We slept in this morning. It felt really good! I’m starting to feel like traveling and seeing sites has become a full-time job and I need a break. Nah… I could do this full-time.
We grabbed coffee and bought some fruit and bread for lunch, then began our quest for bikes to rent. We couldn’t find a place that we thought was in the city center. We walked around for quite a bit then decided to check out another bike rental place near the train station. We found it and rented two bikes.
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By the way, I love riding bike… especially while traveling. It is so much more efficient than walking and you can cover so much more ground.
We rode down along the river, then into the southern part of the city. There were large open fields in between various housing developments and the mountain views were spectacular! We rode our bikes into the middle of a field of grass, sprinkled with wildflowers and had a picnic with the mountains as a backdrop. I wish my lunch break looked like this every day.
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This scenery makes me loathe returning to the cubicle. Maybe if I put up one of those motivational posters in my cubicle I could trick myself into believing I am in the mountains. On that topic, check out demotivators. Hilarious!
After lunch, we rode some more and came across a small lake in the city.
We pulled over and watched the swans and ducks.
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Next, we traveled on a path that contained cows and goats on one side and flamingos on the other. Who knew we would see flamingos in Austria?
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We rode back closer to the central part of the city and spent some time in a large city park, then soaked up the sun on the banks of the river.
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It was about 4:00, and we decided it was time to check out a beer garden. We paid a visit to the Augustine beer hall at Mülln Monastery. It was really strange to walk into a monastery in search of beer, but I guess the monks have created a delicious brew.
We found a hallway filled with a bunch of food vendors selling various Bavarian dishes. It was like a large cafeteria. I ordered up some bean salad and bratwurst. Down the hall were large rooms where a bunch of old guys were enjoying some grub and brew. It looked like these rooms could handle hundreds of people.
We found our way down to the beer garden. It was quite the setup. Large, leafy trees created a canopy over hundreds of tables and chairs. It was the perfect environment to enjoy a beer on a warm spring afternoon.
We sat down at a table and tried to figure out exactly how to obtain a mug of beer. Eventually, I went up to the front and discovered that you pay for your beer and obtain a ticket, then you grab your mugs from the shelf, and then you give the ticket and mugs to the guy filling beer from the cask. Wait a minute, this guy is filling beer right from the cask! This is the real deal!
The mugs were ceramic, so it felt like a workout carrying two liters back to the table. I saw a waiter carrying three in one hand. That guy must have some serious guns.
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Darcy freaked out when she saw that I bought her a liter. She talks like she is a lightweight, but she guzzles the beer like a fish.
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As we drank our beer and ate our food, I noticed that the people were a weird mix of older people (most likely locals) and young people (most likely tourists).
A group of about six older gentlemen sat at a table near us and ordered a round of liters. Placed in front of them were wooden blocks. As they drank their beer, they proceeded to pull various breads, meat, and vegetables from a bag and chop them up on the wooden blocks. I think they were making sandwiches or something. One of the old guys finished a liter of beer in less than 10 minutes. These guys are serious! I’m going to stay out of their way.
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Darcy and I finished our food and beer and decided to go for another round. I felt like I was going to burst by the time I finished my second liter. When we get to Germany, I think I am going to have to impose a liter limit.
After the beer garden, we did some more window shopping and had some cake at a restaurant near our hotel. Tomorrow we will move on to Munich.
Click here to see all our Salzburg photos.
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