Got up around 8. Max was already gone. Put some things on charge, bought a strange pastry, which I ate by the lake, and a pretzel, which I packed. Packed up the tent, then was off around 10. I followed the lake for a little while, very soon entering Austria. My first new country!
The path was relatively flat and followed the Rhine. At some point I inadvertently entered Switzerland and cycled on the Swiss side of the river for a while. The mountains grew larger and closer as the day wore on. Shortly before re-entering Austria I stopped and ate my pretzel. [Here I missed the opportunity to go to Liechtenstein by cycling just a little further down the river bank]. Eventually the path wound up more into the hills. Around 13:45 I came upon a very blue lake and seriously contemplated swimming. I had however spent the morning drying out my towel and swimmers from yesterday’s rain, and I’m running low on suncream, so it seemed like too much effort. I dipped my feet in instead.
I continued up into the alps, the river on one side. The landscape alternated between beautiful green woods, grass and lakes, and built up towns and ski resorts. In one of these I stopped to examine a vending machine which contained only cheese and salami. I was tempted to buy but the sight of a dead fly persuaded me against it.
I continued climbing steadily until 5ish when I passed a campsite. My legs were tired and I was hot and hungry. I considered stopping, decided against it, cycled on another couple of kms, then decided I’d made a mistake and went back. I set my tent up under a tree, took a shower, and walked 20 mins to a nearby restaurant, where I am now. I ate schnitzel with chips, some kind of fried apple dessert, and drank a couple of beers. Not a bad day.
***
I went back to the campsite, drew a picture of the view, then went to sleep.
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