Do a few small things to the bike and have a good sort out and make a list of things to send back home that I don't really need. Hopefully it will save me quite a bit of weight. A final charge of all the gadgets and a shower and the campsite has served its purpose. Back into Strasbourg and then over the Rhine into Germany. I romanticise at the strength of the Rhine and all the wealth it brings but don't think much of Germany when I get over the fabled water. It all seems a bit run down, and I don't even see a sign to welcome me to another country. Then I go over this really big river and into Deutschland proper. The first one was just a lil un. Doh! My first stop in Germany is Oberkirch and I can see the Black Forest Mountains off in the direction I need to go. I'm actually getting a bit scared of what is to come hill wise. I really don't know what to expect. Germany too has a good system of cycle paths and before long I'm whizzing through the middle of sweetcorn fields on my way to Oppenau. Along the sides of rivers and through more fields I reach my destination, but hang on a minute. I want Oberkirch, what am I doing here??? It was in the right direction but I forgot to peel off. I make the most of being in my first German town and buy some German bread and go about making lunch whilst watching kids play in the fountains in the town square. Then I go in hunt of some maps. I have unbeleivably good luck on this front as a bargain book store has a complete set of maps at the scale I want for 9.99E. I don't need most of them but I can't pass an offer like this by. I add this to list of things to send back. Armed with map, I now set off in the direction of Oberkirch. En route I stop in at the Bergeb Buro (town hall kind of place) where a kind lady translates my quest into German, so I can tell anyone who doesn't speak English. I'm told to help myself to the fresh water and I do. It's fizzy, but makes a nice change. Off to Oberkirch and the mountains are becoming ever closer. I really am getting scared now. They aren't the Himalayas but I've got to get over them some how. In Oberkirch I replenish the emergency beer fund and have a good old chat to a man selling meatloaf and offering free samples. I try some and to be honest it tastes of air the slices are so thin. He explains its low fat, and I explain that's no good for me, I need all the calories I can get. We have a good old chat about the trip and he gives me some advice on which way to go. Oppeneau next and just a few km up the road. It's just getting ready for a summer festival and all the preparations are being done, lots of wooden stalls selling crepes and sausages and beer are being erected. Just as I leave Oppenau I notice the parking area for camper vans and decide to have a squizz. I ask an Austrian couple if they mind if I camp next to their van behind a pile of gravel. They are friendly and have a chat and no problems with a tent (dont think tents are ment to be there). A bizarre dinner of avacado, noodles in curry sauce and sardines in tomato sauce. Not one of the classics. I have a grapefruit beer that turns out to be 2.5% and laugh at the whole situation. Bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment