Day44, Tuesday October 8, 2019

Our little apartment has a masonry stove that keeps us toasty warm.  One box of wood keeps us warm for 24 hours. On our way in to Linz we see this ‘green’ apartment.  Lots of gardeners must live here. It took some time to find the bike rental company.  They weren’t easy to locate.  We pass this big mural during our search. I thought these bikes were quite interesting.  They fold up compactly.We start out on our bike trip along the Danube. Bob wants dot take my photo while I was still in one piece! There are some great views along the way… and some wooded trails.  I did quite well until the killer hedge tried to get me…and then there was the vortex railing!  If I got too close it tried to suck me in! Bob left me at a coffee shop to rest and sketch and he went a bit further down the river, crossed a bridge, and then returned on this strange looking ferry.  These flowers are much like the anenomes we grow at home only much larger. We see the long barge steaming down the river. This curious mural is on a building near the café where I waited for Bob.The trees here are so big.  I found out that the average temperature here in January and February is -3 Celcius and -4 Celcius.  So much warmer than our winters, no wonder the trees grow so large.
Our selfie along the Danube. I need a few breaks on the ride home, so a photo is a good excuse for little rest 😉 These river cruise boats remind us of our cruise on the Nile, where the cruise ships were lined up 6 or 7 deep along the shore.  Passengers had to walk through all the ships, sometimes walking across the water on a narrow board between the ships, to get to shore. This wasp was really big! We take our bikes back.  They are in a building which is an incubation centre for start-ups.  Looks like these steps are a place to relax, or even snooze.  We see two souped up go-carts being wheeled into the building. I am happily surprised to discover Gerstäcker, a huge art store, in this building.  After our ride I spend at least an hour exploring and find some new drawing pencils, and two really nice hardcover Hahnemühle Sketchbooks, a 10″ square and a 8.5″ x 12″ rectangular one.  They were really reasonably priced too!  I couldn’t resist even though my suitcase will be a lot heavier.Nearby is  an industrial area called Mural Harbor.  Artists from over 25 nations created more than 100 works of art on warehouse buildings.

It is getting dark and it is raining so we drive around and see what we can from the car before heading home.  There are some pretty impressive works here.  These are all at least 10-12′ tall or larger.  I particularly liked the cat and mice.

When we get home Bob tells me that I rode 24 km. and he rode 38 km.  No wonder I am tired!  Good thing he didn’t tell me how far we were going to ride before we started.