Day 13 – 30 September 2012 – Esslingen to Bad Mergentheim – by train

We had a great night’s sleep at the Eco-Inn in the beautiful medieval town of Esslingen on the edge of the Neckar River. It was a deep sleep. It is very rare for us to wake in daylight. It was after 7am! We shared another sumptuous breakfast, before rolling away on our loaded bikes about 8:45am. This was the view from the deck outside our breakfast room, our bedroom is last two windows on level two on right.

We had been thinking for some days that it would be helpful to get the train from one of our northern Neckar towns across to Bad Mergentheim, the town where we were due to arrive by our schedule on Tuesday 2 October. We were a little concerned about cycling from the Neckar river to Mergentheim, which would involve roads, there being no clear bike paths across country. We decided this morning that we would call at the train station to make some enquiries, but being Sunday we were not sure if the station office would be staffed. Our German friend Dieter Fischer whom we met two days previously, and who attends The Salvation Army at Ingle Farm, South Australia, informed us that the train runs from Stuttgart to Bad Mergentheim.

It was a very cold, foggy and ‘soupy’ morning as we made our way towards Esslingen railway station. I couldn’t help this last photo as we turned the corner from the Eco-Inn.

We made our way through the cold streets and negotiated the Sunday morning traffic until we pulled up outside the railway station. We had limited hopes really, and having tried a few doors we realized that being Sunday, there were no staff on duty. The ticket machines were there, but were all in the German language, and if we were to catch the train, it would require at least one if not two changes of trains in order to get to the Mergentheim line.

We stood there wondering what to do, other than ride to Marbach as per our daily schedule, when who should be standing with his back to us literally outside the railway station and on his bike – but our new friend Dieter Fischer who we met days ago along the river! We couldn’t believe it, and nor could he! He was too early for church (Esslingen was where he was born) and was just killing time, and was just wandering past the station when we saw him. So he gave me a series of lessons in understanding the German in the ticket machine, and we discovered together that we could order tickets for travel today, and with two train changes, one at Stuttgart, we could be in Bad Mergentheim this afternoon, two days ahead of schedule.

So we did it. Dieter went off to church. We had our ticket – which to all our surprise was a very cheap 25 Euro for both of us to travel anywhere in Baden-Wurtenburg today. Getting loaded bikes up to the stations is a challenge. Esslingen had a lift which made it easy, but the trains are never level with the platform. We made it to change at Stuttgart, but it was quite terrorizing to get through a massive crowd, find our way to the country platform via a long lift ride, then on to the right train. It was quite stressful, but so far so good. This trip was a long one to Lauda, where we had to change again. This time though, it was a country town platform, where to change platforms, you simply walked across the tracks. This meant that when the train arrived, it was actually a flight of four stairs to get into the train – try that with two heavily loaded touring bikes. It took all the strength I had, and then some, to basically lift the bike up the stairs, and then Julie’s as well. Anyway, we got on. Arriving at Bad Mergentheim a few minutes later, it was the same in reverse.

However, it was a wonderful experience. We loved the day. It meant we skipped two scheduled days of cycling, but we had discovered that most of those two days would have been spent in the built up area spilling north and south of the major city of Stuttgart. We could now see this from the train, and felt that we made a wise decision to skip these two days. It also meant not only saying goodbye to the Neckar River, but also the magnificent Black Forsest. The change in countryside is clearly noticeable!

Bad Mergentheim is yet another stunningly beautiful medieval city based on the Tauber River, and part of the link in what is termed the ‘Romantic Road’, which runs along the Tauber River from Wurzburg just to the north, all the way to the source of the Tauber in Switzerland. As it turns out, we will be cycling south on the Romantic Road until the intersection with the Danube River at Donauworth, when we will then follow the Donau (Danube) into Austria and Slovakia.

We were surprised to find the Tourist Information office open. We were two days early, and had prebooked a hotel for two days hence, but otherwise had no where to stay. There is no camping ground. The lady at the Information office was lovely. She rang our Hotel. They had vacancy, so we are here now for three nights. The central market area is stunning. Photos never do justice. We were keen to have coffee in the outdoor café area in the central cobbled market place. We invited an older German couple to join us, who were looking for a table. They couldn’t speak English, nor us German. Amazingly, we chatted away while being served with coffee and strudel. They were off to Munich for Octoberfest, and they were intrigued by our long bike journey – all with no English for them, and no German for us!

Our hotel is run by a Greek family, who too are wonderful. Their English is excellent, and our setting here is great after these past two weeks. The weather today was simply perfect, once the fog lifted. It was sunny and warm. We showered, washed a lot of our clothing, the extra days are good for getting things cleaned and dried.

Tragically, somehow the sole from my cycling shoe ripped off today. The shoes have served me for more years than I can remember. I didn’t expect to take them home being so worn out, but I was hoping at least they would hold together until the end of the trip. Hopefully, we can buy some new ones here.

There has been a stench in our tent for days. It is something like old sweaty socks, or really bad wiffy running shoes. At Tubingen, I couldn’t take the smell anymore and thinking it may have been the shoes, I removed them a pair at a time from the tent, but no change. I put the panniers outside, the food panniers. Nothing worked. The mystery was solved at lunch yesterday – it was the cheese we bought days ago at Horb! The lady told us it had quite a tang, but she never said it was like sweaty old socks. We had been eating it for several days, and the last of it only tonight! We have apologized to the shoes and socks, which are allowed back in the tent now!

Bad Mergentheim is simply stunning. After coffee and Strudel, we sorted our things in the room, washed, showered, enjoyed some CNN on cable, and then went for a late afternoon walk, and picnicked in the beautiful city park not far from the Hotel.

We made a final walk for the day through the market place, just as the sun was setting in the west. Dusk is a beautiful time here. It is autumn. We are just starting to see the change of colour in the magnificent trees and the forests. The red flowers here are all over southern Germany, and are so pretty. They are very common in the thousands of window boxes seen for our entire journey. The tree behind has turned colour, typical of what we are beginning to see. The forests are a kaleidoscope of colours now.

We reflected several times today, how simply remarkable it was to see Dieter standing outside the railway station this morning, when we knew that without railway staff, we would not have a clue how to negotiate our seats on the train. For us it was a miracle, as if the Lord knew our need even before we asked. For us it shows the promises of God can be trusted. The promise made to Joshua so many thousands of years ago, are true for today – “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you nor forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed”. (Deuteronomy 31:8). For us today, Dieter was the Lord’s miraculous provision for us when our need was great. We rest tonight with the assurance of His divine hand upon us each day.

From our little haunt on the top floor of our lovely hotel as the sun sets over the beautiful historic city square of Bad Mergentheim, we send our love. Kelvin & Julie

Day 12 – 29 September 2012 - Tubingen to Esslingen – 65k

It was another snug night in the tent, just 50 mtrs from the Neckar River in Tubingen. The ‘campingplatz’ is as good if not better than any at which we have camped. Certainly the shower block is the most superior, and as clean as if it is a showroom.

We took a while to get ourselves going this morning, knowing also that it wasn’t such a huge day. It was after 9:30am on a cool, overcast day that we stopped at the small reception/kiosk for a departing photo. The camp manager reminded us very much of Sergeant Shultz off ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ on television. He was also the chef for dinner last night. He farewelled us with a great smile and a wave, as we made our way into the village centre of this beautifully restored medieval town of Tubingan.

It seems we say it a lot, but the buildings are simply beautiful, a museum of historic German architecture. The beautiful cobbled roads are also wonderful, but painful to loaded cycle tourists like ourselves. We lost ourselves in this medieval masterpiece, and then found it very difficult to find our way to the bike path out of town.

Eventually we were on our way, but it wasn’t as easy as we anticipated. We were assured the bike path followed the road north, alongside the river, but we firstly confronted massive road works which made us lose the road, and then the path where we ended up seemed to run into nothing but a single muddy track which gave us a bad feeling of things possibly to come.

The track became unbelievable! We have never seen anything as bad as this since the British cycle network which we found impossible to cycle. In this case, we had no option but to persevere, but the path became a muddy two wheeled track and then it became thick bush and barely a single muddy track that would even be spooky for walkers! There were many muddy pools which were very dangerous for our narrow profile wheels/tyres. We did everything we could to just steer the bikes on the narrow bush track, with branches and ferns etc hitting us on both sides.

We stopped for a brief break when an old, tough German came up from behind on a small mountain bike. He was cheerful, and delighted that we had chosen this ‘wonderful path’. He thought it was great, and after a few bright comments he took off and disappeared into the track and brush ahead. The path got so bad, we had to negotiate the bikes on foot through a gully with a creek running through it. Try pushing a loaded touring bike up a muddy slope, but that’s what we had to do.

Fortunately, in a few more kilometers, the track widened and gradually returned to what we have known for the past two weeks. We were approaching the next town, the path bringing us out alongside the main road, when I could see our old tough German riding back in our direction. When he saw us he turned and waited, and then asked us to follow him. He wanted to show us the way ahead because he knew we would be confused.

We were so impressed. He would have been a long way in front when he thought of us, and decided to come back looking for us to show us the way. We would definitely have been lost without his gracious thinking and acting. We couldn’t thank him enough. He then went one direction, as we followed the Neckar to the north.

The next major town half way to Esslingen was Nurlingen. Needless to say, it was another medieval architectural masterpiece. We love taking photos of these beautiful ornate buildings.

We are keen to do the train trip thing again in a few days, when we turn away from the Neckar. We were keen to get to a Tourist Information office, but at both Tubingen and Nurlingen the staff did not have enough command of English to fully explain our needs and be understood. We were hoping to get to Esslingen before 4pm in order to try the Tourist office there. So we had our heads down to turn over the kilometers in efficient time. We made it to Esslingen by 3pm, which was probably our best days riding apart from the muddy track and slow start to the day.

Esslingen finally came in to view after a lovely run along the Neckar river for many kilometers. There were many beautiful sights along the way, which were too attractive to resist.

However, almost nothing we have seen before rivals the beautiful market place of Esslingen. The narrow streets are cobbled, the buildings are each a masterpiece of medieval architecture, and for a Saturday afternoon, Esslingen was thriving with people everywhere.

To our horror, the Information Centre said that our anticipated ‘campingplatz’ did not exist. We couldn’t believe this because we found it on the ‘net’ with its own website and email address etc. However, we took the Information centre’s word, and have ended up in a reasobably priced hotel, a rare one in this town, near the river and just on the edge of the historic city centre.

Just as we were leaving the main market square for our Hotel, several bands were forming up. They took a while to get going, but when they did, they really drew a crowd. This was a great way to end another great day in historic southern Germany. Having showered, we walked the beautiful streets once more, just as dusk was coming over the very pretty Neckar River town of Esslingen.

We couldn’t stop thinking about the old, tough German who decided to turn around and ride back to find us because he was sure we would need his help. We would have been lost without his simple act of kindness. Jesus spoke of the importance of these kinds of simple acts of kindness, in fact he said that these kinds of acts would be the common point of distinction of those who had decided to become his followers. He called it 'give someone your coat as well, if someone asks for your shirt. Or, go the extra mile if you are asked to go the first mile'. It would have been inconvenient for the old German, but in the terms of Jesus, the old German 'went the extra mile'. (Matthew 5:40-41)

Wouldn't it be good if we all lived this way. What a difference it would make. Today, we thanked the Lord for a nameless, fit old German who made a difference to two strangers by his simple act of kindness.

From the Neckar River in the north of the Black Forest, we send our love. Kelvin & Julie.

Day 11 – 28 September 2012 – Oberndorf to Tubingen – 77k

We really enjoyed our first ‘Zimmer’ in the beautiful Neckar town of Oberndorf.  Just after we checked in yesterday afternoon, a strong storm hit. We were so glad we were still not out on the road.

Today, we planned to make Horb by late morning, which was actually our original target for yesterday, and then from Horb to do what was our planned leg for today to Tubingen, some 50k after Horb. We were praying that all would go smoothly for us, now that we were on the river.

 

It was a thick, cold foggy morning as we made our way around the corner to the café whose owners also own the ‘Zimmer’. Breakfast was in the price, and we were keen for an early start. It was quite cold as we rolled away, north along the Neckar River path toward Horb. We hadn’t gone very far before the path started to climb into the forest. It was very cold, and our fingers were freezing. The path was wet and covered with wet thick leaves and lots of small pine cones which are deadly if the front wheels of the bike roll on them. So for most of the day we were making sure we didn’t run over the thousands of pine cones that were all over the path in the long forest sections.

We came across a fascinating scene of a woodsman who was using old fashioned craft to trim by hand his large trees he had felled, from which he was making a good old fashioned log cabin. It was fabulous to watch.

The Neckar River valley is simply that – a narrow valley through which the narrow river cuts, with the thick forest covered mountainsides rising sharply from both sides of the river. This meant that if the bike path wandered from the rivers edge, it meant long steep climbs followed by long steep descents as it plummeted back to the river. Inside the forest it was dark, wet and cold, with the path mostly gravel but very slippery and occasionally muddy or covered in cattle dung.

We were so glad we didn’t have to face this leg to Horb the previous afternoon. The path was not always clear to follow, and much to our grief, we ended up about 5k up another river valley entirely before we realized that the signs to Horb were suddenly getting longer rather than shorter. We added some 10k to our trip, much to our disappointment if not disgust for the master map reader (KA) who has always been proud of his sense of direction.

We made it to Horb by late morning. What a beautiful place! The last several kilometers we gave up on the path and cruised the lovely, somewhat busy road into Horb. Just as we arrived on the outskirts, another touring cyclist came up alongside. He instantly recognized our accents, and then saw my Salvation Army cap. He was an Aussie of German descent who attends the Salvation Army at Ingle Farm in South Australia! His name is Dieter Fisher, and has been on the road for months now, including the USA. We enjoyed lunch with Dieter in this spectacularly beautiful town, before bidding farewell.

We then headed for Tubingen, just a further 35k for the day. The paths were better, mostly open farmlands and fields, but occasionally steep climbs in and out of forest. We were starting to get wonderful sights of castles on distant mountain tops, which were simply stunning! Also tempting were the wonderful, local farm stalls selling their produce along the bike path. Pity we could not carry the large pumpkins!

I stopped to talk with a lovely German couple who were doing several days of hiking from the home town down the river. We enjoyed wonderful conversation. I promised to put their photo on the blog, and hope they make it to Canberra sometime where we promise them warm Australian hospitality!

We came to yet another stunningly beautiful town called 'Rottenburg'. There was nothing rotten about this place. Rottenburg was again typical of the stunning beauty and glamour of the villages and towns along the Neckar.

Julie is riding really well now, but we feel that a 60k day is a good distance for a typical day, allowing for coffee/lunch stops and plenty of photo taking and sight- seeing. Today we pushed on to our goal of Tubingen, and were delighted to eventually see the ‘campingplatz’ just a few kilometers  before Tubingen on the Neckar River.

The Neckar is nothing of the proportions of the Rhine. It is a small river, but the beauty is in the many villages along the river. We have never seen an untidy house, and some scenes are simply breathtaking. Our tent for tonight is all set up. We have enjoyed massive meals for the least prices so far in Germany, at the camp kiosk. The meals were great if you liked pork, because only pork was on the menu. However, it was a superb end of day for two hungry touring cyclists.

We feel the divine hand upon us everyday. We commented today that we have always come across the right map when it was needed, the right place to stop, and so many things where we just feel that God’s invisible yet powerful hand has been guiding us along the way. As I was riding today, I was reflecting on the simple, well known verse “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. Today we go to bed within 50 metres of the beautiful Neckar River, in a small camping ground just south of Tubingen, but we rest tonight knowing “The Lord is my shepherd”. There is nothing else we need.

From the edge of the Black Forest, we send our love…..Kelvin & Julie

Day 10 - 27 September 2012 - Donaueschingen to Oberndorf - 66k

Day 10 – 27 September 2012 - Donaueschingen to Oberndorf – 66k

It rained, heavily, all night. Last evening we dined at the Riedsee Bistro, the eatery/pub at this incredible caravan park. All camping grounds that we have stayed at have been rather on the top end of luxury. The shower blocks are heated, the toilets and showers are very clean, and the facilities are excellent that always includes a licensed restaurant with plenty of activities for young and old.

This Reidsee Camping ground is some 3-4k into the dairy country to the east of Donaueschingen. It is a caravan ‘city’ – numbering more than 500 permanent vans that look more like a small town with streets, neat roads and street signs. The camp ground is alongside a massive lake, with swans and other birdlife that make it a magnificent setting for a holiday.

Last night we were the only diners in the Bistro. The German woman who looked after us could not speak English, and the menu was all in German, but somehow we managed. Julie ordered ‘Sweinn” and I had the ‘chicken thing with the long neck’ (this was the German girl’s explanation of turkey at the pub at Freiburg). The meals were superb. The German lady couldn’t do enough for us, all smiles, taking my computer to charge it while we ate. I offered her a tip at the end, and she flatly refused to take it. As it turns out, she was also the cook and took great pride in looking after us. She was the boss of the bistro, but for us that night she was a servant to us.

We woke to a very wet scene. The rain had stopped, but the grounds and tent were extremely wet. Our little tent is excellent though. It is a ‘3 man’ with good space, a separate bedroom area with an outer vestibule for sitting and eating if it is cold and/or wet.

We ‘dined inside’ for breakfast this morning, being both wet and cold outside. Julie slept snugly, but I was on the chill all night for some reason, and for some strange reason had one of those nights where thoughts could not be settled. We were all packed and ready for departure just after 9am, dressed for what was likely to be a cold day ahead.

We turned east out of the campground, and headed for a nearby village where the Danube picks up its name for the first time. We were then to pick up the bike path that headed west back to Donaueschingan, and then north to pick up the source of the Neckar River at Villingen –Schwenningen. Sadly, we had only gone about 1k to where we had to ride over the railway line into the nearby village where the bike path started, and workmen had blocked the entire rail crossing to do major repairs. They couldn’t care less about two Aussie cyclists who had no idea of an alternative route. We needed that bike path over the railway line. They just waved clearly with ‘no way’ and basically ‘don’t care’.

We turned back to go all the way back the long way to Donaueschingen, where hopefully we could find the path. All this was precious time ticking away with a long day ahead, and threatening weather. We made it to town, and with the map we had we made it through town but with so many bike path options, we were finding they were not clearly marked which one was for what direction. So we lost much time mucking around, doubling back, standing at bike crossways wondering which direction to take.

Eventually we felt confident that we were heading north, and found ourselves in open farmland of such incredible beauty. I promised Julie a downhill run all day today (rivers run downhill) but these fields were rolling so the bike path over them was more like a gentle roller coaster, with speeds sometimes up to 35kph, a pleasant change to the 12-15kph up the Rhine. We couldn’t complain though, except we wanted to keep stopping for photos, thus losing more precious time!

The country scenery was beautiful, with the sight of distant villages standing out against the dark distant back drop of the mountainous Black Forest skyline. We got to Villingen-Schwenningen but then lost the scent of the bike path through the town. These are large towns, with lots of bike paths that cross each other, and easy to get off on the ones going in other directions. This was our problem all day today.

We found the spring where the Neckar has its source, and then felt excited that we could now follow it as it gets larger. However, I don’t think we saw it again until mid afternoon. Leaving the town, we had help to find the path again, and then promptly lost it, so we followed our hunches and rode the roads as much as we could and headed for the next major town on the now growing Neckar river, called Rottweil.

We could not believe our eyes when we finally came into the main city square of Rottweil. It looked like something out of a movie set. The buildings were all coloured with lovely drawings on most of them. Everywhere we looked it was just a splendor to the eye.

At the Information Centre we also learned that Rottweil is also the home of the Rottweiler breed of dog! The old town was absolutely stunning, and we were reluctant to leave.

We were originally headed for Horb am Neckar, but we had lost so much time that we were thinking that we would have to find a place to stay along the river somewhere. Even leaving Rotweil with a map from the Information centre we got lost trying to link up with the right path. We asked another cyclist who was superbly friendly, who actually asked us to follow him (all in German, mind you!). It was a very hilly town, and he flew, making both Julie and I with our loaded bikes work overtime to keep up with him. The riding then became even more glorious. We were now tracking with the neckar, and we could sense the gradual dropping of altitude as the bike path tracked through think forest with dense, wet undergrowth, across open farms and fields, and even down massive slopes and around through dense forests on dirt muddy tracks – wherever the Neckar flowed, we followed it.

We were watching the signs to Oberndorf getting closer, which would give us about 66k for the day, so we decided that when we got there we would find a place to stay. We passed through numerous tiny villages with spectacular views of church spires and always the backdrop of the high thick dark trees of the Black forest. Following the path was now mostly easy, because the river was always in sight, small as the river is still at this point.

Rolling finally into Oberndorf, we found the Information centre. The staff we find have just minimal English, but enough to answer our questions and understand us. We scored our first ‘Zimmer’ right in the centre of town, and right on the bike path for an easy departure tomorrow morning.

Just as we checked in it poured for about an hour. We felt so grateful to be inside. Actually, Julie rode really well today, the last nine days of cycling being good training. Both of us tonight though feel quite weary, so instead of eating out, we feasted on whatever we had on board. As I type, she is sleeping soundly. I am not far off either. We are both well, and happy being together.

I have thought a lot today about the lady who served us and cooked for us in the bistro last night. She was the boss, but we would not have known. She didn’t have to tell us she was boss, but she took the part of a servant, and we had such admiration and respect for her that we would have done anything for her in return.

It has made me think about the words of Jesus. When the mother of two of his disciples asked for special privileges for her two sons in heaven, Jesus spoke about those in authority who ‘lord’ it over others. Looking at his own disciples, he said “it is not so with you – whoever among you wishes for greatness shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave”. (Matthew 20:25).

Genuine greatness  is not in needing to remind others that you are boss. Like the lovely lady last night, her servant attitude and humble manner elevated her to greatness in our eyes. It was a great example for reflection upon today.

From the lovely hamlet of Oberndorf high up along the Neckar River in the Black Forest, we send our love.

Kelvin and Julie