On June 26 we left Buching early so we could take advantage of the day. And we were lucky we did because we cycled 136km or about 84.5 miles. We cycled up and down hills, through some quaint villages and made our way to the city of Augsburg. Our host, through warmshowers.com, which I will go into later, was so accommodating. We were able to eat another cooked meal, sleep indoors, and take a cool shower after that long ride.
Augsburg was a pretty city, and a highlight for me was the amazing Catheral, pictured below. The picture doesn't do it justice, really. It was huge!
On June 27th we made our way to Nordlingen, a fortified city on the Roamantic Road. The wall is in such good condition that you can actually walk around it. We cycled a total of 102km this day and were too tired to walk the entire wall, as you can see in the pic below. We "wild" camped just outside of the city.
On June 28th we had a shorter day. Our midday stop was in Dinklesbuhl, another fortified small city. We stopped at a brewery and even had some ice cream. The city was colorful and full of tourists!
After our mini-break we were on our way to Rothenburg!
The heat in Germany is starting to pick up now, and cycling between 1:00 and 3:00 is near impossible. So, we had another pit stop on the way to Rothenburg. We stopped in a small village where we noticed a festival was in full swing. We were lucky enough to see a local summer festival under way with a full German band, traditional songs, and of course beer! Our stress levels were at high before this due to the heat, long days, and hills, but this brought us back to why we are here- to experience the culture!
That evening we pitched our tent in the woods. Unfortunately, that night I was sick all night! We are thinking I either had the flu or caught a virus. The next day I was weak and useless on a bike. We biked just 2km to the nearest guesthouse where I could get a shower and a bed.
The wait to see Rothenburg was worth it! It was also our last stop on the Romantic Road. Rothenburg was beautiful! As you can see from the photos below.
Not back to normal yet but happy to be feeling almost normal!
After Rothenburg we biked 89 long km. I was not totally ready for a long day since I still felt a bit weak. But our warm showers host was in a small village in the hills and we committed to get there. Up and down the hills we cycled and we finally found the beautiful home of Uli, his wife, and 5 year old daughter! They greeted us with such a warm welcome, including a full meal and beer!
July 1st we made a commitment to do less hills and biked by the river. We cycled 122.59 km in total towards heidlburg. Thank goodness we were by the river because we had to jump in to cool off a few times. It reached high 90s yesterday and it felt it! We camped about 10km away from the city.
Today, July 2, we cycled 121km to Kaiserslautern. In the morning we walked the grounds of the castle in Heidlburg. We both agreed it was beautiful but not sure off it was worth our slight detour. We were smart today and only biked until about 1:00. We stopped in Bad Durkheim for a long and much needed break. This is where the "wine trail" begins in Germany and heads south towards France. We saw a lot of wineries but weren't up for it since it was too hot! At 3:00 we made our way up up up the hills and back down to Kaiserslautern, where there is a large U.S. army base. We are now in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
A quick note about the Romantic Road: the cycling was smooth, easy, and scenic. We never had to worry about where we were because there were signs on pretty much every corner. I recommend cycling this portion to anyone wanting to start bicycle touring- it is a great way to start and there are many options for accommodations! It has been a highlight for us so far on our trip through Germany!
A note about our hosts: we've been using social media to set up hosts throughout our travel, specifically a site called warmshowers.com. If you are familiar with couchsurfing, it is the same thing but geared for bicycle tourists specifically. We hosted for about a year and met some wonderful people and now we are being hosted and it gives us a chance to meet with locals and chat with new people! And a bonus, it's free!
We are going to continue to make our way West towards Luxembourg.
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