It was a cool misty morning as we rolled away from the beautiful medieval village of Bad Mergentheim. As we had come to expect, our host, Vanya, was the perfect example of grace and courtesy to us. We were the only guests in the Hotel. Our breakfast had been lovingly prepared, and Vanya was waiting for us as we entered for the final breakfast in this lovely place. We had actually had a celebration dinner the night before in the Greek restaurant, sharing the wonderful sea food platter on the menu, followed by sharing a slice of Baklava which was simply heavenly. Vanya was there to see us off, and also ready for us for breakfast. She was a fine host.
Just as we were about to leave to pack our bikes, she told us it was a public holiday throughout Germany, celebrating the twenty years since the Berlin Wall came down. The reuniting of Germany is very important to all Germans, so it was a national holiday. She thought it might be hard for us to buy lunch along the way, so kindly put together a lunch pack of crisp rolls, cheeses and meats for us. She has just been too good. We were sad to leave.
It was about 9am when we finally rolled out of town, later than we had planned. We crossed the railway line, riding for a final time through the middle of the great Schloss (castle), past the lovely Schloss café where we had sat in the warm sun for coffee, and finally turning out through the wonderful park which eventually led us out into rural Germany. The mist was low, making the distant villages through the mist a most enchanting sight, especially the beautiful village church spires as they poked their way through the distant mist.
We would be following the Tauber River most of today, on what is known as the ‘Romantic Strasse’ (road) most of the way to Dinkelsbuhl, some 91k away, or so we thought. The first few villages came and went easily, although we were conscious that we were ever so gradually rising in elevation the further we went (rivers run downhill, and we were cycling toward the source of the Tauber in the southern heights of Germany). For many kilometers the path was wide as we travelled through large open fields, with villages in the distance gradually appearing. At other times were in dense, cold forest riding through what seemed like a shower of leaves as they constantly fell from the huge trees hanging over us.
We paused at one stage on a very high ledge as the path took us up a very long, steep slope overlooking a beautiful village far below. A farmer was harvesting his apples from his many apple trees on the side of the steep slope. He would shake the tree violently with a long pole with a hook until all the apples had fallen to the ground, then he and his wife would bag the thousands of apples for market. We were as intrigued to watch this spectacle as we were to enjoy the scenery of the distant village through the trees.
We found it hard going today for some reason, mainly we think because we seemed to be gradually gaining in altitude all the time. At times the countryside was far from flat, with many long pulls on the bike as we climbed away from villages set in the hollows. We were not without our gentle runs downhill either, but we seemed to be more frequently hauling up long slopes.
We loved stopping at villages to enjoy the scenes. Bridges especially take our attention, as do the sights of the tall spires of the many churches we see. We were aiming for the ancient town of Rothenburg am der Tauber, which is probably the best example of an original walled town apart from Dinkelsbuhl, our destination for tonight.
Just before Rothenburg, we lost the scent of the bike path. It became very confusing, and on advice we took the walking path to Rothenburg, the shortest route, but it was near vertical! The surface was gravel, and it was basically impossible to cycle, being extremely steep and loose. Pushing weighted bikes up very long hills is no fun. I went a fair way, leaned my bike against a tree on the edge of a long drop over, and went back to help Julie. While I was gone, the bike rolled, and fell over off the edge, almost upside down with all the weighted bags. It was a massive task to lift it all back again.
Once over the top, the full beauty of this model ancient medieval walled town of Rothenburg was revealed. It was built on top of the hill, but also down the slope as well, so as we entered from the top, the streets and even the centre marketplatz, all entirely cobbled, was on a serious slope, making it very awkward also to hold the bikes back as we walked them over the lengthy cobbled streets and laneways as we made our way through. We gave up riding on cobbles. It shakes the bikes too much, and the wheels are not entirely secure on the large smooth stones.
It was a great atmosphere in the central market, with massive crowds, a large brass band, and all too sadly, many drunk US Marines obviously in town on leave. It was surprising they were not arrested. They appeared to be on the edge of doing dumb violent things. They were very close to us as we sat on steps eating lunch in the marketplatz.
We were really running late now as we left for the final 40k or so for Dinkelsbuhl. The path was not clearly signed, which was surprising for such a popular cycle tourist route. The terrain also became very steep, and the path mostly gravel. So it seemed all against us. As the hours of the afternoon ticked away, we didn’t have confidence that we were on the best path, or in the right direction. It was certainly tough going with the terrain, and we were then getting mixed signals that we may have had further to go than we originally had anticipated.
After 4:30pm we were becoming quite alarmed. People were rare, and it wasn’t easy when asking direction because we found no one speaking English. We had resolved there was no way we could really make Dinkelsbuhl by dusk. We came to a section of path that took us into deep forest, and it was extremely steep with very loose gravel. It was impossible to cycle safely, especially on the occasionally downhill sections. We were somewhat forlorn, but not entirely without all hope.
We were keen to get to the town of Feuchtwangen. Try pronouncing that and be understood in German! We came to a village which we thought was finally it, but which turned out to be a village some 8k east of where we should have been! Don’t ask how all this can happen on a marked bike path, but the path today had no signs pointing to next towns, as we have had since leaving Frankfurt. All too often there are multiple bike paths going in different directions, all showing a bike and an arrow. It was Russian roulette on a bike!
Once we knew how to reach Feuchtwangen, we hit the road. It was shared lane with traffic, but it was glorious riding. After 80k of mostly tough unsealed path, Julie was flying too, the last 2k into Feuchtwangen was a rapid descent at quite high speed, but dusk was almost upon us.
If ever we needed a miracle, it was now. We rolled into the city centre, resolved we would not make our booked accommodation at Dinkelsbuhl, unless we could get a bus or something, which seemed unlikely. Our bikes stopped outside the Information Centre. Julie noticed a light in the office. It was after 6:30pm! I went in, spoke in fluent German explaining that I couldn’t speak German, and the lovely Katrina smiled and spoke in beautiful English! She said it was another 27k to Dinkelsbuhl by the so called ‘Romantic Strasse’ (to which we kept thinking – nothing romantic about that road!). She told us the obvious – we can’t do it – it will be too dark.
It is embarrassing to confess, but…….I asked a very silly question. “Would there likely be a taxi in town that could take both our bikes and all our gear to Dinkelsbuhl?” Yes, she said, no problem. I will call for you. Call she did – in minutes, this incredible woman turned up in a small station wagon. I could not see how we could fit one bike let alone two – but she smiled – she couldn’t speak English, but down went the seats and in went the bikes head first, one on top of the other, plus the bags and still with a seat for Julie and me.
Katrina told us the Information Centre had been closed all day due to the public holiday. She was only in the office by ‘chance’ – 5 mins either side of when we arrived, we would not have found her. We sensed the divine hand in this for us. Some people believe in miracles – we are two of them!
We loved the taxi ride. By road, it was 13k. It was dark by the time we hit Dinkelsbuhl, and we chatted to this amazing woman taxi driver all the way – she in German and us in English but we managed to comprehend. She was a true God-send, and tonight we are in the most amazing old Hotel that I had booked on the net – the 15th century (!) Hotel Goldner Hirsch. It is over 400 years old. Our room is large and lovely. The ceiling is very low, just above door height! We have a couch as well as a very large double bed. Martina our host welcomed us, showed us to our room, carried our gear, asked about what time we would like breakfast then left us to it.
We had little appetite, but we ordered a Curry Liverworst sausage with ‘pommes’ (fries) and coffee. After a very long day, 10 hours, in the saddle, it was a most enjoyable way to celebrate our arrival in the most beautiful example of an authentic, historic German walled city. As we laid in bed reflecting on the day, I couldn’t help but say to Julie “people pay a lot of money to belong to a gym, and still don’t get as much exercise as we did today”.
We have met some wonderful German people today. I often reflect personally on the verse from the creation stories of the scripture. The verse that simply says that mankind was “made in the image of God”. Whether we like it or not, every person has some mark of the divine, some tell-tale quality or characteristic of the nature of God. We can’t help it. We were made this way, and as far as you may think you are from a Godly life, you cannot hide the telling signs of the qualities of the divine in every human being. Today we saw this in many people. The Bible tells us that through Christ’s invisible work in us, the qualities of the Maker become more evident and profound. At the end of a long day in the saddle, this writer is grateful for the opportunity to reflect something of the nature of the divine to the world.
This is the scene from our bedroom window. From the very beautiful medieval village of Dinkelsbuhl, we send our love.
Kelvin and Julie
You two are amazing.
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