August 10, 2015
Day 20: Burgel to Aschaffenburg, Germany
When in the U.S., we complain that campgrounds are actually RV parks, and many do not even accept tents. And when in Europe, we look at all the cyclists with two (and not four) bags, and think of them as guesthousers. So last night the area in front of the campground restaurant was filled up with the tents of real four bags cycle tourists, and what do we say? "Too crowded" !
Actually, it was fine, as we got to talk to some of our fellow campers and learn where they were coming from and going to. And remarkably, all went to bed on time and were quiet!
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We got up as early as possible, in a bid to beat the heat. We took the time to cook porridge (yeech), but told ourselves that we would stop in a Hanau, home of the brothers Grimm, for a second breakfast.
When we came abreast of Hanau, the sign put the distance to town at 4.7 km. With the temperature climbing fast, that was too much to contemplate, I said. So we pressed on, presumably to find a location where breakfast would be presented to us on a silver platter by the trailside.
It looked like we had found that spot, when a quick turn through a town gate brought us to Steinheim. This small town had a central square with fachwerk houses. There was almost no one around, but there was one lady woth a dog and child, clearly identifying her as local. We asked after the bakery, and she explained that it was closed for vacation. No amount of fachwerk houses can save a ure from a closed bakery. I mean reallly!
We trundled around the streets for a bit and tried to follow directions the lady had given for a backup bakery - but nothing. We did see one construction project, where the fachwerk was being reconstructed. Very interesting, and so encouraging to see a building being basicallýpreserved rather than knocked down and replaced with something ugly.
So we descended back to the Main and started on our way again. Down by the river, here was the lady again. She asked, did we find the bakery - and we had to admit failure. Since we had now moved 100 meters from our first encounter, we had evidently entered a new bakery region. So the lady directed us under a nearby bridge and up a street - and bingo - a bakery and also a REWE grocery with in store independent bakery. Now we had all the bakery and even grocery products we could want. This included rice pudding, which has become a favourite here. This time we went crazy and got burnt almond flavour, and pistachio, instead of our usual cinnamon and chocolate.
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The next town along for us was Seligenstadt. Now this is a really serious fachwerk town, ans we think we saw a mention of it being on the German fachwerk trail, or somesuch. The main square had a whole array of beautiful examples, and there was not one but two or three bakeries easily spotted around! A sequence of dates was set out in brass plaques in the floor of the square by the fountain, each date representing something important in the town's history. The key facts for us were that the first date was 815 a.d. and that not a darn thing happened (apparently) between 1859 and 1977, when the lst thing happened in the town.
The town has a minor basilica which was begun in 830, and which has some relics of St Peter. When we stepped inside, a tour group was getting an explanation - in Italian. It made us feel as if we had already made it down south. Otherwise the interior was fairly ordinary, as these things go.
With the temperature about 40, we slogged along the Main. One thing that helped a lot was soaking our shirts in the river. The trick is to only soak the top part, so your shorts and chafing prone areas do not get wet. The cool shirts really increased our energy and happiness, but of course the effect is only temporary.
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We rolled up to Aschaffenburg as it was getting a little late in the afternoon, but not that the temperature was moderating at all. From the river path what you see, all you see, is a truly giant schloss, situated by the river. Without a map there would be no way to know that there was anything else. But of course the map reealed to us that there is a whole town behind, and that this is stuffed with old churches, museums, and good for the way we were thinking - guest houses.
The first chore was to actually find how to make an assault on the city. There were steps up, but of course those are of little use for us. Further along the Main there was indeed a steep laneway, that took us up beside the schloss and to the tourist information. Tourist information found us a guesthouse (a B and B really) just beyond the pedestrian district. The very nice lady there plied us with cold mineral water, while instructing us closely on where to put our bikes, bags we would need, bags we did not need, about the front door key, the room key, the breakfast time, whether we wanted tea or coffee, what kind of tea, and so forth. We were pleased to cope with all this, just so long as the cold mineral water kept coming!
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A shower for each of us put us in condition to sally back out into the town on foot. As usual we like to look in churches. Now that we have crossed into Bavaria (Franconia, really - Bavaria aquired Franconia in the early 1800s) and now that we are in the predominantly Catholic region of Franconia, the churches feature more gold and more elaborate statues and decorations. That makes them automatically more interesting for us.
We stopped first at the Sandkirche, which had an opulent rococo interior, built in 1756. The painted celings were nice, until you really looked at them. The images depict some sort of sci-fi horror story.
We were looking at the outdoor cafes and thinking about supper, but any sort of heavy food would not work in the heat. So we were glad to run in to an Asian restaurant, which came up with just the right stir frys. In any German restaurant, you have to buy water, so might as well buy some other drink. We "splashed out" big for full sized glasses, since we were so thirsty. We chose schorle, a mixture of fruit juice and sparkling water, and in this case got mango and litchi. These were great choices, since they were made with quality juices.
The owner came over and talked to us for a while. He had left mainland China thirty five years ago, first going to Hong Kong, and finally to Germany. Now we could see he had a large, clean, and successful restaurant. He mentioned the German cleanliness standards, and that he must spend a much higher proportion of revenue on cleaning and on health regulations and recording than elsewhere. Still, he seemed very happy. We can attest that the dishes were top quality.
Our next church up was even more highly decorated than the first, this time with a heavy stress on gold. The place was deserted, and I was impressed that they could/would leave the gold candlesticks etc. not to mention the hundreds of years old frescoes unattended. Of course, for all we knew, one false move and the place could lock down automatically, like a mouse trap.
Walking back up through the town was a bit of a chore, since any movement still was a sweaty undertaking. Back in our room, we again have all windows (and door) open for cross draft.
We don't mind doing short days right now, because we are trying to time it to meet our German "family" in Rothenburg ob dere Tauber on Saturday. If we blow through, the timing won't work. It's quite a luxury too, typing this blog at a table, not in the dark, and not in a laundry room or on the ground in the tent with a headlight!
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Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 1,039 km (645 miles)
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