After an exciting and successful cycling season, we deserved a break! For a total of 49 smiling faces at the end of October it meant: off to the Wachau! We were particularly pleased that some of our station managers could join in, such as Simone Pagnini who works in the Tuscany bike station and had travelled over 900 kilometres to join us. Read Simone’s report here.
At the end of the season in October, we have to bring the bikes and travel documents back to the head office in Austria. We had been looking forward to that moment for a long time, the effort is over, we can relax and think about the next year.
I work at the Eurobike station in Tuscany and would like to write a few words to share my impressions of my days in Austria with you. This was my third company outing and as every time, it was a special opportunity to see wonderful places and spend a few days with my Austrian colleagues who are often only a voice on the other end of the phone during the season.
The starting point of the excursion was the town of Melk. You then cycle along the Danube Cycle Path towards Krems. A wonderful landscape with incredible autumn colours almost made me forget the cycling. The cycle path is fantastic, on the right side the river, on the left beautiful hills covered in vines. I particularly enjoyed the view: autumn is my favourite season. Since I love to take pictures, it was perfect for me. The gentle scent of wine, plants and apricots (the Wachau is particularly famous for the latter) hangs in the air and the time flies by.
After taking many pictures with my colleague Alberto – also from the bike station in Tuscany – we reached the first stop on our cycle tour: the Klosterhof Wachau. With its huge wine cellar and surrounded by vineyards, it was like stepping into the past. We enjoyed a snack and some really great white wines! Afterwards, we took a tour of a winding wine cellar, which even had a chapel.
We covered 20 more kilometres before reaching our destination of Krems. We took a short break in the beautiful village of Dürnstein. Here the Danube runs slowly and peacefully, the sunset made the colours warmer. Finally, we arrived at the excellent Eurobike partner hotel Steigenberger.
We refreshed ourselves before going to the Wellen Spiel Restaurant. This was a special moment because we could all sit together and laugh, joke, drink and chat. It had a wonderful ambiance and was located directly on the river, with a beautiful promenade and view, this was only topped by the food and exuberant atmosphere. It is the perfect place to end a successful travel season.
The next day was a hike up the Dürnstein to the Feslhütte. The second part of the hike in the higher forest was particularly impressive. At the Fesslhütte we were served a particularly traditional lunch. Then I took a few pictures and said goodbye with a heavy heart.
With that another nice company outing had ended. Until next year, and thank you for everything, Eurobike!
See you soon, Simone
