Postscript: some post-ride fun and games, part 1

Transitioning off a trip like this is always a bit of a challenge for me.  We develop such a consistent routine: breakfast, ride, clean up and wash clothes, dinner, and then repeat that it's a bit jarring to stop the routine and switch to something else.

Thursday we said goodbye to Mainz and, with our backpacks but no bike, took the train an hour or so to Frankfurt.  I had an appointment 8 am Friday at the consulate to replace my passport so we'd booked a hotel just a short walk away.  Dealing with the bureaucracy there was straightforward but tedious (lots of waiting around between steps) but by 10 I was back at the hotel with a new temporary passport. 

We have to be in Dublin in a bit less than a week for our niece's wedding, so we had a few days for something different.  After spending a lot of time looking at maps and schedules for trains and ferries, and discussing the pros and cons of various areas, we decided to head for the Snowdonia National Park area in Wales.

In anticipation of passport success we'd already booked tickets on the Eurostar (high speed train) from Brussels for Saturday, so all we had to do was get to Brussels on Friday.  That was a bit of an ordeal. First, light rail to the Frankfurt station, then a train back to Mainz (which was running behind), then another train to Cologne (also delayed), and finally one more to Brussels.  Unfortunately the delays on the first two brought us to Cologne after our next train had departed.  We were able to get on one an hour later, without reserved seats, but we were able to find a couple of open seats and were in Brussels in time for a late dinner.  It was only a 20 minute walk from the train station to our hotel in the pedestrian-only city center.

Brussels on a Friday night was jumping.  The area around our hotel was packed with restaurants and bars, and it seemed everyone was out.  We found a nice place outside for mussels, and a waiter who smiled indulgently at my attempts at French.  First picture is a sign outside a pub, for my friends who like double IPAs (you know who you are).

Saturday morning we walked another 20 minutes to a different train station for the Eurostar: two comfortable hours from Brussels to London's St. Pancras station, with passage under the Channel.  A short walk to Euston station and we were on another train west to the small town of Crewe: nothing remarkable but it allowed us to break up the long trip to Wales.

And yesterday (Sunday) we had just a couple of hours on a train to Bangor, then a 30 minute bus ride to Llanberis at the foot of the mountains.  We had some time to walk around the village a bit, and stop for a beer at a nice pub: outdoor seating with the Formula 1 race on the big screen.  And no, that's not Guinness.

Most of the terrain we explored on the bike was pretty flat (a good thing on a tandem) but we are mountain people and it's good to be back in terrain with some vertical relief.  We'll stay here for a few days before the ferry to Dublin for our niece's wedding.

Rüdesheim to Mainz

Today's ride took us back to our starting point in Mainz.  Mostly easy riding on cycle paths alongside the Rhine, with a couple of detours around construction that put us along town streets.  In Schierstein we stopped for a bit by a boat harbor; just sat a on a park bench and watched the world go by.

We crossed the bridge back to Mainz about 1:30, and then had a fairly straight shot up city streets to our hotel.  32 km for the day.

We retrieved our backpacks (which arrived about a week after we started biking, and had been sitting in the hotel ever since), took a quick shower, and then got to work disassembling and packing the bike and gear.  Finished in an hour and half, which I think is a new record time.  Rather than drag the two heavy suitcases around for the non-cycling remainder of our trip, we've arranged for them to be picked up at the hotel and shipped home.

Some fellow cycle tourers from Switzerland, who we had seen that morning at our hotel in Rudesheim, arrived while we were working on the bike to bring their own bikes into the cycle room.  They were fascinated to see the tandem fitting into two suitcases: one of them chased after his wife and another friend to bring them back to see it.

After packing the bike I needed another shower (it's hot and dirty work), then off into Mainz for a couple of errands and dinner.

Sankt Goar to Rüdesheim

Another easy day as we wind down the bike tour.  Just past Sankt Goar we stopped at the Lorelei, a large rock outcrop over a sharp bend in the river.  Back in the day this was a tricky section to navigate due to shifting winds, currents, eddys. and some shoals.  One legend is that Lorelei was a young woman who, despondent over faithless lovers, threw herself off the rock to her death.  She subsequently took the form of a maiden with long blond hair, singing softly from the rock to distract sailors and lead them to distraction and death.

So many old towns and castles along this section of the Rhine.

This one is on an island in the middle of the river

This old tower is right by the cycle path at the edge of a village.  The painting is on a nearby house.

Early afternoon we took a ferry across from Bingen to Rüdesheim am Rhein: 30 km for the day.  We were expecting someplace smaller and quieter but it turns out this is a major tourist stop.  The clerk in our hotel said they generally get 3-4 million visitors per year (Ashland was at about one-tenth that number pre-Covid).  We are in the heart of the Rhine wine region, and there are wine shops, wine bars, and tasting rooms everywhere. 

The vineyards start right above the town and run as far as the eye can see.

Rhens to Sankt Goar

With high temps and thunderstorms starting at 1 pm in the forecast we planned a short day today.  Clear skies in the morning so we took our time moving up the Rhine.  This section of the Rhine Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage site for all the historic towns and castles.  

We stopped at a park in Boppard just to watch the world go by.  Note cruise ship docked in the background of the first picture.

Even with dawdling we arrived at our destination of St. Goar before 1; 26 km for the day.  

Our room wasn't ready yet, so we changed out of our bike shoes and took off on foot to explore the nearby castle Burg Rheinfels.  The walk up was steep but not long, and well worth the hike.  The castle dates from 1245 and was expanded from fortress to residence over the following centuries.  It changed hands in multiple battles over its lifetime and was finally mostly blown up and destroyed by French troops in 1796.  Visitors are given a map and free reign to wander around the ruins.

Looking down on St. Goar.  Two cruise ships are passing each other; this section of the Rhine is full of them.

The forecast rain never really showed up: only a few drops.  Looking across the river from our hotel:

And today's beer:

Bad Hönningen to Rhens

A surprisingly easy 45 km day today.  We started by taking the ferry back across to Bad Breisig, and picked up the path right along the river.  Not much farmland: it's mostly small towns and some smaller industrial areas which were thankfully bypassed by the cycle route.  Because of high temps in the forecast we weren't making a lot of unnecessary stops.  Many old castles and large old homes dot the hillsides, and we were seeing vineyards climbing up the hills again.

At Koblenz we took a bridge across the Mosel, and then spent a few kilometers weaving through the many pedestrians enjoying a Sunday in the parks along the Mosel and Rhine in the city.  A few km south of Koblenz we stopped for cake and water at a little biergarten (same one we'd stopped at on the way north a month ago).  From there it was only about 6 km to our hotel in the small village of Rhens.  We rolled in by 3, with the temperature already in the high 80s.

Rhens is a small and historic village, with many buildings in the center dating from the 17th and 18th centuries and remnants of the city wall from the 14th.  After cleaning up we were able to walk around a bit.  There are only a couple of restaurants in town; we opted for the one where reviews raved about the chicken.  It was very tasty albeit basic: half a chicken plus a slice of rye bread.  

Afterwards we walked to a nearby kebap house, next to a pub, where we could order salads from the former and beer from the latter.  So convenient.

Pub on the right, kebap on the left

Cologne to Königswinter, and then on to Bad Hönningen

Yesterday we rode from Cologne to the small town of Königswinter.  We'd picked our destination largely based on distance: we are winding down our days for the tour and trying to balance out our remaining kilometers.  As well as keep an eye on the weather: a couple of hot days and thunderstorms in the forecast.

Getting out of Cologne was straightforward: one bridge across the river and we were quickly on the bike route.  Most of the way was easy pedaling through a mix of farmland and small villages.  Even passing by Bonn was very straightforward.  We saw some industrial sites but only in the distance.  46 km for the day.

Königswinter turned out to be a cool older town.  Once we got cleaned up we headed off to see the Drachenfels, ruins of an old castle dating from the thirteenth century outside of town.  Beethoven apparently spent a lot of time walking around these hills.  There's a fun little cog rail car to take visitors up the hill, and from the top there are great views up and down the Rhine, as well as into the surrounding country.  Unfortunately it was very hazy when we went up so the views were limited.  We could just barely make out the cathedral in Cologne.

Walking back down the hill to town we passed the Drachenburg castle, which started out as a private residence in the late 1800s but is now a museum.

Another new beer, at an excellent fish restaurant.

Today we continued up the Rhine a short distance to Bad Hönningen.  Mostly great riding on paths along or near the river.  This section of the Rhine Valley is chock full of castles and large old homes overlooking the river.

At Erpel we took a small ferry across to Remagen, site of an historic battle in 1945 as the Allies were advancing through Germany.  Before heading down to the ferry we spent a little time walking around Erpel, which has many buildings dating back to medieval times.  

In the central square we met a couple, about our age, who stopped us to ask about Ellen's glasses-mounted rear view mirror (though common in the US, these are unknown in Germany and people often stop us to ask about it).  When we told them we were from Oregon, she said she'd been there in 1980; it turns out she traveled to the US to join the Rajneeshpuram commune in Wasco County.  Small world.

Bike and pedestrian ferry across to Remagen

Remains of the bridge at Remagen (not rebuilt after the war)

Shortly after Remagen we had a long detour away from the Rhine because this year's flooding had taken out the bike path bridge over the Ahr River.  We continued south to the tourist-packed town of Bad Breisig, then took another ferry across to Bad Hönningen where we'd reserved a room at a small pension.  30 km for the day.