Day 19 - Kripp to Bad Honningen via Linz - Planned Spontaneity - CycleBlaze

July 10, 2018

Day 19 - Kripp to Bad Honningen via Linz

Linz surprises us - always nice to have time to explore

So we felt like we needed a rest day and the track for today shows that it was mostly that.  Although we did a good deal of walking around that is not logged.

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In March the Rhine flooded it banks and visited the dining room of the Rhine Inn.
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The outer terrace in March.
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We did not have to use a ladder to get into our room today.
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The state of the dining room today is a good indication of how hard these people work at caring for the hotel.
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The terrace is much more inviting now.
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Getting ready to head off we met a nice Dutch father and son who are traveling around Germany by motorbike.
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The son part of the team.
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Across the street from the hotel was the ferry over to Linz. I have woken with a bit of an upset tummy so we decided to make it a short day and to pass on returning to Ramagen - an excuse to come back.
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On the ferry and the first time I needed my jacket since we parted ways with Steve and Dodie.
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Getting ready to dock.
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This Flemish couple were on bikes but were doing day trips versus cycle touring.
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The first building we could see in Linz was impressive.
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Once off the ferry, we simply cross the street and enter Linz through one of the two remaining town gates, complete with portcullis dating back to the 1300s.
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Other side of the gate.
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The first square we discovered.
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The half timbered houses add to the charm and indicate that this town escaped a lot of damage in WW2
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The fountain is a of a woman singing but I don't think it is the Lorelei.
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Beautifully maintained half-timbered buildings.
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Cobble stones and hills! Time to walk the bikes.
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In a town like this it is fun to peer around corners to see what gems are hiding up streets that are not part of the usual touristy areas.
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Some of the alleys are quite narrow.
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At this point on the hill we decided to lock up our bikes and walk around.
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The main square. Some lovely shops. Marvin is soooo lucky we are on bikes and I have no space for purchases!!
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Statue in the main square.
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Guess who slipped into a backerei for a treat?!
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The town hall dates back to 1517. Too bad they had a stage set up in front of it.
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The fountain in front of city hall has a group of citizens surrounded by a ring of puppets. I think there are many ways you could read the symbolism here.
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The main square of Linz.
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In the past a chain and pulley system was used to move wares up into storage areas of the houses. This is most likely for decoration but it is not unusual to see similar systems still being used to get larger items into apartments. The narrow staircases of the past were not meant to accommodate today's furniture.
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On the corner of one of the buildings.
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Another ornate business sign. I love them.
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This was simply made of canvas and looked lovely with the flowers.
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This statue was dedicated to the women of the area who, over the decades, contributed to the economy. This is the butter woman. The sign stated that some women would walk up to 20 km to sell their wares at the market.
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Even some of the support beams were carved to be ornamental.
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A building from centuries ago housing a Chinese restaurant. I am sure the people who constructed it could not have imagined this.
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A narrow alley way.
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This was a real gingerbread house. Unfortunately, the colors did not come out well.
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Up the hill further to the second gate.
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These were the cutest puppet dolls. If I was not on a bike...
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This is a statue of a Klapperjunge. These were boys who would use wooden rattles to call parishioners to services during the time between the Thursday before Good Friday until Easter. The bells were kept silent to show respect for the passion of Christ.
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Heading back down the hill.
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Another lovely alley.
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Some of the large corner support beams have quite detailed carvings.
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Bench of the day. Bright red and cheerful in front of a half timber house.
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Marvin has a bit of an unusual gait that is hard on shoes. His closed toed walking sandals were really showing wear so we were on the lookout for new ones. This lovely shop had exactly what we were looking for 50% off. Nice shoes, nice service, nice price, happy Marvin.
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Linz is not a town either of us was familiar with but being on bikes put us in easy reach and off the beaten track. The only tourists we saw were German, Belgium and groups of school children who all mainly showed up after 1200 hrs. Mornings are the best times to explore most towns if you want to avoid crowds. 

It was not clear at first how to get out of town but after a bit of trial and error we were on our way.
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One of the error parts of leaving town took us down a path that was a dead end but there we found lots of ripe blackberries. What can I say, we could not fight the urge to stop, pick and nibble.
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Not quite as large as the blackberries on Vancouver Island but ripe much earlier and very sweet.
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A tower on the way out of Linz.
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On the right road!
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Bike trail, train tracks, highway, Rhine river - four routes for transport.
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As we approached Bad Honningen, the trail became nicer.
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A fully loaded barge on the Rhine.
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It is interesting that even though most of Germany is Protestant, you still see many shrines that are more typically Roman Catholic.
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The trail improved as we approached Bad Honningen.
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The Gasthaus Feuerwache is simple but nice. The owner, Claudia, lived in England for over 20 years so speaks excellent English. She knew we had book the budget room but, as other rooms were available, she upgraded us to a better room. She also was able to accommodate storing our bikes.
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Big bathroom. Would have been nice with a tub.
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Today's ride: 9 km (6 miles)
Total: 799 km (496 miles)

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