Day 23 - The Rhine - Finally

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July 24th, three and a half weeks after we left Melbourne and we finally get to ride along one of the major rivers of Europe, The Rhine.
We got an early start leaving at 8am and crossed to the east side of the Rhine to start the day.
Our route "took out" a big loop of the river, so for a short while we were on bike paths again, but we eventually found ourselves back on the river after a little while. There are numerous villages along the river, some bigger than others and the occasional city (like Bonn). As we get further away from Cologne and the hills either side of the Rhine come more into focus the occasionally castle or remnants of a castle can be seen.
The constant are the barges transporting their cargo up and down the river, there's almost always one in sight. We also see the odd cruise ship (barge) sailing by.
Of interest today was the remains of the Ludendorff Bridge. It was captured, in tact, by the Americans during WWII before the Germans could destroyed it allowing the Americans to advance towards Germany. This supposedly help shorten the war by months. The bridge suddenly collapsed in 1945 killing 30 US soldiers.
Our destination today is Bad Breisig, a small village 63kms from Cologne. It was a very easy days ride. The river makes for a very flat days ride although the wind finally turned and we had a small head wind for most of the day. We got to Hotel Rheinischer Hof just on 2pm and beat a short sharp rain burst by literally seconds. The tables out front of the hotel almost overhang the Rhine and it makes for a glorious outlook as I sip my cappuccino and type this blog.
I've walked a small loop of the town and I think we'll be staying on the shore of the Rhine for dinner, there are a number of options here for dinner.
Our destination for tomorrow is Koblenz, where the Mosel meets the Rhine. We extended today's ride to make tomorrows shorter, so we have a very cruisey 34kms tomorrow.
Distance travelled today: 63kms
Distance travelled so far: 1344kms

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Photos

Ludendorff Bridge
Captured by the Americans before the Germans could blow it up

Km Markers
These represent how many KMs you are from the source of the Rhine in the Swiss Alps. We're heading upstream so the numbers are getting lower.

Down by the riverside
I went for a walk to the shore line of the river, lots of rocks, no sand. The water felt warm.