June 28, 2018

Again the tent was wet with dew this morning and once again a cool night in the tent. Ralf wore his merino wool long-sleeved shirt, because he has been cold most nights we have camped. The temperature is dropping down below ten degrees at night and our thermal sleeping blanket says it is good for 5-7 degrees – Ralf doesn’t think so as he is cold if the temperature drops below 10 degrees. Ralf was awake at 6:00 and woke me up, I looked at my watch and told him to go back to sleep for an hour.

We had our breakfast of muesli and banana and coffee. The tent was packed and we were on our way at 9:00. It was cold and the wind once again was in our face. Ralf took the lead all day. I do love him when he does that, it makes it a much easier ride for me.

It was a cold, windy and at times wet day. Our first day of riding in the rain and it was cold rain. I had to get my thicker rain jacket out of my bag because it was cold.

Again there were some hills, one of them saw all the non E-bike riders get of and push up the hill – a 21% grade – are we back in New Zealand?

We saw the Danube about twice today! Most of the day we cycled past fields of barley, wheat and rye.

The route is well signed advertising local businesses including bakeries, and places to stay further along the route.

We had lunch at a small bakery, there was one other pair of bikes already close to the bakery, we were the second set and then four more cyclists arrived. As we were leaving another couple arrived. Why was this bakery so popular, because you could see it from across the bridge and if you were thinking of stopping for something to eat it was very handy to get back on the route.

We passed through one small village, as we entered I smelled the tell-tale smell of barley and hops. The wonderful aroma of a brewery in full brewing mode. A small brauerei, restaurant and guesthouse. What a great place to stay.

However, our destination to day was a campsite in Munderkingen.  We still had a little way to go and things to see.

Munderkingen had a lovely square with the Rathaus, which was also the Tourist Information Office.  However, you could only get in if you knew the password!  The door was locked and there was a key pad to press and then you could state your business and they might let you in, We weren\’t successful in getting the right password.

We couldn\’t find a translation for Pranger, I think it means liar – but no definition.

Ralf asked in the bakery for directions to the campsite and she gave us directions. He also asked how much it was to stay at the attached hotel.

We headed out towards the campsite and spotted a Lidl. We stopped for much needed supplies and it started to rain. Ralf checked the garmin for other hotels – one 3 kms down the road and the one back in Munderkingen. The new rule (which I made up today) is if it is raining we don’t camp. We are eating in the hotel room and will eat our own breakfast supplies in the room as well, to save on the budget.

Tomorrow is an early rest day in Ulm. Another new rule – Rest Days are spent in hotels. By the end of next week we could be in Passau or possibly Salzburg. This trip is going much faster than I thought it would. I thought we would have more “tourist” days. We could have stayed an extra day in Koblenz, but we really enjoyed our ride from Koblenz to Bacharach. We only spent one rest day in Wesel instead of two and we only spent one rest day in Lahr. I think we are almost a week ahead of schedule.

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

June 26, 2018

A good start to the day (8:15 a.m.), it was a little cool with dew on the hills. We didn’t put our windbreakers on as we knew we were starting with hills to climb.

Although, as we cycled out of the village there was one old fella with a jacket and scarf on. The weather was good today, a little windy at times but very nice.

The route (after the climb) was lovely. We climbed 142 metres and then lost all the elevation gained. I hate it when that happens. The route was very rural we cycled through fields of wheat, barley and a second cutting of hay.

When we got to Villengen-Schwennigan the actual route took us around the old town. We knew today was going to be a short day, so we ventured through the Entrance Gate and tower and discovered a lovely historic downtown.

Ralf was taking photos of the Entrance gate while I “guarded” the bikes. A lady asked me where we were going so heavily laden. I responded in German telling her where we had started, where we had been and where we were headed. She nodded and smiled, then switched to English – I guess she figured her English was better than my German. She told me she was also a cyclist and her husband and her were going to cycle around Lake Constance this summer and then head to northern Germany for a trip in September.

We spent about an hour in V-S taking photos and enjoying the old town.

I loved the way these buildings were squished into place and rather higgledy piggledy.  Not the normal straight lines of Germany.

There were two routes to Donaueschingen. One route took you via Bad Durheim (another big hill to climb) the other route took us through the farm fields. It was a rolling hill kind of day, a short sharp hill and then down the other side and then long stretches of flat farming areas. It was a lovely day of cycling. We passed through one very rural area where we spotted a mill stone that commemorated the Bauern Kreig. We knew Bauern was farm or farmers and Kreig is war. After searching Google/Wikipedia in 1524 there was a revolt against the aristocracy by the peasants who worked the lands. It failed for a number of reasons, the prime one being lack of experience as an army and lack of equipment. The “noblemen” slaughtered up to 100,000 of the poorly armed peasants and farmers. The German Peasants war was Europe’s largest and most widespread uprising prior to the French Revolution in 1789.

We arrived in Donaueschingen at about 12:15, the Tourist Information office was open and very helpful. We got some supplies for dinner tonight and the directions to the Donaquelle (the source of the Donau). The amazing and most important thing today was that the public toilets were free. These things are very important to a touring cyclist – one that there are public toilets available and secondly that they are free and clean. The best public toilets are still the ones in New Zealand where they played music while you went. “What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love”

We took all the tourist photos of the start of the Donau Radweg, and the Donauquelle the source.  At the \”source\” there was a lift to take cyclists and their bicycles down to the source.  When you see the bubbles in the pond this represents the spring from the source of the Donau.

There is a poetic license here as the actual Danube starts where the two rivers meet the Breg and the Brigach which is about 1.5 kms outside of Donaueschingen.  The lady at the Tourist Office, explained that the water from the spring flows into the Breg and when the two rivers meet the waters mix.

We arrived at the campsite at 2:15. The tent was set up, albeit in two different spots. We set up the tent in the open and then realized we would not have any shade for hours. The sun was very warm. I found a spot underneath a tree and a good place to lock the bikes overnight. Ralf was busy pumping his air mattress. I suggested we move the tent. I gave him several good reasons why we should move the tent – and he agreed! We pulled out the stakes and carried the tent to its new spot. We were showered and clothes washed by 3:00. We set up our washing line attached to my rear rack and Ralf’s cross bar. Ralf then found a branch to use as a clothes-line prop to hold the clothes of the ground. He is very clever.

We headed up to the café for a beer. Ralf said this is the last camping trip we are going to do. When we get back he wants to sell the camping gear and only do credit card trips from now on. I do tend to agree with him, setting up the tent, and eating outside is not that much fun to be perfectly honest. Cheap, for sure and we can spend more time doing longer trips, but in the long run when you are not enjoying the sleeping arrangements, is it worth the economy. Maybe we will do shorter trips and stay in hotels. The hostels in Germany are not that much cheaper than hotels. The hotel last night cost us E88 with breakfast. The average stay at a hostel has been E68.00 with breakfast –pay extra for towels (E3.00 for two towels), wi-fi is usually free but not very good, you make your own bed and then take the sheets off the bed and bring them to reception in the morning. Ralf says pay the extra, get free towels and wi-fi – and let someone else make the bed.

We may break the budget on this trip, we are already over-budget, but we have slept well.

Today would have been my Dad\’s birthday.  Mum reminded us – my Dad\’s nickname for my Mum was squirrel.

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

June 25, 2018

We started early to day, (8:15 a.m.) as we knew we had some serious hills to climb. The weather was cool but not cool enough to put the windbreakers on.

We cycled through Lahr and laughed about our memories of Lahr, almost all of them were food related. This place did the best Strammer Max (the Schussel), this one did the best Chateaubriand (the Lowen), we had the best hot raspberry dessert (Zum Schwannen) at this one. We remembered the Riminihof for venison and a wonderful pork and spaetzle dish, the Schutterzel Muhle for flammenkuchen. Also the best Trout place with its own trout farm. It is amazing we weren’t the size of houses when we returned to Canada.

We cycled through Kuhbach where we stopped at the Heimat Museum. I think it used to be the old sword makers place, Ralf was not so sure. There used to be an old fella who made swords and put them on wooden plaques with your family crest on the plaque. They were a great keepsake of this area. We remembered him telling us the story that after the castle was destroyed the \”swordmaker\” had to become a blacksmith, he was no longer allowed to make swords. This was decreed from 1656 or thereabouts and he was only allowed to make ceremonial swords to that day.   Of course I am guessing he is long dead now.

The old forge is now a local history musem.  One of the really neat exhibits was the wood school.  It has several logs on a post and when you opened the log it would tell you what sort of wood it was and how to recognize the tree.

Today I was very proud of myself and also really disappointed in myself. I cycled over the Biberach Hill to the Geroldsecker Castle. I geared down and just kept pedaling. It was approximately 208 metres of climbing over 6 kms. I was very proud of cycling over the hill.

We had no paper maps to follow today. We had a rough idea where to go and followed the signs.

Ralf took some photos of the Geroldsecker Castle and we carried on down the other side of the hill towards Haslach and Hausach.

Haslach has a very pretty downtown area and we cycled through the downtown because there was an umleitung (detour) on the route.

The first half of the day was beautiful, the Black Forest as we remembered it, clean colourful and some beautiful old buildings.

We passed the Open Air Farm Museum. The traditional houses of the area were moved to this spot to preserve them. I remember going with Nikki and Chris and the girls. The girls ordered this huge ice-cream that they could barely finish. Again, memories of food.

One of the funny things we saw was a Robo Lawnmower. Ralf took a video, but I couldn\’t get it uploaded.  It is like a Robo vacuam cleaner but cuts your lawn instead.  Do not get the two mixed up.

We stopped in Hohenburg for some lunch, Edeka is more expensive than Lidl. We did have a nice lunch with dessert for E12.

An old fella chatted to Ralf about the route and told him we were heading for a tough climb.

As we headed out of Town Ralf hit the side of a wall and came of his bike. He scraped his arm and has a large egg forming on his hip.  He might be a bit stiff in the morning.

We knew it was a long steep hill to Villengen Schwennigan but I thought I was ready for it, I wasn’t.

Eight kilometres of a continuous climb, pushing the bikes most of the way 2 hours up hill and then a 2 kms short downhill which took less than 5 minutes. I even considered taking the bus, but we had missed the last one of the day.

At one point I thought we had crested the hill and was ready to celebrate, then I saw the road climb again. All I wanted to do was lay my bike down and cry.

Every time I stopped to catch my breath Ralf would take a photo.

We stopped to check the map in this small village of Langenschiltach, 22 kms to get to Villingen-Schwennigan and more hills. We were going to be heading back up two more hills for another 220 metres of climbing, we had already climbed 1,091 metres (3,579 ft). I was done I couldn’t cycle anymore. 

There was a gasthaus (hotel) so we headed for it, hoping against hope it wasn’t their Ruhetag (Rest Day). Yes, hotels and restaurants close for rest days in Germany.

Fortunately, it was open or at least it was going to open at 5:00 (it was 4:15) we could wait.

A lovely room, with good hot showers and an excellent restaurant. We had pork steak in a cream sauce with mushrooms and homemade spaetzle and a lovely salad for dinner for E40, about $60.00, it was sooo good. I am sure it will help me get up the remaining hills to Villengen-Schwennigan tomorrow and on towards Donaueschingen – the source of the Danube River.

Sooner or later we have to get back on budget.

While I was writing the blog, Ralf discovered this book in the book case.  I cannot get away from planning – it was a really interesting book with maps, regulations and statistics.

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

June 24, 2018

 What an awesome day we had cycling down memory lane. We had been told from other people who had returned to Lahr not to come back, it has changed so much, remember it how it was. We were hoping that it hadn’t changed too much and we wouldn’t be too disappointed.

Although the base and Kaserne area are barely recognizable. We were able to spot the odd building that still had Canadian markings on, 1RCHA Building and the old Centennial Club (NCO building).

Most of the airfield has new buildings used primarily for warehouses or as we were told a large online shopping warehouse – similar to Amazon, only the German version. They ship throughout Germany, France, and Spain.

Downtown Lahr is still very much the same. Yes, there are more Doner Kebab shops than Imbiss but I still recognized some of the shops that were still in business from 28 years ago.

The main challenge for today was to find the three apartments that we lived in when we lived in the Lahr area.

After breakfast and getting the first load of washing done and hung out, we headed out the Hugsweier “gate” towards Friesenheim. We cycled through the small Town of Schuttern.  I remembered the lady in the window from last time.  The Kug Fu Panda would never have been allowed \”in our day\”.

We crossed the railway the bridge to the last house we lived in when we were in Germany. We couldn’t quite remember which number it was (81 or 79) so we took pictures of both.

We headed to the main intersection of Friesenhiem. We were trying to decide which way to go when a lady approached us. She used to rent to Canadians on the same street we lived, her house number was 75. It would have been too much of a coincidence for it to be our old land-lady. We had a nice chat about the changes to Lahr and Germany. She told us that the young Germans were not so keen to keep everything as clean as the old Germans – “it was old fashioned to be so strict”. The “new” Germans from East Germany were not as clean either, and then of course you have all the refugees. Forty percent of the population of Lahr and area are not from Germany (she included East Germans/Russians) in that number.

She wished us a safe holiday and hoped we enjoyed our visit to the area.

Although we didn’t spend a lot of time in Friesenheim at the restaurants when we lived here, we did spend some time cycling the field paths. One time we discovered an old Roman Street in a field, the farmer had found it while ploughing his field. Archaeologist were bought in and discovered it to be a Roman station, a place to stop briefly on their road north or south back to Rome.  There are now road signs to direct you to the area. There are new signs with the history of the old Roman Station. “Alle wege fuhren nach Rome” – All paths lead to Rome. I am not sure we could follow this path to Rome!

We met a lovely couple with their baby who had cycled from Offenburg. We told them we had been here 28 years ago. However, the new signs were not here then. They told us that it had recently been upgraded and had been in their local paper informing people that it was open to the public.

We headed back to our room to hang the next load of washing. It was a good job we got back when we did, the cleaning staff were about to lock the room.

We cycled back into Lahr, via the “jolly green giant” our second apartment. This one was easier to recognize. We lived on the 7^th Floor. The area was still very clean.

When we lived here there were Married Quarters down the road that were hexagonal. We had been offered one of these “cheeses” but decided to move into the private apartment in the green building.

After the Jolly Green giant we headed to Geroldsecker Vorstadt, via the StadtPark.

Again the first apartment was an easy one to find. There used to be a gas station below and a small bier stube. The bier stube is still there as is the gas station, although it no longer sells gas, it is now a 2^nd hand car store.  We were not allowed to have anything hanging from the building – no satellite dishes in our day.

Finally, we headed to the Kaserne. The Canadian Youth Centre where I first worked, was still recognizable. Although it is now an art gallery. I also recognized the main Canex Office building. The rest of the Kaserne area has been converted to housing and some commercial buildings. The old officers mess is now a building for psychotherapy.

After finding our old apartments we headed into the lovely downtown which is Lahr.

We got a little turned around, but followed the Einbahnstrasse and we found the Storchturm.

Sorry Nikki I couldn’t resist that. When my sister visited us in Lahr they parked in an underground car park on Schiller Strasse (the bank Street). She proudly told me that they had parked on Einbahnstrasse and then they had followed the arrows that directed them to Einbahnstrasse and found the car park. Einbahnstrasse means one-way street. Ralf and I still have no idea how they found the car park following the one way street signs!

There were storks on the top of the storkturm and we were allowed to go up the tower.

We then sat and had flammenkuchen and a beer, a great way to spend the afternoon, relaxing and watching people. We also had a wonderful ice-cream from a new gelato place. It was very busy, the ice-creams were cheap – a large scoop for E1.50.

Sorry Nikki we didn’t go to the Schutterzell Muhle, we had forgotten how far from Lahr it was (15 kms). As we had already cycle 35 kms on a rest day, we decided not to cycle another 30 kms. The flammenkuchen at the bar was definitely not as good as the Schutterzell Muhle.

We really enjoyed the day down memory lane. Lahr has changed, it is bigger and not as squeaky clean as it used to be. However, Lahr still has a rest day on Sunday. All the stores are closed except the bars and cafes. Sunday is a day to relax and we certainly did that.

June 23, 2018

We decided to have breakfast at the campsite. An excellent omelette with ham, cheese and tomatoes. It kept us going all day.

We were about to leave when our “next door” neighbour approached us and started chatting. He was really interesting and told us how they were trying to convert Stuttgart from a Car City to a Bike City, they had regular critical mass rides. I do not necessarily agree with critical mass rides. If everyone shared the road as opposed to taking the road, we could all be safer. We told him about Portland and he said that was one city he wanted to visit.

One of the things we have noticed since being in Europe is the amount of e-bikes there are. He told us that in Germany there has always been a “perk” or a “tax” break in the way of company cars. The companies are now getting the same “tax” break for e-bikes. They are giving e-bikes as tax breaks – a 5000 euro e-bike and the new owner only has to pay the lease of 30 euro per month.

An easy ride to Lahr today, we followed the Rhine to Meisenheim and then followed the farm roads to Lahr.

We spotted this small lizard, but I think it might be a skink

Meisenhiem has some very old buildings and one very new modern Rathaus -City Hall. The new City hall is surrounded by a high fence, I wonder why. Why on earth would they build something like this in a traditional Black Forest Village. I don’t dislike the building, I don’t like where it is located.

As we cycled out of Meisenheim we were reminded why storks are important in this area.  Considering how many storks we have seen there should be a population explosion in this area.

I recognized this local land mark. The guys used to call it “Tit Hill” – It was the only hill in the area that has a small clump of trees on the top!!

We had a cycle around the old airfield and tried to recognize where places used to be. There are a lot of new warehouse buildings and the area is unrecognizable.

We are staying in a hostel called the Europa Inn. We think it was the old EuropaHof! The form we had to fill in to register threw me straight back to being a D/W a Dependant Wife!! The form asked for “accompanying spouses name”.

The bikes are cleaned, shopping has been done, I have sent some requests for warmshowers and we have looked at the route along the Danube.

Germany won at soccer against Sweden and the Town is celebrating. We are looking forward tomorrow to spending time looking around Lahr and going to the Schutterzel Muhle for flammkuchen.

On Monday we head east, we will have some hills to go over before reaching Villengen Schwenigen.

June 22, 2018

Last night Ralf spent time planning our route out of Karlsruhe and back on to the Rhine route. He programmed the Garmin to get us so far and hand drew a map for the remaining distance. It worked, ten kilometres later we were out of Karlsruhe and back on the Rhine.

The day was quite cool and windy. We wore our wind breakers all day.

We stayed on the Rhine all day. I was amazed at the amount of swans we saw. There were large groups of 12 or more without cygnets and then smaller groups with cygnets usually three cygnets. We have no idea where this black swan came from – it was the only one.

Most of the ride was on the berm along the top of the floodplain. It was very dusty and the bikes are in desperate need of a clean. We are due for a rest day and I usually get all the boring things done on our rest days – washing, bike maintenance and updating the blog if I am behind, which I am.

When we came off the Rhine briefly, there were a lot of small oxbow lakes or Alt Rhine Rivers – in one area there was an old boat moored.  This boat was an eel boat.  They harvested eels until 1989.  Eel is good in the morning for breakfast!

We had decided to camp today, we have to get back on budget. There is a great campsite in Kehl called DCC E18.50 a pitch, 0.50 for a four minute shower and E1.00 for 24 hours internet. We didn\’t pay for the internet as we knew we could update the blog over the next couple of days in Lahr. There is a little restaurant on site with basic German meals and also a small kiosk where you can buy fresh bread, buns etc. for breakfast. The kiosk also sells beer at E1.80 per 500 cl bottle.

This site is very popular with cyclists, there is currently eight small tents with two other couples and the rest are single guys.

The facilities are very clean, and there are also washing machines (not too expensive). This would be a great place to have a rest day, get the bikes cleaned, washing done etc.

There is a small pavilion where you can cook and eat. While we were cooking we were joined by a young German couple and an older Dutch man.

We all shared our riding experiences. The young couple had cycled in the North of Spain and really enjoyed the experience. The Dutch man talked about riding in Holland with the numbered junction system.

Although camping can be uncomfortable, when you meet really nice people and share experiences it makes up for the lack of creature comforts. We are usually asleep early and wake up early. However, at the moment it is light until 10:00 p.m. we have to wear our eye masks so that we can get to sleep early.

This is our last day on the Rhine, tomorrow we head inland to Lahr. Then we will be heading towards the Danube. The next leg of this trip.

One of the things I have enjoyed about this section of the trip is the amount of different birds we have seen. I haven’t seen Thrushes in years. They are the size of an American Robin with a speckled breast, a very pretty bird. They are hopping around the campsite looking for worms. Today we saw a lot of swans on the Rhine and of course the storks. The pied wagtails always make me laugh. They fly in front of you swooping up and down and then land about 50 metres in front of you with their tails wagging. Then they are off again swooping up and down. We have also seen lots of storks in this area and herons. Small hawks fly above the fields trying to spot small field mice. Today we saw black-headed gulls diving into the Rhine trying to catch their lunch in the slower moving river near the banks.

I have to comment on the dogs and their owners in Germany. Some of the dogs are running loose, others are on a long leash. However, as soon as the owner sees or hears the bikes coming he/she calls the dog to heel and the dog sits patiently by the owner until we pass. For anyone who remembers us riding through Louisiana, Alabama etc and the bloody dogs that chased us every day. This is absolute bliss. We thank the owners as we pass and their response is generally “of course, no problem”

Although we have had some ups and downs with the routing and the north being so dirty and industrialized it has been good to get back on the bikes and cycle every day.

June 21, 2018

Another day on the Magical Mystery tour of the Rhine Radweg.

We started off well crossing the bridge over the Rhine into Baden-Wurtemburg.  The dialects in diffferent parts of Germany can be very different and it took a little while for us to understand this new accent.

The day started of well cycling along the Rhine and spotting storks. We went through an area where there were 28 nesting pairs with all of them having one or two babies in the nest. We could hear the beaks clacking as we cycled past the nesting area.

Both Ralf and I hate the word umleitung – detour!  Everything went pear-shaped and we were detoured three times – Phillipsburg, and Eggenstein/Leopoldshafen was the worst area. The signs are usually pretty good to get you away from the route and then abandon you to find your own way back.

However, in Rosenheim we did receive divine intervention. We were looking at the map trying to work out where on earth we were when a young man came along side us on his bike. He asked if he could help and we told him that we were trying to find our way back to the Rhine. He took us to a “dam” and told us to cycle along the dam and then take a right and we would be back on the Rhine route. I try to remember to introduce myself and ask our “Road Angels” their names. His name was Gregory and he was the pastor at the local church. Maybe going into these cathedrals and taking photos of old churches is helping. 

One interesting area we came across was a very large nuclear plant. We checked on the internet and they are expanding the plant. Currently, they have closed production in one area for annual maintenance. However, EnBW profess to being green energy producers. They have expanded their production of wind power plants in the north sea.

We were hoping to not come into the centre of Karlsruhe. We wanted to outskirt Karlsruhe and find a campsite further south. We stopped at a Lidl for a late lunch, and considered getting on the motorway, as it was the very close to the Lidl but thought the police might object. We found a paved path through a wood and headed due south. The path bought us into the centre of Karlsruhe. We have no idea how, but it did. We found another Youth hostel (E68.) plus E3 for towels! – our very expensive places to lay our head and settled in for another night of sharing a dorm room. This hostel did not have any double rooms left, we had to have separate dorms.

After we had settled into our expensive Youth Hostel we walked into the main shopping area for some cheap eats. Karlsruhe is a University City. We were told about a couple of good places to eat – student places (loud with lots of beer), cheap eats, and a nicer restaurant. We choose a falafel place which was very good. We ate outside and chatted to the cook who was on his break. He was a Syrian refugee. He had come to Germany 18 months ago, in another 6 months he will get his permanent Identity Card and will be free to travel throughout Europe. The rest of his family are in Canada. We couldn’t quite understand why he wasn’t with them. He said that his Father had not written him down on the paper. He wanted to join them in Canada and had applied, but the consulate has refused him. He was a really nice guy and spoke good German. He was working as a short order cook in the falafel place, but was hoping for a better life.

When we got back to the hostel, I discovered two men in my “womens only” dorm. Ralf did not have anyone else in his dorm. We went to reception and the woman tried to explain what had happened. It worked out for the best, Ralf and I shared his dorm and the fella that was supposed to share Ralf’s dorm would be moved to my dorm (when he arrived).

Saturday we will be in Lahr for a welcome rest day. We lived in Lahr and Friesenheim for five years. The area holds a lot of good memories.

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

June 20, 2018

 Happy Birthday Dave and Kelly

We had planned a short day of about 50 kms today and camping. I needed to get some washing done, clean the bikes and update the blog. Obviously that didn’t work out. The day started with the church bells waking us up at 7:00. I had woken at 6:00 and gone back to sleep, the bells were an excellent alarm clock. Leaving Worms we got totally turned around. Partly due to a detour and the directional signs pointing in opposite directions and partly because we didn’t look at the map properly when we left the hostel.

Eventually we got on the right road and headed south-east down the Rhine. We only briefly saw the river today as we were on the other side of the berm for most of the day. We cycled along small farm fields and through woodlands. The farms are not very big here compared to Canada, but they seem to work. Because of the early spring they can often get two or three crops of the same field.

The woodlands were really nice and cool. We went through one area where there was a detour due to birds nesting. We passed these geese that had babies but were not too aggressive. A couple of ladies warned us that the geese further along the path were more aggressive and we should be careful of them. As we cycled past the Canada Geese, one of them hissed at us – I told it we were from the same country and it should be nice to me (or I would kill its cousin and eat if for Christmas dinner). I am glad we didn’t encounter any swans along this path as they are very protective of their nests.

It was a really hot day today – a high of 33 degrees, cycling through the wooded areas was really nice.

We got to Aldtrip where we knew there were several campsites and a small lake. All of the campsites were for permanent campers and trailers (private) and no tents were allowed. Our only alternative was to carry on to Worms and another night in a hostel, or go back to the other side of Aldtrip to a possible campsite. Cost for bed & breakfast and evening meal (3 courses) at the hostel is E61.

The signs were not very good today and we got misplaced a couple of times. This sign might explain why.

As we entered Speyer there were directions to the Youth hostel, which outskirted the downtown.  The youth hostel was close to the Technick Museum which has lots of exhibits of planes, trains and automobiles and a lot of hands on exhibitions.

Tomorrow we cross the river and continue heading south through Germany. If we stayed on this side of the river we would enter France. We should be in Karlsruhe and hoping for a warmshowers. We should be in Lahr by the end of the week. I am looking for a cheap hotel in the area as there are no campsites.

Lahr is where we used to live and we want to spend a couple of days looking at our old “stomping ground”.

Once we had settled in to the hostel, I updated the blogs and did a bit of washing.  Ralf headed out to try and find the continuation of the maps that the the young guy gave us in Koln.  The first bookstore called the second bookstore who directed to him to the third bookstore who had the maps we needed.

Speyer was a Roman City and is one of the oldest Cities in Germany.  Ralf had taken his camera with him on his walkabout and got some excellent photos of the \”AldtStadt\”

The route today

Windmills No windmills spotted for the last few days – Running Total is Ralf 13 Jacky 6 Mat 5 so long as you count towers that look like windmills without their sails!

June 19, 2018

 Our day started with a quiet breakfast, the children were not eating until 8:00. The teacher we spoke to last night said he had a good nights sleep and all the children were accounted for. Ralf had heard a couple of the boys saying they didn’t get to sleep until 2:00 a.m. The teacher laughed and said they will regret not getting enough sleep today. 

We hurtled down the hill to Bacharach and had a little cycle around the Town before continuing our journey along the Rhine.

Ralf noticed the the three layers of walls – the inner city wall, the railway bridge and the outer city wall.

 This is not a windmill (Mat), it is the entrance gate to the Town.

Looking at the Hostel from the road, it doesn\’t seem that far away, but it was up a very steep hill, 16 degree incline.

The route took us a little way off the Rhine today and through the agricultural areas including small wheat fields, and vineyards.

A couple of the areas were a little rough through woods, but it hasn’t rained and we didn’t get bogged down in any muddy areas.

As we were away from the Rhine there weren’t as many castles to see. There was even one section of the Rhine that had no activity on it, no boats it looked very peaceful.

We negotiated the streets of Mainz and didn’t get lost even though there was a couple of detours. The area along the river was being prepared for a week-end festival. There is even a “beach” in Mainz.

As we left Mainz through an area that is undergoing rejuvenation, we spotted some graffiti. When is it graffiti and when is it art?

I noticed this sign and initially wondered why it didn’t have the usual famous places like New York, Sydney, London etc. Then I realized that they are all wine routes. We have cycled from Adelaide, Bilbao (Spain), Porto (Portugal) we are in the German wine areas of Rhineland and Baden and we are heading towards Italy. Is there a method to my cycling?

As I cycled through the vineyards I was trying to work out how many bottles of wine this area would provide.  We met a man many years ago that told us that one area of his vineyard was for his family he bottled 600 litres of wine for him and his family.  The rest went to the Winzergenossenshaft (wine growing co-op). 

We saw a couple of storks – one was in its nest and had a baby in the nest. I don\’t think it was a human baby waiting to be delivered, but it was difficult to see as the nest was quite high up.

The other was tidying up its nest for the morning – even storks have to do housework.

Trivia, the storks use the same nests year after year.  When they return from their winter in the sun (Africa), the male generally returns first and prepares the nest for his female.  They were thought to be monogamous but they have been found to change partners over the winter.

The other storks we saw by fields that the farmer had just harvested the hay. I am not sure what interested them in that area.

We got to the Town of Oppenhiem to the campsite where we were hoping to stay. Unfortunately, it was a permanent site for mobile homes and tents were not allowed. The restaurant said we could stay there for E5.00 but there were no shower facilities. It was only 2:00 so we decided to carry on to Worms. We thought it was only another 25 kms. However, there was a detour and that added about 5kms. My longest day in the saddle for a long time 110 kms. I felt good even at the end of the day.   Tired and hungry but good. We are once again at a youth hostel in Worms cost E63 including breakfast.

We passed a commemoration of the Battle of the Bulge. This was a wide area of the Rhine that the Americans crossed during the second world war.

Our last push into Worms was along the top of the berm, fortunately this one had been cut and was a little easier to negotiate.

The Rhine barges have changed their cargo from coal and gravel to trucks – 100 trucks on this barge.

Worms (pronounced Verms) has a large cathedral which is almost impossible to get a good photo of due to the surrounding commercial and residential buildings. Martin Luther (the founder of the Lutheran Church) was the first guy to break away from the catholic church. He was excommunicated as a priest, for failing to denounce his writing and beliefs, from the Catholic Church in Worms (1521). There is going to be a commemoration of this event in 2021.

I like reading Dan Brown’s books, are these signs that he would recognize? – the Luminati and the sun through a prism? These two “signs” were on the doors to the Trinity Church

Another good day of cycling, the sun was out when we headed out, but it clouded over quite quickly so it wasn’t too hot.

Windmills. Ralf 1 Jacky 0 Running Total is Ralf 13 Jacky 6 Mat 5 so long as you count towers that look like windmills without their sails!