We awoke to a foggy quiet morning on the river. It is quickly becoming fall. Our guesthouse is beautifully furnished with exquisite antiques and interesting art work. Each room is uniquely furnished. Breakfast was served with great enthusiasm and cheer by the woman who owns the guesthouse. The food and coffee were constantly being replenished. We enjoyed her warm hospitable manner. Most of the guests were cyclists and it was interesting to compare notes with a Dutch fellow who was on a 3 week holiday down the Danube as well as the couple from Calgary whom we have been seeing for the past week. We took a wrong turn out of Kelheim and ended up disoriented and in the wrong place - but as is typical of Germany, bike lanes are everywhere and we were able to follow these until we rejoined the Eurovelo route. We frequently wonder why Canada can’t provide extra wide sidewalks like Germany does. Here, pedestrians and cyclists are accustomed to sharing walkways with each other and there seems to be no conflicts. It is unusual for us to have to share the road with traffic. The trail wound its way along the Donau this morning - sometimes we were up on the dyke or beside it on a paved trail. As we hoped, the sun broke through and it was a fine fall day for riding. The area around Bad Abbach is known for its mineral baths and has a resort feel to it. We didn’t stop as we were hoping to reach Regensburg, a historical city that is very important to Bavarians. As we were leaving our guesthouse this morning, the owner’s son was quite concerned that we might ride by without stopping. I assured him that we would take a look. Reached the campground in Regensburg, and it looked pretty good. In fact, the best we have seen so far in Germany, so we’ll give it a try and stay. As ardent campers, we have been a bit frustrated since we left France as the camping along the Danube is infrequent and not of the standard we had enjoyed in France. In France, we paid the cyclist/tent fee and were told to camp wherever we liked, whereas in Germany, tenters are restricted to an area which lacks any separation. We are pleased that this campground has provided picnic tables for the tenters to share. The treat of the day was going for a ride on our bike with all of the panniers and trailer left behind at camp. Regensburg is about 4 km from the campground and we decided to go sightseeing for a few hours. It’s amazing how fast we can go when the bike is not heavily loaded. Regensburg has many outstanding features - the only stone bridge remaining along the Danube all the way to the Black Sea, Roman remains, etc. but we found the old town to be so full of tourists and shops that we decided to go back to camp (after visiting the impressive St. Peter Cathedral). Barry made us spaghetti for dinner at camp - it felt good to be camping again. However, as soon as we got in the tent, the rains started and it rained torrentially all night.
Leaving the lovely Gasthaus Schwann - full of antiques and art. The building is 15th C and originally part of a fishers area.
Gasthaus Schwann (swan). We have seen and enjoyed so many swans along the Danube - it is only fitting that we stayed in its namesake. When we arrived we got the last room - as we left, they put out their sign, ready to go again. Zimmer Frei = room available
This travel book shop had an incredible selection of maps and books. We think they had every Bikeline guide published. These are hard to find at home - really intersting to see them.
