05 August 2014
Bad Ischl to Hallstatt, Austria (15 miles; Total = 526 miles)
My sister recently shared a post on Facebook that stated “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” I think that perfectly sums up one of the life lessons for us around this trip – it’s time to start tapping our toes to the beat.
The first dance of today we’ll call the Flat Tire Tango. Yes, another one. For once not my tire, but it’s not as if that makes any difference. While Gina goes on a 20 minute rant about these crappy touring tires that are proving to be non-touring tires, I fix her flat. To be fair, she helped find the source of the problem: a hole in the tire and tube large enough for an entire proton to fit through. Hello Panasonic Panaracer People, your tires are terrible and this tango must end.
But in the spirit of dancing in the rain, let’s start skipping to the rhythm of the great things that happened today.
Before the Flat Tire Tango came the Scenic Cycling Swing – a very pretty ride from Bad Ischl to a very peaceful and very cute restaurant on the shores of Lake Hallstatt, where we splurged on fancy coffees served with sugar and a grandiose view.
After the Flat Tire Tango came the Ferryboat Foxtrot, during which we befriended an English-speaking Austrian cycle tourist who helped us negotiate the boat across the lake to the Super Cute town of Hallstatt. Normally we can handle these things on our own but when faced with a huge tourist group crowding the dock, it was nice to have a little German-speaking help.
And finally we shuffled to the Zimmer Zydeco. This is us having miraculously found an available room in Hallstatt prior to arriving, thinking it might be best to book in advance due to the fact that both of our travel books told us NOT to arrive here in early August without a reservation. With an address in hand we were able to negotiate the wet, narrow, over-crowded streets of this village on the hillside and check-in to our dry and spacious room on the river. Time to do a little jig through town and get this place checked-out.
