Distance. 75km
Total. 740km
We had no breakfast at our apartment but as it was Google Pretzel Day we cycled to the nearest Backerei and bought a cheesy pretzel for lunch. We had a healthy Nutella croissant for breakfast! Today could be our last gorgeous weather day although we don’t expect rain till Monday.
We made the most of it....we enjoyed our 11th consecutive cycling day to the ferry at Altrip and crossed to the east side and up through the urban area of Mannheim. This is a rare city in Germany as it’s roads are designed on a grid basis.
This was the Schloß which was completed in 1760 and house the Elector Palatinate, it is now being used by the University. We didn’t hang around the city much although one interesting fact is that it was the home of Karl Benz who invented the first motorcar here. No, he didn’t have a brother called Mercedes! We crossed the bridge to the opposite city of Ludwigshafen. This city is very industrial and is the location of the BASF chemical factories that spread over 6km in length. I remember them making very good cassette tapes back in the 1970’s. We cycled past the factories.....
The cycle racks are rather full!! They must issue staff with an identical bike. This wasn’t the only bike rack.
We wanted to get to the town of Worms for lunchtime, so we had to get a wiggle on! Worms is reputed to be the oldest town in Germany and has plenty of historic buildings. It had the Battle of Worms in 436AD which gave rise to the Nibelungen Saga. Part of the saga involves the hero Siegfried who comes to Worms to marry a princess and has to make a deal. The deal goes wrong and Siegfried is killed by a warrior called Hagen. That’s about as short as I can make a complicated story as it is considered the first German epic story...ever. As soon as I heard the story, I was hooked, it opened a can of worms!
The statue is Hagen and the tower is the Nibelungen Tower on the Rhein Bridge. It was the Edict of Worms that outlawed Martin Luther for failing to deny his reforming beliefs, that eventually led to the creation of the Lutheran Church.
The town centre was interesting....it was a market day with lots of stalls outside the two main churches. We called into the Tourist Info shop first and by chance bumped into an English guy who had flown out to Barcelona, bought a bike and cycled here on his way to cycle all the way home....to....Todmorden, which is very close to Burnley.
We continued our route up the east side of the Rhein by a wide diversion to Gernsheim, where our B&B was booked. I can’t be sure but I think it is twinned with Egremont in Cumbria as both towns have an interest in Gernning. So, I thought I would have to do my bit to keep the tradition going......
It is a small town but we enjoyed our little walk to the harbour and into the town centre. The harbour includes a container port and a ferry which we aim to get in the morning.
It was a lovely sunset and may people were outside and eating at restaurants....very civilised.
I nearly forgot to mention.....I managed another ice cream this afternoon...... back to chocolate. My brother David is partial to an ice cream but he wants more info on German cakes in the blog. I obviously haven’t been eating enough cakes, although you sometimes get them at breakfast time and so far I have had various unusual frühstück items, such as pancakes, fig rolls and cheesecake. I will try and do more in the cake department.....it will be tough I’m sure.
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