Our morning started with a lovely breakfast outside at our Gasthaus with everything a biker needs for a great start to the day plus our great host added in lunch for us. Alas though, there was the butter dish incident. One of those travel moments that will stick with the four of us. Let us just say that one of us who say remain nameless but known to be a clutz, rearranged the pottery dish in a most alarming fashion.
The weather is starting to warm up!!!! It reached 25c today and thankfully we completed our bike ride at 2.00pm just as it started to heat up. Our route took us mostly on the north bank of the Mainz River and through a couple of small villages.
Obviously the heat was starting to affect us early on in our ride as we thought this was very clever.
By making side trips into these villages we are encountering many a gobble stone which to say at the least, hurts like hell on the posterior.
It is not unusual to come across these repair bike stations with all the implements to do running repairs on your bike should you have the misfortune of it breaking down. We are seeing many bikers on this circuit and 98% of them are grey nomads just like us, which is fantastic as people are staying fit as they get older.
We came across this wonderful kiosk that was unmanned about half way along our route. There was a thermos with hot coffee for €2 a cuppa and an honesty box. There was also a fridge with non-alcoholic beverages with an honesty box. Thirdly, there was another fridge with alcoholic beverages with an honesty box. A group of older guys on bikes partook of the latter. We are noticing just how much beer is drunk in this country, and it is a hell of a lot.
Also at the stop, were deck chairs that we could relax in whilst we had our bevy and ate our lunch.
Fras found the most comfy chair whilst Di…….
relived her childhood. Fras kept telling her there was a weight limit which earned him a scorching stare.
Our hotel tonight is a retired bank with a wine bar in the main vault. We also ended up with a corner suite which was large enough for us to ride our bikes around.
We are in the town of Schweinfurt which is known for being the industrial, educational and cultural hub of Bavaria. Below is the very elaborate Rathaus. It was first documented in 791 and is one of the oldest cities in Bavaria. On 11 April 1945, the US Army invaded the city. During the Cold War, Schweunfurt had the highest concentration of US combat units in the Federal Republic of Germany. In the northwest of Schweinfurt, an American town emerged, with a complete civil infrastructure including all kinds of shops for 12,000 Americans, soldiers and civilians. Until the withdrawal of the US Army at Schweinfurt in 2014, a total of about 100,000 US soldiers were stationed in the town.
It was our night to get a bit of culture in. We drove north about 25k to a town called Bad Kissengen where Horst had organised for an evening at the annual Music Festival. We listened to the combined Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic playing French music pieces. Not that we recognized any of the pieces but the sound was the best we had ever experienced from an orchestra. The combined orchestra, consisted of over 50 members.
The Bad Kissengen Musical Emporium is a huge complex.
It was built between 1911 and 1913 and is surrounded by a rose garden along with formal gardens and fountains.
A cultural evening for us would not be complete without some kind of joviality involved and not taking it quite so seriously.
We were absolutely exhausted by the time we got back to Schweinfurt and into our beds!
Step – 11,690, +31k
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