Visa Card
Left Hu's place at 11:00
The first 5 km where all downhill - great!
I had a short day, again, so I planned to do a bit of geocaching. The first cache was awesome. It was hidden at an old bridge which crossed the Rihne before the second world war. I couldn't find the cache. Then I realised it was hidden on the last bit of the bridge, still standing. I finally found a place to climb it, probably illegal, but very interesting. Nature had taken over on top of the bridge. Trees and plants were everywhere. The cache was quickly found, and logged.
The official Rhine bike route looked boring; to far from the Rhine. Garmin's suggestion was even worse. So I found my own route following the Rhine, and visiting a few caches. The weather was perfect, and the road/ track I found was perfect to, so no worries at all.
I moved really slow though, but I had no rush.
My host, Leif, in Mainz wasn't home until 22, so I had time for some sightseeing and visiting a internet cafe.
I actually got involved in a bit of action in downtown Mainz. A homeless man was sitting on the pedestrian walk. He was sleeping, and had two big knives hanging out of his pants. A German girl and I tried to wake him up. He had some big wounds on his hands. Someone had already called the police, but we decided to call an ambulance instead. So both a police car and an ambulance came. They all put on masks, which I found wired. I wanted to leave, but the police wanted to talk with me. Apparently this man had a dangerous disease, so they asked me if I had touched or talked with the man. I hadn't, so the ambulance crew me go.
I got to Leifs place at 22:15.
My visa card hasn't made it to Mainz though. I've already got a couch tomorrow south from Mainz, so if it's not in the mail box tomorrow, I might travel a bit a round near Mainz.
The name on the mailbox wasn't that easy to spot, so my card might be on it's way back to Denmark.
I've found a few banks that accepts the chip, so the problem is not big anymore, but still nice to be able to pay with the card, and much cheaper.
Leif turned out to be a kiwi, so we had a long chat before going to bed at around 2am.
torsdag den 30. september 2010
onsdag den 29. september 2010
Day 32
Had a great breakfast with Nadine and a guest. I left their place at 11:30 and headed for Waldalgesheim close to Bingen. Well really close, but still quite a climb to get up there. My host, Hu, wrote directions and actually explained how to take a bus to his place. With the bike. So this morning I was trying to convince Bob not to take the bus, but climb the mountain. It was only a short day...
Well, getting to Bingen was easy. I actually found the bus station, b
ut then again. No way!
I was lucky to find a bike path going pretty much directly to Hu's place, and the hill was much easier to climb than yesterday. I found a lot of chessnuts on my way. Perfect for dinner.
Got to Hu's place at around 15. I had some food, and afterwards we went on a mushroom hunt in a nearby forest. We also went to a great lookout point with a perfect view. Before driving home we had a beer at a restaurant in the forest. We found lots of good mushrooms, and had some of them for dinner. Very good, and I learned a lot from Hu, who knew alot about mushrooms.
After dinner we saw the German version of x-factor. Totally as the Danish version.
Tomorrow I'm heading to Mainz. My visa card is waiting there at a couchsurfer, or that's what I hope for... :)
Well, getting to Bingen was easy. I actually found the bus station, b
ut then again. No way!
I was lucky to find a bike path going pretty much directly to Hu's place, and the hill was much easier to climb than yesterday. I found a lot of chessnuts on my way. Perfect for dinner.
Got to Hu's place at around 15. I had some food, and afterwards we went on a mushroom hunt in a nearby forest. We also went to a great lookout point with a perfect view. Before driving home we had a beer at a restaurant in the forest. We found lots of good mushrooms, and had some of them for dinner. Very good, and I learned a lot from Hu, who knew alot about mushrooms.
After dinner we saw the German version of x-factor. Totally as the Danish version.
Tomorrow I'm heading to Mainz. My visa card is waiting there at a couchsurfer, or that's what I hope for... :)
mandag den 27. september 2010
Day 31
Yoga and Federweiser
Left Heides place at 8:00.
She left for work one hour earlier, so I had everything for myself.
I had a short day, so I went in to Koblenz city. I wanted to check out an outdoor shop. They didn't open until 10. It was quite a cold morning, so I found a cafe and had a coffee.
At the shop I went on shop amok mode. They had Fjällräven clothes on sale. So I bought jeans, a jacket and shoes. All things will handle the colder weather better that the stuff I brought from Denmark.
I left Koblenz at 11. Still in good time. I was following some signs saying "Rhein Steig". Stupid me thought that was the bike path following the Rihneriver. Well, I was following a river. Garmin complained as usual, but I followed the track for about 4 km. Then I realised, this river is definitely not the Rhine. I had a closer look on Garmin. Yep, I was following the wrong river... So I went back to the Rhine again. Following the Rhine was beautiful. The bike paths were not as good as on the Mosel, but they might be better on the other side of the river.
I had a couch in Saurthal with two girl. They run a yoga clinic, and via mail I was invited to join the evening group. So today I was trying to remember what yoga exactly is...
Time would tell...
On the way I bought a 2 litter plastic bottle with federweisser. Bob wasn't pleased with having alcohol strapped to him for the rest of the day. I bought it 30 km from my host. Not the most clever thing to do, cause they were selling it everywhere.
I knew I had to climb in the end of the day, but I didn't expect a hill like the one I met. The start of it had a degree of 25%. I was even struggling pushing Bob up that hill. It got better, but still very steep, so I mainly pushed Bob up this 3 km long hill. Nadine, one of my hosts, was home, and welcomed me with fresh springwater from Saurthals own spring. It's even sparkling - don't know how that's done underground. But great taste.
Nadine had her first yoga class at 17:30, so I had time to get organised, and preper my desert.
Between Nadines yoga classes we had desert. I joined the last yoga class.
The first, and last part was great. Lying on a mattress listening to bells. The middle part was also great, but in another way. Stretching my body in ways I didn't think possible. Definitely good for my body. Bikeriding might be healthy, but it's pretty static - compared with yoga.
Nadine and I ended the day with a few glasses of Federweisser. She's gonna get up at six to meditate. I think I'll pass...
Tomorrow is probably gonna be the shortest day on my trip. Nice way to celebrate one month of travelling. A couchsurfer that wanted to host me yesterday, wanted to meet Bob and I, so we will go there tomorrow. Basically it's just across the Rhine, so I have to catch a ferry. And I'm afraid he lives 450 metres uphill... He wrote there is a bus going up there, but that would be cheating, right?
Left Heides place at 8:00.
She left for work one hour earlier, so I had everything for myself.
I had a short day, so I went in to Koblenz city. I wanted to check out an outdoor shop. They didn't open until 10. It was quite a cold morning, so I found a cafe and had a coffee.
At the shop I went on shop amok mode. They had Fjällräven clothes on sale. So I bought jeans, a jacket and shoes. All things will handle the colder weather better that the stuff I brought from Denmark.
I left Koblenz at 11. Still in good time. I was following some signs saying "Rhein Steig". Stupid me thought that was the bike path following the Rihneriver. Well, I was following a river. Garmin complained as usual, but I followed the track for about 4 km. Then I realised, this river is definitely not the Rhine. I had a closer look on Garmin. Yep, I was following the wrong river... So I went back to the Rhine again. Following the Rhine was beautiful. The bike paths were not as good as on the Mosel, but they might be better on the other side of the river.
I had a couch in Saurthal with two girl. They run a yoga clinic, and via mail I was invited to join the evening group. So today I was trying to remember what yoga exactly is...
Time would tell...
On the way I bought a 2 litter plastic bottle with federweisser. Bob wasn't pleased with having alcohol strapped to him for the rest of the day. I bought it 30 km from my host. Not the most clever thing to do, cause they were selling it everywhere.
I knew I had to climb in the end of the day, but I didn't expect a hill like the one I met. The start of it had a degree of 25%. I was even struggling pushing Bob up that hill. It got better, but still very steep, so I mainly pushed Bob up this 3 km long hill. Nadine, one of my hosts, was home, and welcomed me with fresh springwater from Saurthals own spring. It's even sparkling - don't know how that's done underground. But great taste.
Nadine had her first yoga class at 17:30, so I had time to get organised, and preper my desert.
Between Nadines yoga classes we had desert. I joined the last yoga class.
The first, and last part was great. Lying on a mattress listening to bells. The middle part was also great, but in another way. Stretching my body in ways I didn't think possible. Definitely good for my body. Bikeriding might be healthy, but it's pretty static - compared with yoga.
Nadine and I ended the day with a few glasses of Federweisser. She's gonna get up at six to meditate. I think I'll pass...
Tomorrow is probably gonna be the shortest day on my trip. Nice way to celebrate one month of travelling. A couchsurfer that wanted to host me yesterday, wanted to meet Bob and I, so we will go there tomorrow. Basically it's just across the Rhine, so I have to catch a ferry. And I'm afraid he lives 450 metres uphill... He wrote there is a bus going up there, but that would be cheating, right?
søndag den 26. september 2010
Day 30
New record, and a perfect coincidence tomorrow.
I new I had a long day ahead of me, so I left early.
The GPS said 61 km in bird line. Didn't sound to bad, but.....
30 km, and some Mosel corners later, the GPS said 51 km to go.
I knew this, but still... :)
The weather was good. I only had a few showers.
Again, the bike paths were awesome. Flat, and very easy to follow. It was Sunday, so quite alot of people were out. There was lots of people collecting walnuts. Again I managed to collect a bag for my host, Heide, in Koblenz.
I had a little accident this morning. I got on my bike, and heard this ritzh sound. I had made a hole in my shorts - on the back side of me. The hole got bigger during the day, and must have given people a free laugh.
I got to Heides place at 17. Both my GPS and my phone had stopped counting the km's, but I did at least 134 km today. A bit to much, but also a good day for breaking the record. Nice and flat.
Heide had read my request, and served some great leftovers, and with that, we had white wine from the Mosel valley - perfect!
I borrowed Heides internet, and made some requests heading south following the Rhine. And with two long days along the Mosel, what would be the best tomorrow. Well, visiting two girls with their own yoga clinic of course... See their homepage here:
http://www.yogaklangundtherapie.de/19BG.htm
I new I had a long day ahead of me, so I left early.
The GPS said 61 km in bird line. Didn't sound to bad, but.....
30 km, and some Mosel corners later, the GPS said 51 km to go.
I knew this, but still... :)
The weather was good. I only had a few showers.
Again, the bike paths were awesome. Flat, and very easy to follow. It was Sunday, so quite alot of people were out. There was lots of people collecting walnuts. Again I managed to collect a bag for my host, Heide, in Koblenz.
I had a little accident this morning. I got on my bike, and heard this ritzh sound. I had made a hole in my shorts - on the back side of me. The hole got bigger during the day, and must have given people a free laugh.
I got to Heides place at 17. Both my GPS and my phone had stopped counting the km's, but I did at least 134 km today. A bit to much, but also a good day for breaking the record. Nice and flat.
Heide had read my request, and served some great leftovers, and with that, we had white wine from the Mosel valley - perfect!
I borrowed Heides internet, and made some requests heading south following the Rhine. And with two long days along the Mosel, what would be the best tomorrow. Well, visiting two girls with their own yoga clinic of course... See their homepage here:
http://www.yogaklangundtherapie.de/19BG.htm
lørdag den 25. september 2010
Day 29
Johannes flatmate, Jutta, was the only one of my hosts I saw this morning. I said goodbye, and headed for the trainstation. At the station was a bike shop, where I had my bike checked. After 1500 km I thought it was a good idea to have a service check. They usually need the bike for a day or two, but they were really nice, and i had the bike and Bob, back after half an hour. Price: 12€
I headed towards Koblenz following the Mosel river. I've realised that following a river is beautiful, but also makes it a little harder to make couch requests. There is not many couchsurfers living at the riverside. There is often plenty outside the valley, but that means quite alot if climbing, which Bob doesn't like. So today I had three different youth hostels I was aiming at. And a few couch requests that I didn't get any replies on.
I quickly realised that it was definitely the first youth hostel I was aiming at.
I pretty much drove on bike paths the hole day. There were signs everywhere, and no hills. I collected plenty of apples, walnuts and when I hit the Mosel, I tried so grapes to. I went through two cities were there was celebration of winter is coming (I think).
In one of these cities I had Fedderweiser, which is very young wine, still with bubbles. Pretty sweet.
I hit Bernkastel-keus at around 17. I went to the address of the youth hostel, or well I thought I did, but again, I had missed a slightly difference in the streetname. A friendly man smiled when I asked for the jugenherberg. He went out on the street with me, and pointed up on top of the closest mountain. " da" he said, and laughed. It was 6 km, and all going up, so I looked for other options. Well, in Germany, and especially in Bernkastel-keus, there is a lot of houses with "zimmer frei" signs. I drove around in the neighbourhood, and checked out the houses. Crazy how picky I suddenly was. I finally picked one, but they had no zimmer. I found a few more with same result. Strange now they had a sign with "frei".
I finally found a place. A "bike and bet" place. I got my own room with six beds. Really nice place, and the price is only 18€
I went out for dinner and had German junkfood. With that I had a beer with cola. Yak, that product will probably never make it.
The junkfood place even had internet connection, so I made some requests in Koblenz. One hour later I had a couch - great!
It will be a pretty long day tomorrow, but I'll leave early, and following the Mosel all the way to the Rhine.
I headed towards Koblenz following the Mosel river. I've realised that following a river is beautiful, but also makes it a little harder to make couch requests. There is not many couchsurfers living at the riverside. There is often plenty outside the valley, but that means quite alot if climbing, which Bob doesn't like. So today I had three different youth hostels I was aiming at. And a few couch requests that I didn't get any replies on.
I quickly realised that it was definitely the first youth hostel I was aiming at.
I pretty much drove on bike paths the hole day. There were signs everywhere, and no hills. I collected plenty of apples, walnuts and when I hit the Mosel, I tried so grapes to. I went through two cities were there was celebration of winter is coming (I think).
In one of these cities I had Fedderweiser, which is very young wine, still with bubbles. Pretty sweet.
I hit Bernkastel-keus at around 17. I went to the address of the youth hostel, or well I thought I did, but again, I had missed a slightly difference in the streetname. A friendly man smiled when I asked for the jugenherberg. He went out on the street with me, and pointed up on top of the closest mountain. " da" he said, and laughed. It was 6 km, and all going up, so I looked for other options. Well, in Germany, and especially in Bernkastel-keus, there is a lot of houses with "zimmer frei" signs. I drove around in the neighbourhood, and checked out the houses. Crazy how picky I suddenly was. I finally picked one, but they had no zimmer. I found a few more with same result. Strange now they had a sign with "frei".
I finally found a place. A "bike and bet" place. I got my own room with six beds. Really nice place, and the price is only 18€
I went out for dinner and had German junkfood. With that I had a beer with cola. Yak, that product will probably never make it.
The junkfood place even had internet connection, so I made some requests in Koblenz. One hour later I had a couch - great!
It will be a pretty long day tomorrow, but I'll leave early, and following the Mosel all the way to the Rhine.
fredag den 24. september 2010
Day 28
What formed the mountains...
This morning I had breakfast with the family in Schiedgen. Johnny took Samuel to school, and afterwards he was of to buy a new car, a Skoda. He advised me to go by a nearby bike track. It was a great start. I went downhill for about 7 km, and with a perfect angle. I didn't have to do anything apart from steering.
Today I got to see what formed this great country, water.
I had allday rain, so I made some extra requests closer to my location.
I didn't get any positive replies, so I did a few extra ones. A Johannes from Trier answered immediately. Great!
I followed the river all day, and even though it was raining, it was very beautiful.
I've uploaded photos from my trip to facebook. Follow the link from the frontpage.
Johannes and some of his flatmate welcomed me at around 16. I had a nice warm shower, and something to eat. Afterwards I went shopping with Jutta, a flatmate to Johnny.
In the evening we plaied a game with the flatmates, it was good fun.
Tomorrow I'm following the Mossel river, and the weather should be nicer.
This morning I had breakfast with the family in Schiedgen. Johnny took Samuel to school, and afterwards he was of to buy a new car, a Skoda. He advised me to go by a nearby bike track. It was a great start. I went downhill for about 7 km, and with a perfect angle. I didn't have to do anything apart from steering.
Today I got to see what formed this great country, water.
I had allday rain, so I made some extra requests closer to my location.
I didn't get any positive replies, so I did a few extra ones. A Johannes from Trier answered immediately. Great!
I followed the river all day, and even though it was raining, it was very beautiful.
I've uploaded photos from my trip to facebook. Follow the link from the frontpage.
Johannes and some of his flatmate welcomed me at around 16. I had a nice warm shower, and something to eat. Afterwards I went shopping with Jutta, a flatmate to Johnny.
In the evening we plaied a game with the flatmates, it was good fun.
Tomorrow I'm following the Mossel river, and the weather should be nicer.
torsdag den 23. september 2010
Day 27
Hiking in little Switzerland, Luxembourg
I just had one fabulous resting day with Rien and Jonna, so I didn't really plan on staying an extra night Scheidgen (L)
But after meeting Johnny and Joelle, and their gorgeous kids + au pair, it just felt very tempting, and natural, to stay an extra day.
There was lots to do in the this area, which is well known for some great hiking routes.
So I took of this morning, without Bob, great!
Johnny inspired me to some of the tracks. I was also inspired by some of the many geocaches.
Fuji was really working today. There was so many nice spots.
I did around 40 km biking and hiking today. I also went to a post office to send home some stuff I haven't been using. Nice to get rid of that. I've also managed to get an address in Mainz, Germany. So hopefully my visa card will wait there, when I get there.
Back home in Scheidgen I hat another great evening with the family.
Tomorrow Germany is waiting again.
I just had one fabulous resting day with Rien and Jonna, so I didn't really plan on staying an extra night Scheidgen (L)
But after meeting Johnny and Joelle, and their gorgeous kids + au pair, it just felt very tempting, and natural, to stay an extra day.
There was lots to do in the this area, which is well known for some great hiking routes.
So I took of this morning, without Bob, great!
Johnny inspired me to some of the tracks. I was also inspired by some of the many geocaches.
Fuji was really working today. There was so many nice spots.
I did around 40 km biking and hiking today. I also went to a post office to send home some stuff I haven't been using. Nice to get rid of that. I've also managed to get an address in Mainz, Germany. So hopefully my visa card will wait there, when I get there.
Back home in Scheidgen I hat another great evening with the family.
Tomorrow Germany is waiting again.
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