Sorry blog followers poor wifi last night . So you were left with me relaxing in Boppard well that didnt last long as I succumbed to hubbys request  for an evening walk to the roman ruins , which actually were impressive.Amazing all this fighting on opposite sides of the Rhine going on for 100s of years.

Day 14 started with the debate should we stay or should we go, a lovely relaxing scenic town with plenty to do and scenic walks aswell. Somehow hubby convinced me we needed to move on. Not a good decision as it was 26c and very humid and I was dressed for spring not summer, so rapidly was overheating.

It was meant to be the highlight of the Rhine gorges but yes it was very picturesque but sandwiched between 2 freight train lines either side of the rhine and 2 busy main roads it lost quite a lot of its attraction. We cycled past the famous Lorelei rock which is meant to have enticed sailors onto the treacherous rocks and also picture postcard St Goar.Morning tea was a medieval town Bacharach enjoying the atmosphere over a cuppa with a freight train roaring past.Lunch we were heading for a famous little town called Rudersheim,as were 10 coach loads of people and 3 river cruise ships.It was hot and trying to push our loaded bikes up cobbled stones and through narrow streets amonst the throngs was impossible. We saw the famous Drossell st and then made our escape. Note visit any famous villages early in the day….

The heat and the headwind yet again made for a tiring day, wed decided to stay at oestrich-winkler ok I liked the name its only claim to fame being a 17th century crane operated by 2 men who often got killed in the process.The entry to Oestrich-winkler required a rapid descent down a cobbled archway and an equally rapid ascent after the archway. Tired the gear changes werent there and I wasnt going to make it or get my feet out of toe clips in time so it was a dignified slide onto my side , luckily my bike was unscathed and just a few extra bruises on the legs.We then had an amusing 15minutes trying to work out how to get to the other side of the railway where the rest of the street was where the pension was, we must have cycled past a subway 4 times before 2 elderly ladies told us it was there.

Onto our pension which was a nice apartment although the cooking area was turned off as we werent staying 4 nights and even the kettle had been removed..luckily my pannier now has that little kettle tucked away. After our salads we strolled off to view the local vineyards plenty of wineries around shame we’re not tasting I manage to fall off my bike without alcohol…so just aswell.

 

Day 15 and maybe half way point to the Bodensee….it seems a long way off still.

700kms cycled……

Back to cycling with beautiful scenery, the pretty half timbered villages, ducks, geese and their ducklings/goslings and impressive churches continue but now more vineyards everywhere.Navigated past Mainz without any problem accidently stopped at first place on the river for coffee which turned out to be the Hilton. The waitress I think thought hubby looked hungry so gave him the starter breakfast with extras and included 2 drinks in it aswell! Lunch was in Niederstein I would have preferred to have eaten in Nackerstein but no restaurants jumped out at us.I went for the trout option but I think they were determined I’d drink some wine one way or another so the trout was swimming on my plate in white wine and garlic, very yummy!

We’d planned on stopping in Oppenheim as it is the centre of the wine growing area and the whole town is full of underground cellars and tunnels to they extent they’ve had to reinforce the roads or they would have collapsed.Hubby guarded the bikes whilst I checked local guest houses out, found one where we bave our own little roof top terrace….overlooking other roof tops just gorgeous and the bonus the owner is married to a Thai lady who does massage, guess where Im off to shortly..

Ps Warning to fellow aussies who are used to very few smokers, everyone smokes here luckily quite a few places do have the non smoking rooms and even hotels can be totally non smoking.

Pension Allende

Oesterich-winkel , kirche strasse  booking.com

Apartment- very cheap if you stay 4 nights, includes complete kitchen, lounge, books, games, wifi ( i couldnt get it to work on my note pad), good bed,bathroom.Use of garden, drinks fridge reasonable prices.

Curtains dont block out light at night

74 euros for 1 night including reasonable breakfast

Another time would have stayed at Rudesheim to look around once crowds had left

GUEST HOUSE-

Market place

Oppenheim

50 euros good wifi, thai massage, roof top garden terrace, no breakfast, plenty of nearby cafes