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We left Danauworth on the north side of Danube and after a little while on the river, past through an industrial area. We saw the Airbus helicopter factory, where our friends of the previous evening worked.

The sign posted bike route took us mainly through towns, including Tapfheim and Dillingen, after which Kris decided to depart from it and find our way back to the river again.

A little further on the cycle road took us through some suburbs in the town of Lauingen. And there was a totally unexpected Roman temple, tucked away just behind some houses – dating from the first century.

           

Kris departed from the route again after Gundelfingentook, back into the forest and after a bit of a roundabout path, we found a way out to the river bank. The last ten kilometers or so was alongside the north river bank, on good gravel roads.

We decided to stop early at Gunzburg (after 65km), to see if we could easily get reasonable accommodation. We got a privat zimmer in the nextdoor town of Reisensburg, about 2km away. The accommodation is old fashioned but spacious, in an apartment next to the main house (no wifi). The house is near the small castle and church that dominate the town.

We had a relaxing afternoon buying food and looking around Gunzburg.

             

We got my chain replaced at a large bicycle shop (Fahrradland). The chain is worn, but was not yet giving specific problems. It was a rip off, as they charged us extra labour cost to readjust the gears as well as replace the chain. The work cost double what it cost to replace Kris’s chain and the same amount as our accommodation for the night. We were not happy.

Kris enjoyed talking with our hostess – the elderly Frau Lacher and her daughter (in German). They came to sit with us on the porch outside our flat, while we drank some beers. The house used to belong to her parents. She is also very concerned about the situation with the Greeks and the EU.

We had a good breakfast with Frau Lacher and more conversation – I particularly enjoyed the jam, home made by her daughter.

It began raining as we left. At first it was light and not unpleasant. Our route alternated between forested roads and every now and then alongside the river. I was annoyed because my gears were playing up after they were adjusted by the Gunzburg mechanic (they were perfect before).

The rain began to come down harder during our last 10km into Ulm (birthplace of Albert Einstein) and we quickly headed for shelter and information at the tourist info. We found that it was forecast to rain for the rest of the day. Luckily there was a very reasonably priced hotel in the town (just next to the Cathedral), so we decided to stop after only 32km. The hotel was full of other cyclists escaping from the rain.

We met a British couple, Peter and Linda as we were checking in. They were shown up to the room next to ours and we decided to do some sightseeing together. We had a very enjoyable afternoon chatting, exploring, stopping for snacks and drinking beer in a couple of local pubs. They have both just retired (early) and are on an open ended cycling tour around Europe. They are mostly camping, except when it rains.

                                                

               

The spire of Ulm Cathedral is the tallest in the world.

                             

Today we left the Danube, after following it for over a thousand kilometres, to head south towards the Bodensee.

It was a cool morning and our route took us through farm roads, with a few hills, between small villages. A change in landscape for us, having been alongside the river for so long. We passed Laupheim and stopped at Biberach to buy as snack (orange juice and a sandwich). The gradient between Bieberach and Bad Waldsee was gentle as it was mostly alongside the railway line.

      

      

We arrived in Bad Waldsee in the early afternoon (after a 75km ride) and found accommodation easily through the tourist information office. The room is above a pub in a house that is more than 700 years old (it has very uneven floors and some exposed beams upstairs). The woman who runs the pub is the fourth generation since her family has owned the house. Her great grandfather, a carpenter, bought it. Her grandfather had a tailor shop and grandmother sold milk from the house.

The pub is a family run business and we were offered a coffee by the mother when we arrived. We had an enjoyable chat with the mother and her son, who is about to start studying engineering.

After washing up, we went to buy food and explore the town. The town is small but very pretty. There are two small lakes, where you can swim (but it was too cold to be tempted that day). You can also promenade right around the lakes and there are nice cafes and parks along the shores. We had a picnic on a bench on the lake shore.

    

When we got back, we had some beer in the pub at our accommodation. The beer on tap is made by the boyfriend of the woman running the pub, so we got to meet the beer maker and his daughter too. We chatted a little with an elderly man who is also staying at the pub, while his wife is being treated for a hip complaint in the nearby hot pools.

The weather was overcast and cool when we left Bad Waldsee – taking a countryside route through Wolfegg. When we reached the larger town of Wangen we decided to buy some food at the supermarket, as we had not had breakfast at our accommodation. Kris was still locking the bicycles up when it suddenly started to rain very heavily. He managed to get them to a dry place and we did our shopping and then over the road to a kebab/pizza shop. We ordered a pizza which was absolutely delicious. I had asked if they had coffee (they didn’t) and before we left the young woman who served us came and asked if we would like some Turkish tea. The tea was good and warming – when we offered to pay we were told it was on the house.

It had sort of stopped raining when we left, but we struggled to find the right bike path out of town because the signs didn’t show our route, and it started raining again. This time we sheltered in a wooden covered bridge and got directions from an Englishman living in Germany who passed on a bicycle.

After some more circling we found the bike route and followed it for a while – passing by Haslach, Neukirch and Langnau. Our route was convoluted, and our progress was slower than we expected.

The countryside was beautiful, even more hilly than the previous day – so there were some lovely vistas. We also began to see some dairy cows, some of them kept inside barns, and even a milk truck at one stage. Also some corn.

The last six kilometres was along the banks of the Argen river, which was pretty muddy because of the recent rain (so we were dirty again). We reached the Bodensee at Kressbronn and began to look for accommodation at Langenargen. There were lots of signs up along the road advertising rooms, but most of them had a sign up that the room was taken (zimmer belecht). It was after 5pm at this time, also a Saturday night. So we rode another few kilometres on to Friedrichshafen, a much bigger town, where there is lots of accommodation.

Here we had no better luck. The youth hostels, pensions and all normal hotels (hotels up to three stars) were full. Riding around town we noticed groups of strangely dressed people walking towards the dock area. We saw lots of black, lots of leather, and collars and masks. It turned out that there was a huge fetish weekend scheduled on a ship (for pictures see http://www.suedkurier.de/region/bodenseekreis-oberschwaben/friedrichshafen/Leinen-los-fuer-das-Torture-Ship;art372474,7944881). After some more determined searching we came to the conclusion that we are not going to find beds to sleep in. We considered camping but discounted it when there was a heavy downpour. We had a very cheap and small tent and lying wet in the tent seemed like an early visit to purgatory. Eventually we settled on sleeping in a bus shelter. We settled in at around 9pm, and gradually wore more and more of our clothing as the air cooled down. We slept fitfully. We had a tiny sample of Jeagermeister which we drank and we had some bread and cheese. Passers by ignored us, as one would when seeing vagrants sleeping rough.

We left our bus stop early and went in search of a cafe in Frederichshafen for breakfast and internet access. We had coffee and pastries at a smart waterfront bakery that advertised wifi and failed to deliver.

So we set out on our ride around the Bodensee to Reichenau Waldsiedlung (85km), to visit Christa and Dieter, who we had met at Neustadt.

We have done part of this ride in 2012, but don’t mind repeating it, as it is such a stunning area. It hadn’t rained overnight, but it was raining lightly again as we set off. The rain set in after a while and we stopped at an internet cafe in Meersburg to wait it out and to email Christa. After a while it did ease up and we set out again.

We passed a couple of bizarre fountains – this one in Uberlingen

       

And this one a little further on.

There was a road detour near Ludwigshafen, which took us right off the road and up a steep hill, which was quite slippery with many tree roots. We had to even push our bikes part of the way. The view over the lake was stunning.

   

We stopped at the same country road shop that we had in 2012, to buy some cherry liqueur and cheesecake. As we were about to leave I noticed that my tire was completely flat. After pumping it up again, we made it a few more kilometres to Bodman, and it was flat again. So Kris had to change the tube. For some reason the tyre was very tight on the wheel, so it took some time to get it off.

We spent the evening in Bodman on our last trip, so visiting again brought back happy memories, including seeing the bed and breakfast where we had stayed was still going.

We found that we couldn’t continue our journey along the lake from Bodman, so had to cut across inland again, passing Radolfzell. There was a steady climb through farmlands, with many roadside stalls selling summer fruits, and then a downhill run until we reached a turnoff for Reichenau Waldsiedlung. This is a suburb about 6km away from the island of Reichenau. Most of our journey as on superb off-road cycling paths.

We had a generous reception from Krista and Dieter at their home, including coffee and home made cake on their garden veranda. Dieter made a traditional meal for us, including Spargel (fresh white asparagus), potatoes and salad. We enjoyed seeing the photos of their visit to New Zealand.

 

   

 Today was a very full day sightseeing with Christa and Dieter our enthusiastic local guides.

The morning was sunny, and we cycled together about 6km to the Reichenau island. You enter the island through a long causeway across the lake and a short bridge. There is a statue of bishop Permin who founded the monastery on the island in 724, as you enter.

    

We were surprised by the number of greenhouses and vegetable farms across the island. There are also many beautiful homes, some with rooms for tourists to rent, all with bright flower gardens.

Christa took us through the Reichenau abbey church, there has been a church and monastery here for over 1000 years. Part of the church is Romanesque architecture and part Gothic. There are many treasures, including old reliquaries, a relic from St Mark, and old chalices.

              

We made a stop at a large garden centre where Krista bought some plants and then to a lakeside cafe. We sampled some local fish, and also fresh salad grown on the island.

Kris’s bicycle began to make clicking noises as we rode around and he thought his bearings were going. So Kris and Dieter took it to the local bicycle shop and they confirmed that they needed to replace the bearings on the crank shaft and the back wheel – luckily they could do it by 11am the next morning.

As Kris was now without transport, Christa and Dieter took us to have a look at Konstance by car. It is a very beautiful city with a great vibe, especially around the waterfront where there are lots of places to promenade along the lakeside.

             

             

            

That evening Christa made some traditional cheese noodles for us as a treat. I watched her make them made with special flour, egg, salt and water – she beats them very hard, and then puts the soft dough through a sieve into boiling water (there is obviously a knack to this, I don’t think I could make them). The noodles are then drained in cold water and can be kept for a day before serving. They are served fried with cheese and with fried onions on top and are very yummy.

      

We had a late start, at about 11.30am, as we had to wait for Kris’s bike to be ready from the bike shop. However, our route from Reicheuau to Gailingen was manageable at only 55km. We first rode through Randolfzen, and then along the north side of the Bodensee, this part is a bit more up and down than elsewhere along the lake, past hidden castles in the hills.

We stopped at the stunning tourist town of Stein an Rein, which we had visited previously in 2012. All the buildings have different scenes painted on them and the main street is full of tourists taking photos.

We ate some sandwiches, very thoughtfully provided by Christa, on the town river front.

We were intrigued by this sign.

  

Stein an Rein is in Switzerland and we continued to cross the border in and out of Switzerland while following the Rhine to Gailigen (which is in Germany). This is a very scenic ride, with the path a little elevated from the river, passing through forests some of the time. The Rhine is very beautiful here, with clear water.

We found the Gastehaus Anita Nowak through a tourist info noticeboard and map at Gailigen town centre. It is at the top of a hill with a panoramic view of the town, including church steeple, farmland beyond and snow covered Alps in the far distance. All the rooms have full length glass doors that open onto the garden and you can sit outside your room enjoying the view.

Another couple had arrived by bicycle just before us and we got chatting – they are Andreas and Silvia from Hamburg. They both grew up in East Germany and are thinking about visiting New Zealand. Andreas and Silvia are doing a tour along the bottom of the Alps (Königsee Radweg) for a couple of weeks. They kindly provided some red wine which we had after dinner on the terrace. We had a wonderful evening chatting about many topics in a mixture of English and German.

                

We had a good breakfast at the gastehaus and more conversation with Andreas and Silvia, before we got packed and said our goodbyes. We hope to see them again in New Zealand one day!

It was not long into our journey when we crossed the Swiss border, this time with border posts. There are checks on Swiss people bringing goods back into the country as they have are restricted on the amount of goods they may bring in with them.

This part of the journey alongside the Rhine was very lovely.

                   

We stopped at Shafthausen, a large town with beautiful buildings, only about ten kilometres away and headed for the Swiss tourist info office. They provided us with basic maps showing cycling routes and camping sites. We also drew some Swiss Franks from the bank machine.

                 

We then rode onto Rhinefall along the river. The river is full and fast flowing – there were many impressive rapids along the way. We followed some walking tracks alongside the river before eventually getting back onto the cycling path.

     

Kris had a flat tyre and he changed the tube at the side of the road.

We crossed the river back into Germany just after Neunkirch and started meandering along with the bike paths.

          

We saw a bike path sign taking us into the woods off a busy road and followed it. The path was not sealed and got worse and worse. Eventually we were pushing our bikes up a forestry path through mud and deep ruts – we decided to backtrack and after a while Kris found a pleasant cycle route through the woods.

We did some steady climbing through green hills dotted with villages. Near the end of our ride we reached a high point and had a lovely big downhill. We decided to stop at Tiengen, at the Hotel Europa. The hotel was on the outskirts of town, and seems to cater for travelling working men (and women). It was comfortable with a huge bathroom and good wifi, though the room smelled of smoke. There was also a dodgy bar at the back of the hotel, where we had a beer later.

We had an early start. The route had an easy gradient, though the Swiss cycling roads seem to have short steep diversions every now and then (just going off the river, up and then down again).

We crossed border into Switzerland again very soon at the start of our journey. Right-away we saw the Aare river joining the Rhine. The Aare river is of a similar size to the early Rhine at this point.

The rest of the route today followed the Aare river, with many stretches alongside it.

A very bossy woman out jogging stopped and gave Kris instructions on the route to Aarburg. Having sent us along the “correct” cycle route, she popped up again on the road alongside us as she was obviously on a direct route and her instructions sent us on a short detour. She then waved her arms and shouted that we should carry on straight ahead.

We made a quick detour to look at the old town of Brugg.

      

The next beautiful town was Olten.

After Olten part of the path was actually overhanging the water – more of a walking and jogging path than a cycling path.

Here is a picture showing Swiss cycling infrastructure in Olten.

Aarburg is a pretty town as well, with a castle up on the hill above it. 

    

The campsite is just out of town. We were camping as all the accommodation we investigated in Switzerland is very expensive. The campsite was clean and the people were friendly, however the facilities are not as good as in New Zealand. For instance we couldn’t get hot water to make coffee. We were relieved that our tent worked well (this is the first time we put it up). Our very basic camping equipment did not make for a comfortable sleep.

We set out planning to take a bike route to Bern mainly following the Aare river (route 8). However we did not connect to the Aare river route on our way out of Aarburg as we were camping on the opposite side of the river. Instead we picked up signs for a more direct route to Bern (route 4), so we decided to follow them. This made the day shorter than we expected at 74km.

The signs were excellent and directed us at each intersection from about 40km out of the city. Here is an example.

The ride was through easy countryside, including dairy cows with bells around their necks and many small villages.

     

We crossed the river Aare again before we entered the city. It was a brilliant blue/green colour.

We rode around the city a bit, first finding the tourist information to get maps, and then a supermarket. We bought some wine before making our way to Esther’s apartment. 

I was impressed with this bicycle parking facility near the station. The attendant told us that it was full – it costs 1 Swiss Franc a day to park.

It was great to see Esther again. Her apartment is lovely, with a veranda and garden view, where we enjoyed some local beers.

This beer is from a brewery near Esther’s home town (I liked the label a lot!).

There is a day care centre below the apartment and there was a party on for the parents and children. This was the view of some families enjoying the park below.

In the evening we enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal, with red wine and good conversation.