Back home

We arrived at the flat with 14 minutes to spare according to the TomTom's estimate on Saturday afternoon. The town was empty in spite of the likely excess of cars due to the Grand Prix. I think Saturday is always a bit dead: all locals are out at their summer houses, the real keeny F1 fans have already arrived and the ordinary punters are only due on the Sunday. Our mileage was quite impressive: we motored 5175 kilometres (3235 miles). Considering our earlier troubles in the year and our advancing years, we fared quite well.

The trip back was about as hassle free as the drive there. After our overnight at Alan's we left around quarter past 8 in the morning and managed to put in a distance of 842km which was considerably more than planned. It was mostly to do with the weather plus a few other adversities. First of all the plan was to head for the lovely campsite at Karlstadt which we have discovered on the way out. The weather was comfortably warm, very pleasant without a cloud in the sky. Until we got near our intended destination when it went dark grey then black and it started bucketing down. It looked like it was set to pour for the next 3 days at least in that region, so we journeyed on hoping for it to be clearer further East. Deggendorf was the next target where we have camped some years before on the banks of the Danube, but it was not to be. About 20 minutes before that region it started to pour again. Now time was getting on, so we shelved the idea of camping and decided to aim for Passau where we were going to pick up the Upper Danube Valley and try to find a nice gasthaus. The one we found first is in the picture above, but don't let the attractive outside fool you! It was not very friendly, quite expensive (70 Euros for the night) and the restaurant had a cocky waiter and a choice of only 3 dishes. However, we were both very tired and especially Roy, also very hungry. I had something out of the cool box, he had the chicken breast in breadcrumbs with potato salad in the restaurant, after which we tried to retire to our room to rest. Fat chance! Right underneath of our window was a large group of people having a barbecue, result of which our room smelled of fried bratwurst, not to mention the loud shouting and laughing. We asked to be moved, which the receptionist refused to do on the weak pretext of having no more free rooms. Never mind the late hour, we decided that anything was better then this and left.

As this valley is famous for its beautiful and dramatic views, cycle lanes, lookout points, forests and hiking trails, we were sure to find something soon. Well, we have learnt that one should never take any amount of crap from hoteliers and restaurateurs and only after about 20 minutes come upon the find of the trip. A farm which has had a new building built about 15 years ago for travellers. The family running it didn't speak much English, but they were very helpful, friendly and charged only 18 Euros per head including continental breakfast. The room was palatial, clean and comfortable with no noise or food smells anywhere and we also found some lovely English speaking people in the bar to chat to in the evening. We are sure we will be back. It is in Engelhartszell right on the Danube, contact details available to anyone asking for them!

The following day we did some more motoring in that lovely valley before the road swung away from it towards Linz. The TomTom was a bit weird again, like back in Kent when it sent us down some very tiny little lanes just to avoid a completely pleasant and non-congested little town like Tenterden, but finally we did find the A1 for some faster progress.

The only bad jam of the entire three weeks was unfortunately encountered around Schwechat, just before Vienna Airport. To be quite honest we still have no idea why. We did see a few overheated cars on the hard shoulder after queueing for 40 minutes or so, but those could have just overheated in the jam, rather than been in an accident. Well, such is life and mysteries of traffic which is a classic example of a chaotic system.

Now we are unpacking, washing dirty clothes and trying to pick up our life where we left it three weeks ago. Oh yes, and will be watching the Hungarian Grand Prix in a minute!!!