Day 2 - Fields and a castle

Friday, July 4th 2014  -  Day 2

Steinheim to Neckarsulm

49.4 km,  98.4 km so far

elevation gains:  406 meters

Tracks for today: Svens house back to the radweg 

To Neckarsulm

Sunshine all day, temp from 23 to mid 30's 

Time travelling - 9:50 am - 3:45 pm

Time moving: 2 hrs 50 min

In spite of the fact we were waiting for keys to arrive for Erika's bike and then would need to charge her battery, the keys arrived at 7:30 AM and we were able to get a start on the road before 10 AM.

Back on the road, heading downhill for the Neckar

Back on the Neckar radweg

Wheat fields, towns in the distance

As we were passing a particular town which we could see had walls and towers, we decided to take the steep path up and into the town as it sat above the river.  What we found was enthralling:  castle, church, quaint streets and a lovely lady named Margrit.

The town's name is Besigheim:

Hopefully you can read the sign

This part of the Castle has been turned into a music school

Inside the church

We meet Margrit, who volunteers to take us on a little tour of the town

Pretty cool barbershop sign

"Downtown" area of town.  Margrit is writing down her email address for us

Margrit showed us a house that belonged to Barack Obama's 4th great grandfather

Barack has been invited to come and see his ancester's house but he has not responded yet.

Margrit showed us an easier way down to get back to the radweg

Further down the road we stopped in a shady spot to enjoy some lunch.  Erika took some pictures of the "cones" off a deciduous tree that she had always thought were little "pine cones" when she was a kid.

We saw lots of different crops, including alfalfa, wheat, barley, sugar beets, orchards, vineyards, mustard

When it came time to find a place to stay we called a place in Neckarsulm that I had written down from the Bett und Bike website.  They had a room available for 60 euros including breakfast.  So here are some pictures of places we visited in Neckarsulm:

The water is coming out of the hands of the mermaid-like character that the neptune-like character is holding.

Eis cafe of the day.  Note: I have been spelling eis wrong previously, so if I haven't corrected them all, it's Eis

Cool visual effect on these sculptures

Our room for the night

Breakfast next morning

Our hostess for the night

My love affair with Germany

As a small child I knew that my wonderful Papa was from Germany. I also knew that at birthdays and Christmas packages full of wonderful gifts and delicious baking would arrive curtesy of my Tante Friedel and Oma. Then, when I was seven years old, aunt Friedel and her good friend Itza came for a visit to Canada. They laughed, sang, spoke with charming accents and, on occasion, dressed in their beautiful dirndls. We were living in southern Alberta at the time. Shortly after their arrival my father loaded up the car and we all headed off; camping our way through to the west coast. When we were in Banff National park we delighted in hearing aunt Friedel role the "r" as she admired Mount Rundel. That vacation and many others established my love of camping and of Vancouver Island.

It was several years later that my father was offered a transfer to head up the office of tThe Bank of Montreal for all of german speaking Europe. With that tremendous opportunity house hold possessions were packaged up and placed into storage and our life in Germany began.

Although my father was German by birth and breeding, he had never spoken german at home. As a result, I arrived in Germany unable to tell where one word started and another ended. I was, therefore enrolled in the American International School of Dusseldorf where the tutorial was in English. I also started learning german in school. Fortunately, we started visiting family in Germany now that we were this side of the Atlantic. At was also nice that all were quite fluent in English. It was fun to start visiting and getting to know family I never knew I had. Suddenly I was part of something bigger than just our family. It was wonderful to meet second cousins and great aunts. We also got to spend more time with the ever gracious and welcoming Aunt Friedel.

One of the thing I enjoyed most about our visits with Aunt Friedel was watching how she and my father interacted. He was her little brother and she adored him. Laughter and stories were a significant part of every visit. It was also very impressive that Aunt Friedel and Uncle Willie lived just down the street from an imposing berg or fortress. We would go on lovely walks to the berg and then down through the surrounding vineyards into the old part of Esslingen am Neckar. Once back at the house, Aunt Friedel would treat us to traditional German cooking. To this day I believe that her red current torte is the best cake I have ever had.

As my german developed I enjoyed venturing out with friends first into the altstadt in Dusseldorf and then into Frankfurt and the picturesque towns of the Taunus area north of Frankfurt. I was enthralled by the magic of the German Weinachts Markets and started my own collection of ornaments. Peering into old churches, exploring Roman ruins and visiting local bakeries added to my enjoyment of living in Germany. Shops were full of a vast variety of items of very good quality. To this day my children tease me when I say something is made in Germany because they know what usually comes next is "you can't beat the quality, it will last forever"!

By the time I returned to Canada to attend university, my german was quite fluent. I also had lived in Germany long enough to start taking much of what it offered for granted. It wasn't all perfect. I also remember having old ladies on the tram hit me with their umbrella if I didn't get up fast enough to offer my seat. I also never really got use to the flavour of carbonated mineral water, the only choice at that time if you just wanted water to drink. It proved to be cheeper to have beer than to have water or even pop.

Fortunately, as my parents remained in Germany, I was able return for Christmas and holidays until I got married. I was then treated to a trip over to introduce my first daughter, Katie, to my father and German relatives. What fun it was to show off my beautiful, bright and smiley baby. With big blue eyes, a peach fuzz of red hair and a bright and responsive nature she was a hit everywhere we went. Thereby proving once again how intelligent the German people were. It was particularly amusing to watch the faces of people as my brown eyed, and then, brunet father told everyone we met that she looked just like him! At the time I did not realize that it would be years before I would be in Germany again.

Three years ago I was able to return to Germany with Marvin in tow. My brother had stayed in Germany, met a wonderful German woman and establish a great family. Watching Marvin discover the german people and culture made everything seem fresh and fascinating. Peter and Astrid gave us the royal treatment and instilled in us a strong desire to return. So.... Here we are, exploring the Neckar Radweg and discovering more and more things to enjoy in the tremendous country.

After spending some very enjoyable days with Peter's family, Tuesday morning started with Astrid driving us down to Treiich to pick up our rental bikes. Due to bad knees, a fused ankle and a variety of other reasons, we opted to rent ebikes. They would give us the ability to cycle with minimal-no assistance or to crank up the power for hills. Most of the trails we will be on follow rivers so are fairly flat but this is also wine country so the moment we might choose to leave the Radweg we would be faced with some very steep hills. Ebikes ensured that we could do them without either dying or killing each other.

We were very pleased with the service at the shop we rented from. The bikes were both in excellent condition and adjusted to fit us. Once they were loaded up it was off to a Chinese restaurant for lunch (yes, you read that correctly but my little niece, Victoria, really wanted Chinese food), followed by numerous errands and prep.

Tuesday morning after a wonderful breakfast at our hotel, Peter picked us up and we headed down the highway to the city of Esslingen am Neckar and a long anticipated visit with my Aunt Friedel. We were very lucky that Peter's business took him that direction that day or it would have been a train ride for us. As it was, we made good time, unloaded our bikes at Friedel's home and waved off Peter as he headed off for meetings.

It was lovely to see Friedel. She is now 88 years of age, somewhat bent over and in need of a walker for distance. But, give her her walker and she still manages a good pace on the street. Her apartment is quite small so She had arranged for accommodation for us for that evening. She cheerfully informed us that we would walk over there. We grabbed what bags we would need for the night and off we went. We walked a little over a kilometre and then arrived. The room, though modest, was very clean and comfortable. We then walked back to Friedel's apartment. Earlier we received a call from my cousin Gerhart to say he would come by between 2 - 3 pm for a visit. Friedel went inside to get ready for Gerhart's visit and Marvin and I strolled on into the old part of town to explore and find something to complete the "cafe und kuchen" afternoon tradition. Not far from Friedel's we discovered a lovely bakery with some very tempting mohn kuchen, or poppyseed cake. We cheerfully bought four slices. We did a bit more exploring through town befor returning to Friedel's. We were not in the room more than a couple of minutes when Gerhart arrived.

Gerhart is one of Friedel's step sons. I had met him as a little girl and then had gotten reacquainted in my teens. I had not, however, seen him since then. We had a nice visit and very good mohn kuchen. It was then decided that Gerhart would give us a walking tour of Esslingen. What an informative and enjoyable experience that was. Gerhart was born and raised in Esslingen. He also is well versed in the history of the area. Many of the lovely, picturesque buildings in the area date back to the time of Fredrick the second. Gerhart knew the history and architectural significance of each building (Marvin will be posting pictures soon). He also showed us to the Neckar River so we would know our way to the Neckar Radweg the next morning.

After saying our goodbyes to Gerhart, we continued our exploration of the area. Since we started planning this trip Marvin has been saying that he would like to get a "European looking hat" while we are in Germany. We no soon said our good byes to Gerhart and walked up the street when we came across a hat store. In Canada, stores that specialize in hats are few and far between so it was fun to go in and see the variety on offer. Marvin tried on several hats before we spotted a Tyrollean style hat. On it went and we quickly agreed that it was very traditional. A few minutes later Marvin walked out of the store with the hat on his head.

At this point I want to mention how approachable, helpful and kind the people are who we have dealt with. Marvin's german is pretty non existent and mine is awful. While I can understand most of what is said, my grammar is deplorable and I struggle to find the words I want to use. All Germans take English in school and everyone we have met has tried very hard to communicate with us. Many conversations involve them speaking german and me speaking English. When they see me getting confused, people try to use what English they have to move the conversation forward. The clerk in the hat store was no different. He was most helpful, cheerful and willingly posed for a picture with Marvin's in front of the cash register his grandfather bought in 1903! Yes, that hat shop was a family business that had been in operation for over 100 years!

I will continue tomorrow. Now it is time for a couple of tired cyclists to sleep. But first I must acknowledge our wonderful Katie on this her birthday. We love you Katie and wish you every joy!

1st day out - The Adventure Begins

Thursday, July 3rd 2014  -  Day 1

Esslingen am Neckar to Steinheim

49.3 km,  49.3 km so far

Track for today:  Esslingen am Neckar to Steinheim

Sunshine all day, temp from 24 to 34 degrees

Time travelling - 10:44am - 6:17pm

Time moving: 3hrs 3min

(Notes about the Tracks for each day:  The GPS (in conjunction with the "Ride With GPS" software) keeps track of  distance, time,time moving, temperature, elevation and grade.  When the GPS sits in the sunshine while we are stopped, the temperature will spike.  On the other hand, I can see where we sat in the shade and it went down a little.  So the overall temperatures on sunshiny days will be what we are feeling with the sun shining on us.)

Ready to leave Aunt Friedel's

Once we had made our way through a bit of street, up a ramp and over the bridge over the train tracks and down a ramp to the radweg.  These are my first impressions:

Oooh, nice benches, I like benches

The Neckar is a major waterway

I saw this playground and thought of my grandsons

Vineyards line any steep sides of the river.  Photos do not do justice to how steep these are.

Lush, green lovely vistas

The "Bench of the Day" took on new meaning as we looked for a place to have lunch.  This was the view at the lake we stopped at.

More pictures of our Bench of the Day

With the vineyard across the river at more distance, you can maybe see more of how steep they are.

The river is, of course, very popular for recreation also

Ho! What's this?  A ruin!  I (Marvin) must go up to investigate

Hello down there

Working my way up through the walls

Sign says it was built in the 12th century and destroyed in 1633

An old painting shows how extensive it was prior to being destroyed by fire

Some remaining walls

We stopped at a Bier Garten to get some water and use the bathrooms.  5 Euros for the water ($7.50 Cdn)

It was a nice stop, though, sit in the shade and relax.  Meanwhile, when I reviewed the GPS track, I see that the GPS temp went up to 47 Celsius, sitting in the sun 

From a lovely bridge over the river

We start to enter some lovely farmland.

These calves really looked cute and pretty

Up close shot of the grape vines

Realizing we have long since passed through Stuttgart, we start seeing some pretty towns on both sides of the river

Roman mile markers from the 1st century

We were running well ahead of schedule for meeting up with Sven as he had messaged me that he would be in Marbach around 5 PM on his way home to his parents place in Steinheim where we would be staying.  The radweg was on the side of the river opposite from Marbach and Steinheim so we needed to find our way without the radweg signs to guide us.  So we crossed the river and kind of passed Marbach which was up on the hill, so I figured we could continue to Steinheim and wait there.  But first we got somewhat lost going up a very steep hill that didn't lead in the direction I thought it might.  So we came back down, found the river that Steinheim is on and found a lovely spot with a bench to stop and rest and eat some fruit and watch the swimmers in the river.  I was able to use the phone as a hotspot and that meant that Erika could use her iPad to display a map of the area with us placed on it.  We discovered that once she has displayed the map on her ipad (while online) it gets saved and can be used during the rest of the day without even being online.  This means that we have a map that can be zoomed in and out and that always shows our present position on it.  It's like having a marauder's map (at least for ourselves) from Harry Potter. 
Using this map, we found our way to downtown Steinheim easily.

Rathaus (town hall) of Steinheim

More of the town square

Oh goody, an Eic cafe!

Sven arrives

A fellow named Horst Walker greets us enthusiastically, talking about his trips to Prince George, BC

Sven led us up to his parents' home where we received the most incredible and gracious of welcomes.  Sven was quick to offer drinks, snacks and a shower.  As an experienced tour cyclist he is very aware of the sweat and energy involved in a full day and kept offering us things he knew were important to him on his trips.  Also, as Sven had recently moved from the family home, it was to his parents home we were welcomed.  Greeted by Eberhart, Sven's father, everything was done to make us welcome.

Sven's girlfriend, Annika, surprised everyone by showing up and we had a wonderful time visiting with her as well.  We didn't meet Sven's mother, Irmgard, until late in the evening as she was working late.

The whole family was so friendly, charming and generous, it really was a wonderful experience for us.

Breakfast the next morning was fantastic and they sent us on our way with a great lunch packed.

Sven, Irmgard and Eberhart Wildermuth

Family and new friends

(This is written by Erika until the end part)

When we returned to Friedel's home Wednesdayoevening the three of us hailed a taxi and drove up to the Jagerhaus for dinner with my brother. The Jagerhaus overlooks Esslingen and the Neckar valley.  The restaurant served local Swabian cuisine, prepared to an excellent standard. We ate well, talked and simply enjoyed each other's company. It was then off to our room for a good nights sleep to prepare ourselves for the following day of cycling.

In the morning Marvin and I walked back to Friedel's for breakfast. Another hour of chatting was followed by hugs, a few tears and a heartfelt Auf wiedersehen. Our bikes fully loaded, we headed off to the Neckar Radweg.

Now, one of the nice things about the radwegs that follow the large rivers of Germany is that they are mainly level. For those of us who are aging and have a few joint issues, that is nice. Another aspect that is nice is that Germany has made sure that the cycle paths that follow the rivers are well maintained and well marked. The Neckar Radweg winds itself along the River bank through towns, past industry and through farmers fields. One of our big concerns was having to navigate the large city of Stuttgart. Suffice it to say that we kept waiting to have to deal with heavy traffic and confusing streets. In reality, we were through Stuttgart before we knew it and never had to leave the comfort and safety of the river's bike trail. The only real negative to the route was having to cycle past a few sewage treatment facilities during the course of the day. However, they were passed quickly and did not distract from the excitement we were feeling to be on our way.

As when we were in Holland, we continue to enjoy all the song birds. It is like having our own little choir to cheer us on our way! The villages we cycled through were truly picturesque. The steep grade of the vineyards impressed but also made us glad that we would not be the people picking the grapes! In addition to grapes we passed fields of wheat, corn, rye and sugar beets. We also passed orchards of apples, pears and cherries. The cherries are the only fruit we passed that were in season so finding a grocery with fresh cherries was a common goal. For any of you who know Marvin, that will not come as a surprise.

After about cycling 25 km, somewhere near Huhlhausen, we stopped by a lovely lake to eat the sandwiches Friedel had sent us off with and to take a break. By the lake were a good variety of water fowl, many of which were being followed by fluffy younger versions of themselves. One mother goose had quite the little gaggle following her around and she was unashamedly teaching them how to beg. It is a good thing I am so coldhearted or they would have had more than half of my sandwich!

We have been pleased how the bikes are performing. Unlike our bikes at home, these do not have a throttle function. The throttle provides a burst of power on demand. We have found this useful for getting started, especially on hills. We have found that the paths on the steepest hills here seem to be built with switchbacks in them so that a steep hill can be climbed over a narrow distance. For me the challenge has been slowing down enough to take the corner while at the same time maintaining enough momentum to keep moving up the hill. As a result, I have had the pleasure of pushing my bike up a few hills!

We the cycled on to the town of Stienheim an der Murr. We quickly found our way into a delightful little town square. So, why did we choose this particular town as our destination for our first day?   Warm showers.

Warm showers, an internet community of cyclists who support each other by providing a bed and shower for tour cyclists registered on the site. I mention this because Marvin registered us this spring. We will make ourselves available as hosts in Victoria once we are home from our vacation. In the meantime we are starting to enjoy the benefits of being members. Our first host was to be Sven.

We had been in touch with Sven via the internet and Marvin had chatted with him on the phone from Esslingen. We were to call him when we got into or near his home town. Once we were in the square we called him once again and were informed he would meet us there shortly. As there was an Eice Cafe there it was decided that enjoying eice (gelato) would be a good way to pass the time but first, we wanted to lock up our bicycles. There we had the first shock of our trip. The key we had been given for my bike did not work. Now if the key would have been only for the lock we could have managed by locking the bikes together. However, unlike our ebikes at home, the batteries for our rented bike could only be charged after they have been removed from the bikes and placed on the charger. Yikes, this is a problem if you want to use the assist function for more than one day.  

(Marvin taking over writing from here)

I started to feel panicked at this point, and, having trouble getting my phone to work didn't help.  As Erika would say, I was "flapping".  Erika finally figured out that we needed a single '0' in front of any number we called in Germany and I was able to call both Sven and Herre Engel of the bike shop.
Herre Engel discovered he had given us the extra keys for my bike instead of the keys for Erika's bike.  He promised to call us back as soon as he could arrange something.  When he did call us back, Sven had arrived, and it was great having him there to speak directly to Herre Engel in German and get everything sorted out.  The keys arrived at 7:30 the next morning, so we weren't inconvenienced at all.

Well there are a good many pictures to follow, so I am going to close this post and create another one for the first day of the trip in pictures.  It will be called:  "The Adventure Begins"

Memories

The conference I, Erika, attended was a great event to recharge those nurse educator engines. The presenters were very interesting and it was quite validating to see how on track the faculty at Camosun are. It was also a real treat to have some time to develop deeper relationships with some of the other faculty and their partners. I now know that Marlene and Margie never lack for humor in their home!

Wednesday afternoon when all the sessions were completed, Marvin and I once again rented bikes and head off on some of Holland's wonderful bike paths. Our goal was to ride to Leiden and see what was both enroute and there. We had not gone too far down the path when a gentleman cycled by. He looked just like my Uncle Bill.

As a child of immigrant parents, I grew up in Canada with no direct relatives near by. However, we had some very close family friends who chose to be Aunts and Uncles where otherwise there would have been none. Bill and Wilma van Niekirk were two such people. I have many fond and wonderful memories of visiting them in their Calgary home. They were one of the first families I knew with two bathrooms. One for men and one, decorated in the most feminine manner, for women. With each visit Uncle Bill would make his little silver dollar pancakes. Theirs was also the only home I knew of where you would be offered chocolate sprinkles to put on your toast at breakfast. Truly a wonderous thing when you are a child. Uncle Bill and Aunt Wilma had a lovely well kept garden, a nod to their Dutch heritage. In the garden was a wishing well that, to this day, I am pretty sure worked! When I think of Wilma and Bill my memories are full of love, acceptance and generosity.

Uncle Bill greatly admired my parents and valued their friendship. Aunt Wilma referred to my mom as her best friend. On my parents 45th wedding anniversary, Bill and Wilma came to Victoria to help us celebrate. They had been there when my parents were married and did not want to miss out on
congratulating them on their 45th. On that occasion Uncle Bill said of my German born father, "The war would have made us enemies, but life has made us bestfriends."  Both Bill and my father are gone now but the love they gave and the example they set stay with me always. Wilma is slowly slipping into her own world and my mom soldiers on with determination. These are all very tender memories for me so it somehow seemed right that as I set off to explore Holland on bike that "Uncle Bill" would sail by and remind me of my first introduction to the Dutch people.

Since arriving in Holland we have been greeted with warmth and helpfulness. There are many things we have seen that have made a strong impression. Everything is beautiful, well kept and clean. Bikes govern the road and seeing a mom on a bike with a baby on the front of the bike and a toddle on the back while being followed by another child on its own little bike is the norm. It is also not too surprising if the mom is talking on her cellphone at the same time. Everyone of any age or size is on a bike. In fact, there are far more bikes around than cars. After a few days of cycling you even start to wonder who the people are that chose to drive instead of cycle!

Gardens in Holland are beautifully manicured and the scent of flowers greet you wherever you go. One of the joys of being on bike is that the paths take you along canals, through quaint little towns, past working windmills and each time we pause to look at a map, someone stops to see if we need assistance. We have met some wonderfully kind people who beam with pleasure as we express our delight in all we are seeing and experiencing.

Tuesday evening we walked into Nordwijkerhout with my colleagues for dinner. On the way back to the hotel we took a side path along a canal. Beautiful homes lined both sides of the canal. One home owner had lined the area next to the canal with a variety of roses. I, of course, had to pause to sniff each type. The home owner was by his gate working with some planters. We soon were enjoying a warm conversation about the area and his roses. He warmly wished us a great vacation. I wonder if he realized that welcomes like his are what make a great vacation.

I have also been impressed by how tall the people are. I have always thought of our friends the
Yzenbrandts as tall people. I now realize that they are really very average for people of Dutch heritage. On more than one occasion I have seen young men that could have been brothers to Dion and Kia-Tall - handsome and blond. The Yzenbrandts, like the van Niekirks, are great examples of the wonderful people we are meeting here.

We have also developed a great appreciation of the breakfasts that are served here. They make sure you are well fuelled for a day of cycling! Marvin and I enjoy having a nice breakfast, a meal mid afternoon and a light snack In the evening.  So,having a hearty breakfast serves us well.

Another thing that has impressed us is how often we are seeing horses. It is quite evident that horses are well loved and enjoyed in the area. The animals are beautiful and well cared for. They are also ridden regularly which is evident by the many "deposits" on the trails.

The architecture in the area is quite lovely. Even the newer homes are built to fit in with the more traditional look. On our ride to Leiden we enjoyed cruising through several very pretty towns. We
also were thrilled to see sailboats sailing along the larger canals and rivers. Once we got into Leiden we were hoping to find the tourist information bureau. We had seen in the distance a very old building. We cycled that way and discovered an open market next to what turned out to be the oldest building in town and in front of the canal. It was so lively, colourful and interesting. It didn't take long before we were drawn into the excitement that is Dutch cheese. At an amazing cheese stall the young sales man silver talked us into treating ourselves to some wonderful cheeses. Now what we need to find is a bakery so we can get some bread to go with our, cheese.

The cycle paths are well maintained and, on the whole, well marked. The odd time the signs were not where they were supposed to be it was not long before another sign, or helpful person, would pop up to guide our way.

Yesterday we enjoyed a cycle up to Haarlem. I am sure Marvin will provide greater details about the cycling itself. Haarlem has a beautiful old Centre that, as with most European cities, is centred around the cathedral, if it is a cathedral town, or, if not, the church. The cathedral in Haarlem, the Bavokerk, founded in 1370, is breath taking. Prior to going in for a tour we stopped for lunch on the square. Our 26 km cycle along the dunes had resulted in a need for refuelling! As we entered the square we were treated by the musical performance from a Norwegian school band. There were super so we chose our cafe based on being able to hear the music.  Over the past few years I have noted that the best tasting food is often served after a bike ride. Coincidence?

We spent some time poking around the square, toured the church, cycled down to the drawbridge and the windmill and, maybe, found a nice piece of jewelry for Marvin to give me for our 35th wedding anniversary!

Before leaving town Marvin discovered an Italian Ice Cafe. Following the advice of Steve and Dodie Miller, we sauntered in and ..... Mmmmm. Yummy! (Picture to follow)

The ride back was delightful and we even found a nice picnic table on a canal where we had the last of our water and a piece of fruit. After we returned the bikes we then huffed it backed to our hotel (2.5km). So, by the end of the day we had walked 5 km, plus the walking we did in Haarlem, and cycled 56 km. yes, we slept well last night!

Today we pack up our gear and move on to Rotterdam. We will be traveling by train and are looking forward to seeing the sights.