Friday, October 12, 2007
Wednesday (Nijmegen->Xanten, GER), 50mi
I woke up in Nijmegen, had a quick breakfast, and wrote a blog or two. I then wanted to check out a few more places in town before I headed for Germany. The most important of these was, of course, Barbarossa’s ruins (unfortunately this was not the pirate Barbarossa, but I pretended). He built a castle in 1155 on the ruins of Charlemagne’s castle. Unfortunately the county sold the castle for building material in the late 1700’s and all that remains are the two churches at either end of the castle.
Eventually I left the Netherlands behind, turning away from the Rhine (Waal as it was in the Netherlands), and entered the rolling farms of northeastern Germany. It was probably the best riding day so far - it was sunny all day and just slightly warmer than the previous days (mid to high 60s maybe). However, I was barely able to infiltrate the German defenses as they had a very tight security perimeter at the border (kidding). I actually didn’t know when I crossed the border, but there was a point with a few boundary marker stones where the signs turned from Dutch to German. Anyway, getting away from the dikes of the Netherlands and into the German countryside was a pleasant change as I was getting tired of grinding away in the exact gear for miles and miles at a time. Also, the Germans have not prepared their bikepaths for me as nicely as the Dutch did. I've now hit packed sand, dirt and even some gravelly sections, whereas in the Netherlands it was always nicely paved or tiled. But the change is welcome.
I passed through the picturesque towns of Kleve and Kalkar and eventually found myself along the Xantener Nordsee (a lake) and was then suddenly in Xanten. It was a little over 40 miles in all and I felt a little bit more tired than the previous journey because of the more hilly German terrain. Apparently, the town of Xanten has just discovered that it was a Roman settlement thousands of years ago after a farmer dug up a bunch of golden Roman coins. They're excavating all over the place and they have an outdoor archaeological museum that shows the Roman excavations. They also have a new huge museum dedicated to the Roman history set to open in April next year. The town itself has a pretty, ancient square with a huge church and ancient walls and entrances. I'm staying at the local youth hostel which is mile or two outside of town, but it's only 20 euros and as clean as a hospital. Although the last place was new and clean, it was 50 euros, and the place before that (Hotel Tivoli), well, let’s just say it wasn’t worth the 45 euros I paid. The youth hostel room has room for four or five to sleep, but I’ve got it to myself and it has its own bathroom. I swear it’s never been used.
Some pics from the journey to Xanten:
The route. Interactive.
Nijmegen old town in the morning.
Avast! BARRRRbarossa's ruins! Alas, no buried traayysure, only some refuse left by the local rabble.
I think this was the Dutch-German border. It was a very difficult crossing.
Finally, some dirt paths.
Typical bike path signage.
There I am outside Xanten!
My final installment of how to burn down your hotel (I finally got the plug adapter).
I woke up in Nijmegen, had a quick breakfast, and wrote a blog or two. I then wanted to check out a few more places in town before I headed for Germany. The most important of these was, of course, Barbarossa’s ruins (unfortunately this was not the pirate Barbarossa, but I pretended). He built a castle in 1155 on the ruins of Charlemagne’s castle. Unfortunately the county sold the castle for building material in the late 1700’s and all that remains are the two churches at either end of the castle.
Eventually I left the Netherlands behind, turning away from the Rhine (Waal as it was in the Netherlands), and entered the rolling farms of northeastern Germany. It was probably the best riding day so far - it was sunny all day and just slightly warmer than the previous days (mid to high 60s maybe). However, I was barely able to infiltrate the German defenses as they had a very tight security perimeter at the border (kidding). I actually didn’t know when I crossed the border, but there was a point with a few boundary marker stones where the signs turned from Dutch to German. Anyway, getting away from the dikes of the Netherlands and into the German countryside was a pleasant change as I was getting tired of grinding away in the exact gear for miles and miles at a time. Also, the Germans have not prepared their bikepaths for me as nicely as the Dutch did. I've now hit packed sand, dirt and even some gravelly sections, whereas in the Netherlands it was always nicely paved or tiled. But the change is welcome.
I passed through the picturesque towns of Kleve and Kalkar and eventually found myself along the Xantener Nordsee (a lake) and was then suddenly in Xanten. It was a little over 40 miles in all and I felt a little bit more tired than the previous journey because of the more hilly German terrain. Apparently, the town of Xanten has just discovered that it was a Roman settlement thousands of years ago after a farmer dug up a bunch of golden Roman coins. They're excavating all over the place and they have an outdoor archaeological museum that shows the Roman excavations. They also have a new huge museum dedicated to the Roman history set to open in April next year. The town itself has a pretty, ancient square with a huge church and ancient walls and entrances. I'm staying at the local youth hostel which is mile or two outside of town, but it's only 20 euros and as clean as a hospital. Although the last place was new and clean, it was 50 euros, and the place before that (Hotel Tivoli), well, let’s just say it wasn’t worth the 45 euros I paid. The youth hostel room has room for four or five to sleep, but I’ve got it to myself and it has its own bathroom. I swear it’s never been used.
Some pics from the journey to Xanten:
The route. Interactive.
Nijmegen old town in the morning.
Avast! BARRRRbarossa's ruins! Alas, no buried traayysure, only some refuse left by the local rabble.
I think this was the Dutch-German border. It was a very difficult crossing.
Finally, some dirt paths.
Typical bike path signage.
There I am outside Xanten!
My final installment of how to burn down your hotel (I finally got the plug adapter).
Comments:
... actually looks like standard european electrical code ... burn that mother down !!!
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