I started the day at 6:45 after a lousy night of trying to sleep through all the riotous behavior of youth indulging in Slovenian brew and folks conversing in the hallway like it was 4:00 P.M. rather than 4:00 A.M. I hopped on the train heading for Villach Austria and plopped in a 6-seat
booth with 3 college-aged Irishman and a 36 year old woman from Spain. Sara, the Spanish girl and one of the Irish youth and I had a terrific conversation all the way to Villach. Sara talked about her travels to Montenegro and Bosnia and The young Irishman spoke for himself and his sleeping friends about hopping from Prague to Bratislava to Budapest to the Croatian Coast. Now they were all heading for Vienna. Once in Villach I found my way to the Drau River Cycle Path which I would follow to Spittal where I would catch the train to Innsbruck. But before beginning the 50K ride upon the mostly gravel trail to Spittal I gave into the signs compelling me to eat at McDonald's. At home I never eat at McDonald's but since I was at a loss finding food I was familiar with I was willing to settle for chicken McNuggetts even though they are fried. The ride along the Drau Cycle Path was less than impressive. Of course maybe it was the overcast day that caused me to feel this way. This cycle path was mostly crushed gravel and I can only take so much off-road riding when fully-loaded touring. And I was expecting massive mountains and the ones nearby were nothing like I would see later in the day while on the train to Innsbruck.
