Finish - Donauworth
Distance - 94km
Time - 8 hours
Total - 2002km
I have found out that Daniel Unger (from yesterdays race) was the World Champion Triathlete in 2007 so I suppose he has some reason to be a celebrity. He certainly looked the real deal, a bit like me when I was younger !!
Well the Ian Anderson review! The venue was a good modern theatre and it was not quite full. I always imagine the people who go to Tull concerts to be male, over 50, bald at the front and hair long at the back wearing old black leather jackets. Of course I am wrong apart from the age group. There was quite a mix of people, many of which looked rather middle to upper class and smartly dressed. As I said it was the 'Thick as a Brick' tour. There was no warm up act, it was straight into the main course. The first half consisted of the whole of the Thick as a Brick album followed by a version of 'Aqualung'. I told you the album cover and the lyrics are based around stories in a spoof newspaper called the St Cleve Chronicle! the headline was about a 10 year old boy who had won a national poetry competition but was scandalised by two allegations, one, that he had plagiarised some of the poem and two, he had got a 16 year old girl pregnant! High quality stuff ehh! The big surprise for me was a young man who did almost half of the singing!! He was good too, he sounded similar to Ian Anderson but he was in fact a better singer (not too difficult I hear you say) and he had good stage presence. I suppose it needed a singer because it would be impossible for Ian Anderson to do the whole album live unless he has worked out a new way of singing and playing the flute at the same time. I think he has tried on many occasions (if you have heard him snorting and grunting down a flute before you will know what I mean). The band were all spot on with the music and it was a thoroughly professional performance. The second half was a bunch of new songs that were themed as Thick as a Brick part 2. They were good rocky numbers but they of course didn't have the nostalgia feel of the original album. The encore was 'Locomotive Breath' for a big finale. Great!
He is absolutely unique in the style of music that he has written, the use of the flute in rock music and the personal performance that he delivers. He doesn't look too bad for a man who must be at or near 70, although I was sitting near the back and couldn't see the wrinkles! He was pretty agile and still managed to play the flute on one leg. If you have never hear of Jethro Tull before you will think this probably creates a ludicrous image. I suppose that's enough of Ian Anderson!
Right, lets get to today. A good bright sunny start that became cloudy later in the afternoon. I had really enjoyed Ulm and would recommend it for a visit. The main places I travelled through were Gunzburg, Lauingen, Dillingen and Hochstadt. All nice places but I only stopped at Hochstadt for lunch. I was trying to cover good distance in the morning and had done 65km by lunchtime. I headed for the Palace of Palsgraves of Pfalz-Neuburg at Hochstadt but the curse of the Vernon was on me and the place was closed on a Monday. Never mind I sat in the Palace courtyard and made my own picnic lunch. The sun was shining and it was a lovely setting and peaceful. What I did miss though was the exhibition about the Battle of Blenheim which took place in 1704 a few kilometres away near a village that is called Blindheim.
The Battle was part of the War of the Spanish Succession and the Duke of Marlborough and a British and Austrian Army were victorious against French and Bavarian forces that were in alliance with King Louis XIV to seize Vienna. I believe this was a crucial point in British history. It prevented Louis from European domination and in some ways it boosted British morale so much that it was a catalyst to the British expansion that became the largest Empire the world has ever seen. There's no end to what you can learn by reading my blog!
I carried on to Donauworth and calculated that my arrival would coincide with the 2000km mark for my journey.
Donauworth is a large town and has a bright colourful Main Street but it isn't pedestrianised like many other towns so it could have been nicer if there hadn't been cars going through. It is actually in the area of Bavaria, the previous area had been Baden-Wurtenburg. I am staying in the Youth Hostel which is clean and modern. I am in a double room with a French man who runs across Europe. I thought I was mad!
Photo 1, Ian Anderson concert.
Photo2, Same.
Photo 3, Lauingen.
Photo 4, Palace for lunch.
Photo 5, inside the courtyard of the Palace, a storks nest is in the chimney to the right.
Photo 6, Sign for Blindheim, site of the Battle of Blenheim.
Photo 7, Entry to Donauworth.
Photo 8, Nice piece of cake with cherries, custard and chocolate.
Photo 9, 2000km on the clock!
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