Strangely, this was a really nice day’s cycling. Strange because the weather was poor – drizzle punctuated by heavy bursts of rain and short, drier interludes. The cloud was very low and the light was flat and grey, but everything had a calm serenity about it – particulary the river itself. Or perhaps it’s just our mood. Strange also because the scenery close to was mostly quite mundane (we even cycled parallel to a motorway for a couple of miles) – but the sight of the cloud-topped, much higher hills to the north – the Swabisher Alb – gradually getting closer was enough to raise the spirits. And finally there was just the pleasure of companionable cycling – we are both feeling really fit and strong now, so that the miles roll by in a very pleasing sort of way! But the poor weather doesn’t help the photography so the blog suffers a bit.
One of the first things we saw on leaving Regensburg was our first Danube cruise ship – it overtook us, heading downriver. But by the time I stopped and got the camera out it was a bit late!
As we stood in the rain, watching, we wondered about the relative merits of bikes versus luxury boats. But imagine being cooped up on board, unable to get off and visit the places you were seeing! Yuk. And it turned out to be even slower than cycling along the bank! The boat kept having to stop to negotiate the massive locks, thus allowing us to catch up.
The one town of note today was Straubing. This town is described as ‘Italianate’ because it has a series of towers. It also reminded us of Tuscany because the weather was just the same when we cycled there too! Straubing also has a very fine high street, where we had a bit of recovery time.
All our companion cyclists from the Ulm to Regensburg stage seem to have disappeared. Fairweather cyclists obviously. We have finally given cigar man the slip. So for the final stage from Straubing we had the path almost to ourselves. We have found a farm in a tiny middle-of-nowhere village called Waltendorf with a double room for the night (camping didn’t appeal). I think I might have a Waltendorf salad. Tomorrow we head for Passau – the last town in Germany.
Helen’s track of the day: Kings of Leon, Use Somebody; despite efforts during a long cycle ride (such as singing a medley Of Sinatra tunes, even a bit of Handel at one point), I was unable to get this out of my head once I had heard it at the drinks stop cafe in Straubing.