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Friday, 13th September 2019
Cloudy, but warm, with occasional bursts of sunshine 23C.
A cycle ride along the Rhine Cycleway, for about ten miles, Picnic lunch, and, a Radler (shandy) in a riverside Bier Garten, paid for by Kathleen, a rare event!
A couple of weeks ago, Kathleen clocked up 91 miles of cycling, in one week. Since then, dare I say, a slight obsession has developed, this week, we have done "only" 69.6 miles, no good enough!
Next we cycle into Rudesheim, to check out Church times for Kathleen, she has to see it with her own eyes, myself/Google are not trusted. It is 17:00 tomorrow (Saturday) evening, so, a repeat of 2013, I suspect, ie Church, drinks in the square, from the "wine kiosk", a meal, more drinks in the square, then, wobble back to the site, on the bikes!
Rudesheim is much more "touristy" than Geidenheim, still very nice, but, a definite tendency toward tacky "souvenir" shops, and, much busier than Geisenheim.
Saturday, 14th September 2019
"Only" 14C in the morning, but, by lunch time, sunny, and 23C.
The section of the Rhine from here, towards Koblenz, is popularly know as the "Romantic Rhine", the bank as are more hilly and covered in vineyards, with castles dotted along the way.
That is where we cycle today, a trivial six miles, a poor show by our usual efforts.
On the return, we pause in Rudesheim, so Kathleen could try out these large seats,
which seem to be very popular here for some reason. they do seem remarkably popular, but, personally, I don't find them comfortable.
The day is rounded off, for me, by sitting in the square in Rudesheim, workingman way through a selection of German wines, on sale at a kiosk in the square.
It works like this, you hire a glass for 3Euro, you have it filled/refilled with wine, for 2Euro. At the end, you return the glass, and get 3Euro back. Very civilised!
When Kathleen emerges from church, we find a very nice restaurant and eat.
We have noticed, in Germany, there appears to be a "cash economy", ie a reluctance to accept plastic.
When we have eaten, I notice that another customer is paying with plastic, so, I ask to pay by Debit card (Starling Debit Card, no fees for foreign currency transactions).
The waiter appears reluctant, and, I have to go to a "cash desk" to complete the transaction, but, otherwise, no problem.
I venture to ask the waiter, why, in Germany, there appears to be a reluctance to use Plastic?
His answer is, that, Germans value their privacy, and, that, using Plastic leaves an electronic trail, ie "they" know, when you ate, where you ate, what you ate.
All seems a bit strange to me, but, I suppose, in a Country which spawned the Gestapo, and the Stazi, perhaps, he has a point?
Just one man's view of course, maybe it has nothing to do with privacy.
Sunday, 15th September 2019.
An absolutely stunning day for mid-September, clear blue sky, full sunshine, 27C.
Now, before I recount this tale, you must understand, Kathleen is most definitely NOT obsessive (she says).
Kathleen, checking her Runkeeper mileage, for the week, finds she has 81 miles clocked up, for the week so far. It is decided, we will go out cycling, taking a picnic lunch, but, with option to eat at a Riverside bar, if we see one.
We duly cycle ten miles along the Rhine, just past a place called Eltville.
We turn back, and stop off in Eltville for a celebratory drink, what are we celebrating? Kathleen's, achievement of, what will be, over 100 miles of cycling, in one week. She is even feeling so pleased with herself that she buys a very pleasant lunch at Rosenstubchen, a pavement bar/restaurant in Eltville.
There are numerous Cruise Boats today, some day cruises, and some of the really large ones where people spend a Holiday cruising the Rhine, and beyond. It is clear that many Orientals (Chinese?) are now taking such cruises, and, places like Rudesheim have groups of them, photographing everything in sight. It seems rather ironic, to me, that they will, possibly, be taking home "souvenirs" from Germany, which, were almost certainly manufactured in China, shipped halfway around the world, in a Container, and, will return in as holiday luggage?
Tuesday, 10th September 2019
A bright sunny day, 21C, by lunch time, even at 09:00 it is warm enough for people to be having a picnic breakfast, on the banks of the Rhine.
We decide to cycle north, along the Rhine, trying to keep to the opposite bank (ie the eastern bank) too yesterday. It proves quite difficult, since we are soon in a busy built-up area, then, before we know it, in central Mannheim.
We find a bridge, and, cross to the western bank. It is still an urban area, but, with excellent cycling infrastructure.
Soon we are cycling alongside a massive BASF Factory, not that you would readily know it was a factory, since it is all neatly landscaped and very well kept.
We eventually give up on the idea of riding beyond the edge of the city, and turn
around, with the intention of finding somewhere to eat our picnic lunch.
We eventually find what we think is a public park, but, it turns out to be the grounds of a BASF training building.
The grounds appear to be open to the public, well, that is, no-one challenges two elderly cyclists sitting on a park bench, eating their sandwiches and drink bottles of railer (shandy).
Fortified, we head off, in search of ice-cream. We recall that, on our way here, we passed a bar/cafe, on the Rhine Promenade, which, we suspect, will sell ice-cream.
We find the Rhine Bridge, and, even find our way up, onto the cycle track, but, at the other side we are completely baffled by the maze of cycle tracks, and tunnels, leading in every direction. There are sign posts, but, since we do not know where any of the places are, they are of little use. We can SEE where we want to be, but, there is a railway line, between us and the river.
After several abortive tries along various tracks, including riding into the University, Kathleen eventually, deduces the correct tunnel, and, we find the bar/cafe to have our ice-cream.
We arrive back at Camping Strandbad having ridden 17 miles.
The site seems much busier today, and, soon, we have new neighbours, a couple of Aussies (man and wife), who are Motor Racing (GP) fans and have been to the Belgian Grand-prix and the Italian Grand-Prix. They are on their way to Frankfurt to drop off their hired Campervan, and fly home.
We spend a pleasant evening chatting to them.
They borrow my van cleaning gear (bucket, sponge, chamois leather) to clean their van, before returning it, and, give us their unused milk, kitchen roll, and, a pack of serviettes, they must be posh Aussies, serviettes, in a camper van!
Wednesday, 11th September 2019
Another beautiful day, 25C by lunch time.
Our Aussie neighbours leave at about 10:00, leaving us with even more surplus items, sugar, jam, eggs!
We have planned a "lazy" day, a few chores and some reading.
Kathleen does some clothes washing, first, then we decide to find the nearest Lidl, for wine and treats.
We set off on our bicycles, according to Google, it is about 2 miles away, in a place called Lindenhof. Eventually, we ask a very helpful lady, who tells us, in perfect English, how to find the Lidl. We arrive having covered about 4 miles!
Big disappointment, this Lidl does not appear to sell one of my favourite treats, they are a sort of Danish Pastry, a spiral of pastry, with lots of raisons embedded in it. They sell them in UK, and, in France, but, not here. I have to settle for bar(s) of chocolate.
We end up with more shopping than I can fit in my backpack, so, I end up with a back pack, and a carrier bag tied to the back pack!
We take a risk on finding our way back, without retracing our steps, relying on my gut instinct for directions, which Kathleen, of course, does not trust,
My instincts are correct, we find our way back to Camping Strandbad, no problem, and, it is only about 2.5 miles, quite why Google directed us the way it did, I have no idea!
Thursday, 12th September 2019
The day starts nicely, sunny and warm, but, as we travel toward Koblenz, it become overcast, with the odd shower, however, by 16:00, at Geisenheim, it is sunny and a very warm 23C.
From what I have already said, we decide to move on from Camping Strandbad, and head for Geisenheim, a place we have visited before.
Approximately 75 miles, almost all motorway.
We had tried to find Geisenheim Am Rhein / Rheingau Camping N49.979271, E7.95744, in the ACSI Book, without success.
On arrival, we understand what, it is no longer an ACSI site.
We are even puzzled by the site name, it was called Geisenheim Am Rhein, the last time we were here (2013), and, according to SearchForSites website, it still is, however, the paperwork we are given is headed Rheingau Camping.
No matter what the name, the site is good, and, we are allocated an excellent location, overlooking the Rhine, with ducks swimming up and down the river, and, a constant procession of barges and cruise boats sailing past.
For the first time, since leaving Cite Europe, Calais, we have several UK Vans onsite.
After lunch, Kathleen disappears to attend to hair washing duties, whilst I get us "set up".
After our evening meal, we have a short (3,5 mile) cycle ride to explore the immediate area, and, locate the nearest Church and Lidl.
Sadly, it would appear the Geisenheim Lidl does not sell my favourite pastry either!
