Our day started with thinking of our first ferry. It being Sunday, the first ferry was at 9:30 AM, so we timed our morning so that we would arrive after it started running. It was the same ferry that we took to our campground the previous evening, so we knew what to do.
Our site was on the edge of a large inlet from the Danube, looking like a lake from our site. People traveling by canoe had set up a large teepee next to our tent, carrying the teepee with its long poles and all their gear in their canoes.
Little did we know that by the end of the day we would take four ferries to get to our destination, falling a bit short of our intended final destination of Linz, Austria. Looking at the map in the morning, we noted a number of straight lines crossing the river, but we thought they were bridges instead of ferries.
In addition, sometimes they were ferries that took you across the river, and other ferries from a nearby location or the same location that took you down the river depositing you on the same side. You had to know which ones to take and since we don’t read German, it took us a while on the second ferry to figure out what to do.
We missed at least one ferry while trying to figure it all out, and each round trip took about half an hour so we waited!
Each ferry had its own cost. By the end of the day we had spent €31 on ferry crossings! While in France, we could pay for virtually everything using touchless credit on our watch, but in both Germany and now Austria we find many places only accept cash. Words to the wise…carry cash.
Along the way we have seen many sculptures of Leda and the Swan on the Danube. In addition, we have seen many swans on the river and today we passed a group of around 100 swans! We stopped at one of the sculptures for a photo and also at another spot with a church perched high on a cliff. Todays ride is one of Chris’ favorites! The path surface was flawless, the houses and gardens along the path were picturesque and spotless, and the scenery was serene.
We passed a classic car rally today, probably for cars more than 50 years old. They all passed us on the road as the rally started. Some cool cars!
And finally, we arrived at our campground, which is small and quiet and run by nice people. Austria seems more gentle and easy than Germany. It being Sunday, everything was closed except restaurants so we went out for pizza, which was great.
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