June 27, 2018

The tent was wet with dew this morning and it was a cool night in the tent. We are back into the routine we have when we are camping. I get up and go to the showers, and dress. Ralf folds all his bedding up and by the time I get back from the shower, I can then get in the tent and fold all my bedding. We are like a well-oiled machine.

We uncovered the bikes and flipped the fly on the tent to allow it to dry quicker. I am not sure it helped. Ralf picked it up and put it in the sun – which seemed to work. We ate our muesli and had a cup of coffee while watching one of the fellow campers packing up his tent. Ralf thinks we carry a lot, but my goodness you should have seen the stuff this guy had, unbelievable. More unbelievable is that he didn’t have an ebike. More about ebikes later (a separate post).

We also watched a young couple who were not having a good start to their day. They were on the other bench with their backs to each other, not talking and a very black cloud hanging over their heads. Not a good start to their trip, or maybe an early end! We were only 10 kms outside of Donaueschingen, the start of the Danube. This does not bode well for the rest of their trip.

All of the reviews I have read of the Danube Rad Weg is to cycle from the source to the Black Sea or Vienna – basically from west to east. I have no idea why, because at the moment the winds are all from the North-East and we are heading into the wind every day. The weather was warm but the wind was constant today.

We took turns today 10 and 10, it helps me but doesn’t help Ralf as much as I am smaller and narrower than he is so I do not break as much wind for him as he does for me. There I go with the “Gutes Fahrt”. It is called \”drafting\” watch the Tour de France and you will see the professionals doing it all the time.

We went through a small village, that had a very appropriate war memorial from the First and Second World War.

Around the back of this, was a globe Ralf translated.

The route today was not flat nor did it follow the Danube!    We saw the Danube only a couple of times.

One old fellow we met said that this was the best leg of the route as far as Sigmaringen – well we might as well catch the train from Sigmaringen.

It was a beautiful ride although rather hilly some of the hills were 14 and 18 degrees, although relatively short about 500 metres at the most. We climbed 483 metres today, notice that uphill right at the end of the ride!

We went through a valley of amazing limestone formations it was lovely.

At one point I was getting a little tired of the hills and the wind. My lovely hubby made me laugh with his bizaare sense of humor. Along this section of the route, we were actually following the Danube, there were signs of the different fishes that were in the river. Ralf told me the translation was about the elusive dry-land fishes, if you stood at any of these signs you would be able to see these elusive dry-land fishes. He can be very silly, but it helped keep me going for the next few kilometre before we finished for the day.

Often we see faces or some other interesting things in these limestone formations.  This one shows aliens in the woods.

This one is definitely a pair of hands, praying.

There were lots of “protest” signs. I had read them as “kein walk about”. Not Kein Kalk Abbau which means “No Limestone Removal”. It would be horrendous if the gravel industry got their hands on this beautiful area.

By the time we arrived in Sigmaringen it was 4:15 and there was no-one at reception at the campsite. There was a note on the door to say that they were watching the Germany versus South Korea match! We set up our tent, but couldn’t shower until they were back. I had a quick wet wipe and got changed and we went to dinner at the restaurant. We heard the oohs and aahs as the game progressed and eventually the sobs as Germany lost and are now out of the world cup.

Every where we have stayed there have been outdoor TVs set up so that people can watch the games. I am not sure that this will continue now that Germany is out of the game.

After dinner at the restaurant we registered at reception, they told us where we could get breakfast and supplies – a very large grocery store across the road from the camp-site. For some reason it didn’t show up on Garmin! We were able to get some supplies for breakfast.

As we walked up the road from reception we saw the reason people come to Sigmaringen. The Sigmaringen castle, has been in existence since 1077, a medieval fortress or royal residence towering above the Town. The Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen were linked to most of Europe’s royal families through marriage. The castle is open to the public with guided tours, cost is E12.50 per person. There are also audio tours available.

My laptop ran out of power last night and we had no electricity at this campsite, there wasn’t anything I could do after my shower. I was very tired and I think I fell asleep about 9:00 p.m.

The campsite we stayed at was called the Out and Back – E17.50 showers included, it is directly on the Danube route. The Out and Back is primarily a site for kids on an adventure holiday. There are rope climbing areas, archery and canoeing along the Danube. They were all in bed and quiet by 10:00. There were also to areas for tents and one area for camper vans.

Windmills. Still no more windmills. Running Total is Ralf 13 Jacky 6