When in Berlin, John and I passed several places proclaiming their currywurst the best. I wish I'd tried theirs, because what I got today wasn't the best of anything. When on a ride, I'll eat almost anything. Kiosks at ferry crossings are risky in any language, but the veg on the menu consisted of frites. Currywurst is a brat with the sauce that you find in baked beans (minus the baked beans) and this mess is sprinkled with curry. I like curry. I like baked beans. I even like bratwurst. This melange didn't work for me.
I made Koblenz today (Rhine marker 592 km) after stopping in Bonn to see an offshoot of my favorite museum, the Deutsches Technical museum in Munich. Quite interesting. All displays related to work done by German Nobel laureates.
The first thing I generally do when hitting a new town is get situated in a hotel or hostel. Unfortunately, the Koblenz hostel was full. So I pulled up to one with b&b in their name. B&b means bed and bike. These places cater to cyclists from out of the area. They wanted 85€ for a double; I was feeling cheap so I moved on. The second place offered me a smoking double for 79€; no way. The third place I tried was a winner. 50€ with breakfast. The size of a shoebox (with the shoes), but with the lights out it gets bigger. The woman who runs the place spoke not one word of English, but I learned that I needed to pull the front door closed and I got the 50 cent tour of the neighborhood. In truth, it could have been more expensive and I'd have paid. There is a bridge over the Mosel being renovated so the usually accommodating drivers are somewhat less willing to suffer fools and cyclists.
Settled and cleaned I went out to explore. Pictures tomorrow.
By the way. These people still read books. There are nice bookstores all over. Even small towns have more than one. I've been buying maps in stages. I didn't want to carry them and if I got stuck or diverted, I might not need all of them. I need one I can't quite find to get me from Strasbourg to Basil. I have a road map if all else fails and I will be passing through a lot of towns before then, but it begins to look as though I may need it! A bit of a surprise to me.
Note to Linda. Can potato/leak soup be made in the US? And if so, will it kill me? it's wonderful.
Note to Bruce Gordon. The bike is running great. Not a moment of concern. I oil the chain and add air every other day and it's good to go. (Maybe it was too soon to say that?)
I took another ferry today from the east shore to the west just south of Cologne and noticed that the bike club (ADFC) had installed a compressor for riders to be able to check and, if necessary, add air to their tires. Everywhere, there are these little surprises. The one other kind of vending machine you see in front of some bike shops is a coin operated inner tube dispenser. Now how brilliant is that? This place has its issues, not least of which is the baggage of WWII, but they also have pumps on ferry's and inner tube vending machines. You gotta forgive the other stuff.
I need to go find more desert. Writing is thirsty work. Note to self: .5 liter of beer is too much. This tenderfoot should stick with .3 liter.
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