Saturday 7 August 2010

30.07.2010 Nerds in Passau (Hebertsfelden to Passau, 70km, 11.00 – 17.00)


Größere Kartenansicht

Wakey, wakey! Surprisingly, the bed did not collapse during the night. We’re more than happy about this and throw a round of high-fives. Rubbing the sleep out of our eyes, we sneak into the kitchen. Hello! Our man Albert has prepared an enormous monster-breakfast (Thanks Albert!). We fill our bellies, stretch our muscles and tighten some screws of our ‘ladies’. We’re off again, Passau it is, the mood is good.

Heroic as we are, we raise our heads and roll into what seemed the right direction. After a couple of metres, we encounter an elderly woman, alone on the country road, moving smoothly with her walking frame. As it turns out, it’s Felix’s grandma. What a nice surprise! She has been on a quest to steal plums from her neighbour. Unfortunately, there were none left on the tree, so she rightly starts complaining. What a pity. We feel sorry for her failed theft and wish her all the best.

Three minutes later, we discover that the encounter has only been possible because we managed to cycle into the wrong direction at the very first corner taken today. What a nice and lucky mistake to make though.

Following the Rottal-bicycle path, we continue making our way to Passau. Stopping at some signs indicating various cycle-directions, a car suddenly stops next to us. The driver yells something we couldn’t understand, so Andreas instinctively yells back “Sorry, we’re not locals” (even though we surely look like locals with our packed bikes, standing in front of street signs, looking rather lost). He answers: “I’m one of you guys. You look lost. Can I help you?” Smiles in all faces.

Lead by the given directions, we continue our journey. Shortly after the encounter with the fellow cyclist, a car behind us honks the horn and takes over just to stop right in front of us. Hey! It’s fellow-cyclist-Joe again. He jumps out of the car, full of excitement: “Guys. Listen. Once you get to Budapest, make sure to stay on the left side of the Danube. Everything else will get you into trouble. Have a save journey. Good-bye!” He does a u-turn and disappears. That’s what it’s all about.

Cycling via the hilly area around Bad Grießbach and Fürstenzell, we finally reach the outskirts of Passau. Right at this moment, it starts pouring down on us. We quickly manage to find a shelter, right next to two Chinese law students.



For the night, we’re booked in at Marie’s. Marie is a couchsurfer (for those of you which are not familiar with couchsurfing please check www.couchsurfing.org). She’s a cool cat, superrelaxed, very welcoming and outgoing. We chill at hers for a bit and thereupon decide to do some shopping in order to cook a legendary dinner: Tagliatelle with garlic-cream sauce, oyster mushrooms and parsley.

After a falling in love with an exemplary nerd-student in the queue of the supermarket, who provided a detailed yet slightly weird explanation to the till girl on how to correctly do her job, we stroll towards Marie’s house, attempting a copy of Mr.Nerd's explanation and looking at the Passau scenery.

The dinner is great and we subsequently decide to see some of Passau’s nightlife. Marie takes us with her to go out with her friends and we throw ourselves into some moderate partying at a bar called “Kreuzweise”.

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