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,
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