Cycling the Lahn

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Over the last few days during our cycling tour of the Lahn and Rhine valleys our life has settled into a lovely routine. We get up and take a leisurely breakfast in our hotel before packing and leaving our luggage in reception. We then attach our panniers to our bike, load Katy into her chair on evans bike and check our route. Then we set off and cycle anywhere between 32 to 54 kilometres along the river through meadows filled with masses of wildflowers or past canola fields with waist high yellow stalks, or past quaint villages with pointed roofs and the distinctive half timber architecture typical of the region. Often we see the dramatic profiles of castles or monasteries clinging stubbornly to the tops of rugged, forested peaks.

The other features of our days are the deciphering of German menus and signage with words that seem to be vying with the welsh for the longest uninterrupted letter strings and scouting for perfect picnic spots.

Sadly the optional subtitle of our adventure could be "Leah and Evan's tour of the most amazing CLOSED biergartens in southern Germany". Enticed by stories of historic inns dotted across our route where we could break our journey with local beers, food and cake we have instead been met with an unrelenting array of picturesque (eg wide terrace overlooking the river, up against castles and famously oldest inn in Germany) establishments which are not yet open for the season. Hence we have opted for picnic lunches instead.

The other subtitle could be "Katy's fantastical tour of the playgrounds of southern Germany". We have mastered the phrase 'kinderspielplatz' and have explored some fantastical examples of European playground design!

Highlights of our journey so far include:

* Katy inventing bike riding games and songs - mostly involving expressing her desire to find a new playground

* the eccentric cathedral of Weilberg which was built over so many eras it has a hodge podge of styles, unfinished sections with stairs leading nowhere and unroofed areas!

* sampling the joys of the thermes (a spa and sauna complex) in the town of Bad Ems after "taking the waters" in the same hotel that kaiser Wilhelm used to visit

* strolling through medieval cobble stoned town centres

* eating our body weight in apfelstrudel and eis (ice cream) - Germans love their Eis cafes and they have elaborate sundae options set out in photographic menus

* adding a new cable car ride to our list (one of the steepest gradients in Europe no less) at Bad Ems

* trying out our limited German phrases and hi-giving when we successfully order something or navigate a ticket machine

* spending 24-7 together just the three of us

Wishing you all the best and thinking of our family and friends!!!

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