A beautiful, relaxed Sunday cycle. We are grateful for days when there are few cars on the roads. Especially when a portion of our track includes roads with narrow shoulders.
A few hills to climb but also some hills to sail down. Unfortunately, we did have to deal with a head wind for a good part of the day but the day seemed so relaxed that we didn't mind too much.
The picture does not do the vista justice. We had just cycled along a lovely path in the woods when we took a left turn and happened upon a beautiful pastoral scene.
We saw this sign in the woods and did not know what it is for. Apparently, it is the sign for The German Alpine Club (German: Deutscher Alpenverein, DAV) is the world's largest climbing association. It was established in 1869 and cares for trails and huts for mountain climbers and hikers.
Quite a bit of the trail today ran beside roads. In the morning it was fine with little traffic. The traffic did pick up some in the afternoon but the drivers were very respectful when we did have to cycle on the roads.
I thought this was a great study in old (middle), not as old (right side), and new (left side). The building practices are very different from Canada. I think it is smart how buildings on the same property take advantage of sharing walls. Must save on construction and heating costs.
Some of the cycle signs for Germany Knopenpunkt system. I would really like to get some maps of that system. Ride with GPS does an okay job but I wonder if we are missing some of the prettier trails.
These pretty flowers were on thistle like plants. It is hard to see but there is a bee on the left flower. We have seen a lot of bees enjoying the wildflower nectar.
Apple tree. We noticed that along the autobahn they have signs indicating the type of tree they have lining the roads and the year they were planted. It seems like quite a few were fruit trees.
Does anyone know what this is? There was a whole field of this plant with mature seed pods. The seeds were small black. Marvin thought it may be some type of legume.
Just down from our hotel was an Eis Cafe. The route we cycled had little for areas to stop and, as it is Sunday, the towns we did go through had little open. We, of course, were pretty quick to check in, unload and cycle back to the Eis Cafe.
Brauweiler is known for its abbey founded in 1024 by the Benedictines. It was secularized under Napoleon in 1803 and used as a hostel for the poor. In 1817, under the Prussians, it was converted to a workhouse. From 1933 to 1945 the buildings were used for the internment, torture, and murder of political and social "undesirables" by the Gestapo and the civil authorities of the Nazi government. Prisoners included Konrad Adenauer, the former mayor of Cologne and first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. From 1945 to 1949, it was an open camp for displaced persons administered first by the British Army and then by UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration). The abbey buildings are now used by the Rheinisches Amt für Denkmalpflege ("Rhenish Department for the Care of Historic Monuments"). The following pictures are of the abbey and it grounds.
The door from the abbey enclosure to the surrounding park. The door would let you out but to get back into the gardens you had to reenter at the front of the abbey.
This section provides a look at how the chapel was originally shaped the a bit of a view of one of the frescoes that would have decorated the building.
The chior stall. Marvin thought it looked like something from Slytherine house but they were not all carved snakes. Many other animals were also represented.
