Today has been a good day. No sun but no rain and better still the predicted 10mph wind was absent for much of the day. I was up "de bonheur" and having chatted to my German neighbours was able to say "auf wiedersen" to Kees and Lisbeth who had not slept well because of the party by the river for "Father's day" which went on till 05.00.
Because of yesterday's holiday the cupboard was bare so my first task was to find a Lidl or Aldi or Renfe in fact I found all three right next to each other on the outskirts of Neuburg. For once I didn't buy too much and 10 minutes later I was having a breakfast of porridge oats orange juice and yoghurt.
The first target was Ingolstadt a city on the Donau. The trouble with cities is navigating through them but Ingolstadt was passed with relative ease and I pressed on towards Neustadt (not very imaginative place names) The going was fairly flat and relatively easy except when the signs seemed to send me and a group of four Germans in a circle. The difficulty was that there were three large chimneys painted red and white which were identical to ones just outside Ingolstadt. There was no obvious direction of flow from the Danube at this point so I was about to head back in the wrong direction when I met an old couple on electric bikes who said I could follow them. They were wrong. They were far too fast for me on their electric bikes!
At around 13.00 I was making good time so I decided to stop for a coffee at what turned out to be an Italian restaurant and my coffee morphed into pasta al forno and a small beer. While I was enjoying my lunch along came Stefan from last night's campsite and asked if he could join me. After lunch we agreed that we were heading for the same campsite tonight but that we would go at our own speeds.
Just before Kelheim the Donau enters a narrow gorge where there are no roads or paths. You can either go by boat or climb up and around the gorge which didn't seem attractive at the end of the day. I had to wait until the boat had enough passengers for it to be worth setting off but when it did the views were spectacular.
Unfortunately the campsite in Kelheim is closed for the festivities and the next is a further unattractive 10 kms outside Kelheim. It was a strange site on a farm with unconventional facilities but for 10 euros I was happy to pitch my tent on a slope.. I had passed a large party of children and adults on the road out of Kelheim. It turns out that they are two French families who met on the road and are now travelling together to Budapest. They are four adults and eleven children who are relatively well behaved. They are camped right next to me so I hope the children sleep well.
Just as I went to reception (the farm house) to buy a beer Stefan rocked up to be told that the site was full but he could sleep in the barn in straw. It is better than it sounds since it was a properly prepared area with which he is delighted.
Regensburg is just 30 kms from here so the plan is to stay there for the night and have a full day exploring. It is of course weather dependent.
distance cycled so far: 581kms
No comments:
Post a Comment