Life's a Stitch

We were up at 4:40 am for our early flight to Munich. I have flown hundreds of times and this was the first time I remember a flight taking off so ahead of schedule. The captain announced that the bags were loaded, everyone’s onboard so we might as well leave. Go Lufthansa! It was a short flight and water and chocolate were served.

It was only one train to Passau, our last stop in Germany where we will start our eight day Danube bike trip and meet up with another former student and her family.

The GPS showed the hotel within walking distance. The trouble is it wasn’t a topographical map and we basically pushed and pulled our bags straight uphill. We checked in then took a walk to the grocery store for dinner supplies.

Having walked three Camino routes we have hotel room eating down. From tea kettle boiled eggs to avocado halves filled with deli shrimp salad I have a stash of simple meal ideas when no kitchen or fridge are available.

The next morning we checked out the bike rentals, the old town area and specifically the cathedral’s world’s second largest pipe organ with over 17,000 pipes! Unfortunately we won’t be in town for a concert and during the church’s renovation the organ wasn’t running on all pipes. We took a bus up that dreaded hill to wait for Janett and Anne’s arrival.

In the meantime we packed our panniers and one medium backpack for eight days of cycling. Now that was a challenge. Chuck’s matching grey pannier is missing from the picture.

We also packed our carry on into one of our two pieces of luggage to be shipped, at an exorbitant price by Deutsche Post, to our hotel located outside of Vienna. 

I heard a child’s voice in the parking lot below at the same time receiving a text re their arrival. An enthusiastic 9 year old Emma ran to greet us. The last time we saw her she was 18 mos old. We went across the street for an excellent pizza dinner.