It's still dark at 6:30, actually the sun didn't come up till 8 am, but I get ahead of myself.
So I spent last night at a winery in Nierstein which has some rooms for tourists. According to the lady who laid out my breakfast for 7, it has been in the family for 4 generations. They have 65 hectares of grapes and she thought they produced about 75,000 bottles of wine -- Riesling. We spoke of the low level of the river and she told me it had been June 4 since there had been a significant rain. They have irrigation capability for the grapes, but it was so dry, that the vines reabsorbed liquid from the grapes and the ensuing grapes were quite wrinkled but very sweet. She was very concerned about the climate change.
This is a picture of the Roter Hang (Red Slope) which is quite famous, I gather. However, the lack of rain may make it impossible to grow Reisling here much longer due to mineral accumulation. I have found the Europeans in general much more aware and concerned about climate change that most North Americans.
The ride to Mainz went well and I arrived just after 9. Could have made the 9:20 train, but there was no spot available for the bicycle when I did the booking on Wednesday. So it was the 10:20 train, which was delayed 45 minutes. The was a fire on a train last week and that has made part of the express route in the Rhine corridor unavailable at this point, so that accounted for about 10 min of the delay, and then there was a medical issue on the track.
Anyway, I got to Koln at 12:45 and that gave me 4 hours to ride to Dusseldorf. It is only 40 km, but if you have to hold your phone and check you position every few minutes, it does take quite a while. Sometimes I got tempted to follow a sign rather then the phone and usually had to backtrack. However, I made it to the train station just after 4 pm. WC stop and pick up a snack for the ride back. Oops, my train is not noted on the board, well, check with the information. Oh yes, the train is on time and by now I have to hurry -- run through the station with the bicycle and up the stairs because I can't find a lift. Thanks so much to the young man who helped with the bike. The train arrived about 1 minute after I reached the platform. Wait, I have to be in car 6 for my reserved bicycle spot and that car is way down the line. Dash, I made it. The bike has a spot, but there are so many people that I had to stand the 2.5 hours back to Mainz.
Familiar spots rushed by the windows--Koln cathedral, the Mauseturm in the middle of the river (now on a substantial island thanks to the low water level), Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein castle, the Lahn river, the Loreley. How lovely to have memories of all those places, from a couple of different trips!
I had hoped to finish the whole Rhine on this trip, but the section from Freiburg to Strasbourg will have to wait for another time. After a season of not much riding, my legs are quite tired after 6 days -- it was 62 km again today. But, the bike is locked in the garage downstairs. My handlebar bag and pannier are with reception and I am eating a soup and drinking a beer in my room. All the hotels on this trip have been great and the support from Eurobike has been good. I would travel with them again.
So, I have to ponder why I have enjoyed this river so much over the years. I think I came here to find a part of myself and my heritage that I did not know. I recognize some of the unique turns of phrase. I love the different advertising and foods. My soup is an eintopf -- which actually means ' one pot', so it is very much like a stew. My favourite has been lentil with little sausage pieces -- a memory out of my childhood. Every other time I went back and shared the pictures and memories with my Mom. Not this time.
Nice.
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