May 19, 2014
Day 20: Wurtzburg to Sommerach
Just as I have noticed on other days in other places, the exciting town of the previous evening lacks some of its gloss in the clear light of morning. So with Wurzburg, the broad avenue leading to the Dom, now with delivery trucks in it, looked more like a city street than a medieval movie set. Of course, if it's going to be a city street, then it would be better if its Media Markt would be open, which it was not.
Also not open was the ADAC branch. ADAC is the German cycling club that publishes maps, and also runs a travel agency. Barbara (from Bonn) had suggested we stop by, and in the guestbook noted where it is located.
With things not yet open, we decided to head out of town. However we got distracted by a small grocery that was open, and spent some time finding supplies. That used enough time for ADAC to now open, so in we went. We knew that greedy as we may be for more and more Books for more and more routes, we really could not carry any more stuff. Also, there are so many routes and so many types of books, that we felt we would be better to calmly look at it all online, rather than scoop up an armful here. So with a words with the ADAC staff and a few photos, we were back on our way out of town. Already the bakery shelves were full, and sandwiches were beiing set out near the sidewalk. Though these look like lunch to us, they are actually breakfast. We of course had breakfasted in our hotel, and our packs were stuffed with spare breakfast stuff, which, as I say, is lunch food to us anyway.
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Not only had the town put out its sandwiches as we were about to leave (dramatically improving its image in my eyes, anyway) but the light was playing well on the schloss and churches across the river.
In the next section of the ride, the number of towns was pretty much as before. That is, 60 km would offer about ten major towns and another ten more minor towns. The towns surprised us a bit, because major or minor, there was more to them then we would have thought. By "more to them" I mean both that they contained some pretty major churches, monasteries, rathauses, and suchlike, and that they had quite of bit of residential housing surrounding the old parts of town. Some times the cycle path would come over a bridge and exit directly into the middle of the town. Other times, the cycle path would cling to the riverside, so a sharp turn would be needed to temporarily leave the path and enter the town.
We made such a sharp turn at Eibelstadt, which I would deem a minor town, only because it does not appear on my overview map of the Main. Our reason for this foray was to find a post office, since we had collected four pounds of maps and paper souvenirs, and it was time to lighten the load. We had no problem knowing that there was a post office in this town, because every town has great signage, with maps and explanations on what the town is about.
Not only did Eibelstat have what we needed, but it also had a church from 1725. Despite the good signage, we pretty much had the town to ourselves, at least as far as tourists go.
We did not go in to every town, else we would have ended with even fewer than the rather weak 59 km of forward progress we logged today. Still, we did check out quite a few. In the photos that follow, I will try to identify the location, but really it is the feel of the region rather than the specific town that we will remember.
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One town to remember (ha ha) is Marktbreit.Here we happened to notice that it is the birth place of Dr. Alzeimer. There is a plaque on the house, but no museum of further explanation, except to say that he was born in 1864 and died in 1915, and went to school in Wurzburg. I guess that would add him to the list of brilliant academics for which Wurzburg is noted. For the rest of the story, unfortunately, we will all have to Google it.
Another story that is only partly told on site concerns the synagogue in Kitzingen. This was built in 1883 and destroyed at Kristallnacht (1938). In 1967, the town restored it. It is a surprisingly imposing building, with two church-like spires. The doors were locked, and there is no further information around it. One thing that would be interesting to know is if there is any sort of a Jewish community that actually uses it. OK flash, I broke my time budget and downloaded a 30 page article about the jews of Kitzingen. All I gathered then from 10 seconds of speed reading was that they were prominent as wine merchants, and that the restored building does have a small chapel within it. Otherwise, it does not appear to be being used as a synagogue.
By the way, writing this blog is something like those speed book writing contests. It happens in the narrow window between setting up the tent and collapsing from general exhaustion. That means that careful checking of facts or names suffers, and lots of topics get left out. On the other hand, who wants to read a blog too full of facts and names and topics!
Each time we stop for the night at an organized camping, our first order of business is to scope out what amenities we can find, beyond the patch of grass in the open yard. Some of the best treasures are lighted rooms with power outlets and perhaps tables, but we will also take laundry rooms with dryer tops and plugs, or beer tents with tables, etc. tonight there was a large covered "game room" with one Foosball game and no other furniture. However, it is covered and does have 8 plugs and overhead light. Only thing, there was no power in the plugs and no light in the lights. So I took the initiative of going to roust out the manager and get the things turned on. So that was great, but there was a cost in having to answer the Usual Questions. In this case, and probably the only reason I am mentioning it, the manager used to work for Mercedes Benz and spent a lot of time in the US and Canada promoting the brand. He said that he had come to love the two countries and really misses them. In particular he cited the friendliness of the people. Clearly the grass is always greener on the other side!
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Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,223 km (759 miles)
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