I didn’t have much time to read other blogs when cycling in Germany, but now I’m home, I’m catching up! I’m starting with a very interesting post by Anda from Travel Notes and Beyond about what she has learned from travelling the world. It certainly got me thinking. Next comes some excellent advice from Maggie at Experience France by Bike about the best SIM card to use in France. And to finish off, a fun post by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris who tested the self-guided Twiztour cars in Paris. Would you be game? Enjoy!
Ten Things I Learned from Traveling the World
by Anda from Travel Notes & Beyond, the Opinionated Travelogue of a Photo Maniac, is a Romanian-born citizen of Southern California who has never missed the opportunity to travel.
If you type “things learned from traveling” into the Google search, you’ll come up with enough reading material for an entire week. Before I sat down to write this post I was curios about other people’s approach to this popular subject. I noticed that in spite of the broad range of opinions, there is one common thread: people who travel don’t remain stuck in their own ideas. They change, they evolve and learn something from their travel experiences. So, with this in mind, here is my rendition of this subject:
1. High expectations may ruin your trip
We all have expectations, lots of expectations. It’s our human nature, whether we are aware of it or not. And when it comes to our vacation we feel entitled to have them. Read more
Using a Sim Data Card to Stay Connected When Bicycling in France
by Maggie LaCoste from Experience France by Bike, an American who loves biking anywhere in Europe, but especially France, which has the perfect combination of safe bike routes, great food, great weather and history.
We’re spoiled by how easy and affordable it is to communicate, text and tweet to family and friends, post to Facebook, get the latest news and restaurant recommendations and get directions when we get lost. Until we go overseas. Unless you have a European phone or SIM card, communication overseas can be difficult and very expensive. A Google search of anything having to do with saving money communicating overseas yields pages and pages of articles and advice. Regardless of how many of these you read, there really isn’t a simple solution. For phone calls, you can use one of several internet apps like Skype. But for me, the problem has always been data. If ever there was a time you needed data it’s traveling overseas. Read more
Whizzing around Paris in Twiztour cars: #EmbraceParis ice-breaker
by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, an American by birth, Swiss by marriage, resident of Paris with a Navigo Pass for the metro that she feels compelled to use
Ladies, start your engines! Or, in this case, turn on your electric, ecologically friendly Twiztour car for one of the most thrilling tours of Paris.
Only hours after meeting each other over a lovely afternoon tea at Le Meurice last Sunday afternoon, taxis whisked the #EmbraceParis ladies to the foot of the Eiffel Tower for our first activity — a Twiztour GPS guided tour of some of the most impressive monuments of Paris.
Assuring Brooke, who’s from Australia, that I had complete confidence in her ability to navigate the streets of Paris on the right side of the road, I squeezed into the back seat of the car with the walkee-talkee. True to their names, “Leader of the Pack” and “Jessica Rabbit” set off at a brisk pace. The four other Twiztour cars made their way across pont de Bir-Hakeim, one of my favorite Parisian bridges, behind them. Read more
Bad weather has struck so we’ve studied the weather report and after a day of R&R at Kunsthof Pension in Dahrenstedt we’re off to Bremen via Celle which has over 400 timber-framed houses.
Church and farm building in the little village of Dahrenstedt
We are going back into the former West Germany today and wonder whether it will be noticeable. Nothing could be more flagrant! The houses are different, there are more gardens and trees, more shops in the towns and village. Everything is neat and tidy again, there are no more ruins. However, there is also a small forest with prostitutes’ vans from one end to the other, which is a little worrying.
Painted faces and hair in Bremen
The first thing we see when we arrive in Celle are teenagers with colourfully dyed hair and faces. The lady in the tourist office tells me they are celebrating the end of high school. She doesn’t speak enough English to tell me whether it is only a custom in Celle or something that happens throughout Germany.
The Rathaus in Celle
Miraculously the grey clouds have made way for the sun so we take lots of photos before lunch just in case it starts raining again.
Painted façades in Celle
From 1378 to 1705, Celle was the official residence of the Lüneburg branch of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1534, the Reformation was introduced into Celle. From 1655 to 1705 Celle experienced a cultural boom under Duke George William mainly due to his French wife Eléonore d’Olbreuse who brought fellow Hugenot Christians and Italian architects to Celle.
House built in 1622
The result is a wonderful collection of colourful timber-framed houses with learned German inscription on them. They are often dated so we set out to find the oldest – 1526 – but it is nowhere to be seen.
House in Celle built in 1622
We look for a place to eat and finally settle on the Schweine-Schulze which has a terrace in a shady street and is serving kotelett und pfifferlings. Our trocken weiss wein has just arrived when there is a sudden downpour. Everyone is swept inside and we finish our excellent meal at a rough wooden table. We discover we’re not the only famous people to eat here – Helmut Khol and Gerhard Schröder are also patrons.
Schweine restaurant in Celle
By the time we finish, the sun has come out again so we finish our visit, ending with the French gardens attributed to Eléonore d’Olbreuse. We don’t have time to visit the castle.
The French garden in Celle with the castle in the background
Bremen is only about an hour away but unbeknown to us, it has been the victim of a violent storm and trees are now covering some of the roads into the city causing an immense traffic jam.
The Rathaus and Cathedral in Bremen, in the Weser Renaissance style
We finally reach the Prizehotel, recommended by Andrea from Rearview Mirror in her post on Bremen, at about 6 pm. It’s an ultra-modern budget hotel, but has everything we need, including friendly, helpful staff, soundproof rooms, excellent wifi, light-blocking curtains and a comfortable bed. It even has decent pillows, which we had stopped expecting in East Germany.
My favourite buildng in Bremen – Schütting, an elegant home built in 1535-37 for the merchants’ guild
We set out to explore the city, which is a short walk away. We reach the tourist office in the train station just as it’s about to close and learn the existence of a Radstation (bike shop) nearby where we’ll be able to buy maps for the next part of our trip in Friesland, the only part of the Germany where it’s going to be fine for the next three days!
The Ratskeller restaurant in Bremen
It starts raining but we take photos anyway despite the fact that the main square is full of white tents, and look for somewhere to have a drink. I see a sign saying Ratskeller. A ratskeller (meaning council’s cellar) is a bar or restaurant in the basement of the city hall in Germany and you see them everywhere.
One of the beautiful vats in the Ratskeller in Bremen
It turns out to be one of the places in our tourist brochure and we can see why. Built in 1405, it is one of the oldest wine cellars in Germany with huge wooden vats, each with a different decor. I love the private booths and can imagine the town councillors hatching their plots behind closed doors.
Another Weser Renaissance façade in Bremen
We have a glass of wine each with bruschetta and a dip because we’re not really hungry after our schwein kotelett lunch. That’s one of the great things about Germany – you can order as little or as much as you want.
Böttcherstrasse in Bremen with its art nouveau architecture
When we emerge from our cellar, the sky has cleared up completely so we take our photos all over again and go looking for the places we haven’t seen yet, in particular, Böttcherstrasse and the Schnoorvietel.
Typical street in the Schnoor district
I love Schnoorvietel which is full of tiny little streets with quaint houses built in the 15th to 17th century for sailors and fishermen. Since it has been raining, there is practically no one around so we have it to ourselves.
The little blue door
Just as we finish our visit, it starts raining again. We think we’ve done pretty well with the weather today all things considered.
Windmill in Bremen on the way home to our hotel
Tomorrow we’re off to Friesland near the North Sea, land of windmills and dykes, which is the only part of Germany where it’s going to be sunny for the next three days and we can do some more cycling. Hope to see you there!
After a standard breakfast, we set out on our bikes at about 10 am for Wörlitz, 25 k away. I’m feeling rather sluggish and the somewhat dull countryside doesn’t help. We’re finding it a little hard to adapt to the difference between the Elbe and the Danube where nearly every bend brings a change of scenary. We like the red brick buildings with their intricate details though.
Red-brick factory converted into flats in Wittenberg
We eventually come to a pretty little village with a watermill and an excellent cappuccino at the top of a steep climb restores my energy.
Griebo waterwheel built in about 1845
We arrive at Coswig and take the cable ferry. Jean Michel explains how the current and the length of cable are used to cross the river.
Cable and winch system on the car ferry
Worlitz is another 5 km along the river. By then it’s lunchtime so we follow the advice of Le Routard and eat at Grüner Baum. Jean Michel chooses fish and I go for the schweiner schnitzel which is excellent.
Wörlitz artificial lake
We leave our bikes in a courtyard next to the tourist office which is locked at night and set off for the castle on foot. We are delighted at what we see. The 277-acre Wörlitz Garden was mainly developed between 1764 and 1800 and is one of the largest and earliest landscape parks in Europe. It was masterminded by Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau and his architect friend Friedrich Wilhelm von Ermannsdorf.
Cable ferries surrounded by waterlillies
The two of them went on a grand tour of Europe which included England, France, Italy, Switzerland and Holland over a period of sixteen years and put their innovative ideas and ideals into practice in a series of buildings and naturalistic landscapes containing several lakes, around which there is no enclosure whatsoever. Small cable ferries take you across the water in the middle of waterlilies or you can take a so-called gondola like the German group below.
A gondola with a table in the middle for drinks!
We choose to visit the palace (landhaus), the Gothic House and Hamilton Villa, all of which have guided tours in German with, we are told, documentation in French and English.
Cable ferries surrounded by waterlillies
We love the gardens, which are very peaceful and bucolic and we love taking the little ferries.
The landhaus, the first Neoclassical building in Germany
It turns out we are the only people on the tour of the landhaus and the guide only speaks German. She gives us documentation in French and tries her very hardest to share her enthusiasm about the house by articulating clearly and repeating the words we seem to recognise. At the end of the ¾ hour visit, I’m exhausted!
A most unusual fireplace inside the landhausAnother room in the landhausA Wedgwood plaque
The landhaus, finished in 1773, was the first Neoclassical building in Germany. It contains a large collection of Wedgwood porcelain and many innovative features such as pull-out beds.
The Gothic House, one of the first Neogothic structures on the European continent
Since it’s already 4 pm we only visit the Gothic House from the outside. Started by Erdmannsdorff in 1774 and modelled on Horace Walpole’s villa on Strawberry Hill, it was one of the first Neogothic structures on the continent.
Cornflowers in a field of wheat, rye and barley
We start walking towards Hamilton Villa and the path takes us around a never-ending field of rye, wheat and barley. An hour later we arrive at the Villa which is overrun by a wedding party we saw when we first arrived. We are told by a helpful man in English that there is another compulsory guided tour in German so decide not to enter after all. However, as we walk away, the man comes after us and gives us a brief rundown on the what there is to see and says we can explore on our own.
Looking out from under Vesuvius
When Leopold III was off on his grand tour of Europe in 1760, he was capitivated by Mount Vesuvius and the newly discovered of Pompei so 22 years later he built his own little volcano on an island of local rock. A hollow cone at the top contained a chamber with three fireplaces and a roof with an artificial crater that could be filled with water.
Villa Hamilton next to Vesuvius
He then built a lake around the volcano and invited his friends over to watch the eruption. Ah, the advantages of being a rich prince! There is also an amphitheatre, Roman baths and various chambers underneath the volcano.
The Roman amphitheatre where the Prince held concerts
The little Neo-classical villa at the foot of the volcano symbolises the friendship between the prince and the British diplomat, Sir William Hamilton, who was also a geologist and collector of antiquities. It, too, was designed by Erdmannsdorff. We pay an extra 3 euro to take photos which I think is a little exaggerated given that the entrance is 4 euro per person.
The fireplace inside Villa Hamilton
We walk back along the artificial lake to the tourist office, suddenly worried that it might close before we get there. What will happen if our bikes are locked up for the night ? Fortunately, we make it with ten minutes to spare. It’s 6 pm and we’ve still got a 2 hour ride home! It’s been a long day …
We arrive at our Black Bear Hotel (Schwarzer Baer) about 2 pm in stifling heat and appreciate the coolness of the rooms. We don’t have a terrace but we have a little closed-in verandah afffair with a leadlight window which is very neat. Even neater is the fact that the curtains are of the total blackout sort. The room will not be flooded with light from 4.30 am onwards as it was at the Radhaus!
The leadlight in our alcove at Stathotel Wittenberg Schwarzer Baer
After a long siesta, we explore the town. It is very attractive with its renovated Marktplatz appropriately adorned with statues of Luther and fellow reformer Melanchthon. Like most town centres, Wittenberg is pedestrian (and bike) only.
Rathaus with statues of Luther and Melanthon
Unlike Dresden, Wittenberg was mostly spared in the Second World War, but it doesn’t have many historical buildiings because it was bombarded by the Austrians in 1760 during the Seven Years War during the Prussian occupation. It was later occupied by the French in 1806 and stormed by the Prussian Army the next year.
Other side of Marktplatz
As we walk through the streets, we nevertheless discover several 16th century entries some of which have been restored, others not.
Renaissance doorway
In front of one building, we see a before and after photo of the house where the painter Cranach once lived. The difference is stunning.
Restored courtyard before and after
We also see a lot of leafy courtyards often containing biergartens. In one, there is a scene painted on a wooden panel representing life-sized figures of Katharina and Martin Luther and two of their children, with holes instead of faces so Jean Michel and I take turns to stick our heads through. A man seated at a nearby table comes over and offers to take our photo!
Katharina and Martine Luther
Unfortunately both of the town’s churches are being renovated in preparation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation which will take place in 2017.
The roof of the Schlosskirche, the only part not being restored, taken from the little memorial garden next to the Tourist Information office.
In 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses on the doors of the Schlosskirche which was badly damaged by fire in 1760 as a result of the Austrian bombardment. It was rebuilt and later restored at the end of the 19th century. The orignal wooden doors were replaced in 1858 by bronze doors with the Latin text of the theses. Inside are the tombs of Luther and Melanchthon, but we are not able to go inside.
The Parish Church of Saint Mary’s, also undergoing renovation
The parish Church of Saint Mary is also being renovated so we aren’t able to see Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Last Supper, Baptism and Confession. There’s a slide show though so we are able to get an idea of what we are missing.
Marshland around the Elbe
As the heat has died down somewhat, we pack a picnic dinner (it’s an intermitttent fast day) and cycle 15 kilometers to Elster. The countryside is rather marshy, quite different from what we have seen along the Elbe so far.
Bockwindmühle built in 1895 and restored in 1995
As we get closer to Elster, we see a restored windmill with a picnic table next to it but without a drop of shade!
Ferry at Elster
We end up having our picnic on a bench in the centre of Elster, watching the ferryman closing up for the night with the France-Germany soccer match in the background. When its over, there is no reaction from the adults but the children clap. Hmm.
Sheep on the levee
On the way home, I stop to take a photo of the sheep scattered along the levee. Within one minute, they’re all clustered together, baaing at me! By the time we get back to the Black Bear, we are exhausted which explains why yesterday’s post only talked about Torgau.
We’re up early due to the lack of shutters – it’s light at 5 am at the moment – so we have breakfast, pack up and cross the bridge to Neustadt or New Town as opposed to Altstadt or Old Town where we’re been staying. On the way, we see a wonderful trompe l’œil building. The Germans love painting their façades but I haven’t seen anything this sophisticated before.
Trompe l’oeil house along the Elb on the Altstadt side of Dresden
After reading Anda’s post about the singing drain pipes in Travel Notes and Beyond, I am eager to see Kunsthof Passage in the student district. We are not disappointed.
The entrance to Kunsthofpassage
To quote Anda, “Kunsthofpassage is one of Dresden’s best kept secrets. The passage is actually a series of five small courtyards – not visible from the street – that were turned into an art experiment, called the Ginkgo project.A group of artists – sculptors and designers – took a bunch of old buildings and redesigned their façades, giving each building and courtyard specific motif and a theme of its own. The project was completed in 2001.” I shall let you read Anda’s post for more details and just provide a few photos.
The Courtyard of the Light decorated with metal mirrorsThe Singing Drainpipes that make music wwhen it rainsThe Courtyard of Metamorphoses
We walk through the passage and out onto the other side, then turn left twice. On the way, we see lots of other fun street art. We are reminded of Budapest in particular.
The façade of Louise’s which appears to be a kindergartenMore artwork in NeustadtA wonderful way to decorate a blind wall
Our next destination is Pfund’s Molkerei, founded in 1880 and said to be the world’s most beautiful dairy shop. Its hand-painted tiles and enamelled sculptures are all handmade by Villeroy & Boch. You can buy wine, cheese and other dairy products and eat in the upstairs café restaurant. It is, indeed, very beautiful.
Inside Pfund’s Molkerai dairy shop
But next door is more fun – a brush and broom store. I could buy half the shop. Germany is a very clean country and I can see why. There is a broom for every household task! We settle for some wooden clothes pegs, a nail brush and a sort of mini-rake to clean Velcro. The saleswoman is very enthusiastic about all her products and gives us several demonstrations.
Inside the broom shop
We go back to the car park further along the street where there is another exceptional example of trompe d’oeil. It seems wasted on a parking lot!
Trompe l’oeil all in the parking lot on Bautznerstrasse
As we drive towards Meissen, we see a very impressive mosque which is surprising because I haven’t seen any women in veils or other signs of Muslims, but then, we haven’t ventured any further than Altstadt, Neustadt and Renault! I learn later from Anda that Yenidze is a former cigarette factory that functions now as an office building. “Yenidze” was the name of a tobacco company that imported tobacco from Yenidze, in Greece. So there you go!
Yenidze, once a cigarette factory and now an office building
Bürsten-Manufaktur Dresden, Bautzner Strasse 77, Dresden Neustadt, www.buerstenmanufaktur-dresden.de
Pfund’s Molkerei, Bautzner Strasse 79, Dresden Neustadt
Kunsthof Passage, between 23 Görlitzerstrasse and 70 Alaunstrasse, Dresden Neustadt
We reach Elbklause, our Radhaus (bike hotel), in Niederlommatzsch around 12.30. Our room is new, large and airy with a wonderful view of the Elb. The wifi works immediately and doesn’t require endless codes. We are directly on the bike path.
Our bike hotel on the bike path
The hotel’s restaurant on the river looks very inviting. We order two local white wines – a Muller-Thurgau and a goldriesling. We prefer the Muller-Thurgau. I work out from the all-German menu that pork is the local speciality so we order pork cutlets. They are king-size and served with a large variety fresh vegetables – one of the best meals so far.
The view from the terrace of the restaurant and from our window
We set off on our bikes for Riesa, theoretically 14 km away but we end up doing 36 km there and back due to a detour. The ferry is just outside our hotel so we begin with the east bank. Having gone for two days without cycling in Dresden has improved my saddle soreness. Good thing because the initial paths are a sort of crazy paving which is even worse than cobblestones.
The cobblestones are bad enough but the crazy pavement (not shown here) is worse. Sometimes, we have to take our bikes down a steep slope with a bike runner
The countryside is very tranquil and takes us past back gardens with their own machinery exhibitions, a surprising building that turns out to be a sawmill with a crane, a renovated windmill without sails and an absolutely enormous chemical refinery that employs 1400 people. I find it very colourful – typically German – but Jean Michel explains that the different coloured pipes are compulsory and indicate what they contain. Ah well. You learn something new every day!
The sawmill and crane built in the late 19th century and recently restoredRestored windmill of the Dutch type – note the patriotic carWacker chemical refinery, mostly connected with silicone
Riesa, our destination, is obviously a new town that drains the refinery workers and its only redeeming features are the biggest wisteria I have ever seen, the town hall and an amazing blind wall with a music store painted on it.
Magnificent wall of wisteria in RiesaA musical wall in Riesa
We do however find an excellent eiscafé where we manage to order icecream and mineral water in German. The East Germans, who are obviously not used to foreigners, understand my German even less than the Bavarians! I’m amused by the fact that a man stops me in the street and asks in English where the police station is. Jean Michel knows of course so sends him in the right direction.
Rape and wheat with wild flowers on both sides
Having crossed the bridge at Riese, we are able to cycle back on the other side of the river, through cultivated fields lined with wild flowers. We see corn, wheat, barley, rye, rape, sunflowers, potatoes, peas, sugarbeet and runner beans, and a few sheep and cows. We also smell numerous pigsties. Also an incredibly long barge.
An extremely long barge
It’s nearly 8 pm when we get back so we finish off the sweet wine we bought in Bad Schandau followed by a cucumber, tomato and cheese salad. We eat the cherries we bought along the way for one euro outside someone’s house. We sink thankfully into bed at 10.30 pm after an unsuccessful attempt to find a hotel for our next stop at Wittenberg.
Breakfast at Elbklause, the best yet, according to Jean Michel
It’s next morning and we learn the downside of our river view. The curtains are thin and the windows are facing east which means maximum light from 5 am onwards. There is also a street light outside which seems to stay on all night. So after the best breakfast so far according to Jean Michel (the usual cold meats and cheese but a better selection, boiled eggs, very compact dry bread, cereal, yoghurt, tomato, butter & jam and fresh fruit), we decide to stay at home to catch up on our travel log and blog and deal with such mundane things as washing and repairing Jean Michel’s inner tube.
Jean MIchel picking cherries along the way but they weren’t very good
We have lunch again at the hotel restaurant overlooking the Elb. Jean Michel chooses some sort of pork and sauerkraut and I have duck with cooked shredded beetroot which is excellent. We have the Müller-Thurgau again and try the Weissburgunder (white burgundy) but it’s a bit green.
At least there’s a view after that hilltop climb
As we’re keeping Meissen for tomorrow, we choose to go west of the Elb to Lommatzsch. I don’t think I’ve ever climbed so many hills in such a short time. I’m as red as the beetroot I ate at lunch.
Town hall in Lommatzsch
Not much to see in Lommatzsch. The town hall looks exactly the same as the wooden village I had as a child. I feel I deserve the ice-cream at the Konditorei more than other. We’re amused to see that it comes from large containers of Carte d’Or ice-cream.
Jean MIchel picking cherries along the way but they weren’t very good
The ride home after shopping for dinner at Netto is much easier, mainly downhill of course. Jean Michel stops at practically every cherry tree along the way to see if the cherries are edible. He can never resist free food, particularly in the country. All he manages to do is to get stains on his shirt …
Three combine harvesters all in the same field of barley
We’re amazed to see three massive combine harvesters in a barley field. We also see a hare.
Our Meissen weissburgunder aperitif on the window-sill
For our apertif we try the Winzer Meissen weissburgunder (pinot blanc) we bought in Reise for 11.50 euro the day before in a most unlikely looking shop. It’s much better than the one I had a lunchtime – certainly not as green – but no nose to speak of.
Weather report: sunny in the morning but storms in the afternoon. We decide not to cycle but to visit Battei Rocks in the morning and Honigstein in the afternoon, despite the fact that it’s Saturday and both places will no doubt be full of vistiors. It’s 11 am by the time we reach the closest parking lot to Battei Rocks but it’s not full, we’re relieved to see. We walk the couple of kilometers to the start of the various lookouts.
The viewing bridge at Bastei Rocks built in 1851
All the paths are very safe and easy but I can’t help it, my old fear of heights resurges. The rocks look like a mini version of the Grand Canyon where I think my fear first started over 35 years ago. I go slowly, applying the method an Australian psychologist friend taught me and manage to approach near enough to the fences to take photos.
Bastei Rocks
They are nothing like the magnificent autumn photos that Anda published in Travel Notes and Beyond last year but it is very hard to do justice to such stunning natural scenery. Fortunately, the sun is out but the result is somewhat hazy.
The Elbe seen through the rocks on Bastei Bridge
The visit takes about an hour and we head back down to the Elb for lunch at Stadt Wehlen, the little village with the unusual sundial. We find a restaurant called Hotel Café Richtel on the water and order our usual glass of weiss wein. Jean Michel chooses matjes, which seems to be the house speciality and turns out to be salted herring. I choose baked lamb and dumplings. It’s good to have a meal that’s not deep fried.
Our view at lunch in Stadt Welhen. The steam boat startled us when it blew its horn!
Afterwards, we head off for Honigstein, a 13th century fortress which is one of the largest in Europe and contains 50 different buildings. We leave the car in the Parkhaus and take the little train, thus saving 40 minutes on foot in each direction.
The Konigstein fortress from below
Set on a rocky landscape, Honigstein overlooks the Elbe and offers stunning 360° views of the surrounding countryside, including one of the loops in the river that we cycled along the day before.
Left view of the loop in the Elbe from Honigstein
Once again, our photos are hazy but Anda’s photos of Honigstein taken in autumn are perfect. They will also give you an idea of some of the buildings.
Right view from the loop in the Elbe
As it’s still early and sunny (we’ve had a couple of very short spitting spells but no storms), we go back to Bad Schandau to collect our cycling maps for a quick ride to the Czech border 8 km away before dinner. Bad luck – Jean Michel has a puncture, probably the first either of us has had since we began our cycling trips several years ago. The pump won’t work so I ride off to a cycle shop Jean Michel remembers seeing in the town to buy another one. I can’t find the shop and the entire town is shut down except for eating places!
View from the side of Honigstein
He changes the inner tube and gets the pump to work which makes us think there may be a problem with the valve on the old tube. By then it’s starting to spit very lightly but we decide to take a chance.
The ferry over to the bike path that goes to Prague
The ride towards Czech Republic takes us past an amazing number of holiday rooms and flats with vacancies. We still don’t understand our difficulty finding a place to stay. After we leave the town, the river views are not as impressive as they are towards Pirna. As we approach Schmillke, we see there’s a ferry and we understand why when we reach the Czech border where the bike path abruptly ends. Crossing the ferry takes you to the path on the other side that goes right to Prague.
The bike path ends at the Czech border
By now the spits have turned into light rain so we don our capes and ride back to Bad Schangan where our weiss wein is waiting in the fridge in our lime-green pension. Was is das? The wine is sweet! I check out the dictionary which provides an answer for once: Riesling Spätlese lieblich, it says – sweet late harvest riesling. Sigh …
We wake up in our lime green and yellow pension in Bad Schandau (bad means bath and hence spa) and the first thing we do is check the weather and the temperature. Yesterday we were in transit between our spacious comfortable flat in Kobern-Gondorf and Saxon Switzerland on the Elbe River. Theoretically the 550 km should have taken about 5 ½ hours plus rest stops but we were held up for 1 ½ hours in a traffic jam due to roadwork on the motorway.
A little word about the German motorways. Unlike French motorways, they are free, and form a vast network that crisscrosses the country. The only problem is the way the people drive on them. The speed limit is 130 kph unless indicated otherwise (by which I mean less than 130 of course). If there are three lanes, the trucks and drivers who respect the speed limit use the right hand lane, the vast majority who drive at 130 to 140 kph (including us) mostly stay in the middle lane while the left hand lane is reserved for those who whizz past at a speed I wouldn’t even dare to calculate. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine what happens when there are only two lanes. I let Jean Michel drive in Germany.
So it was about 5 pm when we reached our destination and went straight to the tourist office to find ourselves a flat, passing a German soccer flag seller on the way! All that was proposed was a very decrepit looking building on a very busy road so we went back again to the tourist office to ask for a hotel room with wifi instead. Perhaps it was because the weekend was coming up but the only place available was our pension. By then it was raining lightly. The room is nothing much but it’s very quiet, quite large, has a stunning view out of all three windows and wifi that connects to my laptop provided I sit fairly close to the door. The bed is OK and the flimsy curtains don’t encourage us to sleep late. Maybe that’s a good thing …
So back to the weather. It’s about 14°C and sunny, with 23°C expected in the afternoon. By the end of an uninteresting breakfast, we’ve gained a degree. I decide to be German and wear socks with my sandals rather than be hot in walking shoes when things warm up. I can take them off later. It turns out to be an excellent solution. Jean Michel assures me that I don’t look too terrible.
Today we’re going to Pirna, about 25 K along the Elbe towards Dresden. The bike path is the sort we like – close to the river and free of traffic most of the way. We have wide sweeping views of the Elbe.
Our first stop is Konigstein, with its famous castle which we will visit by car another day. It’s a long way up the hill on a bike. We cross the Elbe on a small ferry with a large number of other cyclists. The cycling population has changed – a little younger and a little fitter. We don’t see many electric bikes either. Also, everyone seems to be German.
We cycle round an S-bend to Kurort Rathan and take another, much bigger ferry, pulled by a cable, and cheaper. Up above us soar the famous Bastei Rocks, with their incredible formations, that we will also visit by car another day.
The next village is Stadt Welhen with an attractive central platz completely taken up by restaurants except for the Rathaus (rat means council and not a little rodent as you would imagine) with an unusual sundial that is adapted to summer time.
The cycle path takes us past riverside homes with beautiful gardens and alarge number of ferienwohnung (holiday flats), many of which are frei (vacant). We wonder why there was so little available in Bad Schandau.
By the time we reach the centre of Pirna, it’s about 1.15 pm so our first priority is to find somewhere to eat. We ignore all the fast food places and turn down a side street with an inviting-looking restaurant at unbeatable prices. As usual, there is a bike stand at the front. We choose pork medallions and mushrooms which turn out to be quite tasty and are not deep fried. A change from schnitzel.
The pretty main square – Marktplatz – turns out to be just at the end of the street. We get a few brochures from the tourist office for our travel log and visit St. Marien Kirche with its stunning vaulting that reminds us of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Maybe it was a source of inspiration.
Fortunately our transit day seems to have improved my saddle soreness and the remaining 25 K aren’t nearly as bad as I feared. It starts spitting after a while but we’re not too worried because we have our capes. It turns out we don’t need them.
On the way back, we decide not to take the ferry at Kurort Rathan, and treat ourselves to an ice-cream Sunday. The young waitress speaks good English which is a reilef. There are so few foreign tourists here that everyone naturally talks to us in German. The lady who runs the pension doesn’t speak any English at all.
Our ice-creams stand us in good stead because the bike path from Kurort to Konigstein is like a roller coaster. Then we have to sprint down to the landing stage to catch the ferry. This time, there are only a few bikes and cyclists. I wonder where everyone has disappeared to?
We arrive back at the unusually early hour of 6 pm and have a glass of trocken riesling and pistachios in our room followed by cheese and salad and some delicious cherries we bought on the way home.
Tomorrow, we’re off in the other direction – to Czech Republic – but our bike map stops at the German border so we’ll see how we manage!
We’re off to a late but chilly start today. After we leave the car a few kilometers out of Koblenz to avoid the usual large town parking problems, we both put on our windcheaters and don’t take them off for the rest of the day. This time I didn’t forget our rain capes …
As we cycle over the bridge over the Moselle and get our first view of Koblenz we remember why we try to avoid cities! It’s big and noisy and full of cars. We also know that the old town was completely destroyed during the war and there isn’t much to see. The name Koblenz means confluence and this is where the Moselle joins the Rhine on its way through Germany so the big attraction is the Deutsches Eck or German Corner.
Along the way we see some amusing facades such as the night club above. Jean Michel who’s fallen a little behind catches me up, “you missed something back there” he says so I ride back. I look up and burst out laughing.
We keep going towards the Eck, passing lots of cruise boats, one of which has walking frames lined up on the quay! “There but for the grace of God” as my mother used to say. The best view of the confluence is from the huge monument to Kaiser Wilhelmina I erected in 1897. The equestrian statue was destroyed in 1945 just before the end of the war and rebuilt in 1993. We think the flags are regional.
We follow the beautiful Rhine Promenades past some lovely late 19th century homes and some surprising modern buildings.
Eventually we find ourselves on the outskirts of Koblenz and are getting hungry. We decide not to eat at a Biergarten obviously set up for World Cup enthusiasts. I bet it’s popular at night.
Our bike path lies between the Rhine and a railway line and takes us past Stolzenfels Castle built in 1250 and destroyed during the Nine Years War in 1689. It was restored in 1838 by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm which explains why it’s not made of granite like all the other hilltop castles in the area. I accidentally put my new iPhone 5S on black and white so the photo isn’t quite what I expect.
There are no places to eat near the castle so we push onto the next town called Rhens. By the time we arrive it’s 1.30 but in Germany you can get a meal at any time, we have discovered. We see an inviting Biergarten and choose a riverside table. Below is the view from the Ladies!
However it turns out to be too cold so we eat inside the restaurant which is across the road. Note that I’m still in black and white mode.
During lunch where we order the inevitable Wiener schnitzel and chips (it’s that or pizza) with a side salad and trocken riesling, we’re entertained by a little boy on a trike without pedals and his older sister who comes through occasionally playing Jingle Bells on a whistle and softly hitting a drum.
We decide it’s not warm enough to cycle any further down the river and head back towards Koblenz. I finally get a photo of a patriotic car with no owner around. Check out the rear view mirror! Good thing I’ve worked out how to take colour photos again.
We find another Biergarten in Koblenz but are told we have to go inside the restaurant for coffee so we keep going. Good thing we did because we accidentally found a local institution – the Weindorf. Created in 1925 for the Reich German wine exhibition, this “wine village” is the perfect place to have a glass of wine or real cappuccino.
As we haven’t had dessert, jean Michel thinks we should try the cakes. I can definitely recommend the apfel strudel … Not to worry, it’s an intermittent fast day tomorrow.
By the time we get back to the car, we’ve cycled 34 km which is kinder than yesterday’s 49! Tomorrow we leave Kobern-Gondorf for the Elbe and Swiss Saxony, about 570 km east of here. And I’m hoping for a proper wifi connection so I can use my laptop again! See you there.
We’ve cycled along the Rhine on two previous occasions – on our way back from Croatia when we visited the Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein, both very memorable experiences – and last year after cycling along the Danube, when we spent a few days at Lake Constance and visited the Rhine Falls and Stein again. The Rhine starts in Switzerland, flows through Germany and eventually empties into the North Sea In the Netherlands.
Today we begin in St Goar a 40 minute drive from our flat in Kobern Gondorf. We start with an excellent cappuccino opposite Loreley, a famous rock at the narrowest place on the Rhine. Loreley is also the name of a feminine water spirit, similar to mermaids or Rhine maidens, associated with the rock in popular folklore and in works of music, art and literature.
The bike path takes us along the river alongside a main road – not nearly as attractive as the paths we experienced along the Danube but the scenery is still lovely with vineyards climbing up the hills and little villages and hilltop granite castles along the riverside.
We arrive at the ferry stop that will take us across the river to Kaub, passing in front of the famous Pfalzgrafenstein toll castle erected in 1338. A chain across the river forced ships to pay the toll. If they didn’t cooperate they were thrown into the dungeon!
On the other side on the outskirts of the village we find a local restaurant with a view of the river where the waitress only speaks German. We learn that trocken means dry as in dry white wine and order a viener schnitzel and a cordon bleu because it’s easier than trying to work out what else is on the menu! A mixed salad arrives first and our veal and chips are excellent. We finish with an espresso and pay the bill – 30 euro.
We continue towards Lorch on a bike path which is a little in need of maintenance but more pleasant because there is less traffic. On the other side we see a town With an extravagant number of towers and a gutted gothic church. I study it with my binoculars.
At Lorch we cross the river on another ferry and start cycling back to our starting point. When we get to Bacarach we suddenly find ourselves in a very popular tourist destination. It turns out to be the town with the gutted church and has all sorts of historic buildings and the obligatory craft shops.
We go back across the Rhine at Kaub for free, completely ignored by the ferry man who stays resolutely in his little tower. The bike path on the other side is alongside the road again but in good condition. We see the Rhine gorge and the Loreley rock from the other side and get a closer look at the somewhat surprising 16 foot mermaid statue.
By the time we get to St Goarhausen, I am feeling the effects of the 40 km we’ve spent in the saddle and we’re both ready for an Italian ice-cream. We can see the ferry that will take us back to St Goar and the car and decide to try and catch it. Ice-cream in hand we cross the road and walk our bikes down the ramp and onto the ferry just in time!
I can tell you that I am glad to get back to the car and sit in a more comfortable seat. We drive along the river to Boppard and cross the high plateau between the Rhine and Moselle via a road with very tight hairpin bends. The view of the Moselle is worth the trip.
If you type “things learned from traveling” into the Google search, you’ll come up with enough reading material for an entire week. Before I sat down to write this post I was curios about other people’s approach to this popular subject. I noticed that in spite of the broad range of opinions, there is one common thread: people who travel don’t remain stuck in their own ideas. They change, they evolve and learn something from their travel experiences. So, with this in mind, here is my rendition of this subject:
We’re spoiled by how easy and affordable it is to communicate, text and tweet to family and friends, post to Facebook, get the latest news and restaurant recommendations and get directions when we get lost. Until we go overseas. Unless you have a European phone or SIM card, communication overseas can be difficult and very expensive. A Google search of anything having to do with saving money communicating overseas yields pages and pages of articles and advice. Regardless of how many of these you read, there really isn’t a simple solution. For phone calls, you can use one of several internet apps like Skype. But for me, the problem has always been data. If ever there was a time you needed data it’s traveling overseas. Read more
Ladies, start your engines! Or, in this case, turn on your electric, ecologically friendly Twiztour car for one of the most thrilling tours of Paris.
