We’ve been staying out of trouble since our Nuremberg fiasco. Fortunately, getting out of Nuremberg was a lot easier than getting into it. It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep and a map will do.
For the next two days, our route ran primarily along the Rhine/Main/Danube Canal, through varied terrain – some industrial, but mostly quiet and rural. The canal is interesting. It connects the Danube to the Rhine, via the Main River, creating a navigable waterway from the Black Sea to the North Sea.
The signage along the canal route was less than optimal. We had dozens of navigation stops, and a few not very serious mis-steps along the way. We also had an almost constant head wind, which can be grueling, and oh so cold on a chilly day.
The canal ended in Bamberg, where the Regnitz and Main Rivers meet. Bamberg is one of those must see places in the tourist books. Architecturally beautiful, brimming with hotels, restaurants, sights, and of course, tourists. There were at least a half dozen walking tours starting out as we were leaving the city. Each guide holding a flag, and the entire group wearing headsets. That’s a new development we haven’t seen before. We even wound up being part of the tour, some local color – Radfahrers (bike tourists) doing it the “old fashioned” way, without battery power, as the tour guide noted, pointing to us, and highlighting our panniers and trailer. A few people snapped pictures. There we were, immortalized in someone’s vacation photos.
The strong head wind continued on our first day cycling the Main. By the time we made the 66 km to our destination city, Schweinfurt, we were utterly exhausted. It was our 14th day in a row riding, and we were beat. Time for a rest. We snagged an amazingly luxurious room for the price of a standard room and decided it was the perfect place for a whole lot of nothing.
Well, not exactly nothing … we each splurged on a two hour Thai massage, done side by side, by the tiniest women, who climb up on the table and give it their all. Now, that’s a rest day! Tomorrow we head out to Dettelbach, then Würzburg on Sunday.
Intertwangled on a Bicycle 