Day 32 - Speyer to Philippsburg and we were glad we were at the pool/lake
The ants go marching
We woke up to no more rain overnight so everyone was in pretty good spirits. But we did have another problem: ants! Really they weren't much of a problem, just more of a nuisance. They were the little tiny ones that live in the ground so it was hard to tell where they were coming from since there were lots of bare sandy spots in the whole tent camping area. Quite a few had got into the tent so we kept finding them everywhere. We had to basically unpack everything and shake it out and had to brush off the outside of the tent for a long time to get rid of almost all of them. We would still find one now and then for the rest of the day and into the next morning.
We started the day by going into the old city to see what was there
Detail of the front of the Dom. There is only one main door at the front of the Dom. It was made intentionally that way to symbolize the 'Straight and narrow path to God".
Close up of relief on front of Dom. Most of the churches with have a compass rose as one of the stain glass windows. You can see here that the face of Christ is in the center. Again the symbolism of the way to return to God.
As it was Sunday and services were happening, we were unable to take any pictures of the interior. We both did pop in for a quick look. The nave is long and narrow, another symbol of the "straight and narrow path".
Through out southern Germany you will see poles such as this in towns. Each shield represents a different trade guild. In German they are called a Zunftbaum (shield tree)
Statue of Luther in the memorial church. His fist is clenched in anger at the refusal of the church hierarchy to acknowledge his arguments. He holds in his left hand that which is most precious to him, close to his heart and with his foot he treads upon the pronouncements against him threatening his life. (something to that effect in the descriptions we read)
And then we came upon stork central. Like condominiums, we could see a dozen or more in nesting pairs in the trees. Pretty cool as these were natural nesting sites. We have a dozen pictures of different nests, some quite close to us. Here is a good one
Not sure who Wendelin was, will have to look him up... Saint Wendelin of Trier (Latin: Vendelinus; c. 554 - c. 617 AD) was a hermit and abbot. He is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches and is still venerated in Germany.
So we arrived at the camping spot in good time. The office wouldn't be open for 2 hours but the sign said they always try to make space for bikers with small tents, so we rode a bit around the town and then came back to the swimming pool that was next door to the campsite.
It was hot and sunny and we were very hot so it made sense to pay to get into the swimming pools and beach of the lake even though the campsite was also on the lake. We really had a very enjoyable swim in the pools and then in the lake which was as warm as the pools. Extremely refreshing. As we lay on the grass, eating some food we had with us we thought, ok better go and see if registration is open at the campsite. At that moment, we felt the first drops of rain. By the time we took cover in the changing area and changed it was pouring. Then it let up for a bit, and in no time the swimming area to walk about was dry, but I looked at the sky in the direction it had come from and there was thunder in the distance. So we were very comfortable and we stayed put.
We just sat in the protection of the changing area and the overhang and watched and listened to the storm. "Thunder and lightning, very very frightening, " NOT! "Mamma Mia, Mamma Mia"
I threw in the NOT because we were so glad we were NOT out in it on our bikes, otherwise it might have been very very frightening :)
By the time it was all over, we were not in the mood to try camping so we scooted into town and found a hotel for 76 euros with breakfast.
Very nice, lots of room, lots of outlets, a desk to work on
The storm is definitely picking up. You can just barely see the lake in this pic. There was big wind before the rain really got bad and the lightening got close. One bolt was so close we didn't even get to count the second before the thunder struck
