Burn...

Unfortunately, I somehow mixed up the week that David and Roger from the Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence would be in Austria.

I woke up this morning at 6:30 and took the westbound train to Wels, which took two hours. Upon arrival I waited for a good forty minutes before I called David's cell phone from a pay phone, for he said he would have it in Austria. When he answered he wasn't on his way to pick me up from the train station, but rather he was asleep in his bed in Ligonier at 4:15 in the morning EST. Ah, burn.

Not wanting to just jump on the train and go right back to Vienna, I decided to make the most of the situation and exlore the town of Wels. The town is smaller than Altoona, but larger than Hollidayburg. I wandered from the train station to what seemed to be the center of the city, where I found a nice lookin cafe. I had some lunch and a beer and asked the waiter where I could possibly rent a bicycle. The gentleman was very helpful and he pointed me in the right direction.

For €10 I got a decent mountain bike for the entire day. I started riding and found myself blazing along a trail that ran parallel to a large river in the woods. It was so awesome. After 10 days in large cities, it was awesome to be out in the woods getting some exercise. The trail had every kilometer marked with a post and it extended 5 kilometers. The trail ended, but the path seemed to continue, so I kept riding. There was a large dam and on the other side was a wide, calm section of the river with a field to the right. Up ahead I saw a woman with her feet in the water, a dog laying in the grass, and a guy cooking on a charcoal girll. As I got closer it became very apparent that this dude was grilling butt ass naked. I just kept riding by without saying a word (it's not like I speak German anyways). The bad part was that I had to go back in the same direction to get back to where I was. I didn't want to turn right back around and fly by the naked dude again; so I went a little further, turned around, and made a second pass at the naked cook. I guess that's how they roll in Europe.

When I got back into town I saw a castle looking tower up on the hill. I said to myself, "I want to go up there." So I did. After pedaling up hill, which seemed like forever, I made it to the tower called Marienwarte. I climbed to the top of the lookout, up the sprial staircase, and caught a panorama glimpse of the entire area. The view was incredible!

I rode back down to town, grabbed a couple of beers at a bar along the river, and made my way back to the train station. Now, I'm just waiting for the 5:34 train back to Vienna to meet back up with my dear friends, Levi and Pinnochio.

Nater