Sunday, October 14, 2007
I've just arrived in Mainz and found a random wireless signal. Here is the post from last night (I might be able to do today's if there's wireless near the hostel - I haven't arrived there yet):
Saturday (Bonn->Koblenz), 50mi
I don’t have an internet connection now, so I’m not sure when this will post. Anyway, I woke up today in Bonn with the sun streaming in my hotel window. I rode my bike around Bonn and snapped a few pictures and also went lunch shopping (meat, cheese, chocolate – meat is a new addition as my lunches up until today consisted of Chocolate and Cheese). I hit the road with partly sunny skies and as the day wore on it became totally sunny. A beautiful day of riding. I also seem to have left the heavy industry behind with the lowlands. The towns along the Rhine today were very nice and hills have started to rise up along the sides of the river, reminding me a bit of New England.
I arrived at my destination in Koblenz around 4 or 5 and attempted to locate the youth hostel. The guidebook showed it right across the river from Koblenz near the fortress way up on the cliff. It took some to figure out that the hostel is *in* the fortress on the cliff. Well, cliff fortresses are always designed to be difficult to get to. I wasn’t too thrilled. So I made my way up there and got lost several times. I had to walk the bike plus trailer in several sections because it was so steep. Eventually I made to the fort, paid the entrance fee, and proceeded to the hostel. The parking lot was totally full and I knew I shouldn’t even bother to go inside because it was clearly completely booked. I went inside anyway and, yep, it was completely booked. So, I made the exciting descent back down and found a 28 euro a night hotel at the bottom of the cliff. There I ate dinner and had a few beers and then turned in for the night.
The pictorial:
The route. Interactive.
A view out my hotel window into the streets of Bonn.
The statue of Beethoven in Bonn. This was his home town afterall.
Me and the bike on the Rhein.
The famous bombed out bridge at Remagen. It allowed American passage to Germany during WWII and it took the Nazis several attempts to destroy it.
A fairytale castle along the Rhein.
Lunch at an ancient tollhouse and WWI memorial in Andernach.
The Koblenz Nazi fortress (Ehrenbreitstein - originally built by the Prussians) where the booked youth hostel was located.
Saturday (Bonn->Koblenz), 50mi
I don’t have an internet connection now, so I’m not sure when this will post. Anyway, I woke up today in Bonn with the sun streaming in my hotel window. I rode my bike around Bonn and snapped a few pictures and also went lunch shopping (meat, cheese, chocolate – meat is a new addition as my lunches up until today consisted of Chocolate and Cheese). I hit the road with partly sunny skies and as the day wore on it became totally sunny. A beautiful day of riding. I also seem to have left the heavy industry behind with the lowlands. The towns along the Rhine today were very nice and hills have started to rise up along the sides of the river, reminding me a bit of New England.
I arrived at my destination in Koblenz around 4 or 5 and attempted to locate the youth hostel. The guidebook showed it right across the river from Koblenz near the fortress way up on the cliff. It took some to figure out that the hostel is *in* the fortress on the cliff. Well, cliff fortresses are always designed to be difficult to get to. I wasn’t too thrilled. So I made my way up there and got lost several times. I had to walk the bike plus trailer in several sections because it was so steep. Eventually I made to the fort, paid the entrance fee, and proceeded to the hostel. The parking lot was totally full and I knew I shouldn’t even bother to go inside because it was clearly completely booked. I went inside anyway and, yep, it was completely booked. So, I made the exciting descent back down and found a 28 euro a night hotel at the bottom of the cliff. There I ate dinner and had a few beers and then turned in for the night.
The pictorial:
The route. Interactive.
A view out my hotel window into the streets of Bonn.
The statue of Beethoven in Bonn. This was his home town afterall.
Me and the bike on the Rhein.
The famous bombed out bridge at Remagen. It allowed American passage to Germany during WWII and it took the Nazis several attempts to destroy it.
A fairytale castle along the Rhein.
Lunch at an ancient tollhouse and WWI memorial in Andernach.
The Koblenz Nazi fortress (Ehrenbreitstein - originally built by the Prussians) where the booked youth hostel was located.
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