Thunderstorms in Spitz

The plan for today was to get an early start on a visit to the famous Melk Abbey (supposedly the largest in the world), and then do a short bike ride to our next destination, Spitz, in the afternoon. And that's exactly what we did, interrupted by a few thunderstorms. Melk itself was pretty impressive, but we got through it quickly (didn't stop to read all the displays), squeezing our way through the multiple guided tour groups. It seemed like almost everyone was in one of these groups. No photos were allowed, but plenty of people were taking photos.

The staircase towards Melk

A view of the town, from the abbey

After Melk, we biked along the south side of the Danube, which is supposed to be far superior, apparently it doesn't go along busy roads so much. We got seriously into heavy duty Apricot Country - so many apricots, everywhere! Peter picked two from a tree that looked wild, they were delicious! We've bought them from stores a few times, but have had mixed results with them.

Here's a few more photos from the bike trail.

Detour on the bike trail 

 Aggstein ruins, with an apricot tree below

Hinterhaus ruins

The ferry to Spitz

I wanted to go up to the Aggstein Castle ruins, which are very famous, but after I finally convinced Peter to give it a try, the sign saying it was a 1 hour 15 minute walk, plus the rain, turned us off. So, we biked on.

Arriving at Spitz, I was waffling about whether we should eat lunch first, or go straight to the pension (small hotel) . It started raining harder, and our pension was very close, so we headed to it and got there just ahead of some heavy rain. We rested a while, then went to a restaurant (Donau Prinzessin) to split a pizza, and a Mohnzelt (I learned that's the name of the pastry I had yesterday, with lots of poppyseed inside). The rain had started again, and a tour group of brits on folding electrical bikes sought shelter in the restaurant. I tried to engage the lady next to me in conversation, but she was very upset that the waiter wasn't coming over to her immediately.

Later on in the day, we went to the Hinterhaus Castle ruins. They were great - from the 12th century, you could go all over (cellar, tower, and everywhere in between). Great views, too. Most of the time Peter and I were there alone. I was very happy that we did get to see some very nice ruins today (free, too!), after missing the Aggstein ruins.

The Hinterhaus ruins are not publicized at all, and because of that, there's almost nobody there.  Also, you have to walk up. But since I like the less touristy places anyway, it worked out great.

The rain from the window in our room

Sunny again - headed towards the ruins

The well

View from the ruins, looking upstream

And looking downstream

An ice cream for Peter

Our Pension (Pension Gebetsberger) looks good, AND has good internet, for the first time in 3 days. I actually had to call 3 places in Spitz before I found this one. I now know why that is - there's a festival here, starting tomorrow.