One of the most important tasks each day is typing up the "story of our day." I keep a journal on most of our vacations so we can look back and remember. We're glad to share it with anyone who might be interested.
When we checked into the hotel at Rothenburg at 2 p.m. yesterday, I was ready to take the bikes back to the Mott bike shop in Bad Mergentheim and forfeit the three days left on our bike rental. However, a good night's sleep put a whole different light on things. We ate a wonderful breakfast at the hotel and rode our bikes into the walled city at Rothenberg.
Rick Steve's book recommended a shop for buying Christmas decorations. I wanted to get some tree ornaments for our Christmas exchange. When we stopped there, I mentioned Rick Steves to the store owner. He said he knows him well and gave me a neat free map of Rothenburg drawn by his mother.
Then we took the bikes on the train by a circuitous route back to Bad Mergentheim, had some ice cream in the Centrum, and started riding the Tauber River Route north (in the direction of the flow of the river). What a lovely and easy ride! The weather was cooler and comfortable, and that made it even more enjoyable. We only got off our route once, going for a mile or two on a gentle uphill. Realizing that we were probably off route, we stopped a couple riding by, and they led us back to the trail. Then the man rode us on a shortcut across town and back to the trail. How nice of him!
We had been considering staying in that town, but it was still early and we hadn't ridden too long or gotten tired, so we kept going. We rode through cropland that we didn't recognize. It was covered with pods that looked somewhat like bean pods, but we couldn't recognize it. We asked and they said it was for producing diesel fuel. We rode through the next small town, but there were no places to stay that we could find, so we rode on to Werbach. We came to a restaurant/zimmer and took a room there. Their specialty is roasted pig, which they prepare there, so we went back to split a meal between the two of us for $14.50 Euros. They brought us each a plate that looked like a full serving -- for $14.50 Euros total!
A lady from another table heard us speaking English and came over to meet us -- Betty Davis and her husband, Roy Lilley. They are from Australia and have been gone from their home in Australia for almost as long as we have. They have done a lot more biking and they also hike a lot. Betty has hiked the Himalayas and they've ridden the Danube to Budapest. They told a hair-raising story about being detained in Prague over a supposed passport irregularity. The authorities were trying to get a bribe before releasing them. What an experience! They like to travel a lot like we are, with an open schedule. At other times they bike with 3 other couples and travel quite long distances. They take turns planning the tour, with one couple in charge of making the arrangements each time. We visited with them all evening!
After that, Verle and I walked around town for awhile. Werback has a beautiful red stone church that looks new but was built in 1824, according to the cornerstone.
No comments:
Post a Comment