Canal time

A better way – for Cycling

This is the land of the bicycle. They have embraced the most efficient machine known to mankind and laid infrastructure for all bicycles, cars, trucks and pedestrians in order to coexist in a utopian, harmonious, existence. Imagine, bicycle-only highways running parallel to the vehicular highways. Footpaths that include both pedestrian and cycle areas. Canals, edged on both sides with foot/cycle paths that connect town after town, country after country. The Germans even have the temperature correct for cycling, 7-20deg is our normal day. Somehow they even make 20deg extremely comfortable. NO HUMIDITY.

Walled cities in the modern age

We are jet setting through many small towns/cottage areas. Built environment on steroids, within each and every experience. The manicured agricultural fields, give way to structured and organised citadels. Each town has at least one church. I’m sure they are all competing for who has the highest spire…no compensation for anything I’m sure. Perhaps it is simply a navigational beacon in case of a heavy snow fall.

Moving right along …we find ourselves within Berching, in front of a Cafe at the precise moment that the sky decides to descend upon us. The room is totally timber-panelled, floor to ceiling. Curved cove benches with 50s-styled chairs and material colours. This place is cool. The chocolate here takes you to another level. Always so smooth, with a taste explosion within. All the alcohol types, as well as orange, truffle and others…yum. Berching didn’t strike me as a tourist town. It appeared to be for normal people, getting on with normal daily lives. It was just, quite striking to the eye.

Donau Gorge

If you’re going to start camping, you may as well do it in style. The MAN truck camper was massive. It is the owner’s first weekend camping, EVER. I guess, if you want to start doing something, do it with conviction.

The Gorge was indeed gorgeous. Rimmed with rock formations teetering on the edge of a gravitational catastrophe. Sand-wedged amongst the rocky outcrops, you discover a plethora of castles; some inhabited, some abandoned, all majestic.

Kelheim

The Befreiungshalle (“Hall of Liberation”), is definitely the most striking of neoclassical monuments within the Bavarian region; that we travelled to, on Saturday.

Germany ROCKS.

Each town appears to have its own brewery. Not cottage industry breweries either. Massive establishments/factories. It is my sworn duty to ensure all beers are up to the Deutschland standard. This is not something I take lightly. Unfortunately, this very evening it took three attempts to ensure everything was Kosher. And at half a litre per glass, an abundance of quality was indeed discovered. I can assure you, all is simply splendid.

Kelheim to Bad Abbach

Quoting Forrest Gump, ….”you never know what you’re gonna get”…. Around the next corner was a working water wheel, sluices, and a small farm tucked away in a corner, almost under a highway bridge and nestled beside the Donau. I believe they may have generated their own electricity with the stream as well. Cool. Germany appears to have embraced green energy, with extensive use of Solar, Wind and now hydro energy evident everywhere we go.

The first time our route wasn’t basically flat, we had to rise to the heavens. Lucky the staircase had been engineered for bicycles. Furthermore, it was ingenious to offer apple strudel in the next town to refuel after such an uprising.

Regensburg

Tomorrow we leave the ‘Five rivers loop’ trail that we have been following down the Donau. Eurovelo 6 is our newest guide. If you don’t know about the Eurovelo routes, it is a system of bicycle-orientated routes that you can download for free. They cover most of Europe. Check it out here.

Remaining on the Donau for now, Austria is looming, Mandy is investigating strudel courses and I think this sounds like a lot of fun.