May 5, 2022
Day 23: Warburg to Mainz
Get out of jail free!
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Our resolve to play our Get Out of Jail Free card was still there this morning, as we took breakfast at the bakery across the street from the hotel. So we set off down the streets of "upper" Warburg, which is quite pleasant while being normal for a German town.
We climbed the (of course) hill to the bahnhof (how do the trains get up there?) and arrived about 8:30. We already knew our train would go at 9:21, but the station house did not open until 9. We used the time to check out the ticket selling machine. It was quite undestandable, because it had an English option, but it did not offer details about changes of train, times, and suchlike. The machine quoted 118 euros to take us both to Mainz, and did not mention bicycles one way or the other.
Dodie went in when the station opened and came out having paid 36 euros total and bicycles ride free. German train fares are generally low, but they sure can jump around.
With this train and station it was a direct roll on for the bikes, no need to unpack. We had to change at Kassel and again at Frankfurt, but there was no unpacking and no running down the platform dragging bags and bikes to get to a certain car, this time!
As the train rolled along toward Kassel, it was basically undoing the cycling we had done the day before. Our now familiar fields of yellow, green, and brown rolled past, and I already felt nostalgic for the 1000 km of sheer beauty that had already passed under our bike wheels this trip.
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After some stops, our bike area began to fill up. But everyone sweetly arranged their bikes and all was cool.
More stops and a change of train, and bicycles were joined by baby buggies. Still everyone was amicable and it was no problem. This changed a bit when a middle aged man came barging along the corridor from where his bike should not have been, and began trying to jam it between Dodie's bike and the side of the train.
For some reason the GPS was not updating very quickly and not showing the direction of travel well, so it took us a while to reach the Dom square. This was our third time there. The first time it was filled with a giant farmers' market, and there was a lot of excitement, as we sat at the Dom Cafe. The second time it was empty, like now, but I think we also sat in a cafe, with another cyclist we had met. This time we seemed to be quite tired from the train rides, and just ticked off "Dom" and headed for the hotel. Heading for the budget hotel we had chosen meant cycling up a hill. (Hey, didn't we jump 300 km to avoid that?) The hill is called Jakobsberg hill, and includes a citadel with a long history in the defence of the city. It turned out the hill also includes an uncovered Roman ampitheatre. You should be able to zoom and read some of the story. It was first discovered in 1884 during excavation for a train station. There is now a Roman/German museum in this area as well.
The photos above are coming to you from my smart phone, since the camera battery really is kaput. On this trip, both the computer and camera have died, plus a couple of sets of ear buds. Each time something quits, we do a work around, using what is left. Oh well, figuring it out gives me an activity for my spare hours!
Thing that gives Meaning to Life for today: German trains, with roll on!
Today's ride: 12 km (7 miles)
Total: 1,298 km (806 miles)
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1 year ago