Nürnburg to Erbermannstadt

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Tuesday's blog.



We were up a little earlier as we wanted a quicker start to allow plenty of time for the train. Breakfast was in the hotel itself. The hotel was very quirky with lots of religious artefacts around and rather cluttered. It also listed itself as a museum. Breakfast was basic but she surprised me with the gluten free bread.



Soon we were off into the sunshine and although we were on the Rhine path the Rhine wasn't particularly visible until very close to Cologne. However, it was pleasant cycling on quiet roads at first and cycle paths later, often on the top of dykes. At one point we saw a huge field of strawberry pickers dashing backwards and forwards with baskets of strawberries.



As we got near to Cologne the paths became busier and we got a great view of the Cologne landscape complete with barges and pleasure boats on the river. Once turning off the river we were very soon at the railway station which is opposite the cathedral. We have stayed in Cologne twice and passed through several times. Although we were at the station early it was surprising how long it took to find the right platform and an elevator to get there.



Five minutes before our train was due a platform announcement told us our train was cancelled. Please make alternative arrangements! I had to queue half an hour in the ticket office whilst Paul had to stay outside with the bikes. It took the lady ages to find a route that there were bike spaces left on. We were re routed on different trains. Back on another platform the train was thirty five minutes late so we missed the next connection. Back to the ticket office and more searching and re routed again. In the end our route was Cologne to Koblenze, to Frankfurt, to Wurzburg, to Bamberg and finally to Nürnburg. There were several very tight connections running between platforms and poor Paul carrying heavy bikes up and down steps because we didn't have time to wait for free elevators. On the first train we stood up for the journey of an hour hanging onto the bikes in an overcrowded carriage. On the second train we got seats and a lovely trip down the Rhine seeing places we have cycled through several times. Lots of happy memories of such trips.



We arrived in Nürnburg around half ten, in the evening, and bought our second coffee and third sandwich of the trip as it was too late to find more substantial food. It was easy to find our hotel and we walked there, not having lights on the bikes. We had the code for the door with the instructions to check in on Wednesday. We left our bikes with the rest of the groups in the garage and were relieved to get to our room.



Stage 1 complete. 196 miles.



For the next part of the trip we will be with an organised group, led by Richard Dugdale from Clitheroe, and will do a circular tour including Munich.





Wednesday's blog.



At breakfast time we met most of the others in the group and compared notes on trains and arriving. It became clear that cancelled trains is now very common in Germany. After a leisurely breakfast we caught up with washing, etc, before heading back to the train station to book another train for our journey back from Nürnburg to Cologne. This was done remarkably quickly but I would have preferred a train earlier in the day. We are on the same ICE train from Nürnburg to Frankfurt as originally but it stops there rather than going right through. Then we get another ICE train which gets us into Cologne at twenty minutes past midnight. If these trains are cancelled, or late, we will end up booking another hotel some where and losing the one already booked, like last year's escapade. Time will tell.



We then wandered into the old part of the City and followed a self guided walking tour. This obviously took in all the main sights including the Imperial Castle, which dates back to 1050, the Gothic Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) which was erected around 1385 but subsequently replaced with a replica (the original fountain is kept in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum). The fountain contains 40 figures that represent the world view of the Holy Roman Empire. and the Gothic Lorenzkirche (St. Laurence church) which dominates the southern part of the walled city and is one of the most important buildings in Nuremberg. The main body was built around 1270–1350 and it has a 9m rose window. It was very hot and we were glad when we were in the shade. Nürnburg is very pretty with some lovely buildings and very much a tourist centre. As with many German cities it was bombed extensively during WW2 but has been painstakingly restored. Many of its buildings are unique, such as the Castle which is one of the best preserved medieval castles in Europe. Nuremberg waswas a strategic location for the Nazis. It played a huge part in helping Hitler rise to power as he used it for his base for Nazi propaganda.



There were many preparations being made for a huge festival 'Now is the tine' a protestant festival, with stages being set up all the centre of the city. They were expecting 100, 000 people to attend over the four days from all over Germany.



Late afternoon we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours relaxation before the evening meal. We met at 6.30pm and all went to a Turkush restaurant. The food was excellent. Then it was back to the hotel for a drink with some of the group, before bed time.



Thursday's blog.

Most of the group were meeting at half past seven for breakfast and setting off at nine o'clock. We decided to leave it a little later as the distance wasn't too great and we had all day to do it in. We were having breakfast about eight fifteen when we saw Richard ride past and presumed he was checking the start of the ride. Most of the others left about quarter to nine and a couple had gone to the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds before setting off.



Getting out of Nürnburg was easy, mainly round the outside of the old city walls. We headed north all day. At first there was lots of arable land with fields of barley, wheat, oats, potatoes and other crops. We also saw hives for bees and a few orchards. There were a few hills today, nothing too serious, but a change from the flatness of the Netherlands.



Most of the supermarkets were closed as it was the feast of Corpus Christi. We did find a Bakery that was open so we bought sandwiches and later ate them sat on a bench in the shade. It was 24° by this time and felt very close. After this it became increasingly cloudy and there were a few drops of rain.



There was lots of riding through forests today on fine gravel paths so caution was needed not to slide on the gravel.



We went straight through the village we were staying in to see some Bear caves but as we got near there was another very steep hill to go up and it started to thunder so we decided to go straight back to the hotel and just about got there dry. Enormous rain drops were falling but it never actually started to rain. Talking to others later some had got quite wet at different points of the journey.



When we arrived at the hotel we found out Richard had left his cycling shoes at home so when we had seen him he was off to find a bike shop to buy new ones. He arrived quite late as he couldn't find a bike shop that was open so had struggled with normal shoes and cleat pedals, had got lost a few times and hadn't had any food.



After showers we had a coffee in the hotel restaurant and that was when Richard arrived so he had one with us. Poor Richard really hadn't had a good day.



We all ate in the hotel Thai restaurant and again the food was excellent. We then had a wander round the village as we hadn't done this earlier. It's a very pretty little village. We sent a video of a working water wheel for Isaac, our grandson, who has been learning about water wheels.

42 miles.

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