Donauradweg 02: WACHAU VALLEY_01: KREMS a.d.Donau

A new fragment of the serial: ”The best days of my life”, today we go about 120 km by bike through the excellent landscape and old architecture of the Austrian Wachau Valley on the Danube River!! 
A day about happiness, history, freedom, nature, riding without any end, a piece of trail running, madness, Danube, LIFE!!
  I planed to do this long ride on Saturday, but I was too lazy to wake up in the morning, so Sunday I offered me a lot of time  and I had a long run (21 km run + 7 km Nordic Walking) to find the rail station named Heiligenstadt. This is the 19th sector of Vienna, about 12 up to 13 km away from my place. As I finally reached the rail station, a tired and not too friendly clerk confirmed me the departure time, the price for me and the bike and as I wanted to buy the train ticket he drayly said: ”You cannot buy the ticket now. Tomorrow in the morning, from the machine.” and this was a kind of ”ZBANG!” .... but OK, I said to me, I needed this long run anyway. Move your fat seat and run back home, Anka! :-)
 And, of course, I was too close to a Hundertwasser building,

so I extended my run for about 5 km in order to see this closer and I do not regret it at all. 
I remember I wrote in 2007 a very detailed article about Hundertwasser, as I saw for the first time one of his buildings in Vienna ... no idea where is it!

So, after getting my eyes tired looking to this stuff and singing of joy in such a marvellous day, I run back home, of course. And got back to the Danube, for 2 km swim.
Sunday morning, 06:45, on my race cycle, I left home. 07:20 I reached the train station, I bought the ticket - from the wrong maschine, as I had to be told in the train by the ticket inspector - and we 

waited for our red train to Krems. I wanted to go to Weissenkirchen, but the end station of the train is Krems, from there you are supposed to take a bus and the bike is not allowed, but from Krems to Weissenkirchen are only about 13 up to 14 km. For my value, piece of cake :-)
As the train ticket controller came from the ground floor of the train, he saw this :-) and then he saw me, perched on the windows in order to see all, all, ALL!! He was smiling looking to the mouse on the bike, I smiled too, like a guilty child and I hoped my ticket is OK. I did not know how to buy the ticket for the bike, so I expected to see what happens now!!
The man was very friendly, he explained me the reason I could not pay the bike ticket by the machine, as I have chosen the wrong one and he said: "No problem, you can pay it to me." Two euros, a bill and everybody was happy. My bike and my mouse were legal in the train now.
The hour spent in the train was quick. Too quick. The weather was nice, warm, the landscape new for me, I was hungry for information. I am a Mountain Person, but I also can enjoy such a plane area, it has a certain flair with the old stone small houses, the green of the grass, the agricultural ground full of colors this time of the year.
I reached Krems at nine, I have got ready for my new exploring day, camera ready on the helmet ... and go out into the new world, girl!

Being in front of the trail station and looking around I suddenly saw a good looking man coming to me. A very open face, smiling and curious, so about 30-34 y.o., brown hair, tall, bran eyes. In a sort of way he was like a movie appearance. He asked me about the "thing on the helmet". I explained him what is doing the "thing on the helmet" and then I asked him about the direction to the Danube Bike Road. I never hesitate to ask local people, even when I know about something. Just to be sure and sometimes to spare time. Instead of getting out the GPS and Google Maps from the pocket, I prefer to ask the local people, it is much nicer :-)

He explained it to me, wanted to go with me for a while but I had to refuse him, because I wanted to go inside the town, of course! I was curious to see, to feel, I did not come here just to ride along the Danube, of course. Wachau Valley is an amazing place, you simply have to go inside all these villages, where the ancient history arise from all corners and winds along all these tiny streets ....

So I just followed my instinct, as always. I stopped to buy some Austrian cakes, which I love so much. Marillenkuchen and ....

Does not look amazing??? 99 cents. Such a simply thing and such a huge symbolism .... a sort of the right design in the right place of the Universe, for the right traveler :-)
Marillenkuchen .... what is this? A tasty one, trust me!!

Hm ..... the apricots are here, in this time of the year, simply deified! And so many and so natural and so tasty.
Krems has about 24.100 inhabitans, is the 5th largest city of Lower Austria and aprox. 75 km away from Vienna, the Capital City of Austria.

It was first mentioned in 995 in a certificate of Otto III (980-1002, krowned as King of Germany in 983 at the age of three), but settlement was aparent even before then (a child's grave, over 27.000 years old, was found there, being the oldest grave founded in Austria).

Piaristen Church is the oldest one in the city - about 1284 -

and hier a picture from about 1900:
I spent about one - one and half hour walking through the old streets, taking pictures ....

  but I finally had to go further, a long day expected me.

to be followed, here the 2nd chapter: Dürnstein