and pasta with coffee, i liked Linz but had to move on

Passau to Vienna

    The cycle route starting in or near Passau and ending in Vienna. also a little further to Bratislava (Slovakia) as that is only another 35 miles downstream of vienna . Is perhaps the busiest cycle routes in the world during the summer months 

     

  Just to avoid any confusion, Passau is in Germany. From here to a point 17 miles down the river, the Danube represents the natural border between Germany and Austria. Beyond that point it is all Austria to Vienna. By the way: Since Germany and Austria signed the Schengen treaty, like the vast majority of Europe there is no border control.and not even a sign the only thing i noticed was my mobile pinging to tell me the phone rates for Austria, the same as it had been when i cycled over into germany from holand

       for this section its better to choose to  Bike the Danube downstream. Otherwise in the summer you would not be able to enjoy it as much because- you would have to look out for oncoming cyclists every minute. Approximately 38,000 cyclists bike the Danube from Passau to Vienna every year. Assuming that the majority of these cyclists go between May and September, that's about 300 cyclists per day. If you cycle the Danube downstream, you will face a fraction of those only. You will be able to relax way more compared to an upstream itinerary, i was at the end of the season and had the route to myself a lot, 
       

    When i woke in hous panorama the lovely view out the window was still marvelouse but it was lashing down! i made myself a coffee in bed and done some blogging and took my time again getting me and the gear water tight, this turned out to be a wise decisdion as the time it took me meant the rain stopped virtually as i took the bags out the digs, i took plenty photos and had the rain jacket of within half an hour
      passau from the way out was stunning in the morning yet again i felt i had take plenty pictures, the cycle route itself instantly changed it was a proper cycle route again not the gravel track i had been getting used to that was actually rattling the hell out of me and the auld dear, i could at last make good headway my aim was 95km to linz that day! 
       

Its a tricky game trying to gauge where to go where to sdtay how long to travel for stop fot etc i wanted to enjoy the cycling and scenery but here was an oportunity to speed up this questioning never leaves you on a journey like this should I would I could I? 
   I was a bit out of town when i passed a couple cycling touring bikes with panniers they said Hello in english i presumed they were German and enquired if the new i was a foreigner? turned out they were phill and Lisa from Vancouver a retired couple out on a european holiday,  I ended up then cycling with them for twenty odd mile or so, and we took the wee cycling ferry together before they arrived at their countryside lodgings, mid afternoon while i still had a long way to go, we swapped instagram addresses for contact and now follow each other on social media
     

there was three ferrys that day for me

 my conversation with them taught me a lot though and i was to find more people like them in the following days, you can hire bikes from companies at either end of passau\vienna its a daily rate of i think eleven euros this gives you panniers a fully serviced bike and phone number for pick up replacement or repair, the companies will forward any unwanted luggage to your destination and you can leave your bike their or There is a train for cyclists (in particular) that goes from Vienna to Passau and return every day. The train is called 'RadTramper Donau' and operates between May and October. A place for your bicycle is included in the fare of approx. €39 one way. The train starts in Vienna (Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof station) in the morning and arrives in Passau around mid-day. The return journey starts late afternoon (5:44 pm). Kids (6 to 14 years of age) travel at lower fares, maximum €29. Toddlers (below 6 years of age) go free.

               

There are about 190 seats and 75 slots for bicycles. The composition of wagons can be found online. A reservation for your bicycle is included in your ticket. A separate ticket for your bicycle is not necessary on this train.
   How awesome is that what a great holiday idea i quickly learned why this part of the Danube is possibly the most popular cycle route in the world

      the rest of my cycling alone that day to Linz was lovely cycle tracks,  I ate up the miles easily while enjoying the scenery traffic free mostly cycle route! Linz is billed as an industrial town but it didn't look at it that way,  to me when i arrived it was a nice mix of modern and ancient large city, i was circling around the centre looking for a place to stay the mobile apps where bringing up stupid prices and stupid locations and the local hotels looked a bit posh for me! but i was happy to be there what a wonderful place, I dont want to say this too often but this was yet another city i would have only one night in but wished i had longer, 
             

the clever chain ferry that uses the power of the current and a chain to ferry over

          
        

happy peddle to passau!

  the sun was back out by the time i set off in the morning which was great but slightly annoying as  i had spent too much time getting waterproof! it was a cool temperature which was fine for cycling and the puddles on the path were drying up quickly, i was annoyed that i had stopped cycling earlier than i possibly should have done the previous day as it was only 35kms to the city of regensburg the path was yet again a mixture of flood dyke /trails and in some areas really good cycle paths there seemed to be no set pattern to it, i could be cycling along flat tarmacked path then hit gravel then wide trail then go down to single track and open out onto cobbled sections but the early stage was mostly flood dyke gravel path which is wide enough for a car to drive but there was no cars allowed,

          There had been a strange clicking noise from my right peddle the past day or two i was worried it was my bottom bracket but NOPE ten mile outside regensberg my right peddle burst off. the pin that went through the centre of the peddle was still in place and the peddle was clipped onto my shoe so i could still put a little downward force with the peddle, there was no way i could fix this it required a bike shop and new peddles, the gravel trails and country paths had been taking there toll on the auld dear, i had also had to tape the seat up because the front section had became dislodged and then cracked and hanging up the middle, fortunately for me the seat was an easy repair which should last me at least to Bulgaria, because i had some duct tape i had carried this for  15 years in my handlebar bag wrapped around a pencil! which i always new would come in handy,

     There was also the occasional rubbing noise and i had felt a slowing at times for no reason on further investigations the front brake was rubbing on the left side, I had a look at fixing this but it was tricky with nobody to hold the wire while I tighten the nut and held the cantilever spring up at the same time, I ended up cycling without a front brake for a while thinking I would ask someone’s help at some point to fix it,
     the actual cycle path at this point was good and even with my one legged full peddle technique i was enjoying the day, one in regensburg i stopped at a Italian cafe it was next to a MacDonalds and i was needing a Pee but! I thought i would do the local thing, and also there was a sign that read (to me )vegan pizza and vegan ice cream, I sat down at a table thinking i would just order the vegan option and a radler, while i checked google maps for local cycle shops, the waiter came over he was Italian, this area has links to Italian trade roads, zero English! to the extent i gave up on milche frie vegan or vegetaran? ok a radler and a ten euro bowl of ministroni that came without bread until i was on the last spoonful and hot bread appeared lol, i had found out where a cycle shop was and didn't want to leave my bile or ask where the loo was, i just paid and thought MacDonald`s are handy for some stuff!
      the cycle shop was easy to find over the river near the canal, i easily explained the issue to the store staff by holding up the broken peddle, Oh dear new peddles! two boxes of compatibles to choose from as per! i chose the more expensive peddles ten euro more and this bike only needs to last me another couple of weeks, he said to me come back in an hour which was fine i had a wander
   

     Regensburg is yet another city in Germany that i had never heard of previously but now wished i had time to explore it was beautiful so much to see and do it would take more than a couple of days visit to do it justice I had a couple of hours, I bought some lunch read my guidebook and went back for the old dear, shiny new peddles on now i wanted to pay by card the 80 euro charge but no card accepted here i had to leave again and go find a cash-line as i only had 70 euro in cash,

  this was now late afternoon and i wanted to be further downstream decisions on route and timing had to be made i wanted a big city for accommodation or i could just stay there? i was behind in my schedule and it annoyed me, i had already taken a train for a route section, i checked my DB phone app? it was easy and only 25 euros to take the train to passau, having read the guide book i was missing nothing much in-between and at that time of day accommodation in the next couple of reasonable sized towns may be tricky, i went to the main station and booked a ticket passau her i come
   

    this is the most northerly that the Danube goes and its also the best preserved medieval town in Europe it was a pleasure winding my way up the narrow streets to the HBF (this is what all main train stations are titled)  i had 30 mins to wait on my train i got a radler and refused to pay a euro for a pee! the platform lift was broken i had to carry the laden bike down, but the train was great i had one train change and was in passau reasonably quicly around 18:30, i went to a bar called sellos ( he was the bar owner his photo was everywhere! i had one beer and searched for accommodation with the best deal being £45 pound for the night very near by and very central i booked it online
      I have to say this bargain was a bargain for the views and location these were awesome it was right below the castle looking out over the Danube with the cruise ships coming in and out all lit up at night as was the city with its many churches /cathedrals the best hotel window view i have ever had, BUT it was right next to a main road(noise) it was needing a bit of TLC but clean enough worse thing was the shared bathroom i was up three times for a march down the hall to the shared big boys room,
      Once showered and changed i walked over the bridge to the very beautiful lowenbrau house brewery bar and restaurant and had a few dark beers and some pumpkin soup,if it wasn't for the beer coming with a third of the glass being foam i would have been delighted but getting less beer than i pay for always pisses me off! nice place though I took lots of photos

rainy days and Mondays

    It was raining when i awoke in Reich's hotel Ingolstadt, the internet was good so i took my laptop to breakfast with me and got my fill of the continental breakfast fair while working on the blog, this is all good and well but it always means that i am packing later and getting wet weather gear on while making sure all electrical and perishable stuff is water proofed, then putting on over shoes and waterproof trousers in the container in the car park before eventually setting of in the rain
 

I opted to cycle out to the Audi factory as it was only 0.4mile from the hotel and i would truly have loved a wander round! but !! nobody to watch the bike it was nearing midday i had to get moving I just took photos of the outside and moved on (maybe one day? i enjoyed my tour of BMW`s museum in Munich and this one looked better)

sign says 2447.6! that`s how many KM`s to the sea

    I stopped in the town centre the bike tyres were needing air and i seen someone repairing his bike he had a big pump i cycled over to ask for a shot of his pump, this was a mistake it was a homeless bloke who was cycling around with all his worldly possessions in a trailer he was trying to tell me his sad tale of why he was on the road alone and homeless, his broken English was hard to follow but he had lost his job and home and asked me if i had anything for him? I gave him my change about three euros and never asked for a shot of his pump, I just wanted to get away from his broken English poor bugger

      I cycled out passed the army museum I would have liked to have visited that also, but was quickly cycling out of town and along the flood dyke gravel tracks of the now wide and deep looking Danube and over the first of many damns i would see and go over this first one i stopped and took lots of photos on
   

   the rain was consistent all day drizzly rain not a down pour and that track was of various quality sometimes gravel paths through woods sometimes roads through small towns or farm roads undulating and winding through small towns until eventually the route comes to a gorge in the upper region of the Danube near a place called kelhiem, the guide book says its a hard climb and most cyclists take the ferry? I opted for the ferry also, I probably wouldn't have bothered had the guide book told me it was nine euro fifty for the short journey then again i enjoyed it and was glad i took the ferry as i got pleasant views of the gorge with a beer in hand just a shame it was raining
   

  once at Kelhiem i had a wander around town there was a cool looking brauhous, most large towns in Bavaria have these microbreweries with attached bier gardens and restaurants  this one looked great but was shut, i asked how much it was to stay at a small hotel called lamm weiss (white lamb) it was 60 euro including breakfast i opted to stay as i wanted to get my soaking wet kit cleaned up and dried somehow( the room radiator was well used! I just had dinner there also but there was no wifi

photo taken in the morning

Ulm is bigger than i thought

      My phone battery had died in the night so there was no alarm for me in the morning! i awoke at 9AM and swiftly went down for breakfast, then by the time i had showered and packed up all my stuff I asked the reception if it was OK to leave the bike to have a walk around which obviously it was, I done the tourist stuff around the kirk and bought water and snacks for the journey on. i tried to find Einsteins statue as this was his birth town! but i think there is building work taking place around it at present, by the time i gathered my bike and packed it -it was after lunch time
   

 i cycled down to the river and took plenty photographs then stopped for lunch and done some research, i had some choices I could cycle on from here but never make a big destination as it was a few mile along some winding tracks that weren't even on the shore of the Danube or i could take the train to ingolstadt with the bike, the next cycling sections were not good cycling and i was already behind schedule due to being a tourist, it was mid afternoon i opted for the train to get myself further downstream, when looking out the window of the train i had made the right decision as i could see the winding dirt track occasionally, I am on a tight schedule and need to be back at work unlike some of my friends i am still too young to be on the seven day weekend

     when i arrived in Ingolstadt i cycled away from the main train station as it seemed to be on the outskirts of the city(i was correct) i cycled for about 3/4 of a mile and came to the Danube once over it i came into the old town rathaus (town hall) and checked my phone app for accommodation there was plenty options it was a big place but a hotel that stuck out for me was over a mile away, nowhere near the old town centre but closer to the Audi factory, this town is Audi's headquarters and factory it also has two refineries and was the town that the Bavarian beer law was started, the Reich hotel was modern and at a good price i booked it from outside the front door then went to reception to find out where to put my bike? there was a sea land container in the car park to put bikes in,I put the auld dear in there beside two others
    I got changed into my running stuff quickly as it would be dark soon and opted for a run out by the Audi factory  which turned out to be very close to the hotel but a five mile loop run around the huge car factory

    after my run i was planning a scooter hire ride into town for dinner and beers but ended up at the hotel bar getting beer out a machine and chatting to a dutch fella who was headed to the Munich beer fest but wanted to visit the Audi museum on route
   I would have loved to have had longer in this town I will probably never be here again but enjoyed the short time i had

ulm already

       They say that If you are looking for a heart pounding adventure with gargoyles, then stop in the city of Ulm along the Danube and climb the 768 stairs to the top of the World’s tallest church steeple at 530 feet. It will take about an hour to get up and down without stopping and catching your breath. I am unsure how long it took me to just get to the top! It`s unimportant i was taking pictures and taking in the scene. 
   It truly was one of the most beautiful steeple climbs I’ve ever done. it would take a lot of typing to list all the spires historic buildings memorials etc, that i have been to in my life,but lets just say this one was special maybe because it was unexpected or the great weather I just enjoyed it 

      Its always a shame doing one of these sort of things alone as you have nobody to chat about the experience with, It was an experience the cathedral itself was stunning and I have been to plenty of these throughout the world to say so! there was a statue to martin Luther he was the bloke whom sort of started the protestant church! it was strange for a Scottish man who was brought up as a protestant society, to see the German beginnings of this movement, for one thing protestant churches in Scotland dont have Jesus on the crucifixion as this is viewed as catholic, it was also strange to  see their memorial to their war dead! something I am now getting more used to the longer i spend in Germany their losses were every bit as big as ours and just as sad, 
     

  after a brief walk around the kirk i went for the ticket machine for the spire it was 5 euros to go up it was also a Sunday morning the kirk services seem to be early morning then  evening. the first section was easy going for me then it opened out to a balcony, the next section was long and winding, because i was fit and fast i ended up behind a couple and just went at their pace while i attached my phone to my selfie pole and took plenty pics, then the steps opened up above the church bells 
    there was a machine here for making a tourist coin in a press, I love these machines and have a collection of pressed coins at home. perhaps this love of pressed coins  is in a small way related to when i crushed a 2P coin in a vice at school and the metalwork teacher belted me for defacing the crown!! regardless how i came to love these pressed coins, I was delighted on this day to find one half way up the spire and this pressed coin will get added to my collection including one from the twin towers which sprung to mind as i ascended the steps

       the next section was long then it finally opened out to a stone deck and narrow balcony where you could clearly see the twisting winding last section to the highest point in the middle the gargoyles and views were excellent i stayed and took some photos while listening to the noise from the city below before the final ascent
     the last section was very steep/narrow/exposed but still guarded! its strange with an airy climb like this very lattice I have done other tower climbs that were totally enclosed and yet others that were around the outside of the spires this lattice section with guarded windows was a mix up but i was rewarded with fine views of the Danube from the very top of the worlds highest steeple, 
     I bought some postcards from the shop once back down and one had a panoramic view of the alps ! I couldn't see the alps? maybe i just wasn't looking for them. as i climbed back down i passed the church bells as they went off! and there was also some organ music the organ of this kirk is huge!
  

            The last section funneled everyone together though the most narrow section; this was not a place to be claustrophobic as you spend a lot of time squeezing past people because traffic goes both ways in the last section. But once you get to the top you are treated to amazing views of the city, the Danube, and the people that look like little ants below in the square.