Page 160 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2022 DISCOVERING MADRID

Cycling the Danube

By Brian E. Clark

n 1192, on his return from the Third Crusade in the
Holy Land, Richard the Lionheart (of Robin Hood
fame) was captured by an Austrian rival and impris-
oned in Durnstein Castle above the Danube River in
I northern Austria.
The English monarch was detained in a dungeon there,
so the local legend goes, before he was ultimately ran-
somed for a huge sum.
Locked in chains and held for 14 months, I doubt if he
enjoyed his time in the Wachau Valley, which is one of the
lovelier parts of Austria and a UNESCO World Heritage
site known for its grapes, apricots and scenery.
My experience couldn’t have been more different than
Richard’s. I pedaled a bicycle through the 25-mile-long
valley on a paved path bordered by red poppies. The
Donauradweg (Danube bike trail) wended its way past
terraced vineyards, orchards, tidy farms, ponds filled
with croaking frogs and picturesque villages.

Backroads cyclist pauses
to check out a castle in
Austria’s Wachau Valley.

160 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2022