Biking to Klosterneuburg Monastery

AmaWaterways gives guests the opportunity to borrow bicycles throughout the cruise to explore destinations on our own.

Guided bike excursions are regularly offered as alternatives to more traditional tours.

While we were touring Vienna in the morning, a small alternative group had cycled to Alte Donau, with the choice of either tour included free with the cruise.

In the afternoon, there was another choice of two excursions.

The summer palace of Schönbrunn should not be missed by anyone visiting Vienna, but we would be returning to Vienna at the end of the cruise for a short stay before flying home, so we passed on this tour, which due to admission fees did come with an additional charge.

There was, however, a free afternoon bicycle tour to Kosterneuburg Monastery, which I joined while Julie stayed aboard AmaCerto to enjoy the ship.

Flash back to my first year in the Air Force when I bought a Raleigh 15-speed bike from Moose Baldwin, whose parents lavished him with expensive gifts like that racing bike and some terrific Altec speakers that I also bought from him at a bargain price so he could have money to party.

I rode that bike all over the base and into town as my primary means of transportation.  In peak physical condition, I prided myself on being able to get to my job, the chow hall and other places on base as fast as my buddies in their cars, even in snow.

Sometimes, I would take a dirt path across a sagebrush field as a shortcut to the NCO Club, including riding that skinny-tired bike down the steep embankment on the other side.

On more than one occasion, I came down that washed out embankment the day after the rain --- and it rains almost every afternoon from spring through fall in Cheyenne, Wyoming --- where I caught my front tire on an exposed rock, flipping me end-over-end in a rather spectacular tumble.

I got flat tires so frequently from my short cuts that I finally bought solid rubber tires from Sears Catalog, the pre-internet equivalent of Amazon.  The ride became considerably rougher, but the tires never went flat again.

These days, over 40 years later, I tend to take a more leisurely approach to bike riding, but I figured I would have no trouble keeping up with river cruise passengers.

Ama's commuter bikes with upright handlebars were considerably more comfortable than my old Raleigh, which incidentally was stolen from a parking lot in Seal Beach a couple of years after I returned to California.

Our morning Vienna guide, Wolfgang, led our little expedition, and a member of the AmaCerto crew rode at the back of the pack to be sure no stragglers got lost.

It turned out I was the straggler on the way to Kosterneuburg, which was 7 1/2 miles away.

I could have ridden faster, but I learned a long time ago that even when there are oats waiting in the barn, the ride back can feel considerably harder than the ride out, and I wanted to be sure I had energy for both directions.

The Augustinian monastery founded in the twelfth century by Leopold III, the Patron Saint of Austria, was reconstructed in the baroque style by the Habsburgs, beginning under Charles VI and continuing with his daughter Maria Theresa and the next two generations.

It's a beautiful complex.

After spending several days in Europe, church interiors may become somewhat blasé, but once again the beautiful construction and adornment was simply breathtaking.

We caught a peak of the interior of the museum from the gift shop, but our excursion didn't include the cost of admission.  We could have paid to enter to see the exhibits, including documents associated with Maria Theresa's reign.

On the ride back, the fast riders continued their pace, while a couple of others, including Jim, a Drexel graduate from greater Philadelphia who was the other gray-beard among the seven guests on the ride, fell further behind, so that I returned to the ship several minutes before they did.

This sunny afternoon was the perfect time to take advantage of that plunge pool on the sun deck, which Julie and I did.  We would have ordered a drink at the swim up bar, but the bartender remained a ghost on the sun deck.

After drying out in lounge chairs, we showered, dressed for dinner and enjoyed an early meal before heading out on the town for our chamber music concert excursion.

View from AmaCerto in Port for Vienna.

There certainly was no time to be bored on this river cruise, although of course as Julie proved, no matter how busy a schedule may be, you can certainly take time for yourself rather than participating constantly.

"Better service leads to better trips!"