We decided not to follow the Rhine any further, as we could not find accommodation for the night, the low water level is a worrying constant stark reminder of man-made climate change, and the German news reported on a forest fire in the Netherlands along our planned route back South. So we crossed the Rhine … Read more
As in Bonn the morning before I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of cyclists in/near the town centre. In principle the cycling infrastructure is pretty good in Cologne, apart from the traffic light phasing. There had been a thunderstorm with rain during the night, which made the air really humid. Luckily we were … Read more
We knew the temperatures were going to be 15° above comfort level today (Cologne hit 36°C this afternoon), so we decided to start early and not go far. It meant we saw this beautiful view at breakfast in Bonn. Even the early start did not save us from feeling hot and sweating profusely. Luckily we … Read more
Got going early to try to avoid cycling in the hottedt part of the day. Phil had some of last night’s Schnitzel in a roll as a ‘Scnitzelsemmel’, I stuck to the more traditional cheese roll. Our first stop was at the ‘Deutsches Eck’, the confluence of Mosel and Rhine, where we were surprised to … Read more
As the weather is forecast to be very hot the next few days ( over 36°C) we fairly spontaneously decided to cycle North. From Ingelheim this is easiest along the Rhine. We waited for the rain to stop and set off just before 10:30. The first stop was Ingelheim market to get some rolls and … Read more
The day before was a rest day that we used to explore the Cloppenburg open air museum, which also hosted a craft fair that day, and watch ‘Glennkill’ at the cinema. The following pictures are Elke’s, they capture the day very well. That day remained dry, while my day cycling to Cloppenburg did not. It … Read more
We left our very golden hotel … … to look at the romanesque church and 1000 year old oak tree on our way out of Bassum. During a very windy day we were looking forward to cycling through the woods a bit, but that official bike path was an embarrassment – it was so muddy … Read more
Elsa and I are both early risers, but not quick starters, so we eventually left the nunnery at about 8:00 and had breakfast at a bakery en route. At first we followed a fruit tree themed route, that took us through beautiful villages. Our first break was in Rethem (Aller) where Elsa used to do … Read more
The morning started early, we had to retrieve the sheep before traffic started on the streets in Betzendorf. It all went really well, Elsa was well prepared, so we were back by 7:00. Then Elsa had to do a handover to her boss before she packed and we had breakfast. We were ready to leave … Read more
Cycling to the main station in Munich is in principle very easy, if it were not for the traffic. Got there in time to do a work call before boarding the train. They had halved the carriages available, so we were all quite cramped, but at least I had a seat, and my bike was … Read more