There are days on a bike tour when the cycling is superb and this is one of those days. We truly had a great day of riding on paved cycle paths and relatively car free secondary roads. Through this lush agricultural landscape, we saw more tractors than cars. Apart from a few hills at the beginning of the day, we rode through flat terrain. Rather than following the Romantic Strasse (which we understand rolls through forests on gravel paths) we benefitted from the expertise of our friend and followed the Wornitz River as it wound its way through lovely towns such as, Oettingen and Wassertulingen (sp?). So many villages piqued our interest, but we wanted to get to Donauworth or Nordlingen, so with a bit of sightseeing, we pushed on. It was a delight for us to see storks again. This is the first that we have been able to observe them closely this year. Their nests were perched atop chimneys on churches and houses...and the parents were busy. All in all, we had an outstanding day on the bike. We were so enjoying the route that we didn't want to take the shortcut to Donauworth - instead we will head on to Donauworth tomorrow.
Saturday is a festive day in Dinkelsbuhl. We saw many groups like this providing music and song as a fundraiser.
Ughh - we noticed a large stain on the cooking pannier when we took it off the bike and wondered at the ominous dripping from the bottom. We discovered that the "full" nalgene bottle of olive oil had a loose lid and it had completely emptied the contents in to our bag. What a mess!
What an incredible ending to a great day. Karl Heinz was walking with his wife and saw me walking towards a Gasthaus. He asked if he could help. When I said that we were looking for a room, he took me under his wing and made it his mission to find us a room. His family have a 500 year history here and he truly knows everyone. After much walking and phoning he found us a room at Hotel Goldene Rose. Thank you Karl!
