Day 8 Vineyard bike ride

 This day finally came. All the way back in February when I was deciding whether to come on this trip or not, I heard about THIS day we would have. It may or may not have sold me on coming.  

Just one day.  

Did it live up to my expectations??? keep reading to find out.

We took an hour or so train ride out to a neighboring town of Vienna, or possibly a suburb of Vienna, we never really found out exactly where we were. 

 Kaitlyn pulled a sacrament meeting and took a nap with her head resting on her knee. If only girls wore ties to keep from getting read marks on our foreheads.

 Trains are for some reason the #1 place to be lulled to sleep. Its just too comfy, especially with how little of sleep we get.

 We arrived and walked about 10 minutes to the bike warehouse place and saddled up for our  

VINEYARD BIKE RIDE. 

Our group ended up being about 28 people, of all ages. Tons of couples. I think a few couples were on their honeymoons. It definitely felt somewhat of a couples retreat, then 6 of us girls randomly from Utah State. Didn't mean to break up the love people. We had Canadians, Aussi's, Wisconsinians, Minnesotaians, Oregonians, and more.. all English speakers on this tour.

 dang you helmet for making me look bald all day.

 The weather started out crystal clear, then later got a little rainy misty for a minute, but overall, couldn't have asked for better weather.

 At times our bikes ran into each other. Especially on the main roads before we got to the vineyards. Its hard to stay in a 28 person group on bikes. 

Most of my photos were taken blindly. Its a lot more difficult to take photos on a bike than I thought. Hence the more blurry ones. Not to mention there was cotton flying in our eyes, and pollen. A piece of something from the air got stuck on my upper lip, so I went to brush it off, to find that it was a bug that squashed, plastering it all over my upper lip. yum. too graphic? ha 

First stop was to the first winery. The tour guide was nice enough to provide grape juice for those of us who don't drink.  I'm a huge grape juice lover, and I definitely have never tasted grape juice this fresh and delicious.

All the wines/juices that we tasted were white. 

 Some wines have the best coloring. 

Which I learned is based on the aging of the wine. 

  We stopped in a little town that we past to eat lunch that was part of the tour. Which was just adorable. I think it was known for Apricots, because all the shops had apricot lotions, lip balm, seed nuts, scrubs, etc.  

 ...as well as interesting natural soaps

 On to the second winery. I was expecting the group to get a little tipsy, but they all seemed to hydrate enough to keep stable on their bikes. 

 We then took this ferry across the Danube River which was completely fuel and energy free. It somehow needed nothing to move even against the current. 

 Many people here will just drive their car right on this ferry to be moved across the river instead of driving around it. We just had a sea of bikes.

 The ferry was connected to this line, could also somehow help make it fuel-free. I don't really know, but I do know our tour guide raved at how awesome it was for being energy free.

 Old and young couples. The whole group, standing next to the Danube. Our last stop of the ride. 

I guess people swim here all the time. There was a sandy beach to enjoy. 

 Some of us played volleyball and messed around on all the interesting playground toys. Some of which I've never seen in the states. 

 check it.. thats me. lookin oh so nasty at the end of the ride.

17 miles completed on bike later, we treated ourselves to our first magnum bars of the Euro trip.  yesss

 On the last stretch, Kaitlyn caught this shot blind.. not even looking at me, just putting her camera behind her and shooting. It looks like i'm sad, but the truth is it was probably the best day of my life. At least in the top 5, for sure. I love the outdoors, and Austria is the place to go to indulge is some outdoors, and perfect scenery. I wish I had a camera in my eye balls that when I blinked would snap a picture and capture exactly what I was seeing, and my interpretation of it. 

(which could also be re-named a go-pro sports camera.. but still)

Just ONE day,
This one alone, seriously made this whole trip worth it. 

*Maybe the next time I do this bike ride I'll be able to participate in the couples part of this retreat.