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Bad
The evening rain cleared the clouds away, and we were greeted by sun and blue sky when we awoke. We decided to give the town a second chance and see what it looked like when in the sunshine. We rode over to the main town park, or "Kurpark," where we were promptly chased out by town maintenance workers. The park gate said "no bikes," but we thought that walking the bike through the park would not be a problem. So, we took turns exploring the Kurpark while the other person waited with the bike outside the gate. One interesting feature of the park is the outside "inhalatorium," a large wall of vines with salt water streaming down the walls. Bad Reichenhall is famous for its salt water, and many people suffering from breathing ailments come to the town to partake of special "cures" based around salt air. The idea with the inhalatorium is that sick folks can walk around and around the wall, taking in the salt-tinged air (kind of like going to the seashore).
 |
| The interesting
outdoor "inhalatorium" in the Bad Reichenhall Kurpark. No bikes allowed! |
We rode around a bit more and took some photos, then
headed off on the short ride to
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| Typical Tauern
bike path directional sign on the top, with markers for several other bike routes on the bottom. This can get confusing! |
The route got progressively busier as we got closer to
the city of
Having ridden both variations of the Tauern route from
Zell am See to Salzburg, we definitely liked the route through Bavaria
better. It was a bit more remote and took us through fewer towns, but
the scenery was nicer and there was less vehicular traffic along the route.
And, with occasional detours off the marked route and onto paralleling
roads, much of the route was flat or even downhill. In fact, we felt like
we spent most of our time on a somewhat downward grade. I think riding
this section the opposite way from Salzburg to Zell am See would entail
many more hills, and that this section is better done in the direction
we rode.
All day we had been looking forward to getting a Kaesekrainer
(a wurst filled with cheese) for lunch, and made our way directly to Salzburg's
well-stocked open-air market. We bought two wursts, complete with accompanying
Semmels and Senf (mustard) and headed over to the main square to find
a bench where we could relax and eat. We've been to
After lunch we wandered about, pushing the bike and window
shopping. Hans, our bunny mascot, was excited to see many other stuffed
animals in one store window. We checked out a few hotels recommended in
Rick Steve's book, but all were either full or had no place to store our
large bike. So, we headed over to the tourist info center (TI) to see
if they could book us something. The very helpful clerk pointed out several
options, and we decided on "Pension Chiemsee" in the old part
of town. We made sure to ask if there was a bike garage, and the clerk
called the owner who said there was.
We paid our booking fee to the TI for the reservation,
and then headed over to the pension. When we got there nobody was around,
but there was a phone that directed us to call the owner on her cell phone.
I did, and she directed me to a room with the key in the door, and told
me to put our bike in small storage room two flights up. I tried to explain
that we needed a garage or basement for the tandem, but she didn't have
anything else to offer. I hung up and went to look at the room, which
turned out to be dirty and tiny. When I came back outside to report back
to Ginny, she pointed out that the pension was next door to a night club
that proudly advertised that it was a "late-night club."
We could have lived with the room and the night club,
but the lack of storage space for our bike made us decide to look for
another place to stay. We started heading back to the TI and passed the
Hotel Weisse Taube ("white dove" in German), which looked pretty
nice. I went in to ask about a double room, and found that we could get
a decent-sized double room with breakfast for about the same price as
the pension we had booked. We reserved the room and then headed back to
the TI to cancel our other reservation and get the booking fee back. They
were very nice about it, apologized, and happily returned our money.
Hotel
Weisse Taube is a family operated hotel that was built in 1365! The
owner and his wife were at the desk, and were very friendly and hospitable.
They found a place for the tandem in the breakfast room, and even helped
us carry our bike bags up to the room. Our room faced the front of the
hotel and the street, but was fairly quiet because of the double-glazed
windows. The most unique aspect of the room was the bathroom, which was
a strange, orange plastic modular unit that looked as though it had been
dropped in intact (it reminded us of a 1970s McDonalds restaurant). I
guess when you are modernizing an ancient building bathrooms are difficult
to add. But, it was functional and clean, and we had no complaints. We'd
definitely stay at this hotel again, and would recommend it because of
the welcoming and attentive staff and convenient location.
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| Our hotel
in Salzburg. We had the room with the window directly over our bike on the second floor. |
Although we had been to
Just before we left home Ginny had a test done that would
tell us our baby's sex. Unfortunately, the results of the test wouldn't
be back until we were on the trip. So, just outside
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| Mirabell
Gardens in Salzburg, looking toward Festung Hohensalzburg castle on the hill above the old town. |
After wandering around the gardens, we headed back across
the river in search of dinner. One place had been highly recommended for
dinner, but when we went down the alley where it was located we saw that
it was closed for the evening (rest day, or "ruhetag"). Directly
across from it was a Chinese buffet, of all things. It was pretty reasonable
(11 euros each) and looked good, so we decided to eat there and enjoyed
a good and filling dinner. While Chinese restaurants are common throughout
We walked around some more after dinner, but a combination
of rain and tiredness drove us back to the hotel sooner than we had planned.
We spent some time at the hotel's Internet kiosk and determined that the
rain was forecast to continue for several days. We had planned to continue
riding to
Daily costs 6/1
(euros): Lunch: 5; Hotel: 85; Dinner: 23; Snacks/drinks: 12. Total: 125
euros/$154 USD.