Well being Brits we're going to be talking about the weather a lot. But when you can only carry 30 odd kilos of stuff for 3 months of travelling and sleeping rough, it seems too little when it rains and you want to get out your trvael tumble drier or have less demanding hopes of perhaps a dry set of clothes. But that 30kg seems far too much when the temperature is 34 degrees and you've been grinding uphill in the beating sun for 40 minutes.
So, we've had it all so far, tough times, elation, rain, the biggest thunder storms known to either of us and a lot of sun.
We left you good readers in Belgium, probably two weeks ago. Since then we have been all the way through Germany and are currently in just in Austria, on the shores of lake Konstance. We're at a lovely campsite for the fist time in a week and enjoying the feeling of being clean, having water to spare and being able to charge all our gadgets. Since then we've sought lodgings at a monestry in Luxembourg, been through the hilly Eiffel region of Germany and enjoyed the hospitality of a random family of 3 generations on a farm, where we were given Home-made Cake and Beer in the evening, then Breakfast and more cake when we commented how nice it had been. The Braun family's kindness was excellent and a taste of what we could expect in Germany.
We pedalled along the Mosel valley to the Rhine and then headed South, having two nice nights camping on little beaches on the Rhine. Then it was Heppenhime which included a 1ltr bottle of wine at a wine festival, Heidelburg where we played Ultimate Frisbee and got to meet Yanks and other English Speakers.
We've headed south through the Black Forest where in Wildberg, we ended up at a Macadonian truck drivers 50th Birthday BBQ. His local friends insisted we eat with them, drink their beer and would not accept any money. They must have thought we were tramps as we were extatic to take their empties which you get 25 cents each for recycling. In the end we went to the Supermarket the next day, really looking like down and outs, with carrir bags full of cans attached to the panniers. We got €5 for our troubles though..........
In all, too much is happening, that we can barely remember everything that happened a couple of days ago. The scenary changes eery day and the only things that are constant day to day is that we'll ride a lot and end up sleeping in a tent.
So now the tough riding begins, but we'll be rewarded with the best scenary we have seen so far. From Lake Konstance we can see the Alps all around and they look huge, we'll be climbing up to the Innes valley and be in Italy within a week. All is well and we're having a ball.
Doug and Kate
