Many of the quaint, 1000 year old towns that we have been traveling thru survive on tourism and agriculture. Boat traffic on the river is mostly long, long barges or long narrow cruise ships. Friday we rode thru Ybbs, a town too small to even have a proper vowel. Their claim to fame was the visit in 1789 of Crown Prince Joseph II, the eldest son of Maria Teresa and Hapsburg Emperor to be. His statue is front and center in town, a bit mossy but already rocking that imperial hip thrust.
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Two towns later and 600 years earlier is Duerstein. Our campground was opposite the cruise boat landing on the other side. A town big enough for a vowel but only just. Its claim to fame is the Deurnstein castle ruin, 300 feet above the river. Richard the Lion Heart (of Robin Hood fame) was imprisoned in the castle for a soap opera’s list of reasons. He ended up outliving all of his captors only to be killed by an arrow shot by one of his own soldiers.
And finally we came to Tillin an der Donau. Here the statue is to Marcus Aurelius another 1200 years earlier. Records show he visited the town but scholars have yet to agree in which bedroom he spent the night.
We made it to Vienna last night. It was a nice sunny Sunday afternoon ride into town and the bike path was crowded. It is interesting to see the focus of history shifting as we travel east; the Turks, the Ottomans and Islam are coming into the picture while Western Europe, and the Roman Catholic Church move out. We were in Vienna with the girls in 2006 so are only spending two days and then on to Slovakia and then Hungry. The days are warming up a bit, we hit 80 for the first time on Thursday and may again today. We are staying in a rental apartment and are making good use of the washing machine. This afternoon we wandered around the old city center, along with lots of other tourists.
I just figured you were rooting for the Dutch team! Thank you for funny punning along the way, making me smile as you always do, Brudos. Hope you get to Hungry soon. Love to Saint TC. ❤️