Day 28 - Dienstag 7 Mai 2012

From - Donauworth
To - Augsburg
Distance - 46km
Time - 3 hours
Total - 2048km

Stayed in at the Hostel last night trying to catch up on the Internet with the blog, emails, Skype and researching the route ahead. One of the things I am trying to plan is to meet My friend Janice at Budapest during the last week of May and also to fly my kids out to see me in Venice in the middle of June. This of course gives me a loose schedule that I didn't have before. I obviously want to make sure that the distances between now and Budapest and between Budapest and Venice are possible on a bike in the days available. It is rather difficult when you don't know the routes. I try and err on the safe side and the speed of my riding to this point gives me some confidence.

All the hostels here are very different and whilst part of the same organisation they are managed differently. Last nights hostel required an email to reserve a place, telephone was not enough! I did try to send an email yesterday by the email failed because no one told me that in a case where an umlaut (two dots over the o) is in the word they use oe instead and Donauworth has an umlaut over the o. Never mind she still let me stay but seemed unhappy that the system had failed. The next hostel accepted my name and mobile phone over the phone to reserve a place and Munich Hostel just told me there were places and I didn't need to book! It also fools them when I produce a French International Youth Hstel membership card. I think it would be amusing to pretend to be French but claim that I selected the Lancashire dialect option for my Baccalaureate!

I shared my room last night with a 25 year old French man called Etienne who runs from one place to another as his prefered method travel. He either sleeps rough or finds a cheap hostel. He has a map book of his route but doesn't carry a phone or wear a watch. He has run from the north to the south of France before and also in Mali, in the Sahara. Surprisingly he looks very normal, he doesn't smell (as far as I can tell), he is intelligent, has a normal job at the moment but wants to do a PhD in the effects of weather changes in the Himalayas, he has studied this before in his Geography degree. Well I do meet some interesting people. I thought my travel plans were brave but his are reckless in comparison.

The weather today has been grey but fairly warm. Thankfully there has been less wind than yesterday. The route to Augsburg was quite direct and there was a well signed route called the 'Via Claudia Augusta' which presumably has a roman link. The name of Augsburg may be a result of its roman heritage? There were no notable towns enroute, maybe because we are off the tourist trails now? I did find a sculpture that had a remarkable resemblance to me, especially after a game of rugby!

I went straight to the Youth Hostel at Augsburg even though it was only midday. I knew that someone would be there and I could leave my bike and bags securely. The place is again clean and modern close to the city centre for a change.

I walked into the city and found a lovely centre with loads of old and colourful buildings. Mozart's father lived here. I'm sure there will be more claims to Mozart as I continue my travels. First job of course was finding lunch. Having snacked on bread, cheese and salami yesterday I wanted a meal somewhere. I found the swankiest looking building of character and in I went. It's the building on one of the photos behind the statue of a man called Jakub Fugger! and then there is a picture of the inside. As normal I didn't really know what I wanted and I when they told me the soup was vegetable I had a pang of conscience about the lack of vegetables I have had since I started, so I chose it. The soup turned out to be carrot, broccoli and brussel sprout soup. I'm sure it will do me good! Although I followed it with a nice big piece of cherry tart - a good balanced diet!

Back to the routine of being a tourist. Cheekily I asked at the Tourist Information what I could see free. It turned out to be the Rathaus and the churches. There were four worthy churches so I started the churchathon. The Catholic Church of St Ulrich was stupendous. It wasn't as big as the Cathedral but it won on ornateness and I included a photo of the inside. I have just checked the map again and i have missed a church, I don't think I can manage another.

The town is very much connected to the Fugger family, no tittering please! (I feel like Frankie Howard). They were a rich family who bought houses around town to house the 'industrious, innocently impoverished Catholic families of the town. So they weren't bad Fuggers after all!

Back to the hostel and checked in. This hostel wants to keep my membership card until I leave, I to,d you they all work differently. The girl at the desk couldn't account for why they do it? I was early enough to get to the four bed dormitory first so I can pick my bed.

I've done my chores and had a bite to eat and it's nearly 7o'clock and no-one else has turned up in my 4 bed dorm. I may have it to myself? I will go for a walk to Mozart's fathers house tonight.

Photo 1, See the resemblance.
Photo 2, Statue of Jakob Fugger and the nice restaurant behind.
Photo 3, Inside the restaurant. There were busts of Caesar, Claudius and Tiberius.
Photo 4, Rathaus at Augsburg.
Photo 5, View towards St Ulrich's church.
Photo 6, inside St Ulrich's.
Photo 7, St Mary's Cathedral.
Photo 8, Me outside the hostel.

Day 27 - Montag 6 Mai 2013

Start - Ulm
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!

Day 26 - Sonntag 5 Mai 2013

Rest Day in Ulm.
Distance - 42km to Blautopf and back.

I had a good night last night. I was a bit naughty because i had a 'donau' kebab (I wonder if this is where they got the name donner?). it's not something i normally eat but there are loads of kebab shops in Germany and they are nice with chilli sauce! Next I went to Einsteinhaus, hoping some genius would rub off on me. It is a cultural and arts centre in Ulm. The venue was a small room with a small stage at one end and circular tables around the room with seating for around 100 people. So, it was very civilised and had a quite middle class arty feel. The music was Brazilian smooth jazz style provided by a local trio called Al Jovo and Lea. It was a little too smooth for me but very pleasant and good entertainment for a ticket price of 10 euros. I spoke to a German couple who were good enough to do some interpretation of what the band were saying between the songs. The music was mainly bossa nova or samba in style but later it became more pop when they used any song as long as they shake a rattle along to it to give a Latin American percussion beat! I didn't get to my bed till after midnight. Way past my bedtime! I had a great sleep though.

Am I being lazy, having two days off? This is part of the beauty of my journey. I can adapt the timescale to do the things that appeal to me and make it an adventure and not just a holiday. I am doing what I want, when I want and I want to see Ian Anderson in concert tonight at the Congress Centrum at Ulm. As a teenager I was an avid Jethro Tull fan. They are not everyones musical cup of tea but they were very distinctive in their style of music and were very popular in the late sixties and early seventies. I have most of the music they have ever made, so I am not going to miss this coincidental opportunity to see Ian Anderson who is the bands lead singer and songwriter.

Whilst I have a none travelling day I thought I would give a little 'personal trainer' view on what this constant cycling is doing to my body. So far I am feeling good and strong and I constantly tell people that is type of travel is within anyone's ability. It is just a matter of how far and for how long. I personally knew that my general fitness level was OK but I prepared by doing regular but fairly short rides. I did not want to do so many miles that I was jaded before I started but I wanted to do enough cycling to get my body used to riding on an almost daily basis and it also acclimatised my backside to hours in the saddle. I presumed that once I had started cycling in France I would build up the stamina of daily cycling for 4-7 hours a day. That's pretty much how it's worked out. I now feel I have the specific fitness required for a touring cyclist. My bum, thighs and calves feel strong but I may have lost some core fitness and I try to fit in some tummy exercises in the morning to compensate. I don't think I have been loosing any weight but you will know that I have been keeping the calorie levels high! I must admit to getting occasional lower back stress if I labour uphill in a tough gear for too long and I occasionally get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. No, it is not a mental health issue for people who don't like tunnels, it's a numbness of the hands that some cyclists get when circulation is restricted at the wrist/palm area. Apart from that I am perfect!! Well as close as I am likely to get!

I went out for a little walk in the city this morning and was delighted to see that some event was being set up the the main square outside the Munster, I found out that in the afternoon there was a 10km run followed by a 40km cycle race. Again, they wouldn't let me take part, it was a pre-booked team event. This was especially good as the weather was looking pretty sunny and I need something to keep me occupied. First I decided to go and do a little bike ride of my own to Blautopf, which is the source of the River Blau. The round trip was 42km and when I got to Blautopf it was a nice village and the source of the river was a large waterhole where the water came up from nowhere and was unsurprisingly a lovely deep blue colour.

Back to Ulm for a shower and a bite to eat (a sandwich and Anne's lovely cake) and then out to the square to see the start of the 10k running race. The winner was someone called Daniel Unger who seemed to be a well known runner who was presumed to be the winner before the race started. It took him just over 30mins. The race was open to all abilities and the best bit is watching the different ages, sizes and running styles of the runners.

The cycle race looked good. The riders went 40 times around the 1km city centre route and they did it in just over an hour. Not bad going, about twice the speed of me this morning.

The song for the day has to be Blau by Bob Schneider for obvious reasons but I don't think he was thinking of this river when he wrote it.

Now off to the Ian Anderson concert. It is billed as a 'Thick as a Brick' tour so I am fully qualified to attend. For those that are not familiar with the albums of Jethro Tull is was a concept album with an album cover that folded out like a spoof newspaper. I will give you a review in tomorrow's blog.

Photo 1, Blautopf.
Photo 2, Blautopf from a different direction.
Photo 3, Bears outside a Gummi Bear shop.
Phpto 4. Start of the 10k race.
Photo 5, Cycle race.
Photo 6, Winners on the podium.

Day 25 - Samstag 4 Mai 2013

Rest Day in Ulm

I am writing the blog in the morning. Yesterday I didn't want to look around Ulm too much because I knew I would have all day today and I am meeting up with Matthew and Anne (the cousin of Sue and his wife who live at Heidelberg, keep up please!). We will meet at the bahnhof (railway station) around midday. I jokingly emailed that they would recognise me because I would wear a white carnation in my buttonhole and carry a copy of The Times newspaper. Matthew replied that he would wear lederhosen and carry a bratwurst. We are silly!

Last night I found a Steakhouse Bar that had free wi-fi and happened also to be a trendy place with good music and friendly staff. They may be seeing me again later when I need the Internet again.

I got a message that one of my favourite bands, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were in concert at Burnley tonight. I always go to see them somewhere when they come to the UK but I won't get the chance this time. By coincidence I had picked up a local magazine (in German) and saw that Ian Anderson, from Jethro Tull was playing here in Ulm tomorrow night. He is one of my childhood heroes and whilst he is getting on a bit I would love to see him again in concert. I became excited until I checked the Internet and found that no tickets were available.

As normal I was too tired to stay out beyond 9pm and I went back to my little room and watched some more snooker on TV. I am a Ronnie O'Sullivan fan so I was pleased that it was him v Judd Trump. I only managed a couple of frames before falling asleep. I did wake up occasionally and could hear that there must be a late nightlife close to my apartment because I could hear constant music (or rather the thumping of bass!) and loud voices of people coming or going? One day I may manage to stay up long enough to find out what is going on. It was hot in the room and I had a difficult decision to either stay hot or increase the outside volume by opening the window? I stayed hot!

This morning before Matthew and Anne arrive I will attempt to do two things. One, check to see if there is any possibility of getting a ticket for Ian Anderson and two, try and get a hair cut. Getting your hair cut sounds like a simple thing but when you are in a foreign country where you don't speak the language it is more difficult than you think. I don't have anyway of judging whether the places are hairdressers, barbers or unisex. I dont know if i need an appointment? Then it is difficult to find out the price for a 'short back and sides', that is probably because they don't know what a short back and sides is? So, it becomes a bit like ordering from a German menu, the barber cuts my hair and I have no idea what I am going to get because hairdressers are not known for their bilingual skills! If they could speak more than one language they probably wouldn't have become a hairdresser! Sorry if I've offended all hairdressers. If I ask for a trendy quiff I wonder if they will understand? Probably not but then again they will take one look at me and the word 'trendy' will not jump to mind.

I will tell you later how I went on.

Nearly lunchtime and I'm having a coffee waiting to go and meet Matthew and Anne. I have had a successful morning. I went to the tourist information and they told me that Ulm was the birthplace of Einstein and it apparently still attracts genius'. He left here when he was two years old. They told me where to go for Ian Anderson tickets. I went straight to the place and got a ticket, nearly 50 euros! Off I went in search of a haircut. I managed to find a hairdressers near the railway station. I must eat my words as the hairdresser spoke good English but she had never heard of 'short back and sides'. The price was 16 euros, I jokingly told her she had only cut off 12 euros worth of hair. I think she thought I was funny until I told her I wanted her to take a picture of my hair and she probably thought I was rather strange! However, she smiled politely and took the photo.

There was a nice large market in the square in front of the Munster and a oompah band played as well. The Munster spire is massive and very ornate. I was told that you can walk up, maybe something to do when Matthew arrives. I nipped back to the apartment to book an additional night on Sunday. I will need to fill my day tomorrow. Maybe I will have a bike ride to somewhere on the outskirts of Ulm.

Matthew and Anne arrived and we had a lovely afternoon. We walked up 768 steps up the tallest spire in the world. The views were excellent as you would expect. We also went into the church and Matthew commented on the size of the organ! He is an expert on organs and harpsichords and he told me that the size of the organ should not be judged on the size of the outer casing! I will let you draw your own conclusions!

We had a lunch in a smart restaurant and at the end two German men in a costume of some sort came in and gave a little speech to everyone. I didn't understand a word but Anne told me that they were 'journeymen carpenters' who wore the clothes for a 3 year period and the speech was to ask for money to fund their training throughout the 3 years. It is a traditional method of qualifying as a skilled person. Anne also told me that there was an Ulm tongue twister which is 'In Ulm und um Ulm und um Ulm herum', it means In Ulm, around Ulm and around Ulm area. I responded by teaching her an English tongue twister called the 'pheasant plucker' which she hadn't heard before, very amusing! We had discussed my route and possible detours and I think following their advice the Munich option looks good.

We had a walk and tried to dodge some showers. I spotted a place where I may go to see some Brazilian music tonight at Einsteinhaus. It will depend on two things a) tickets being available on the door and more crucially b) me staying awake beyond 9pm. Then we walked back to the train station and they set off back to Heidelberg. It was great to see friendly faces especially when they can help me with advice and translation. Big thanks to both.

Photo 1, Ulm Munster - I am told it is the highest spire in the world. The picture doesn't really show how tall it is.
Photo 2, Ulm Library - all glass pyramid, very modern.
Photo 3, Oompah Band at the Market.
Photo 4, Handsome chap you may recognise with a smart but expensive hair cut!
Photo 5, Matthew, Anne and me.
Photo 6, View from the top of the spire.
Photo 7, Jouneymen making a speech in the restaurant.

Day 24 - Freitag 3 Mai 2013

From - Riedlingen
To - Ulm
Distance - 73km
Time - 5 hours.
Total - 1865km.

Yes, Freitag is the proper word for Friday in German. I haven't just made it up!

Last night was a quiet night I walked around the town to take the air and then came back and listened to a podcast. What did you listen to, I can hear you saying? You might regret my answer - it was Part 1 of the Reith Lectures by Prof Niall Ferguson entitled 'The rule of Law and its Enemies'. I like listening to intelligent people who actually hold the same view as me. It makes me feel like I am intelligent too. He is a great speaker and seems to put the worlds problems into a true context that politians never actually get to grips with. Before I get onto my soapbox I will get back to the blog.

I had agreed the breakfast time as 8am with the lady but 8am came and went and there was no sign of the lady or the breakfast. I didn't know whether she served it to me in the room or whether I went upstairs? I had to go outside to ring the doorbell to attract her attention and then breakfast was served in my room. It is a big house and the lady lives upstairs and guests stay downstairs, the room is big and has a table in it. Not such a lavish breakfast but how much can you fit on a tray. Needless to say that there was nothing left over to stash in my bags for later.

My journey was pretty short, 73km in total. The weather is best described as grey. I bought a banana and an apple at Munderkingen, a coffee and pastry at Ehingen and a lunch at an old farm gasthaus near Erbach. I tried to remember how to spell what I ate but I can't, my best stab at it is Maultscaun mit Braut! Ordering food for me in Germany is like pot luck. It's a good job I like everything. The waitress told me what I ordered was like soup but when it came it was like three giant pieces of ravioli with a sausage type filing, swimming in a clear herby broth. It was nice but of course not what I had expected. I haven't seriously looked around Ulm yet. I am staying two nights and seeing Matthew and Anne tomorrow so the sightseeing can wait. I have arrived at my accommodation and I am on the fourth floor in the smallest single room I have seen. It certainly is good use of an attic! It is modern and clean though but no wi-fi for a second night. I will go in search of a wi-fi cafe somewhere.

Yes, I've found a bar with wi-fi!

Photo 1, House in Ehingen. All the bricks are painted on!
Photo 2, Square at Ehingen.
Photo 3, Ravioli in Broth?
Photo 4, Gasthaus where I had the ravioli.
Photo 5, A restaurant in Ulm....wow.
Photo 6, My room. They haven't provided a cat for swinging!

Day 23 - Thurtag 2 Mai 2013

Start - Tuttlingen
Finish - Riedlingen
Distance - 95km
Time - 7.5 hours
Total - 1792km

I am writing this in the knowledge that you won't be reading it till later tomorrow evening. I don't have a wi-fi signal where I am staying tonight.

I should really start by saying what a good team Bayern Munich are. They beat Barcelona in the second leg of the European Cup semi-final last night. The nights score was 3-0 in favour of Bayern and an aggregate score of 7-0. No wonder the town was quiet last night everyone was watching the match. I also suffered a 3-0 defeat to Germany, I swallowed three flies and two hit the post! I am seriously thinking about going off the route to visit Munich. I will have to do some research about what there is to see and refer the subject to my Germany expert (Matthew).

I want to clear something up too! It appears that some people jumped to the wrong conclusion when I mentioned Schnitzel. I have included a picture of my schnitzel to clear this issue up. See the photos below. Shame on you!

Plenty for breakfast again, it's always a good start. At least in Germany it seems to be inclusive of the price in contrast to France where it is always an add on. I got talking to a German couple who were at breakfast and were also cycling. They were from Dusseldorf and had started yesterday cycling from Donaueschingen which is the source of the Danube. They were also staying at Riedlingen tonight and Ulm the following night, so I was bound to keep seeing them.

I got started just before 9am and after the first hour it got nice and sunny. The scenery was fantastic and I took loads of photos. The Danube meanders through lovely countryside with cliffs at either side and occasional schloss' (castles) on top of the cliffs. Towns I travelled through included Muhlheim (nice old town with views down over the valley), Fridlingen and Beuron. I then had a rush of blood to the head and went off piste to Wildenstein Castle. It was at the top of the cliff and therefore up a beast of a hill. The track was steep and stoney, I am making sound serious because in truth I pushed up most of it. I'm glad I did though. Isn't it strange that you manage to justify your more silly decisions by saying the view was really spectacular. You can be the judge when you see the photos. The Castle is now used as a Youth Hostel. It would have been a good one for me to stay at but I never knew about it till today. The ride down the hill was nearly as slow as the way up as I didn't want to loose control on the stones (I need to look after my bike) and I was glad I had the disc brakes on the bike.

The next place of note was Sigmaringen. What a lovely place, the Hohenzollern Palace was stunning but not open for visitors unless you were on pre-booked guided tours. Whilst there I had a Hohenzollern torte which is a bit like a Battenburg but better. It could be the new design for police car livery! I think the chocolate blocks will be very distinctive and will catch the attention after all who can resist the power of chocolate! It should have been about 35km to Riedlingen but it seemed longer because the wind got up and the signs seemed to knock 1km off for every 3km I cycled. By the way, I did bump into the couple from Dortmund three times throughout the day.

I must give the German nation some credit. The 'hallo's' have dramatically improved today. I suspect that the German Tourist Board got wind of my psychological analysis and have put the word out. It has been a big improvement, I wonder whether the sunshine as made a difference? I have several variations of study to work on - are French people more friendly than Germans or are brick walls the best?, do I get better result in the morning rather than the afternoon?, does sunshine have a positive affect on the results? Should I restrict the work just to cyclists or should I include dog walkers? I think I have a lifetimes work here! Should I include other nations as I cycle through or will the reader get totally bored with the subject? I think I know the answer to that question so I will shut up.

Riedlingen is a lovely town. For those interested it has been a settlement since 835AD the time of Louis the Pious. It has now been visited by Richard the ............ (Please fill in the dots!). I found a supermarket chain called 'Norma', its very much like Aldi or Lidl but it just conjured up an image of a woman who runs the place. I won't say anymore but needless to say, it wasn't a good image.

I arrived at the accommodation. I had spoken to the lady on the phone and she didn't speak a word of English so I wasn't really sure whether I had booked the place or not. She answered the door and I gleaned that she only had double rooms at 40 euros, but I smiled and I got one for 25 euros with breakfast, what a charmer!

I made my own tea from bread and pâté etc that I pick up as I go along. No wi-fi though. So, I will be going for a walk and probably reading and listening to some podcast that I downloaded before I came.

What is my song of the day I hear you say! Well, it is 'Keep Spinning Around' by Dynamite Walls. It's one you won't have heard of but it's a good rock song and good for 'spinning' the pedals.

No-one has told me off yet for not using the proper days of the week in German rather than putting 'tag' at the end of English days! I will try harder to do the real thing in future.

Photo 1, My schnitzel, and very nice it was!
Photo 2, Wildenstein Castle.
Photo 3, The view from Wildenstein Castel, was it worth it?
Photo 4, Inzigkofen Abbey.
Photo 5, Sigmarinden, the Hohenzollern Palace.
Photo 6, Hohenzollern torte - I am reconsidering redesigning the livery on police cars to this. It's better than a Battenburg cake!
Photo 7, Main Street in Riedlingen.

Day 22 - Wedstag 1 Mai 2013

From - Konstanz
To - Tuttlingen
Distance - 70km
Time - 4.5 hours
Total - 1694km

Another good breakfast so I stoked up for the ride ahead. Today is a public holiday in Germany so the roads were quiet and there were very few people about. I started early knowing that whilst I didn't have to go very far I thought this would be my hilliest day so far. The good news was that I had a schnitzel, so no problems on that score!

Firstly, I had to retrace my steps to Rodofzell a distance of 22km before I rejoined the Eurovelo 6 route. I continued with my psychological study and worked on a possibility there may be a correlation between 'morgan's' rather than 'hallo's' but to no avail. On the plus side I did get two unsolicited 'hallo's' from lady dog walkers. I am considering extend my studies to greeting brick walls to see if there is a better response than German cyclists.

After a quiet start I noticed that groups of German cyclists were starting to form near to the cycle tracks around 10.30am. They were probably gathering in numbers before setting off because the word is out that a mad English cyclist is accosting the natives. It got quite busy with cyclists until I left a town called Singen and its nice river. When I started climbing hills I was definitely on my own. Even the signs dried up. The hills started as I entered the Black Forest. The route I believe is called the Hohenzollern Trail. I climbed for 10km but by the good planning of the German road builders the hill was a consistent gradient which helped me keep up some momentum. I was doing my very best to keep out of granny gear (not old fashioned ladies clothing, it's a cycling term for the easiest gear). Once at the top I stopped for lunch but little did I know there was another hill to follow. Granny was called into action after all! Never mind, the hill down to Tuttingen was much appreciated and I managed 65kph on the way down, my best speed so far. This was the day I knew would be tough but it wasn't too bad, no worse than some of our Lake District rides.

In Tuttlingen there was a concert taking place in the square and a few stalls were selling beer and food. The band were good and played stuff like Eric Clapton, Toto, Boston, Sade and Robbie Williams, quite a mix! I left the square and was delighted to see the River Danube for the first time. The Germans call it the Donau. This was a real milestone for me because I have been thinking of cycling on the Danube for a long time. The river here is fairly small as its source is only 35km away, as the sign on the photo says. The sign also says it is 2743km to the end of the Danube at the Black Sea.

I was pleasantly early to arrive at Tuttlingen so just for fun I had a little ride upstream to the next town. The sun had actually come out for the first time in a few days. It was wonderful. I came back to my Gasthaus which turned out to be a Greek restaurant. Very nice place in the town centre.

I have planned my accommodation for the next three nights, I think. It is one night in Riedlingen and two nights in Ulm. The phone call for accommodation at Riedlingen was completely in German so I hope that its OK when I turn up tomorrow. I tried the 'ein nacht, ein zimmer, ein person' routine but I'm not sure if it really worked! Hopefully I will be meeting one of Sue's cousins at Ulm on Saturday. He is called Matthew and he teaches music at Heidelberg University.

I haven't turned the TV's on in my rooms at night but for some reason I turned it on. I have been watching the World Snooker Championsips in German when Shaun Murphy was beaten by Judd Trump in.last frame nail biter. Anyway, I will go out for one beer before bed. Night night.

Photo 1, View from the top of the first hill, it's a bit misty!
Photo 2, View of Tuttlingen on the way down.
Photo 3, Concert in Tuttlingen Square.
Photo 4, Me at the Donau obelisk.
Photo 5, Donau obelisk (other side).
Photo 6, Sign for Angerpark (I went but no-one would fight) and I went to find friends at the Naturfreundhaus!
Photo 7, The Danube.