It was absolutely the right decision to stop yesterday when we did, even though it was hard to make up our minds at the time. We loved our hotel, the people, the sauna, the pool, the gardens, the common areas and the breakfast. We lingered over coffee again today, knowing Freiburg wasn't far, and when we did leave at 10:30, while not yet sunny, the weather was good, and dry and the vineyards looked amazing. It has been a perfect day.
We got exactly 1.4 kilometres before we made our first stop at a winery. We were tasting wine before 11:00 in the morning. This seemed to be a good idea. We ended up buying two bottles, which Keith has manfully carried all day. His load will be lightened by at least one before tomorrow morning I am sure.
Then it was up into the vineyards and through the villages. In one village we saw some very unique trikes. We offered to trade our two bikes for one trike, but they didn't take us up on it.
It would have been a challenge to get lost today. We are not even on one of the really well known bike routes. This is just the way it is done here, and it is awesome.
About this time we were both starting to feel hungry, despite our ten jammer breakfast. We came into another beautiful village and saw the most amazing display of squash and gourds. We had stumbled, by happy accident, on a restaurant that people travel kilometres to visit. Not only was the food terrific, but the tables were communal, and we had good company. The decor was fantastic...mirrors of every size, shape and frame imaginable, and everywhere. The effect was quite something. I had an enormous glass of red wine. The CN stuck to coffee.
These drew us into the courtyard. They were also lined up on the ancient courtyard wall.
This is a special kind of restaurant, that is a farm gate operation...I want to look this up, so we took this photo of the website. As it was explained to us, it doesn't have a license and the farm is required to produce most of what they serve, including the wine. However it works, it was fantastic.
Tablemates. Just back from a warm holiday. They were the second people we shared with. The first were a large group celebrating a birthday, and the man and his son sitting next to us were a huge help with menu interpretation. They took a picture for us, and we forgot to get theirs.
Then it was off through the vineyards again. We had sunshine and we really enjoyed that. We have been so fortunate again this year to have had so little rain, but it has been very gray this last week, so it was a very pleasant change. We arrived in Freiburg and at our hotel about 4 PM. Keith pointed out that no matter how long or short our ride, we always seem to end up at the hotel around 4 PM. It's true! We just do a great deal more poking around on the low kilometre days. We are here to see the Terlinden grandchildren, and I can hardly wait. Proud Grandpa and Uncle are picking us up in the morning. This is going to be fun.
Another winery. Sadly, this one was closed on Sundays.
Our hotel. The yellow building, Hotel Oberkirch. The chief navigator chose very, very well. A little Italian restaurant a couple of doors down was the icing on the cake.
