So, if you’ve had enough of us swanning around sitting on our butts and consuming more calories than we’re expending, just move right past this page. Otherwise, here’s the rest of Aunt Betty’s travelogue of the last few weeks.
Reutte to Freiburg - the Black Forest
We retraced some of our 2017 EV6ish tour on this section … the headwaters of the Danube as it carved its way through the limestone karst. On our 2017 bike tour it was foggy with swirling mist, a tight canyon with imposing castles on the top of the cliffs … all brooding and mysterious like a Grimm Brothers fairy tale. Today was bright sunshine with unicorns and flowers!
Unfortunately though, as a result of being in a car and having a long way to go we didn’t stop for any pictures … other than this:
Cute napkin from our ice cream stop in Tutlingen (home of nearly 50% of all the surgical instruments used worldwide!). It was another hot one today!
Check out the link above from our 2017 journal to see what this amazing area is like!
Freiburg to Strassboug to Heidelberg
More Black Forest with a side of (sort of) France
In Freiburg .. this is a very bike friendly University town. This pic is near the main train station, bikes are parked everywhere … photo evidence right here. On the other side of the street is a multi level bike parking lot where you check your bike in … for several days if necessary … just like a car park. It’s all mechanized and could hold probably 5 - 10 THOUSAND bikes! Our Trusty Toute Terrain Silk Road bikes were built here in Freiberg
Back outside … and a very moving art installation of clothing called ‘Thinking of You’ in response to victims of sexual maltreatment from conflicts around the world .. hung out as laundry.
Thank god for air conditioning in the car … there was none in our room in Heidelberg. We managed to find a little shade and a cold beer after we arrived
Bob KoreisHeidelberg Bridge Monkey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_Bridge_Monkey Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
Karin KaarsooThe image shows the Heidelberg Bridge Monkey (Brückenaffe) statue, a popular landmark located by the Old Bridge (Alte Brücke) in Heidelberg Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
Heidelberg to Stuttgart … then train to Munich and flight back to MXP (Somma Lombardo)
This section concluded our car trip … good, but we’re glad to be done and looking forward to getting home. The trip from Stuttgart to MXP was fraught with train and flight delays, but we made it and checked into our very nice apartment in Somma Lombardo (Denny & Carol’s … highly recommended) and retrieved our bikes and bags from Margaret at Sant’Ana this morning (5th July). Margaret was having her annual Blueberry Bash (my term) … 400 plus people, live bands and BBQ … so we needed other accommodation and Denny & Carol’s has been superb! We had another tremendous meal at Corte Visconti (a M recommended family run establishment … we ate here just before we left for the car trip and were very impressed). With that, we’re packed up and ready to hit the airport tomorrow morning and head home.
Looking down on the Nekar valley as it flows into the Rhein … the industrial area of Manheim is on the horizon. K and I camped near those stacks back in 2015 when we rode the Rhein (on our Prairie Slayer Tandem) and it was actually very nice … that would never happen near a major industrial site in North America
Great drive through more twisty Black Forest roads into Stuttgart. You can see the aftermath of WWII here .. this was a major industrial centre and the main part of the city centre was bombed to rubble. It’s been rebuilt in a modern fashion … but you can tell that the car is King here (Mercedes Benz and Porsche are both headquartered here). There’s OK bike infrastructure, but almost nothing compared with the other German cities we’ve been in. This shot is of the ‘new’ main train station construction zone that takes up a very large section of the main town. It’s been like this since 2010!!! It’s no where close to being complete. Google it if you want to read about a construction fiasco.
Karen Poret*2010! And I thought our “2 year closure” of the Murray Street Bridge was a long time ! HA! * “our” project gave birth in the “1990’s”, so..we “win”.😬 Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
OK, I’ve trashed Stuttgart … now for the good stuff. We went to the Mercedes Benz Museum and it was really really good (even K liked it, just like the BMW one in Munich from our 2017 tour). It was a fascinating history of the automobile and the associated changes in the way we currently live. Karl Benz and Gottleib Daimler both established patents on the first ‘automobiles’ in 1886. By the 1920’s the two companies they founded were merged and became what is now Mercedes Benz. The museum gives a great timeline of this development and its impact on our current society and way of life… and also a few shout outs to the ‘safety bicycle’ as an equally influential development …
Gottleib Daimlers ‘car’ … he was a horse carriage builder but developed a small high speed internal combustion engine (ICE) that he retrofited to a horse carriage … the first four wheel car! 1886
Karl Benz’s version … he too develop a small high speed ICE but put it into a purpose built three wheel ‘car’ … totally independent of Daimler, but at the same time … 1886
A MB classic … SLR 300 … only two made. The other one sold for $135 million euros at auction! That’s probably not as outrageous as the recent $6 million banana… but still
This is cool … read the history of this in the small print. K and I noticed this image a lot on various big truck mudflaps and grill ornaments over the last few days
In fact, she took that little three wheel vehicle, along with her two of her children, on this several hundred km trip through the Black Forest to visit some relatives … when this was the only ‘car’ in existence in the entire world …. And it’s not easy terrain to drive though now on really good roads!
Well, that’s Stuttgart. We’re car-less now and heading back to Milan via train and plane. The heat broke a bit and we could sit outside for this fantastic sushi meal on our last night in Stuttgart!
One last bit of breaking news …. Just like our last tour in 2023, we’ve just been informed that we’re getting another service puppy to raise! Ralphie, born on 15th May, will be heading to Canmore on 10th July. We’ll have our hands full after that!
Off to bed. Flights tomorrow!
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Karen PoretMay the heat not follow you home! Safe travels! Your journals and photos are true treasures.. Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
Lyle McLeodThanks for following along Karen. We're back home in Canmore now (arrived at 1 pm last night after a delayed connection in Montreal) . Clear blue sky and a crisp 7°C at 6 am this morning. It will warm up to 25°C today with full sun - perfect - it's good to be back home. Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
Lyle McLeodTo Karen PoretThanks for following along Karen. We're back home in Canmore now (arrived at 1 pm last night after a delayed connection in Montreal) . Clear blue sky and a crisp 7°C at 6 am this morning. It will warm up to 25°C today with full sun - perfect - it's good to be back home. Reply to this comment 3 weeks ago
