- Über den Wolken muss das Grau wohl grenzenlos sein (german saying)
- Grau in Grau (german saying)
- Alles Graue kommt von oben (german saying)
- -36 Grad und es wird noch kälter (german saying)
- Ab in den Regen (german saying)
- Über 7 kalte Nächte musst du gehen (german saying)
- … after the weather was constantly gray, wet and cold with headwind for over a week, we had to somehow keep ourselves in a good mood and joked about what the new blog title could be called – yay, luckily the title has not become one of the above selection, because now the sun shines in our faces again.
- During the cold season, we treated ourselves to good food (homemade spaetzle, snake bread baked over the fire, and delicious pasta dishes), at least one fire a day to warm up, and exciting podcasts (Leben am Limit from SRF, which was very fitting given the title 😄) to distract ourselves.
For our “Tips and Tricks” box, we have the following advice for listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks together:
We both have the Apple AirPods Pro headphones, with which it is possible to share the audio output. This means that one person can buy an audiobook and, by sharing the audio output, both can listen to the same part of the book/podcast at the same time.
Instructions: https://support.apple.com/de-at/HT210421
Here are a few impressions:
In addition to the low temperatures and bad weather, here are some other things that kept us busy due to coronavirus:
Public toilets were often closed, drinking water was difficult to obtain due to closed cafés, fountains that were not yet running or difficult to access, and a lack of shower facilities.
We find a solution for everything 💪🏻:
Despite everything, the beautiful moments and encounters outweigh the difficult days, and the hard times allow us to enjoy the good times even more intensely.
A huge boost was the confirmation from Meike and Herbert in Ingolstadt (Warmshowers). Finally we could wash our clothes again and enjoy a hot shower. The two could give us a lot of valuable tips on the way, because they themselves have already cycled halfway around the world. The icing on the cake was that they even arranged for us to spend the night after next with a colleague in Regensburg. With Michl we spent fun hours and strolled with him through the city, which is otherwise flooded with tourists – Corona has not only disadvantages, but also very many advantages, you just have to see them!
From Regensburg the temperatures rose to incredible +10°C and sun, wonderful!!! That’s the way to live:
So we slowly approached our next milestone, Passau, the border to Austria. We had planned a rest day here, but it fell through due to a lack of warmshowers. Thus we planned the second, not quite legal border crossing with a small detour over a green border (see Komoot route on the home page). Once again we realized that this was possible without any problems and breathed a sigh of relief. We were greeted with a beautiful sunset in our 3rd country of travel.
Now here’s the kicker:
A quick introduction for all new blog readers: Beni had a bike accident a week before we set off on our trip and bruised his shoulder.
Imagine you are “illegally” in a country, actually have to be in quarantine for 10 days (we are there anyway – tent, forest) and now have to go to the doctor. That’s what happened to Beni when he googled (you should never do that 😅) his shoulder injury, which still has swelling and it matched the description to a shoulder joint dislocation. This would mean that one or more ligaments are torn and may need surgery.
What do we do now? What if the shoulder actually needs surgery? What if the doctor asks for the entry permit? What if we have to take a break for one or even several months (we don’t have anywhere to stay)? How does the insurance work, since the accident happened in Switzerland? …
Our faces grew paler and paler, and at the same time, as if that weren’t enough, Beni’s mattress popped twice loudly 😂😭, the bonding between two air chambers had come loose.
Now for the resolution:
We got a doctor’s appointment the next morning without any problems; no one asked for an entry certificate or proof of a coronavirus test. The doctor’s summary of the condition of Beni’s shoulder was (as they say in Austria) “passt scho”, it just needs a few more weeks to heal 😄. Our day was saved!!!
Regarding the mattress:
After clarification by telephone, it was determined that there is a material defect and the mattress would be replaced free of charge. However, due to the current situation, there are production backlogs and my size is not available worldwide for an indefinite period of time. At least I can still use it, only the head area is slightly higher, which makes it not necessarily comfortable, but the main thing is that the shoulder is whole, everything else is secondary.
Now we are back on the fast track, and how!!! A few hundred meters from the medical center, Andreas approached us, who was on the road with his bicycle and said enthusiastically “wow, you are the first touring cyclists I have met in months, that makes me very happy”. It turns out that he and his wife Barbara are also Warmshowers hosts. Spontaneously he invited us to his home, where we are now allowed to stay for 3 nights. It was also great that after a joint lunch we covered the remaining 29 km to Linz together with a side trip to St. Leonhard’s Church with one of the most important wood carving altars from the 15th century. Now we enjoy two relaxing days in Linz before we continue towards Vienna.
