Germany – Page 3 – Travelling reflections

OE Day 7 Freiburg to Donaueschingen 62k

Short Day in km, good ascent though, 3200ft in 10 miles. The route went through the Black Forest, gasping views galore.

We’d started by navigating through rush hour Freiburg. Made for cycling and used to its full by “normal people” commuting and school runs by bike. More polite than Amsterdam to us amateurs. Soon we were into open country.

The villages are quiet but prosperous looking. Ablaze with solar panels. All to soon eye finished. Off to follow the Danube tomorrow. Hopefully the oompah band in the local pub will run out of puff soon….

Germany, Orient Express

OE Freiburg

The City on the edge of the Black Forest. A mix of [rebuild] old and modern. Trams, wide streets, diverse range of flats (all with bike storage), friendly parks. And graveyards which feel happy places with flowers and lots of trees.

The lady (I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt) in the tourist info place didn’t like my look before you buy approach. Something stern in German gave me that impression. The tourmap took us passed a open square. The water art was layed out in the shape of the old synagogue, burnt down in 1938. Thoughtful.

The Minster is impressive inside. How are these things designed and built over 300 years from 1200? It was open today: everything else apart from cafes are shut.

Bike friendly, by design. Quiet today, I suspect busier tomorrow when we leave.

Cycling, France, Germany, Orient Express

OE Day 6 Munster to Freiburg 69k

A border day along a lovely route. Over the mighty Rhine and into Germany. The grape lined Munster Valley took us through Colmar. Failing to find a bike shop for shoes for Barbara, it’s downhill most of the day.

Entering Germany, the very south, and things change quite quickly. More cyclists, light industry, towns. And what is this thing “cash” they want: no tap’n’go here: it’s rummage and count.

Freiberg is our rest stop. Shoes bought in a cycle shop which can house the entire collection of stock in all the cycle shops in Wales: every thing shuts tomorrow Sunday. The Allstadt is relatively new: 300 UK bombers destroyed 80% of it in Nov 1944 (nothing strategic here, just people and a statement, plus ca change). The stunning cathedral wasn’t damaged. So rebuild in the medieval style: makes you wonder what Swansea or Coventry would have been like if we’d adopted the same approach.

So rest tomorrow. Ha!, you’ll be lucky my inner voice tells me….

Germany, Odyssey

Odyssey day 35 Cologne to Wesel 75 miles flat

Through a fan oven.

Industry reappears. In one sense on a massive scale, in another it is absorbed into tgey landscape and appears in its place. More juxtaposition of towns, factory and farms, all taken by the mighty Rhine in her stride.

Oh no, Japanese knotweed appears, along with giant hogweed. Good to see the insect cities being promoted.

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A day of fine bridges too.

Germany, Odyssey

Odyssey Day 34 Koblenz to Cologne 65miles 300m

Another fine way to enter a city: Riverside cycle path to main bridge, turn left, stop. Taking in some fine architectural sites as well as a connection with Greece and Albania: a scrap yard. Everything ends somewhere.

A day spent following the Rhine through villages and the outskirts of Bonn. They know how to build solid bridges here. A key one is missing at Remargen: paused there to reflect on Jimmy’s experiences 74 years earlier and join in the aspiration the site has for peace. Queue a rant about Brexit.

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Getting hotter. Cycle traffic lighter though it is a Monday.