Dietfurt to Regensberg: Familiar Territory

September 14, 2015

I want to start today by saying that biking gives you a great deal of time to think. Today I was thinking about how grateful I am to be able to do this. Rocking into Regensberg today I was experiencing pure, unadulterated happiness. Physically it just feels so good, people always return my smile and wave, the surroundings are always interesting...it is just a great way to travel. I was also thinking about how so much of this, for Keith and I, is just good luck. We have been fortunate enough, so far, to remain healthy, and I am all too aware this can change in a heartbeat. Literally. I hope the memories of this stay with me all my life.

So enough sappiness! It was, needless to say, another great day. We woke up to rain (gasp) but by the time we finished breakfast it had quit. It started again as we were loading the panniers onto the bikes, but never really amounted to much and quit completely by about noon. We loved our hotel, Zum Brau Toni. The couple who run it are just genuinely nice people. He even made us tea for our insulated water bottles this morning. That was a bit of a miscommunication - I was trying to get ice water - but I really enjoyed the tea and appreciated the gesture.

The riding between Dietfurt and and Riedenburg was beautiful. This area contains an archeological park along the bike path and we came across two different displays. One was an ancient village and one explained the geologic origins of the Altmuhl valley. Each spot had a speaker, with a button for English, that explained what you were looking at. It was interesting stuff.

We rolled into Riedenburg to enjoy it for a second time. We stayed there last year and it is a beautiful spot. There were our South African friends enjoying coffee at an outdoor cafe. We stopped and joined them. They are also on their way to Vienna.

Our next stop was Kelheim. Another wonderful place. Last year when we went through we saw the Hall of Liberation up on the hill. It looked spectacular, but it is really up on a hill!! This year it is surrounded by scaffolding so looked a little less impressive, so I figure next year is the time to actually stay in Kelheim and ride up that hill (unloaded, of course).

We were in familiar territory and kept exclaiming to each other when we saw something we remembered...Prunn Castle, the longest wooden bridge in Europe, even coffee shops where we had stopped and the picnic table where we ate lunch. We are obviously pretty easily entertained. It was fun! Then of course, we rode into beautiful Regensburg, and found our hotel with no drama. We stayed here last year too.

We had amazing pizza and salad for dinner, and have revisited much of the old town. The only issue is that there is only one hour of wifi available per device, so I am writing this offline, and will have to load all the pictures at the end.

Tomorrow is unfamiliar territory, and we are excited about that too!

Our hotel. The nicest people run this spot, the Hotel Zum Brau Toni.

This guy looked at us very seriously as we went by.

Isn't this beautiful? We are back in castle land.

One of the displays at the archeological dig. We found it very interesting.

The loft in the interior. It represents the type of housing centuries ago...I will admit I can't remember how many centuries...and they could figure this out from changes in the colour of the soil during the dig. Wow.

Coffee in Riedenburg. Aren't we the goofy looking crew! Keith was lucky to be the photographer.

See the strawberry cake? We had that, two coffees and a bottle of cheap wine for 8 Euro. Keith was pretty pleased with himself. He put the wine in his pannier, and I am enjoying it as I write this.

A blurry picture of Prunn Castle in the distance. The blurry image is the down side of the photographer snapping pictures as he rides.

The longest (and most gorgeous) wooden bridge in Europe.

Built for the lock I suspect. He just fit.

Everything you need on board, including the family car.

Even their pedestrian bridge is beautiful.

Whoa! Do you think the people on the autobahn got to Regensberg faster than we did? When you go under these on the bike path you really understand how huge they are.

Fantastic light. They are working on the cathedral. I actually imagine they are always working on the cathedral. Maintaining these marvellous buildings must be a never ending process.

Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 736 km (457 miles)

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