Thunder again during the night. Woke up in my dive of a gasthof too early as usual. I was a bit dubious about the awaiting breakfast as from the outside the gasthof looked closed down and the inside smelt as if someone had died. Anyway, I went down to breakfast just to show my face and hoping that I wasn't going to come away with some gastric disease that would bring my biking to a halt.

It was a sunny day. Before I set off on my bike I went in search of a bakery to get some food for the day. No luck. Everything was closed. There were however many men sprawled on the ground fast asleep after last night's festivities.  

So on my bike I got and off towards Melk I went. It's now eight days since I started this expedition and I can quite frankly say that my legs are now tired. For the first sixty kilometers  I struggled, big time. I was going against the wind pretty much all the way and with ten ton Tessa in tow it was a killer. On the way passed a Canadian family who were also doing the trip down to Budapest. They had brought their own bikes with them and were carrying very little, something I should be doing.  I mean, I really like the idea of sleeping in a tent but when it comes down to it...... So what's the point of lugging the tent, mattress, sleeping bag etc.... everywhere?

Because I was struggling nobody got a 'morgen' from me nor a nod of the head. I struggled all the way to Grein where I stopped and had a proper lunch for the first time this week. It gave me a bit more energy to get going again afterwards, that and the fact that the wind had died down a bit. Just past Grein i was privileged to get an eye full of a man out in his wooden boat in the nude, hope he doesn't get a splinter in his bum. It was still sooooo very hot and I was getting incredibly thirsty. It has to be said that the Austrian Danube is much more beautiful than it's German counterpart part the latter passed through more towns and villages which allowed me to stop and get drinks. Because this part is right next to the river you come across very few chances to get any food or drink along the way.  I stopped again and had probably the most expensive coke but probably also the best coke I had ever had. The view was spectacular and I was so thirsty that it went down an absolute treat

My second wind kicked in after that and the last 40km flew by. When I arrived in Melk, I decided to bypass the town and keep riding for another 5km to find a gasthof out of town which are generally cheaper. The first one I came across was way out of price range so I had to pedal up a steep hill to until I found another. I don't go backwards, there's no point as this way I have knocked off a few kilometers of tomorrow's distance. I eventually found a 'zimmer frei' in a lovely old lady's huge house. It's right on the Danube so the view is spectacular.  The only problem of course is that being out in the sticks means that there is no cheap food around so I have ended up eating well tonight, wiener schnitzel and apfel strudel. 

Tonight will be an early night, am looking forward to getting into Vienna tomorrow and having a day off to sightsee.