Sunday morning I made coffee at the camp site and slowly re-packed my things. This was only the third day but I was already quite tired. Friday I had done 64 kms but with many hills. Saturday I did 85 kms, again with hills. In this area the Danube has cut many canyon-like areas where it passes directly through the rocks and the bike trail has no place to run alongside the river, so it passes through the woods, often high above the river. It is nothing very high, but steep enough that I often have to dismount and push the bike up the inclines. Although I am already quite fit, it would clearly take a bit of breaking-in time before I would be up to doing 80-100 kms per day, day after day.
In Beuron I visited a monastery and sat a while in the church. I am not part of this faith, but appreciate the belief and am fascinated by the history. The Baroque architecture in this area of Baden-Würtenburg is incredible. Outside the church I talked with a homeless man who regularly comes to the monastery for Almosen (I can’t think of the word in English right now, hand-out of food). This is something I think of existing only in the past, in the pre-modern age, and it was strange and interesting to think that the monks still provide for the people in that way. He was a nice guy and seemed to be quite fine, despite begin homeless. He probably just had had a string of bad luck at some point in his life. I was glad to have that chocolate in my bike and he was very happy about it too.
Early in the evening I was still on the road, thinking about where I could put my tent. In a small town, the name of which I cannot remember, I took a break, sat on the bench, relaxed, drank some water. A few more kilometers and then I would have to find a farm or field and pitch the tent. As I was about to set off some locals rode by on their bikes and I noticed that their dialect is very similar to the dialect spoken where I used to live. We fell into conversation and rode together a little. They had just been out to the next village on their bikes. They said I could pitch my tent in their garden and I gladly accompanied them back to their house. We talked for a moment, introduced ourselves and then I set out to unpack my things. They went inside and then moments later came back out and offered me a room in their house. Within 20 minutes I had showered, changed into clean clothes and was sitting in front of the TV, watching the women’s’ football World Cup while drinking a cold Weizenbier. I felt like a new man. According to my plan my next shower would not have been for another three days. This was great. One Weizenbier led to another and Josef (65 year old, retired, born in that same house) and I had a lot to talk about while we watched a pretty good football match. I had never thought about women’s football but it is actually quite good. Their daughter and grandchildren soon arrived for Sunday dinner – or as it is called in this part of Germany, ‘Vespern’ - and we proceeded to dinner on the terrace. I had only met these people an hour before and they had taken me in like a family member. Who does this anymore? Wonderful. Rosa brought many fresh vegetables from the garden and we had a great meal. I told of my plan to ride through Hungary and the Balkans and it turns out they go often to Hungary to visit a community of Donau-Schwaben (Germans who settled in Hungary hundreds of years ago and today still speak Schwäbish). With great enthusiasm Josef brought a bottle of Hungarian wine and two bottles of Hungarian schnapps. We sat for hours on the terrace and when we were done, all had long gone to bed and we finished off between the two of us the wine, the palinca (plum schnapps) and a few shots of Unicum (an awful tasting Kräuterschnapps). This on top of the two Weizens I had with dinner. I slept around midnight and the next morning I was in a bad state.
No comments:
Post a Comment