Tour De Mongrel Dog

[Digger]

We have now re-entered Germany and will remain in Germany until crossing into the Netherlands in about a weeks time.



We are spending the night in Speyer, Germany. Every village or town has a cathedral of some type. This is Kaiserdom Cathedral built in 1061. Speyer was originally chosen by the Romans as a site to construct a fort because of its tendency not to flood.

Distance cycled to date - 705km.

SPOT Link is here;
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

[Robbo]

Great reading your blog Steve, the photos are great, sounds like a great trip and no traffic has to be good.

[Digger]

Germanys Industry in full swing. I took this photo standing on a dyke which prevents flooding after heavy rains. The stacks are on the eastern side of the River in Meinham.



Rhys brings with him a specilised skill set on this journey. Completely f****** useless but it does keep the local school kids amused. Miles Davis, eat your heart out.

[Digger]

Each town could be used as a movie set for Harry Potter or Frankenstein movies. In this case, in a town named Worms.



We are currently cycling thru the Rhine Valley...every bend in the river produces another postcard scene. In this case, Ehrenfels Castle which dates back to the 1200's. It became a ruin in the 1600's.

[Digger]

Another typical scene from this part of the journey...simply stunning.

We arrive at Köln (Colonge) tomorrow (Wednesday) and will have a well deserved rest day on Thursday before moving on.

Distance cycled to date - 932 km.

SPOT Tracker is here;
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

[Digger]

I've seen many abandoned and vandalised vans in my travels thru the Outback. I never expected to see an abandoned van on a cycle path in Europe.



While in Colongne, we are staying at a hotel which reportadly dates back to the 11th century (not as a hotel).

[Digger]

To the right of the Hotel is a Gay sex shop, to the left is a Gay bar and opposite and a couple of doors down are another couple of Gay bars...not that there is anything wrong with that. That wasn't advertised on the hotels website when I was booking accomodation.




No caption required...

[Digger]

Colongne Cathedral...extract from Wikipedia.
Construction of Cologne Cathedral commenced in 1248 and was halted in 1473, leaving it unfinished. Work restarted in the 19th century and was completed, to the original plan, in 1880.[7] The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio, 3.6:1, of any medieval church.



Zoom in on the statue half way up on the LHS...just kickin' back and having a bevvie lol.

Distance cycled to date - 1,037km.
SPOT Link is here;
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

The journey continues.

[Digger]

We encountered quite a bit of rain the following day on our way to Duisburg which was one of the major cities heavily bombed during WWII because of its steel production. Our rain protection is simple...just ponchos which seem to be effective enough. Your feet and shoes get wet but in the main the upper body stays dry.




We arrived at the Ibis hotel in Duisburg at 4pm but reception did not open till 5pm. We sat on the sidewalk like a couple of destitute homeless bums and drank beer. At 5pm I discovered we were at the WRONG Ibis....ours was 800 metres up the road.

[Digger]

Call me naive but I never expected to see this on the banks of the Rhine...a farmer moving his sheep from one paddock to another although there is no farm in sight.



There is a lot of Industry on both sides of the Rhine around this part of the country.....Rhys and I are on top of another dyke while we cycle the western bank.

[Digger]

We crossed the border into the Netherlands this afternoon (Sunday)...all the infrastructure is still there from 'back in the day' when I guess you needed to get your passport signed. That must have been a PITA back then.



Within minutes of entering the Netherlands we caught a small Ferry to get us on the northern bank where our accn was for that night 30 km up the road.

Distance cycled to date - 1,233km.

SPOT Link is here;
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

[Digger]

No caption required.



The weather got quite ugly later the same day. Stiff wind (headwind or crosswind) for most of the afternoon.

[Digger]

Spent a couple of days in Rotterdam catching up with extended family before catching a train to Amsterdam.

Today (Friday) was spent relocating nearer to and reconnoitering the airport before we fly out tomorrow. Should be home late Sunday local time.

Total distance cycled - 1,404km.
SPOT Link is here;
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... UCtYLNPufa

[Cookie]

Great blog Steve

I am convinced you have the best office - Mobile with stunning views every day, lol, keep up the great work.

[KoosWA]

Thanks Steve...great trip.

Did you camp / tent at all on this trip?

Also, what model is that Giant bike again? I know you posted that some years ago. I am looking at buying and would like to go with something tried & tested. Want to be able to put pannier rack / carrier on back, so no back suspension required.