Day 88: Ulm to Riedlingen, Germany: Deja Vue (backwards)

August 15, 2012

At 5 a.m. these days it is just getting light, so we took down the tent with the help of our headlamps. In pretty short order we were on our way, having gulped down some yoghurt, cold coffee, and yesterday’s buns.

Back in town, along the Donau, we were disappointed to find lots of evidence of people partying and leaving their garbage on the grass, not far from garbage bins provided. There were also piles of cigarette buts around, and graffiti – some of it on clearly historic walls. Ulm gives the impression of an industrial town that has not yet really appreciated the value of what remains of its historic core. Much seems to have been destroyed, though to be fair, maybe war damage is at fault as well.

We had wanted to find Albert Einstein’s birth house, but again, as we had cruised through the streets, there was no indication that we saw of where it might be or what we might now find there. The GPS volunteered where Einstein Strasse and Einstein Platz were, but was silent on a birth house or museum. So we regretfully gave it a miss. All you readers with tons of internet probably will soon know all the details of Einstein attractions in Ulm. Boy, do we ever feel blind when internet is scarce!

Our plan was to cycle back up the Donau as far as Hausen and then to strike out for the Neckar from there. Once on the Neckar, we would follow it to the Rhine, and then north along the Rhine. We have found that tourist informations are very myopic, and often have materials only for the town that they are located in. So we have no regional map right now. For all we know we are heading in a foolish way. We will try to fix that with a better map, very soon!

In any event, our path today was a retrace of part of what we had cycled about a month ago in the other direction. It’s a bizarre feeling to clearly remember some things, not remember other things at all, and generally to be fuzzy about the order things came in.

There have been changes, as well. Fields of mustard are now fields of stubble, and the corn is 10 feet high, looking more than ready for harvest. In Ehingen, the Rathaus square that had been the scene of a vibrant market when we fist came there, was now empty and lonely looking.

One strange change, where we were last on this bit of the river it was what we assumed would be the peak of the touring season. However today the place had five times the number of cyclists. Plus, they were out cycling at all hours. We are used to swarms of cyclists, but not early (when we are out trying to make some progress) or late (when we are still out trying to make some progress).

Because of our early start, we reached Riedlingen quite early. The next camping seemed to be up to 60 km away, so we knew we had to stop. It had been very hot and sunny all day, too, so our energy was sapped. As is customary, we went to approximately where the Bikeline map showed the camping to be, and looked for some signs. Nothing. So we pulled out the GPS and tried to go to exactly where the camping should be. Nothing. We asked somebody, and they did succeed in sending up to where there was a sign pointing to camping. We followed the sign, and it (after 2 km) took us back to where we had entered the Riedlingen area in the first place. We asked someone else, and they said “Just behind that building” .. but nothing. We asked someone in “that building” and they directed us back around a way we had already come. However this time we spotted a coyly placed sign that directed us into front yard/parking area of what turned out to be a tennis facility. Somewhere hidden around back of this was a camping spot!

For €17.50 we received a patch of grass, though admittedly is was quite a secluded patch, and we could carry over a garden table to near it. There was also access to the showers of the tennis thing, which were quite nice, and on this day much appreciated.

Though we had bought a further €15 credit for our LIDL intenet stick for Germany, we could not quite get it going. I asked for translation help from some other campers, but even German speakers who can communicate acceptably in English have difficulty dealing with an internet company’s website lingo and tricky deals. I think that is true in any language, unless you are a programmer or a lawyer.

So I have dumped the problem over to Marius, who is a programmer, and hope to be fully in business soon. Meanwhile, you may only be seeing this text, and will have to imagine the rest. Like Sheldon of Big Bang Theory says, imagination is the world’s most powerful graphics chip.

FLASH I am writing this four days later. We have internet again, and you do not have to imaging the scenes of the day. Here they are:!