Just before reaching Salzburg, in the midst of little villages, we stumbled upon a part of the Mozart Cycle Path. Aleš commented that it was truly poetic, but I think he meant to say symphonic. It truly is an orchestra of nature, great cycling paths, tranquillity. And then, unknowingly, we reached the northern part of the city. As we followed a little stream until it flowed into the River Salzach, we felt like we were in a fairy tale.

We cycled along the river through Salzburg and saw the city. There was a massive crowd of tourists on a pedestrian bridge, and there were even more padlocks on the railings. I expected to see a picturesque old city centre, but I saw a picturesque old city centre with an array of different shops. Even Spar has a shop in Mozart’s birth house, and the store’s sign is written in gold letters. Cars passed us, the crowds were unbearable, it was almost like Kranj, except I find our Prešeren much more interesting than Mozart. Even his statue is mightier. Well, Salzburg is an interesting town, and the church and the castle above the city are magnificent.

After a short break, we continued our journey on the international Ciclovia Alpe Adria cycling route that led us from Salzburg to Udine. I am familiar with the Italian part of the route and its fantastic; here, it’s well-maintained, but it’s sandy, and it runs along the River Salzach. For a while, it runs on the left, and for a while on the right bank.

It felt like it took us a while, but only because it was hot. We also rode through Bischofshofen, but I didn’t see the ski jumps. We ended up in Bad Gastein. It was finally cool and not hot like hell. A pizza for EUR 19.00 AND a steak for just under EUR 20.00 convinced us to order spaghetti instead. The second to last leg was thus finished, and tomorrow we head home.

I’ll add the rest later, perhaps the story about Darko Pahor.

Items