spokesandlyrca

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Day 27 - well it had to happen

Day 27, june 29

What a wonderful stay at our first pension in Hungry. The hostess (Irena) made us feel very much at home and after a shower and a big wash (1^st time for the riding short for a while) we walked around the small village. With some chips and drinks we made our way to the local river and relaxed. This part of the trip is some way from the Danube as there are simply no roads on the Hungarian side. We could have stayed in Slovakia but according to our guidebook much of the trip was along a large dam which didn't appeal much to us.

We left after a hearty breakfast and cycled the first 10km in ½ hr.

We entered the town of Gyor which proved interesting in that it had many old Austian-Hungrian style buildings in narrow streets. I wish I could say the rest of the day matched the first hour.

Gyor Street Scene

The path out of Gyor led through an old industrial estate and proceed through small villages with poorly maintained roads (Lia says they look like patchwork quilts). Much to our chagrin the road took us a long way south (10km) and then we had to cycle back into a very strong head wind. We arrived at Komarom (on the Danube) which we thought might have a nice restaurant on the river for lunch. Instead we find the city separated from the river by the railway lines; furthermore a reasonable restaurant was not to be found. We pressed on after buying some food for lunch. Neither of us had much hunger when we finally stopped in a “park” surrounded by Soviet-style grey concrete apartment blocks – still not a single glimpse of the river even though it was only a few hundred metres away.

Our only view of the river today!!!

While our guide said “You are only sometime forced to ride on the main road”, this proved totally incorrect and we battled along a significant road for around 20km. To make matters worse it started raining and we were splashed with slosh by many large trucks which passed us. While we tried to find accommodation as by this time we had already ridden 75km, nothing suitable was to be found so we ended up cycling 107km (phew) before coming to rest in a comfortable hotel in Tat. After a shower and a nice dinner with pancakes for desert we are starting to relax.

Just did a tally and we have cycled 1930km so far.

All-in-all this has proven the most challenging and uninspiring day of the trip but never mind tomorrow we head to Budapest our final destination through “one of the most attractive sections of the Danube” - we shall see.

Day 26 - 3 countries in one day

Day 26, june 28.

Wheeeeee, wheeeeeee, these are our excited voices as we zoomed along the cycle paths with the fairly strong winds behind us! It was a fabulous day riding, the sun shone the whole day and the strong breeze (enough to stop us from over heating) kept pushing us along for most of the way. We left Hainsburg in Austria at around 8.30 and by 9.30 we had arrived in Bratislava which is the capital of Slovakia. This beautiful city is the only capital in the world which borders on two nations (Austria and Hongary) From a distance we could see the castle which has a magnificent position on top of the hill overlooking the Danube.

 We stopped and looked around the main square which is a heritage listed historic centre with some interesting old buildings and also had our morning tea there. I ordered my usual 'hot chocolate' arrived but looking different then I expected as in a cup was 'hot chocolate' but more of a tick and sauce like variety, not quite what I had in mind. Never mind I did get my chocolate hit for the day in one huge go!!!!

Boy that wind blew my hair

Before too long we cycled into Hungary which is a country I have previously enjoyed visiting. I love the small villages where you see people having a slower, and maybe more relaxed lifestyle, going about their daily business. Most house have their own vegetable garden and orchards. Along some of the streets you will find here and there a water pump and there always seem to be a small local shop. Today I saw a field of smiling sunflowers which looked great, also a field of purple flowers (don't know the name and no, it was not lavender - Graeme telss me they were Statis) and a field of capsicums as well as the usual fields of wheat and corn. For tonight we have stopped in the village of Dunazeg at a local bed and breakfast. The family is most friendly and helpful and it is nice to see how they live and work. Here there is also a huge veggie garden and we have received a basket full of apricots (ripe and juicy).

We are at the final stages of this trip as we only have a few more days to go before we reach Budapest. The tricky bit is then to work out how to best get back to Holland! We have done some initial investigations these last few days but have not decided to fly back or take a train. 86Kms today

Day 25 - On the border

 

After a night at the Brown Bear Gasthaus in Griefendorf, which by the way was only 20m from the railway, we had an early start for Vienna (some 20km down river). You may well ask why did we stay at another hotel on the railway lines. Well after 100+km we had had it. In mentioning the issue to the host he said not to worry as the trains stopped at 10pm. Well the last train was past 10.30 which wasn't so bad but what he didn't mention (and I failed to ask) was that they started again at 4am and came regularly every 15mins. Fortunately Lia slept through but I was awake for several hours and nearly slept past breakfast time. The disruptive noise was compensated by a fabulous view and good double glazed windows and doors which kept most of the sound out. Enough of that.

An hour and a half later we were in Vienna quick felt a bit like coming home after having spent a week there a month ago. We didn't want to spend much time there so went straight to the Kunst Museum which had a great garden restaurant surrounded by Hundartwasser's art works.

Hunndartwasser's incinerator in Vienna

We were surprised by quiet it was there compared to the rest on Vienna- too busy for us!

The trip out of the city was exceptionally quick riding through beautiful parklands initially but later through an oil refinery. We then started on a long straight section (sometimes 6+ km straight) though a national park.

At lunch we started thinking how we were going to get back to Holland and it may not be as easy as first thought - oh well, I'm sure we will figure it out. We ended up in the border town of Hainburg which has one of the best preserved medieval walls. Unfortunately that didn't help the residents in 1683 when the Turks killed some 8000 people after breaking through poorly the then maintained walls.  Many of the deaths were when people were trampled as they rushed towards these gates. 

 One particular feature which caught my eye was the pillory in which miscreants were restrained as punishment - along with being pelted rotten tomatoes I imagine. Tomorrow we ride to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Best get a good night sleep - no trains at least to wake me. 77Kms today

Day 24, June 26th

Day 24, June 26.

We slept like roses (or whatever the expression is) and therefore never heard any of the fire works last night. Never mind, up and at breakfast by 7.30 and we rode away an hour later. Day remained overcast till sort of mid afternoon but other than a couple of spots of rain it stayed dry and the sun came out lovely and warm which turned the evening into a balmy evening which was lovely whilst we had our dinner outside overlooking the river! As Graeme mentioned it is expected to be sunny and rather warm for the next few days.

Today's ride took us along the northern section of the Danube and we visited various wonderful historic villages such as: Aggsbach-Markt, Willendorf, Spiz, Durnstein, Krems, cross over the river to Tulln, continued from there until we arrived in Zeiselmauer after riding 104km !! In Willendorf we had a look at the Archaeological site where some rail way workers found an 11cm fertility figure in the ice age loess.. The limestone figure representing a plump naked female caused an sensation, and is regarded as an expression of female fertility, or as a symbol of “magna mater”.

The fields have changed too, today we cycled through some vineyards, fields with sunflowers (unfortunately, not flowering as yet), the wheat and corn fields as well as some orchards with some cherry trees (season is nearly over) and apricot trees . Further, there were stretches were we cycled along the Danube and through some forest. I enjoyed the variety of villages and landscapes. We had our lunch seated on a bench right at the river with some forest behind us! It was a lovely quiet spot, the river flowed, some riverboats came by and there were a couple of swans on the river. The little stretch of grass in front of us was full of different grasses and wild flowers, bees busily going about their work as were the ants and some butterflies frolicked by as well , so much action in this peaceful little spot!

The other bit of excitement came about when after lunch it was time for me to find a bush and spend a penny, so to speak, when just when I was ready to lower my pants my eye caught sight of a SNAKE (little one mind you ), so I thought: 'whow, moving right along', when a moment later there was an other one!!!!! Graeme had noticed my fright but was a bit surprised about my snake comment as we both didn't think there were snakes in Austria?! But, low and behold when after dinner we walked up to the castle (which seem to be no longer in use as it all looked old and dilapidated) and we saw another snake, no kidding!!!! So I must find someone who can tell me a bit more e.g. are they poisonous??

Well, with this little bit of excitement I leave you all for today. Happy reading,!

Day 23, June 25th

Day 23, Saturday June 25^th

What a day of cycling!! Although we did do a lot of kms (73km in fact) we had a 30km/hr wind behind us for most of the way. Wow we just flew along, at one time cruising along at 25km/hr for about 10km. The morning was cool which also made for pleasant cycling. A hot chocolate at Grein and then a tour of the oldest still-used theatre was fun – it was very small and had a toilet right next to the auditorium with a curtain for privacy so the customers didn't miss the funny bit of the performance – apparently they stuck their heads out!! It was also adjacent to the goal which had some bricks removed so the inmates could see the performance.

They also needed to be fed or they would make a lot of noise during the performance. From there we “flew” to Persenbeug and looked for a lunch venue. By this time threatening black clouds were ahead of us and after several “nothing suitable” (for vegetarians, that is) restaurants we doubled back to a pub right on the river which by luck had a vegetarian option. This proved very tasty and while we dined the rain poured down. After we had finished the rain had stopped and we proceeded on our way all dry.

As we road along we noticed in several places large bonfires being set up along with tents which would provide food and beverages. Often the re was a “Guy” at the top of the pile and several fire trucks already in place. On arriving at Melk (our sleeping place) I enquired about the fires and was told it is tradition that these happen on the Saturday after midsummer's eve. It wasn't clear to me as to why but it is the tradition.

We stopped at Melk to see the Benedictine Abbey which is spectacular – it is situated on a hill overlooking the Danube.

Parts date from the 10^th century but the most inspiring portions were built in the early 1700's in Baroque style – this means very ornate, painted ceilings, marble and lots of gold. It had a library with 100,000 books, many dating from the Middle Ages. My favourite was the spiral staircase.

We have a good forecast with high 20's to low 30's over the next few days so will try to start early and finish early. We are looking to be in Vienna mid morning on Monday.

day 22 June 24th

Day 22, June 24^th

As Graeme mentioned yesterday we did decide to take the boat from Passau to Linz so after breakfast we set off down to the pier.

Passau

The boat was one of those cruise varieties, all very nicely decked out but Graeme and I were initially unsure of where we fitted? There were a number of tourist groups and they had booked for a lunch or so cruise so from the moment of departure they sat all on nicely set tables and did not do much else then eat and drink the whole way to Linz (people drinking beer and wine at 9.30am, a tad early for me!!)!

The cycling tourists sat predominantly outside, ordered their coffee, drinks and foods and generally enjoyed the scenery. And the scenery was fantastic: beautiful rolling hills which were often forested with tees coming down all the way to the river, small picturesque townships, farmyards and a number of castles, all very pleasant. We struck up a conversation with an English couple who with a group of friends were cycling to Vienna but as they were beginners they decided to only cycle 40km for the first day. The boat stopped at Linz at 2pm and our intention was to have a look around Linz before cycling to a nearby town to sleep for the night. But, we found the city too overwhelming, there were sooo many people out shopping that it became hard work to look around whilst pushing a loaded bicycle amongst all those shoppers. So we found the “rad way” and cycled direction Vienna.

The first 10-18km was mainly along the river, we were going very well as we had the wind in our backs! Just before Mauthausen we went inland as I particularly wanted to visit the Mauthausen concentration camps from WWII. It is unbelievable that in this quiet and picturesque landscape such horrors took place. Apparently, between 1938 and 1945 about 123,000 people were murdered in this concentration camp.

 When we left the camp (high on top of a hill, stunning views), it started to rain, big drops at first but it soon became a heavy shower so time for us to call it quits for the day and to look for accommodation. Not so easy as a number of place along the way were fully booked so it took us awhile and an extra 8km cycling before we found a place at the Inn (guesthouse) but we have nicely settled in for the night and also enjoyed a good dinner (I had some fish and vegies and Graeme enjoyed a vegie burger and vegies). Most meals along the way we have enjoyed, except the German noodles with roasted onions, edible but not my favourites. Although we leisured some 98km away travelling by boat we still managed some extra 43km after we left the boat!

Day 21 - Passau !!!

Day 21 Thursday June 23^rd

Happy Corpus Christi – I think that is OK – as we found out with town bands and closed shops it was a holiday here in Germany. After the storm of last night we were wondering whether we would cycle much today but with the birds singing to awake the dawn it was another fabulous morning. Cloudy with occasional sunshine. We zoomed along and by just after 1pm had completed 73km and were in the city of Passau on the Austrian – German border. Within minutes of our arrival the rain came – not heavy but constant. After sheltering in a garage off a narrow cobblestone lane for about 10mins we could not decide what to do but having a flat tire the decision was made for us (to stay the night) so we had lunch.

On going to the tourist information centre we bought the guide for the next phase of our journey. Passau to Vienna – a distance of 326km. As the rain continued we contemplated taking a boat for part of the way and tomorrow morning at 9am will leave for Linz in Austria (a distance of 98km). This will give us both the chance to rest a bit. Lia in particular has had continuing trouble with her coccyx and some time out of the saddle will help a lot.

Passau is an interesting “young old” city with history dating to Roman times and situated as it is as the confluence of 3 rivers played an important part in the river trade. A massive castle dating from 1219 which overlooks the city was built to control commerce.

Passau Castle

In a walk around the city (in the rain) we visited St Steven's cathedral (rebuilt after a fire in 1662) had heard the massive 18,000 organ pipes (the largest Catholic organ in the world).

Just before this we discovered that my North Face coat (bought in Kyrgyzstan) probably wasn't one as it started to leak (grhh – always buy quality!!!).

We folks – signing off from rainy Germany

Day 20

Day 20, Wednesday June 22,

The sun was up bright and warm this morning when we commenced our ride at 8.45am. It was warm enough to just ride in singlet top and plenty of sunscreen! Unfortunately, it was also very humid which meant sweating profusely and needing to drink lots of water. Roads were good but wind was slightly against us. As Graeme mentioned yesterday my gears are not working well which leads to extra exertion and plenty of frustration on my part. We did stop at a MEGA bike shop (never seen so many new bikes together!) and luckily someone was prepared to have a look at the gears for me and ended up fixing the problem for now. Thank goodness, riding is a lot easier with gears functioning properly. Even though I had a smoother riding bike, it was not my day. I am feeling a bit challenged by riding these long distances and being in the saddle every day, as I mentioned a few days ago my tail bones don't like it and I have trouble sitting for long periods (on or off the bike). It is an old problem and I will try to work with it for the time being. We do take regular stops along the way. There is the morning coffee break, the lunch break and sometimes we have our main meal in the middle of the day (which makes at easier at night, particularly if we are in a small village with no restaurants or not many vegetarian choices) and today we had a snooze under a lovely shady tree next to the river. The surroundings look in part like our beautiful Adelaide Hills, soft rolling hills (all green)and a bit like a picture postcard from the movie the Sound of Music (meadows full of wild flowers)!

Today we rode 68km and if all goes well and we ride over 70km tomorrow we will reach Passau the last German town and enter the Austrian part of the Danube bike path!

A storm was predicted for this evening and whow, you must see the wind blowing and the rain teeming down, it is a bit wild and woolly out there!!! Hopefully the weather will have settled by the morning and my body well rested and prepared for some more riding! Graeme will likely fill you in tomorrow with all the interesting historical bits. Auf wiederschen for now1

Day 19

Day 19 Tuesday June 21^st

I lie in bed in the the Walhalla Hotel in a pleasant town called Donaustauf. The town's claim to fame is that is has a near duplicate of the Parthenon built by King Ludwig I in 1842 as a German Hall of Fame. The day ended for us after 6pm after cycling 93km plus 6km boat ride. The boat ride was from the Weltonburg Abbey to Kelheim and went through a very pretty gorge.

At Kelheim we stopped for lunch in the market square where we had pasta and salad. One thing for certain, these Germans don't scrimp on the helpings and I had to leave much of my pasta. Lia loved hers so much she finished it.

The drizzling morning turned into a magnificent afternoon so much so that we stopped and put our feet into the water on a small beach. These beaches are very rare as much of the river is bordered by man-placed stone and does not allow the sand to be deposited.

Well it had to happen sooner or later and Lia finally got our first puncture – but never minder in 20 mins it was repaired and we were cycling on again – one further stop for a few minor adjustments and all was perfect. That being said we need to find someone to service Lia's gears as they are giving her trouble again.

The road to Regensburg was tiring but we were reward by a fascinating old city and bridge (in used since 1150's. I'd like to come back and explore this town more. Will stop now as Lia asked me to turn off the light,

Day 18

Day 18, Monday 20^th of June,

Well, here we are in Kleinmehring after a day of around 83km, we certainly have passed the half way mark! You may well ask how is it all going? Well, it is a mighty long way and therefore that means on the bike every day and to be honest some days are better than others. I had thought that my body would have adjusted to this daily sitting in the saddle, but today my coccyx bones are feeling pretty sore! Also shoulders and hands don't like to be for too long in one position (get pins and needles in my left little finger at times) but the cycling gloves help And at times a bit of willpower is required to keep cycling on. But, there is no must do, it is all choice and I enjoy the freedom of that. No timelines, no phone's to answer, no appointments to keep etc!! It is fabulous to ride through the country side, see the villages, towns and cities and get a bit of an idea how people live and work in this part of the world, a sight you just don't see when you travel by car or public transport. You get some wonderful glimpses of what people do and how they enjoy themselves. Last night as Graeme mentioned the farm had a big entertainment area and there must have been a good hundred or more people eating, drinking, dancing, talking, singing and having a great time. Then there was this older lady hanging out of her upstairs window when we rode past one day and how delighted she was when we gave her a wave (she waved back). We have had some great help from people giving directions if required and the manner in which we all try to speak each others language, sometimes causing more confusion and at other times it has come to some hilarious situations.

Today we were in Neuberg at lunch time, a great city with some interesting history, our plan was to park the bikes somewhere and to have a look at the Palace, museum and church but unfortunately due to it being a Monday all was closed!! We strolled around the old town and then went in search for a place for lunch.

In a side street we happen to stumble upon this little cafe and convinced by the owners friend we decided that we would stay and eat. The owner was a colourful and very happy personality who was delighted that we Aussies would eat in his shop. The owner was Polish so he told us and had only opened up this shop 3 months ago. These photo's were taken in the shop and I believe it tells the story better then my words could. He had all sorts of things/food in this shop and often only 3 of each items at most, shelves full of wine and alcoholic drinks, shelves of boxes or baskets with fruits and vegetables (e.g. 3 potatoes in a basket), most interesting!! Anyhow he made us a delicious mixed fruit drink and a pizza. The funny part was that he picked the basil leaves from his few plants he had outside for sale (not bad, double value!), it was a great experience and he made our day!

But now at 8pm we are sitting on the bed and I am plumtuckered out! (Sorry Nederlanders dit is een Australian coloqual uitdrukking wat je niet in het woordenboek zal vinden). Time for me to stop. Not sure when we can post this, it requires internet connection. We can check our mail on Graeme's galaxy pad, we we are not able somehow to get to post this on the blog site. Love to you all.

Day 17

Day 17 Sunday June 19,

I write this listening to traditional German music from, our bedroom window. “da da ..de da” you probably know how it goes. We are staying at a farm just before the town of Donauworth in Barvaria. There are about 100 people mostly local farmers and children enjoying a meal of wurst. I can now hear them singing along with the band – a merry atmosphere! That we arrived here must be considered fortunate as this morning as we sat having breakfast the rain bucketed down, so much so that it delayed our departure until after 10am. Even then we set of in threatening weather but with good fortune we managed to cycle 83km with much more than a few light showers. Much of the cycle path today was right along the river which was close to bursting its banks in places – full of brown muddy water and limbs of trees. Unfortunately many of the roads were unpaved which meant a lot of mud on the bikes.

One of the many castles by the river

Our habit of hot chocolate for morning tea continued with the most delicious cuppa served in Gunzburg in the market square just as the rain threatened at around 11.30. Luckily the rain soon stopped and a generous wind helped us sail along to our lunch stop at a place called Faimingen, site of a reconstructed Roman Temple to Applo. Apparently this had been a site of importance in Roman times lying on the north frontier of the Roman empire.

Roman Ruins (reconstructed)

After lunch the wind seemed to have picked up again and next 30 odd km we were able to travel at speeds of around 25km / hr on the flat with the wind directly behind us. We pityed the poor souls slogging it out in the other direction where you would struggle to cycle at 15km/hr. It was magnificent and energising. When we arrived here we were nearly done in having cycled for about 4 ½ hrs. We are looking forward to a good nights sleep if only this band would stop.

Day 16

Day 16, Saturday June 18

Good breakfast in the morning and up and away, although we were the last of the cyclist to leave the stable, not sure how that came about. I can't give you much of a scenic tour update for today since I don't have windscreen wipers on my glasses. Yep, you read it correctly, after days of beautiful weather the weather conditions changed. After numerous heavy showers of rain in the night we left Rielingen whilst the sky was heavily overcast. We cycled along the Danube and through some lovely villages each with their own rich history. We stopped in Munderkingen where we had our morning tea of hot chocolate and something nice to eat. We struck up a conversation with an English couple who were also cycling but who were on their way home to Ulm where they were living at present.

Anyhow, no sooner we were back on our bikes and riding through some fields when the rain came down, easy at first (allowing us time for our rain coats and pants) but it steadily became heavier. Not a problem initially, we even sang out loud: “we're singing in the rain, oh what a wonderful feeling, etc”. But my mood certainly changed when we lost our way due to a road diversions and when the rain really came bucketing down. I could feel my shoes filling up, squish, squish, squish and as I said couldn't see a thing due to too much water on the glasses! But there was no where to stop for lunch or a guest house in sight therefore no other choice than to just keep cycling on. Anyhow, we did manage to cycle 88km for today and I am here to tell the tale so I did not melt! We did reach the historic and beautiful town of Ulm and when we finally did find some accommodation we did some sightseeing of the centre of town (church has the highest steeple in the world!!!!) and had a delicious Indian meal! Good night for now.

House in the river - Ulm

Ulm church tower in the background

Day 15 - Down the Danube

We left Hagelberg at 9.30am and travelled by train from Steinen to Donaue-Eschinger (the beginning place of the Danube) where we arrived at 12.30. We went to the info bureau, did the shopping for lunch, bought the travel guide and left for the first part of this journey.

The first impressions of the ride proved very favourable. The area, while still densely populated, has none of the major industry we saw on the Rhine. This made cycling much more pleasurable with the path often close to the river and then through meadows of wild flowers. The Danube is still quite small here – more like a stream.

We cycled through small villages with Tudor-style buildings and the weather remained humid but sunny – all-in-all a great cycling time.

We stopped at 5pm at Muhlheim an de Donau just in time before it started raining. We have nice accommodation in the older historic part of town. Spacious room with great views but we did have to climb 3 lots of steep stairs to get to the room, anyhow it is worth it as we are very comfortable here.

After showering time to find out where to find a decent meal. We ended up at a local restaurant which served solid German meals (Bratwurst and Sauerkraut were on the menu) and for us Vegetarians that meant German noodles and a small salad. The salads here are always great and the noodles were alright as well although rather stodgy and full of cheese! We managed to eat a good third of the noodles but had to leave the rest as it was more than either of us could eat even after a good afternoon's of cycling! It is still raining softly and that may be the forecast for tomorrow as well but we will see. We are now sitting in our room where I have made some time to write up the last few days activities and adventures.

Day 13 & 14 - Rest

June 15 and 16

Unfortunately, Ruth was in hospital having pneumonia, so we had to do without her lovely company for the 3 nights we stayed at their house. It was decided that Graeme and I would cycle to Basel and onto Dornach were Ruth was in a clinic to pay her a short visit. That cycle trip was around 43km. Johannes works as a researcher and lecturer at the Goetheanum in Dornach (Centre of Anthroposohy (Rudolf Steiner teachings and philosophy)) and he showed us around the main centre and other buildings. It was an impressive visit as Johannes has a great ability to talk about the buildings, it's history and some of the philosophy, we had some great discussions and stimulating conversations! Graeme and I cycled part of the way back and took the train for the last part. Back home we caught up with Micha (who is one of the children) and his partner as they came over to help with some gardening work for a couple of days. With Irma (grandma (90), who lives next door, still drives her own car and is a interesting, fun and stimulating person to be around with), the kids, Johannes and us we made a delicious meal and had an enjoyable evening together. The next morning we left early with Johannes and drove for 150km to the Swiss Alps to check on a plant research project for Ruth. What a scenic drive through this beautiful country.

Again Johannes was a fantastic guide and wonderful company we had a most enjoyable day together!!

On our return home Graeme and Johannes went to a nearby property where Johannes keeps his bees for some work with them. Back home for again a delicious meal of salads, cherry dessert (freshly picked cherries from the garden) with some great company! Graeme and I had a couple of lovely days feeling well looked after and entertained by Johannes.

Day 12

Day 12, June 13^th

Great day yesterday, but a bit less of a day today particularly for Graeme. The day started rather overcast and dull and we seem to get into the wrong direction regularly as the road signs in France seem to be non-existent or unclear and even the GPS seem to give us a bumbstear! Anyhow, at lunchtime having arrived in Strasbourg we decided to cross back over the Rhine back into Germany and after some discussion made the decision to take the train to Steinen-Hagelberg to visit our friends Ruth and Johannes. Ruth and Johannes were Elja's host parents when she was there on exchange in 2005. The couple of times I have been able to visit these folks they have always made me feel very welcome and this time it was no different! It was the first time for Graeme to meet R&J but it clicked immediately for him as well.

Day 11

Day 11, 12 June 2011

It may have been a slow day yesterday but we sure made up for it today! I feel better now my cold has subsided and we both had lots more energy. Also there were no big cities to content with, the sun shone the whole day, the road surfaces were perfect and the km's (97.5) just disappeared! It was a fabulous day riding in nature. We rode predominantly over the Rhine dyke, at times the Rhine was to the left of us (as we are cycling south) and at other times we rode through fields or forested areas. Beautiful big trees, the wild flowers are magic with the red poppies standing out of course, butterflies, insects, plenty of wonderful singing birds, bunny rabbits and we (Graeme) even spotted an squirrel. Did one of us mention that we spotted a small doe in the corn fields the other day, unfortunately it was a little too far away for us to make a picture. I also very much enjoy the boats on the water, initially plenty of cargo boats and river or cruise boats but today there were also a lot of leisure boats on the water. Plenty of people out and about, cylcing, walking, fishing, boating and camping as it is a long weekend. Today it is Pfingstdag. Pfingsdag is a religious celebration (so many weeks after Easter) remembering when Jesus returned from heaven to visit his disciples. It is a long weekend for a number of European countries and with this gorgeous weather everyone is out and about. Towards the end of the day we crossed from Germany into France where we will follow the Rhine for a good 1.5 days before crossing back into Germany. We have stopped for the night in Drusenheim which is approx. 45km north of Strasbourg. South of Strasbourg we probably cross the river and go to Mullheim which is back in Germany. We booked into an pleasant hotel which is nearly empty as there appears to be little activity in this part of France.

We had dinner at a local restaurant where Graeme did his best (in my opinion) to order in French but the waitress seem to have difficulty understanding his school French which became clear when the beer and salad never did make it to the table! And although she again did not get his pronunciation of profiteroles (which was exactly as she pronounced it) two portions of the delicious dessert did arrive and were yummy! Life is good!

Day 10 - a slow day

Hi Graeme here,  I sub-titled this "a slow day" in part because we didn't cycle very far but also because we had a head wind for most of the day and Lia has been feeling a bit "under the weather" with a cold.  The day didn't start well with poor signage (or bad navigation) causing us to get lost going in to Mannheim.  The city is famous for 2 main things – 1) the home city of Mercedes-Benz with the first car driven here in 1888 and 2) the presence of the US army. We didn't see the army but saw Mercedes buses being built. After finally finding our way through the maze of roads to the western bank of the Rhine again struggled to find the right signs and again made several unnecessary diversions. Fortunately the weather again remained mild but by 2.30pm Lia had had enough and we decided to look for lodgings. We stopped in the town of Speyer but didn't find anything suitable so went to the next village. Here is a photo of out accommodation.

We went back to Speyer for dinner and a look at the cathedral of which I have a photo. It was built in 1111 and throughout the town beautiful sounding church bells greeted us ( well not us exactly as there were several weddings).

With all the detours and trip into Speyer we still managed nearly 70km for the day. We are both feeling very tired having travelled around 750km in these last 10 days so I will finish up here and get some rest.

Day 9 (off to Worms)

Friday 10 june, day 9

Lia again - My turn to write today's blog. Thank you to all who responded to our first edition and postings, it is lovely to hear from you!! I am sitting on the bed in our hotel and try to recall today's events. This may be a bit challenging as I have a bit of a snoffy nose and a head cold but nothing for any of you readers to be concerned about. We left Mainz around 10 this morning, headed straight to the Rhine and followed the Rhine radweg (bike trail following the Rhine). The landscape has changed from the Rhine valley into more open country again. With the Rhine on our left, the right side was often along wheat fields, canola, hay or even fields with silverbeet although I am sure that is called by another name here. We took a few wrong turns as we had to go around some factories who have direct access to boats on the Rhine but with the help of a kind lady from Wiesbaden (her English was excellent) we were soon back on track. This lady cycled with us for about an hour and joined us for our morning tea of cappuccino and hot chocolate and what ever else the fresh bakery had in store.

I don't believe I have given you yet a description of the various road surfaces we have ridden on. I describe the road surface and you reader may make the sound effects (this will make it more interesting or else you are likely to get bored with all these travel tales). Well, the best road surface is of course the smooth asphalt (the bike goes like: swish-swish-swish) and with wind in the back (pur-pur-pur!!!), then we get some concrete slabs some two metres long then a seam and than the next slab (swish-swish-bump/swish-swish-bump), then we have sandy/fine gravely sort of stuff (knirps-knirps) but if this gets wet and has puddles it tends to become muddy and even slippery (see photo) and sounds like (slish-slush-slish-sluuuuuush) and you hope you don't skid.

Then there is the cobble stones or very big round brick pavers, you seem to cop them when you have to get up a rise so you are madly changing gears whilst you go bumpety-bumpety-bumpety along (just imagine how that feels like on your bum!!?). I am sure there are other varieties which I can't think of at the moment. Good moment to say thank goodness for padded bike pants and thanks Josine for the bike gloves also very helpful! Anyhow, Graeme made a good move and booked tonight's hotel whilst we were having lunch along the road. Unfortunately, he had not checked the location which happened to be on the other side of the Rhine!!! This city Worms (yes, no spelling mistake here) has various different suburbs and one was on the other side of the river. So this meant another 12km ride but never mind that, the hotel is mighty comfortable and it even has a bath so I may fill it and soak the aching muscles!! Did I forget to mention the weather? Fine, little overcast, around 20 degrees and therefore perfect cycling weather. Thanks for reading!

Day 5 (the lost day)

Day 5 June 6, 2011

I write this some 5 days later to fill in a missing day. Funny how you remember places from the small things well here I broke a plate at breakfast trying to juggle a massive plate of omelette. Fortunately the plate with the omelette was OK. We had locked our bikes in the restaurant as the hotel we found was in a dodgy part of town. The owners were very friendly and the evening before we sat in their outside sitting area and enjoyed a cool drink. On leaving in the morning we made our way towards the Rhine again having missed the major industrial centres of Dortmond and Dusseldorf. joining up at the river at Neuss. Soon after we met a Dutch couple who had cycled the route 10 times before and were able to give us good information regarding the route. Like much of this way the track went through areas of natural beauty and history but this were often overshadowed with much heavy industry surrounding almost all of the old city centres. The ride into Koln was very pleasing and after finding our hotel spent the afternoon in the Koln cathredal – truly an amazing building being 800-900 yrs old. The wealth of the church is astounding. We hurried back to the hotel when some strong winds and rain arrived but 1 hr later we went out for dinner to a great vegetarian restaurant – Huge lasagne and salad – mmmh!!!! An ice cream for dessert finished us off.

Day 8 Boppard to Mainz

Day 8 Thursday9th June

The B&B in which we stayed was a model of cottage industry. On display (as part of the furnishings) was a variety of jams, preserves, wines, paintings, plants – they did it all. It was a quiet space but compared to most places was tired and worn. We departed with a friendly wave (and no purchases) into an overcast morning. The day promised a delight through the narrow valley (for the Rhine) with small ancient villages and castles. The track along the river was mostly good but you are cramped next the the road and railway, each begging for attention. At about 10.30 we arrived at the town of St Goars where Lia had some work done on her bike – just to get the gears properly aligned. There was a house there with a date of 1350 which made the 1600's house look young. The highlight of the day were the many castles and St Goars had the largest although like most along the river at least in part ruins. It seems the French came along in the late 1700's and destroyed many of them.

Having a leisurely morning by mid-afternoon we had only travelled 45km and set our sights on at least 65km before finding a bed. Unfortunately when we arrived at our intended destination there was nothing suitable so we road into the evening to the city of Mainz (a total of 90km for the day) where we fell dead-tired into the first hotel we found.

Day 7

Wednesday 8^th of June

Pitter patter on the windows at night and a little bit of thunder. We woke to overcast weather and some soft morning rain. We were in no hurry so took our time with the morning rituals and breakfast, we were well looked after by our hostess. We left at 9am with our rain jackets on but there was no need to put on rain pants as really it not that heavy more a light drizzle, and even then it did not drizzle that long.

By early afternoon blue skies came out and we had mainly sunshine again. We continue our cycle south along the Rhine and manage well finding the tracks without the use of a map (when all goes wrong the is the GPS). As Graeme mentioned the scenery along the way has changed and we are now seeing gorgeous villages, green hills, wonderful historic buildings and here and there a castle! For our morning tea stop (coffee and hot chocolade) we like to stop at the local bakery where some also have a little corner where you can have a hot drink as well as buying the lovely fresh pastries! We meandered through a village Andernach and saw historic remains of the town wall. Then pushed the bike onto the small city of Koblenz the place where the Mosel meets the Rhine, also a great place full of history. We found a great Indian restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious curry! We were the only customers at that time and got all the VIP treatment as the owner was most impressed that us Aussies were cycling such a long way (we kept telling him that it was not all the way from Australia but that did not matter to him). From Koblenz we went onto Boppard where we have bedded down for the night at a Pension (a bit ordinary and dumpy but hey, that is how it goes sometimes!).

People you meet along the way: Locals are always very helpful to a lost traveller, sometimes so much so that they tend to get us more lost as they strike up this rapid conversation in German which has us at the end rather confused. Best thing is to thank them, use the direction pointed and then find your own way. The meetings of fellow cyclists along the path, we met a very friendly and helpful Dutch couple on day 3 and they explained how the Rhine Rad path worked and what signs to follow. It was an enjoyable exchange of information. They were keen to learn more about using GPS map reading as they were carrying 1.5kg worth of maps!

Day 6

Day 6 June 7, 2011

I thought the last night was bad but was nothing compared to the hot noisy room we 'rested' in Cologne. The hotel was near the railway and you couldn't leave a window open but it was a hot and humid night so we had a noisy little fan struggling to keep us cool. Needless to say neither of us was in a particular good mood this morning. We left early without “fruhstuk” preferring to drop in to the local supermarket and pick up some breakfast for on the way. After about half an hour we stopped on the water front just south of the city and had some bread and yoghurt. It felt much better than sitting in the hotel room. It was an exceptionally pleasant ride from for much of the way from Cologne to Bonn (a distance of about 35km on bike) following cycle paths along the banks of the river. There were many beautiful parks and grand buildings. One low light was an major industrial area with what appeared to be a power station (maybe nuclear). We rode straight through Bonn with neither of us feeling like a detour to the city centre.

Soon after leaving Bonn the river valley begins to narrow with the first of the famous Rhine valley castles appears after about 10km. The river has now begun to straighten and our path is also more direct with no more meanders. By mid afternoon both of us were looking forward to finding accommodation for the night. We ended up stopping at Bad Breisig at about 2.45pm having ridden around 74km in the day. After unpacking we went to the local spa baths and soaked the afternoon away. For the first time we have cooking facilities so made our own pasta and salad meal before an ice cream sitting on the river bank in the cool of the evening.

Day 4

We are awoken at around 5.30 to the sound of thunder followed soon by pouring rain.  Rolling over we try from more sleep but the rain keeps coming.  At breakfast the talk turnsto the weather and the host says she will check the internet for us.  She returns saying that scattered showers are expected all day.  The rain continued at this time.  While we had a pleasant host,  the optioin of spending an extra day did not appeal.  AS we spoke the rain became lighter and we returned to our room and packed.  A little rain was not going to put us off.  Bt the time we had finished packing the rain had stopped and we headed off.  It just got better and with the wind behind us we made good speed.. By morning tea we had travelled about 30km and felt we had earned our treats. 

We continued south a bit away from the Rhine, preferring to stay in the countryside as this part of the river is dominated by big industry.  Tomorrow we head back toward the river and by evening shouldbe in Cologne.  From then on we will follow the cycle track along the river.  Tonight we stay in a town calll Willich located just south fo the city of Krefeld.  We manafed around 82km today  and whilst we have very sore bums all-in-all we are handling the challenges of the ride very well and with each day we are becoming fitter.  Chou for now.

Day 3

4 June 2011'

As Graeme and I do alternate days to write this blog, I now add my day to this writing.

Day 3, Breakfast at Jan and Mariette Kastelijn's was as good as the fabulous dinner the night before. It certainly is Jan's passion to look after guests. Jan quit his job as Zoo-ologist and researcher to pursue his passion of waiting on others. He runs a B&B through 'Friends of Cyclist' and has a lounge room restaurant business. We very much enjoyed our stay with this couple but also looked forward to moving on as being so thoroughly waited upon and playing the guest role is not what we enjoy for too long. Anyhow with a full stomach and lunch (all the left over breakfast foods were packed up for us) tucked in our panniers we left at 8.30 am. The first hour was cycling along a dyke and thank goodness the wind was not that strong as yet! From Adelst it was direction Nijmegen and soon after, whilst riding through a beautiful forest, we crossed the border (non-existent these days) into Germany. It was very hot and humid today which meant lots of drinks. Unfortunately we did not time our morning coffee break very well as the place Graeme suggested was on a busy road and not to my liking and if only I knew that that place was the last for a very long time, I would not have been so fussy! In Kleve we had a short stop for a late lunch with a friend of ours who is there at present caring for his family. From Kleve onto Grieth, a wonderful historic town located on the Rhine but as there was no accommodation available for us that night we cycled onto Willens and stayed there for the night. Dinner at a local restaurant where a most friendly frauline (in traditional German dress) served at our table. With her tiny little ability to understand Dutch and my tine little ability to understand German we managed to order our meals and drinks.

We cycled 65km today.

Day 2

Like all days today started with  breakfast.  Having breakfast at someone else's place is normally exiting as you never know what you will get but in Holland everyone has much the same for breakfast.  Luckily we enjoy old cheeses and hagelslag (chocolade sprinkel) on bread as that is universal here.  We left around 9am and as we planned cycling of around 50km we had a fairly leisurely ride.  The morning was a repeat of yesterday, sunny with a wind of the north east.  We planned the cycle as much as we could through forrested areas as we made our way to Rennen for lunch.  The town provided our first few of the Rhine or should I say the Neider Rhine as the main river has split in several branches at this stage.  The town of Rennen was interesting being a place which was severely damaged during WW2 when the allied forces liberated Holland (think of the movie a Bridge to Far).  We ended up taking a ferry across the river to eat our lunch by this time the wind had strenghtened and the last fifteen km where into a strong head wind.  We stayed at a place called Andelst which is about 17km from Nijmegen which is near the German border.  The host is fantastic and has fed us a full four course dinner!!!!!!  We sit enjoying a cup of tea before bed.  Cycled 58km today.

Our first day

2 June 2011 Spokes and Lycra,

Our first day on the bike, and what a stunning day it was!! In Holland it was a public holiday (Ascension day) and most people were out and about. The brother we had been staying with left with his family for a long weekend camping holiday and we took the opportunity to start our cycle trip to Budapest. The gods were with us as the sun shone the whole day, with a light breeze mainly behind us, it was a most pleasant day for cycling. We left at 8am and after the compulsory departure photo's we were on our way. Within 45 min at Hem pond our first ferry crossing for the day, that had us near Amsterdam and with Graeme's brilliant sense of direction and the help of his GPS we managed to pass Amsterdam without getting lost. Past Amsterdam time for morning coffee and after that onwards towards Zeist. We cycled along fields with grazing cows, along the river the Vecht and de Loosdrechtse plassen (large lake) which was great as due to the beautiful weather there were boats of all shapes, sizes and colours floating on the water, it was a fantastic sight! We also cycled through some Forrest (very small but still very nice), saw windmills and wildflowers growing along side the roads, heard birds, smelled farms and just had a joyous days filling all our senses with sounds, sights and smells! After doing approx 80 km we arrived in Zeist and found without any difficulties our guest house. We have become a member of the organisation called: 'Friends of cyclists' and for a small contribution you receive a bed and breakfast. So, here we are in a beautiful home with a most hospitable and friendly hosts sitting in a comfortable and spacious room. We are about to find our way to a restaurant for dinner and will most likely crash early tonight! Breakfast will be served by 7.30am after which we ride to a place before Nijmegen. It is likely to be a shorter distance tomorrow, which is good as we need to ease into this cycling business. In summary a fabulous riding day, leaving us with sunburnt faces, arms and legs and a bit of a sore bum (hopefully that part will settle in soon I hope)! We cycled 85km today.