We do (almost) Nothing

Monday September 12th
In Which we do (almost) Nothing

After several days of riding it is always a welcome relief to enjoy a free day for catching up on routine tasks and for doing a limited amount of routine sightseeing. Most of the team had a comparative sleep in and wandered down to breakfast at around 7.30 am. It is always amazing to see the excessive amount of food this type of hotel puts out each day for breakfast. With the vast arrays of just about about everything from sausage to sauerkraut, cakes and coffee, one can only imagine how much must be thrown into the bins every day.

It was interesting to hear other team members comment that, although it was nice to stay here for a day or two, it would be such a shame to have to spend every night in such an artificial type of environment. We are already looking forward to returning to the smaller, character filled hotels which typify this type of adventure.

Maggie and I headed out towards the old town centre, via the huge Ulm Munster.

This church is famous for having the tallest church steeple in the world. I had already climbed to the top of this tower in my previous visit so had no need or desire to climb up again. Instead we chose to wander the interior and look at the huge stained glass windows instead. It is impossible not to marvel at the engineers and architects who built these places without the aid of computers or power tools.

When we emerged from the church the first rush of tour groups was already filling the courtyard outside the church. The tour leaders were busy regaling their obedient followers with their own version of history and their carefully rehearsed and often repeated jokes. At each joke the groups laughed on cue and then shuffled off to the next stop on the tour. By mid afternoon, when the crush of tourist buses reaches its peak, the whole area is full of tired faces and tourists wearing their "I love Germany" T shirts. I was already looking forward to getting back on the bike and watching my wheels turning over on the secluded back roads of Germany.

Perhaps the very best part of Ulm is the old Fisher's Quarter, a cluster of brightly painted, topsy turvy houses clustered along the sides of several narrow canals. This is the region that used to house the original fish traders of Ulm.

I was somewhat surprised that I was able to find the little restaurant where we had shared dinner on our 2011 Danube ride. It brought back some great memories.

We then followed the riverbank back to our hotel. In the warm afternoon heat we were both looking forward to a rest and a break from the intense sun. Neither of us felt like yet another restaurant meal, so we joined with David and Carol to find a supermarket. It was great fun to choose a selection of food for a delightful picnic on the banks of the Danube. For us it felt like an absolute gourmet's delight as we enjoyed our sushi, raspberries, grapes, yoghurt and croissants. Just to add a little extra atmosphere the almost full moon gradually climbed over the tops of the trees on the opposite side of the river. It did not matter one little bit that we were all just seated on a park bench beside the gently flowing Danube, we enjoyed it just as much as if we were dining in some expensive restaurant.
Somehow it just seemed like the perfect way to end a lovely day. It was an experience that I am sure we will all treasure in the years ahead.

Tomorrow we resume our ride as we progress toward our eventual destination of Budapest. Czytaj więcej