We Take a Wander

It is staggering how much difference a few hours sleep makes. Last night we could barely string 2 sensible words together and it took a huge amount of effort just to walk from one hotel room to the one next door. Now, after a good 8 hours rest, we both felt like new people. Unfortunately when we looked in the mirror we found the same old faces staring blankly back at us.

We had previously arranged with David and Carol and Gordon and Sue to have a late breakfast at the Hilton Hotel on the banks of the Rhine at 9.30 am. When we emerged from our room we saw David happily sitting on the outside veranda. He explained that he had already walked to the supermarket to buy his breakfast. This was something of a surprise considering our previous arrangements, however both David and Carol had obviously completely forgotten what had transpired the previous evening. That is one of the many challenges in taking a group of old people on a European bike ride.

We tried to refresh their memory about the arrangements that they had previously agreed to and a short time later, the 6 of us were gathered alongside the river and enjoying breakfast. Of course, for two of the group, it was the second breakfast of the morning. During the breakfast we enjoyed some light hearted banter with the Columbian waitress who explained that she had come to Germany to complete her degree.

After breakfast I explained that I had planned a short walk to help rid us all of the cobwebs of the long flight. I pointed out the route that I had worked out and assured everyone that it "would only be a couple of kilometres". We all formed a walking peloton and trudged off toward the large bridge across the Rhine to Weisbaden. By the time we reached the far side of the river Carol had already pulled up lame. '

"I have a bone in my leg and can't walk any further", she explained. We had no other alternative than to abandon her by the riverside and continue on without her. And continue we did. The short walk developed into quite a long walk as we meandered along a series of bike paths that wandered in and out of the beautiful large trees. At one stage we had to make a large detour inland to cross the River Main. After about 8 km the other 4 walkers were starting to look at me with mutinous eyes. "I'm hot", Maggie complained. "And I'm thirsty" Sue added. "Not far now", I lied.

Somehow we finally staggered onto the railway track and found a way to cross back over the Rhine to our side again. All that remained was the final 4 or 5 km back to the hotel. It had developed into quite a expedition, but gave us all a chance to enjoy a long chat and to get our muscles moving again after the prolonged inactivity of the plane. It was probably the very best thing we could have done.

After a couple of hours we rejoined Carol who was hard at work resting on a seat by the river. She did not seem in the slightest disappointed that she had missed out on our 10 km expedition. The remainder of the day was spent in a much less energetic fashion and in the evening we enjoyed a lovely pizza dinner in a restaurant near the Dom. Later we wandered back to the Rhine to have a coffee in the twilight at the Big Easy Restaurant. A lone saxophone player entertained us with a succession of haunting melodies. The evening was warm and still and we watched the large river cruisers make their way up and down the river. We were quickly starting to develop an affection for this lovely city by the water.

I decided to do a little research and discovered that the population of Mainz is around 200,000. During the war around 80% of the central city was completely destroyed so I guess that explains why there is comparatively only a small number of genuinely ancient buildings still standing. It certainly is a very clean city and we felt very safe walking the streets after dark.

With the arrival of David and Karen Brown our team has now swelled to 12 and more will be arriving tomorrow. Our ride officially starts on Saturday, in the meantime we are determined to enjoy a restful time enjoying the city.Read more