European Get-Away: Day 5 - Saturday, Oct. 18 - Along the Danube to the Wachau

We were greeted with blue skies and sunshine - a pleasant surprise. Breakfast was, again, a pleasure - this time we had cooked-to-order eggs in addition to the buffet. The weather was so nice that some people were actually sitting outside to eat.

Left the hotel about 11:30 AM, and decided to stay on back roads again, avoiding autobahns. We skirted the city of Salzburg. It was the first time in years that we hadn't gone into the Altstadt (Old City) at all. After an hour or so, the clouds sort of settled on us and we were in a gloomy pall. The landscape suited the weather - drab and dreary. Again, our GPS devices insisted on sending us through corn fields on what I called "cow paths" - so narrow that if two cars approached each other, one needed to pull off on the shoulder. You can specify on the GPS "No Highways", but I wish you could request "No farm trails".

Soon the blue skies returned, and we stopped in a pretty little town, St. Florian, site of St. Florian's Priory, one of the oldest Augustian monasteries in the world. They have a reknowned boy's choir, founded in 1071.

The cute restaurant we entered was closed for the afternoon, and as we left we ran into a wedding party coming in.

We then went to a small conditorei for a beverage, and Ron had a slice of walnut cake.

Driving further, we soon came to the Danube, and enjoyed a beautiful drive along the river. I suddenly realized it was a SATURDAY, and BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, and figured everyone from Vienna would be in the Wachau, and we might have trouble finding a hotel! But, we got very lucky. Someone was watching out for us. I had scribbled a few names in the town of Weissenkirchen, and programmed the GPS to take us to the Kirchenwirt. It was not easy to get there - one-way, narrow lanes - wondering what was coming for you around every curve. There was nowhere to park. I went in and saw no one to ask about a room. Came back to the car, and Ron left it, blocking everyone and he went in. A young man said he would look for the owner. Meanwhile, Ron ordered us beverages, and summoned me to come in. The owner arrived - a very pleasant, English-speaking lady. She first said she had only one room available. Gave us a key to look. I walked up one flight and realized it was another steep flight, so gave up and went back down. When the owner came back we asked her if she could call the Wein Quadrant (where we sayed last time in the area) to see if they had a room. She said she had called them earlier and they were already full (as were most places in area). I said maybe we should take the room despite the stairs, as we didn't want to be driving all the way to Vienna. The owner was very helpful, and said she had someone who hadn't arrived, and could switch us around and offer a groundfloor room in a separate building. It was a very pleasant room and NO stairs!