Our route from Ingolstad to Donauworth started on the southern side of the Danube. We notice that the Danube is not quite as big as it was at the start of our journey, though it is still a sizeable river.

We crossed over to the northern side just before scenic Neuburg.

The route took us a bit away from the Danube and through many little villages.

We ate some cherries off a tree on the side of the road at one of the villages.

When we reached Danuaworth, we found a lovely friendly town with a helpful tourist info (in contrast to the previous day). We arrived early (the ride was only 66km) and they quickly identified a reasonably priced “privat zimmer” for our accommodation. Also some detailed information about the town in English.

We spent some time exploring the town, which was one of the first centres of the Knights of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1197. Most of the buildings along the towns “showcase” road – the Reichsstrasse, were rebuilt after being bombed in 1945 – Donauworth being one of the worst hit towns in Bavaria.

                       

     

On our wanderings we noticed a small “beer bar” near our zimmer and decided to return in the evening after we had eaten, which we did.

When we entered, it was obviously all locals who knew each other in the bar (about six of them). Two men sitting at the bar immediately made space for us and invited us to sit down. Then we began to discuss the types of beer on tap. They declareod that beer is classified as a food in Bavaria. One was an Englishman who had been living in Germany for 15 years, so it was nice for me to talk English with him. He had a sweet little dog called Max (a Daschund Fox Terrier cross) sitting under his seat. He used to work with the other guy, at the nearby Airbus helicopter factory but is now retired. The other guy was also very friendly and could speak a bit of English too.

The barmaid was welcoming, giving us different beers to taste and bringing some (free) Jagermeister chasers out at one stage. It was a night to remember, thank goodness the zimmer was only a few hundred meters away and we didn’t have to ride back on bicycles. We did not have an early start the next day.