Linz surprises us - always nice to have time to explore
So we felt like we needed a rest day and the track for today shows that it was mostly that. Although we did a good deal of walking around that is not logged.
Across the street from the hotel was the ferry over to Linz. I have woken with a bit of an upset tummy so we decided to make it a short day and to pass on returning to Ramagen - an excuse to come back.
Once off the ferry, we simply cross the street and enter Linz through one of the two remaining town gates, complete with portcullis dating back to the 1300s.
The fountain in front of city hall has a group of citizens surrounded by a ring of puppets. I think there are many ways you could read the symbolism here.
In the past a chain and pulley system was used to move wares up into storage areas of the houses. This is most likely for decoration but it is not unusual to see similar systems still being used to get larger items into apartments. The narrow staircases of the past were not meant to accommodate today's furniture.
This statue was dedicated to the women of the area who, over the decades, contributed to the economy. This is the butter woman. The sign stated that some women would walk up to 20 km to sell their wares at the market.
This is a statue of a Klapperjunge. These were boys who would use wooden rattles to call parishioners to services during the time between the Thursday before Good Friday until Easter. The bells were kept silent to show respect for the passion of Christ.
Marvin has a bit of an unusual gait that is hard on shoes. His closed toed walking sandals were really showing wear so we were on the lookout for new ones. This lovely shop had exactly what we were looking for 50% off. Nice shoes, nice service, nice price, happy Marvin.
Linz is not a town either of us was familiar with but being on bikes put us in easy reach and off the beaten track. The only tourists we saw were German, Belgium and groups of school children who all mainly showed up after 1200 hrs. Mornings are the best times to explore most towns if you want to avoid crowds.
It was not clear at first how to get out of town but after a bit of trial and error we were on our way.
One of the error parts of leaving town took us down a path that was a dead end but there we found lots of ripe blackberries. What can I say, we could not fight the urge to stop, pick and nibble.
The Gasthaus Feuerwache is simple but nice. The owner, Claudia, lived in England for over 20 years so speaks excellent English. She knew we had book the budget room but, as other rooms were available, she upgraded us to a better room. She also was able to accommodate storing our bikes.
