REMAGEN (KRIPP)

Saturday, 30th June.

Today was a rest day, not that we needed it after only one day of riding, we just thought we'd give ourselves a day off.

We took our time over breakfast this morning, sitting out on the terrace and watching the water traffic while we ate.  The Rhine is an extremely busy waterway and there's always something interesting occurring.

After breakfast we rode across the river on the ferry to Linz on the eastern side, and strolled through the lovely old town

before making our way to the railway station in order to catch the 11 am red rail bus through the hills to Kalenborn.

The 'bus' leaves Linz on the hour from 10am till 6pm with a couple of stops before reaching Kalenborn.  There is the option to stop at any one of the stops and return on a later run or to stay on board for the round trip.

It was a lovely ride through the woods and we were the only passengers to choose the round trip, foregoing the opportunity to visit 'Little Britain'

or the Alte Brauerei, instead opting to return to wander around Linz some more, treating ourselves to ice creams to help us on our way.

We returned to Kripp and our hotel, taking up our position on the terrace while we drank a cold drink each, then strolled along the riverbank and down to the river's edge to paddle our feet in the mighty Rhine.

After that we took the bikes for a ride through Kripp, a pretty town though very quiet.

By now it was late afternoon and we decided to ride the 3.5kms to Remagen to have a look at the town and to eat there.  Another lovely old town with cafes along the riverfront and we had front row seats while enjoying our meal.

We've had coffee back at our hotel, it's after 9pm and there's still plenty of sunlight left in the day.  It has been an excellent day and we've enjoyed our mini holiday in Kripp.

KOBLENZ to REMAGEN : 46 kms

Friday 29th June, 2018.

We hit a slight slag while trying to leave Koblenz this morning.  We'd decided to ride along the eastern side of the Rhine today so crossed the bridge, followed the signs to the path (this involved taking the bikes down steps with an in-built ramp), hopped back on the bikes and rode about 200 metres before coming to a grinding halt at the end of a point surrounded by water.

There was no alternative other than to turn around and go back the way we came, but, sharp eyed Michael spotted an open gate into a little harbour, through which we were able to take a short cut to get back on track.

The rest of the day was a bit of a mixed bag.  Initially, the path closely followed the river though we couldn't always see it through the sometimes quite dense undergrowth and when the path ended and the only sign we saw was not terribly enlightening, we followed a local who seemed to know where he was going.  He led us to Lidl's Bakery/Cafe so we stopped there for cold drinks and a rest.

Leaving the cafe we headed towards the supermarket a little way up the road, as we needed to go in that direction anyway and hoped we'd find a sign thereabouts which we did, in the form of another local who we also followed and soon found ourselves on the main road, in the bike lane with a barrier between us and the motor traffic.

It was easy going for a while, through a couple of small, quiet towns and when we eventually came back to the river, lo and behold there was a shady beer garden with three kiosks, one serving drinks, one serving hot food and the third serving ice creams.

We needed no persuading to sit for a while, have a light lunch and enjoy the cool breeze wafting across the Rhine while people and boat watching.

For a while, the path after the beer garden was excellent until it went a long way in from the river, through the grape growing region and up a couple of small hills before returning to the Rhine, then along a path that was full of cracks and ruts caused by the roots of trees lining the path, requiring concentration and extreme caution to negotiate our way through.

When we came across a car ferry about 10kms from our destination, we quickly boarded for the short trip across the river in order to ride the rest of the way on the western side.  Dismounting as requested to walk through the lovely terrace of cafe/restaurants in Bad Breisig,

we thought it would be a shame not to stop for a while and enjoy the surroundings while sipping iced coffee/iced chocolate,

and so we did just that!  An excellent choice.

A short ride after that and we arrived at our hotel in Kripp, 3kms from Remagen and across the river from Linz.

As we're staying for two nights here, we'll explore this town and take a ferry ride to Linz tomorrow.

We've survived our first day back on the bikes and are very happy to be here!

KOBLENZ, GERMANY: 67 kms

Wednesday, 27th and Thursday, 28th June, 2018.

We have spent much of Wednesday recovering from the journey here from Down Under, both very tired and probably still jaded from the stress and exhaustion of our month at home.
Suffering from jetlag and unable to sleep, we decided to go for a walk down to the river Mosel.  It was about 3a.m. and cool so we donned fleeces over our pyjamas and enjoyed a quiet and peaceful amble along the riverfront.  With little sign of life about, it was vastly different from the hustle and bustle of the day and helpful in our quest for sleep.

While at home we hardly had time to ride, managing only a couple of short rides and are now feeling quite unfit.  We rode about 12kms along the Mosel River today,  stopping at a beach sporting  half a dozen food and beverage kiosks to eat our lunch and watch boats on the river, which we found to be a most enjoyable and relaxing pastime.

Also in Koblenz, we were able to sample the ice cream which was so popular with the masses, only this time there was no queue.  Though the ice creams were excellent, they were also cheap which may be the major cause for their popularity.
Tomorrow we will leave Koblenz to follow the Rhine north and ultimately into Holland.

When we left Germany on 27th May, the blog was a few days behind, due initially to poor wi-fi connection and later to trying to deal with the shock of my sister's sudden death, the stress of organising transport home as quickly as possible and later, the very difficult, exhausting task of clearing out her small paraphernalia filled unit with the valuable help of my younger sister from Tasmania and on a few occasions, Judy's close friends.  The Op-Shops have been the beneficiaries of ten or so car loads of hoardings.

Before beginning a blog for the resumption of the bike ride, I shall play 'catch up' with accounts of the two days of riding from Trechtingshausen to Koblenz.

TRECHTINGSHAUSEN to ST GOARSHAUSEN : 23 kms

Thursday, 24th May, 2018.

It was overcast with light drizzle falling when we left this morning, having ridden to the castle on the hill and admiring the fabulous view

before returning to the hotel to load the bikes.  The sun appeared before long and when we came to a car ferry a few kms along the path, we decided to cross the river and ride on the eastern side for a while, because we could!  We did a little tour of the town of Lorch,

then continued on to Kaub where we stopped for coffee.  The cycle path was good, the weather was wonderful , there was lots of traffic on the Rhine to watch go by, we reached St Goarshausen in the early  afternoon, stopped at a cafe there where we waited a long time for our lunch orders to arrive and then checked into our nearby hotel.  It was a simply magic day!

After walking to the supermarket for a few supplies, we decided to cross the river by ferry to St Goars for an evening meal, choosing an Asian Fusion restaurant located in a cellar

and afterwards bought ice creams to eat on the stroll back to the ferry.

ST GOARSHAUSEN to KOBLENZ : 43 kms

Friday, 25th May, 2018.

Another lovely day filled with sunshine and easy riding with stops along the way to watch boats, look at castles, drink coffee

 and when, on arrival in Boppard Mike spied a chair lift sign, we immediately followed directions and went for a ride to the top of the 'hill' and though a little hazy up there, the view was stunning and well worth the detour.  

About 10kms further on we reached Koblenz, found our accommodation with help from the tourist office and spent the afternoon strolling around the lovely old town, intrigued by the number of people eating ice creams while sitting on steps beside a church, standing in an extremely long queue of 70 or 80 to buy ice creams, and walking through the streets eating ice creams, all from a small shop on the edge of a square.

We assumed that there must be something special about these ice creams but weren't about join the queue to find out!  We opted for cold beer instead.

That evening, we received the message which prompted our return home and the next couple of days were spent arranging travel and travelling, from Koblenz to Frankfurt by train and then home via Dubai, always a long and tedious journey but one we must endure in order to see what we can of our world.

To quote Scarlet O'Hara "Tomorrow is another day".

AN UNSCHEDULED RETURN HOME

Thursday, 31st May, 2018.

A few hours after our arrival in Koblenz last Friday (25th May) we received a message from home informing us that my older sister had passed away, necessitating a return home as quickly as possible.

We were able to secure seats on a flight out of Frankfurt on Sunday, 27th and as we were having great difficulty in organising storage for the bikes (being a weekend, the storage places were all closed) our lovely, lovely hostess Stefanie came to the rescue and offered  to keep the bikes in her store room until we are able to return.  A great relief.


                                 BIKES IN STEFANIE'S STORE ROOM


There is much to do and we expect to be busy for the next few weeks, but intend to return to Europe and complete our bike ride to Holland at a later date.  The blog will be suspended until that time.