Wurzburg to Eberbach

Day 47 – Wurzburg to Miltenberg, 81kms

And then there were only two left.

Phill and Chris set off with Linda Steve waving to them from the Dortmund.  They will meet us in Strasbourg.

It seemed unusual riding along with no one in the rear vision mirror. We rode thru the town and then were faced with a climb of about 7k of 7-8%.

Not all that much fun. Had to dodge the road works along the way and the weather. We stopped under a shop verandah to put our rain coats on and by the time we took off again it had stopped raining. The ride out of Wurzburg this way was to miss some of the ride along the Maine River which we had done last year. We joined the Maine River at Remlington.  Much easier riding now along the flat bike path.

While we eating lunch in a little village a Peugeot 505 drove past we both made comment as we had had one and the next thing it is reversing back, stops and out jumps the driver. He was so amazed to see the Aussie flag he just had to stop. He sat and talked for about an hour. His son and American wife live in Townsville and later in the day he was to put them back on the plane to fly back to Oz. Phill asked him if they used chains to drive in the snow, but no that was not necessary, they just use winter tyres. BUT if you get out early enough in the morning before the snow plough has been through its really good for doing slides and 360s! He and his three boys love it but the wife, she is not so keen. Some things are the same the world over. Udo, our Peugeot man, is a guide for walking tours from the Tourist Office in Wertheim, he sent us off with a note to get some free stuff. We called into the tourist office and were given two small bottles of a local spirit and 2 badges from Wertheim. As we were leaving the small village we met him in we could see this man on the path with a small German flag, it was Udo, Phill is now sporting a German flag and his Australian flag on the bike. These are some of the things that make cycle touring a treat in Europe.

We pushed onto Miltenberg which is again a lovely old village, did the shopping and set up our tent with a small view of the river between caravans. It is lovely to be by the river again with all the river traffic birdlife.

Day 48 – Miltenberg to Eberbach, 67ks

We knew we had a long climb ahead of us today, with varying information on length and degree of difficulty.

The first 10k was very easy which we expected and was thru some lovely villages and very rural scenery. It sometimes reminds us of the Riverina when there were some good years. You can see the paddocks with all their different crops and the tractors driving along the roads.

The hill work turned out to be 7k and a constant climb of about 5 to 5.5% gradient. It was quite easy to get into a rhythm and just push on ahead. We were expecting up to about 15% gradient so we were pleasantly surprised when it was not that.  We managed to average about 10 t0 11 kph on the climb with the bikes fully loaded.  So we must be getting stronger in the legs.

We started to follow bike path R1 which took us along some nice bike paths but then it turned to crappy old bits of gravelly side roads, We decided to revert to the road which had fairly wide lanes and reasonable drivers. After a flat ride of about 10ks it was a lovely steep downhill of about 8 ks.  Some clown in a merc decided he wanted to chat to Christine as she was descending the hill.

After that it was more undulations and then a fantastic downhill of about 13 to 15ks to our campsite.  What a great way to end the day.

So now it is a two bottles of beer and one of wine before bed.  And tomorrow we should be out of the hills as we are now following the rivers again on our way to Strasbourg.

Rothenburg to Wurzburg

Day 45 – Rothenburg ODT – Bad Mergentheim, 57kms

After yesterday’s rainy conditions we were happy to hear the birds chirping as we awoke.  We packed up with a few spots of rain and got off to an early start.

We rode mainly through rural landscapes again.  Vineyards have reappeared on the tops of the ridges.

 Stopped for a break at Weikersheim and visited the castle which had magnificent gardens.  It was originally built in the 1400’s and has had a chequered history since.  It is now a government owned and maintained historic property.  We did a guided tour of the castle (which is often the only way to gain entry) but this was in German.  We were provided with an English version of the commentary to read, but a lot of the enjoyment is lost with this method.  The gardens were definitely the highlight of the visit.

There seems to be more tourists around – we think German school holidays have now started!

We had to call for our yellow jackets when we got caught in a rain squall.  The rain was so heavy at times that our bikes were pushed sideways.  But we soldiered on!

The town of Bad Mergentheim was further down the track and where we stayed for the night.  Bad Mergentheim is renowned as a spa town where you just drink the water, rather than bathe in it to cleanse your body and soul.

The campground was 3kms out of town, nice and quiet.

About four days ago we met a young Spanish couple (Miguel and Julie?) who we nicknamed “Spain”.  Over the last few nights we have arrived at the same campgrounds, despite not travelling together.  Tonight they didn’t arrive at our camp, but we met a young Dutch couple who were on their bikes with their (about) 12mth old son.  He travelled in the bike trailer and they set up camp each night.  They managed to do about 50kms each day as the little man got a bit crotchety after that!  What a feat of organization. 

Day 46 – Bad Mergentheim – Wurzburg – 60kms

Once again we set out early to make a return visit to Wurzburg.  We all have great memories of being there last year and we booked into the same hotel. 

The first 25kms of our ride today was through rural areas again.  We stopped at Tauberbischofsheim for morning tea.  Once we left there the landscape remained the same, but we had a gradual climb.  Towards the end of our journey we had to ride some very steep hills.  On one of our very steep downhills Phill had a puncture, but managed to avert disaster, realizing his tyre was very certainly going to go down, which it did very quickly.

Our mechanics had him back on the road in no time and within an hour we were in Wurzburg.

Steve and Linda have decided to break ranks for a few days (Linda’s stamina isn’t as good as everyone else’s!), they will probably take the trains for a couple of days and we will meet again in Strasbourg on Monday.

The guys spent the afternoon planning our respective next few days while Chris shopped and Linda nanny napped! 

We were all able to vividly remember the town from last year – we will head off for dinner and get an early night – after the guys have downed a few bottle of red at their favourite wine bar at the hotel!

Augsburg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Day 42 4th August Augsburg to Donauworth 55ks

Today we arose to a very busy camp ground. Normally we are the first up and away but there is some white water rafting competition being held nearby. There were a lot of cars with canoes atop so I guess all the competitors were getting ready for a day on the rapids.

Most of the day we dodged rain showers so we were quite lucky. Rode through some undulating country with plenty of corn and other crops growing. We stopped at a couple of small town churches and they were very ornate, in fact we thought they were pretty much over the top. Lots of plaster work on the ceilings and gold on the alters. That seems to be the way with a lot of the churches in this part of Germany.

When we arrived at Donauworth we found that the camp ground was about 6km SE of the town, which was the way we had just come from! As rain was threatening we decided to stay at a hotel. We had ridden past one that took our fancy so we went back and booked in. that was early afternoon, by about 6pm the whole place was full with cyclists. Donauworth is a pretty town with a couple of cathedrals with bells that seemed to ring every five minutes. Through the night as well, not too good for sleeping.

Overnight there was quite a lot of rain so we were glad we had been in the hotel.

Day 43 5th August Donauworth to Dinkelsbuhl 76ks

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel we set out in dry conditions which were pleasant for riding and not too hilly.

More rural scenery along the way. We stopped for morning tea at Nordlingen which was quite a large town medieval town which is located in the middle of a meteorite crater. Only town in Germany that you can walk right around the walls and battlements. There was a lot of reconstruction on the gothic Cathedral with quite a lot of information about what was being done, must have been a very progressive council there. Internally the cathedral was quite plain compared to the ones we had seen on previous days, but still very striking.

We rode onto Dinkelsbuhl which was to be our camp for the night; it again was a walled city. The buildings date back over 400 years and have generally been well maintained. German historians say the proud patrician houses and semi-timbered houses make it one of the best preserved medieval towns in Germany. There were a lot of people enjoying the cafes and restaurants of the town on Sunday afternoon.

Our camp was only 2ks from town. Phill had a chat to an Italian couple on a BMW motor bike who were on holidays in Germany too. Then we had a visit from a Dutch guy and his wife who are walking the same route that we are riding. They are doing about 20ks a day. They drive their car ahead, park it for a few days then walk back to where they last were then catch the train back to the car. Pretty complicated but I guess it works for them. It is always interesting to hear other people’s stories and their adventures along the way.

Day 44 6th August Dinkelsbuhl to Rothenburg ob der Tauber 57ks

We were woken through the night by the sound of rain on the tents. It was sprinkling a bit while we packed up but we decided to go ahead with it and most things were packed up dry. We had a wet ride most of the morning, not cold but just wet and not all that flash, anyway we have been pretty lucky so far. We stopped for morning tea and went shopping at a bike shop to buy Linda a new mirror and speedo. Her bike had fallen over and broke the mirror and for some reason her speedo stopped too. Our trusty mechanics got it all sorted and we were back on the road in the rain. Rothenburg ODT is another town with lovely old semi timbered houses and lots of interesting architecture. There were a lot of tourists around even though the weather was pretty ordinary. We had lunch in the town and a wandered around to see some of the sights as we headed out to our camp. Not much to see along the way today as we were concentrating on riding in the rain.

Fussen to Augsburg

Day 40 – Fussen – Landsburgh am Lech, 75kms

Today was a “wildlife” day.  We woke to see our resident swan, who had set up his bed on a towel which had been left at the “beach” next to our camping area.  He didn’t join us for breakfast or join the swimmers, so expect whoever owned the towel would have a battle to retrieve it!

We saw a few more squirrels, a little snake (about 30cms long) and Phill was nearly taken out by a deer!  Those travelling behind were waiting to pick up the pieces, although all was well.

In Schongau the local marketplace was being set up celebrate the remembrance of the bad old days of burning witches at the stake. This happened approx 500 years ago, but hey, anything for a festival or celebration.  A fellow, who we assumed was the local media man bailed us up for a photo and took details of our trip.  We await any further publicity.

Phill was in a local fellow’s good books when he fixed the chain which had broken at the bottom of a rather nasty climb.  The guy wanted to know if he worked in a bike shop! 

Landsberg is a beautiful, relatively modern town – we had a wander around the “old” part of the city.  The town hall was built in 1719 and the parish church in the 15^th century.  We climbed to the top of one of the city gateways which was dated 1425 – this gave us a fantastic view of the town and surrounding area. We also visited a former Jesuit College church, which we all thought was completely over the top with its frescos and a gold painted altar.  No portion of the church was left undecorated.

We then rode about 4kms to the camp near a nature park, where we managed to cook dinner and head to bed just before more thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

Day 41, Landsberg am Lech – Augsburg, 57kms

Despite threatening rain we managed to remain dry today, after heavy rain during the night.

We again proved what a novelty Australian cyclists in Germany are, when, we stopped just outside Augsburg for morning tea in a bakery.  We had our coffee and cake next to an older fellow and his wife who were very interested in Australia.  He knew about Vegemite, so Phill went and got his tube of Vegemite from his pannier.  All of the staff had a taste and turned their noses up.  He then wanted to know about the Australian song “It’s a long way to Tipperary”.  When we said that was in Ireland, and sung by the British his memory was jogged and he came up with “Waltzing Matilda”, so we had an impromptu sing song in the bakery, much to everyone’s delight.  The daughter of the owner had good English, so the discussion then turned to the high quality of German bread!

Augsburg is quite a large city, who’s main street which is being dug up and relaid - we have noticed other towns in the same state, so weren’t wondering whether there is a German “stimulus” package happening!  The majority of the town was destroyed during WWII, a lot of the buildings dated back to the early 1500’s and have been rebuilt since the war.

Mozart’s dad was born here and Rudolph Diesel (of engine fame) was also born here.  We visited the residence of banker Liebert bon Liebenhofen which houses Germany’s most famous baroque gallery.  The banquet hall in the house would take three weeks to dust before the guests arrived.  We visited numerous other attractions in the city, then headed out to the campground.

Steve and Phill have decided they want a red Porsche after seeing one hoon up and down the Autobahn, we spotted one as we were crossing a bridge over the top of the autobahn. Quite fun to stand on the overpass and watch the cars speed along.

Hagnau to Fussen

Day 38, Hagnau - Fussen, 64kms

Today we retraced our steps to Lindau which we had passed through on Sunday. We then caught the train to Fussen to start our trip along “The Romantic Way” which runs from Fussen to Wurzburg.

For the first time on the trains we were made to unpack the bikes and carry all our gear into the seating compartments on the train.  The train ?conductor? was extremely exasperated with us as we tried to give the impression that we didn’t understand any German and didn’t get the drift of what she was saying.  Unpacking the bikes and repacking them when you have to change trains is a pain.

The cycling this morning was much less crowded than it had been on the weekend.  After another reject at our first caravan park we managed to set up late and settle in.

One of the highlights today was meeting an Aussie family who had just booked into the camp we were rejected at.  We realised they we Aussies and asked the little girl if she was Australian.  Her eyes lit up and she ran out to her mum waiting in their van to get her Australian flag to show us.  The family has been in Bahrain while dad works there, so we assume they were pleased to hear us speak!

Our site here is right next to the lake and we have a resident swan who swims with everyone who enters the water!

Day 39, Fussen, 20kms

Our resident swan joined us for breakfast this morning, after preening himself next to the tents.

A 6km ride saw us at the base of Schloss Neuschwanstein (the Disney fairytale castle).  We had a guided tour of the castle which has to be seen to be believed!  It was built by King Ludwig II who only lived in it for a few weeks before he was declared insane and mysteriously drowned along with his psychiatrist in Munich.

There are absolutely stunning paintings throughout the castle.  The main bedroom has lots of wood carvings throughout it.  These took forty men four years to complete.  The bed canopy was carved replicas of church spires, the washbasin had running water channelled from a stream above the castle and the royal “throne” (toilet) adjoined the bedroom.  We decided it was the precursor to the modern ensuite. The castle is dedicated to the composer Richard Wagner as the King did not want it to be seen that it was a monument to himself.

Phill decided he was going to be a cultural ambassador and advise those people in the castle with Nikon cameras that photos were forbidden!  Someone had to tell them.  It was good to see that they accepted his advise.

A little church on the way to the castle provided an “oh, ah” moment.  It was very plain on the outside, but stunning inside.  It was in the middle of a paddock and made a great impression on the landscape. 

There is also a lot of grown men around here with leather pants on that finish just below the knees. 

Day 37, Wasserburg – Hagnau, 29kms

We started the day late after breakfast at the hotel.   

Our plan was to catch the ferry to Konstanz, ride some more of Lake Constance then head towards the “Romantic Way” ride.

After arriving in Konstanz, along with far too many tourists (school holidays) we changed our plans.  Lake Constance is currently like the south coast between Christmas and New Year – wall to wall people. Konstanz looks to be very pretty as we have been told, but way too many people around for it to be enjoyable. The nearby campgrounds were full, so after a short wander around and lunch we boarded another ferry to take us to the other (less popular) side of the lake.

We arrived at Meersburg and rode another 10kms to Hagnau where the van park advertised it was full.  We spoke nicely to the manager who told us we could pitch the tents on the lawn of a permanent van which was currently unoccupied.  That’s the beauty of having two small tents.

We have also been warned by some locals that we should not be around the lake on Wednesday which is a public holiday for the Swiss national day.  Apparently the Swiss head here in droves!

Our plan now is that we will head north along the “Romantic Way” which vaguely runs from Fussen to Wurzburg.

Walenstadt to Wasserburg

Day 35 – Walenstadt – St Margarethe, 81kms

Last night when we arrived at the campground we noticed a storm warning system in the van park.  Lights flash orange to advise of extreme storms.  After a steamy afternoon (temperature wise) we noticed an arrange light flashing across the lake as the winds increased. 

A huge thunder and lightning show had us battering down and helping 3 young girls try to put up a tent they’d never seen before!  One was Swiss, but living in Sydney, so we think she was pleased to see some good Aussie spirit when we offered to assist!

The storm passed, but just as we started to pack up this morning the rain started again.

Today’s ride saw us back on the mighty Rhine River.  The headwaters are not nearly as impressive as the same river we followed last year on our ride. We rode through heavy rain again for 0.5 – 1 hr but with a tail wind and slight downhill it was better than heading the other way.

We rode through 3 countries today - Switzerland, Austria and Lichtenstein.  Some of the border crossings still exist and the cars stop at them even though they weren’t manned!  Phill went from Switzerland to Austria to buy some groceries and realised he didn’t have any ID with him – he had a few anxious moments before he realised he wouldn’t ride back through any check.

After 80k we decided to call it quits.  Soaking wet we called into a campsite to see if they had a cabin.  We ended up staying in the campground owner’s private cabin!  We think they took pity on us as we were Aussie and had come such a long way to stay with them.

The afternoon was spent reading, trying to dry our clothes and shoes, taking walks between showers etc.  We also managed to catch some of the Olympics on the TV.  News is few and far between when you can’t read any headlines, newspapers etc.  We rely on the computer for most of our news and even then we are often concerned about our battery life.

We have made use of various awning, carports etc in the last few days to try and keep dry.

Day 36 – St Margarethe – Wasserburg.  28kms

Not much rain overnight, but as we gathered our gear together the heavens opened.  Luckily we were still in the cabin, so decided to sit it out.  We headed out of Switzerland at about 8.30, then stopped for morning tea at Hard in Austria, where it rained again, then pushed on to Lindau in Germany. 

Lindau is a little “island” in Lake Constance, accessible via a small bridge.   We made a detour into there to have a look – very touristy, but a beautiful spot even on a rainy/overcast day.

We have made a decision to book into a hotel today – some repairs necessary to Steve’s bike and we’re not sure what the weather will do.