Karlsruhe 6/28

The Schloss in Karlsruhe, at the center of concentric ring roads. We hung out at a cafe in a student area for a while, before catching the view of the palace at sunset. Not shown in the 1st pic, but highlighted in the second, is that the building is undergoing renovations. However, they brought some personality to the fabric surrounding the scaffolding. We had to get close to be sure this wasn't painted on the building itself. Random Platz in Karlsruhe, showing off street cars and bikes and architecture. Karlsruhe had tons of bike infrastructure. We rode along a number of small highways where the on and off ramps are clearly marked with signs and pavement paint to yield for bikes, and the drivers did. We watched Germany lose 1-2 to Italy in the Euro cup at this cafe serving drinks only. We brought in a picnic dinner and drank beer from the cafe. The small TV was fine, but anyone doing this in the US would have had a giant screen- funny that it wasn't necessary even with maybe 40 people watching.

Karlsruhe to Strasbourg 6/29

68.25 miles today, very flat but very hot and humid. Today i feel like I bad more energy riding than my dad. It's funny since the opposite was true the day before, and we're riding the same routes. We crossed into France by taking a tiny, free municipal ferry to Seltz. This France sign marks the most substantial border crossing I have had since Iceland. There was nothing there but the sign. We rode through some Monet streams and Van Gogh fields, this one full of sunflowers. Tree-lined path just a couple of miles from Strasbourg. We were too tired after cooling down and setting up camp and eating dinner to trek downtown, so Strasbourg pictures later.

Höfen to Karlsruhe 6/28

Today was a tough day of riding for me. I don't know if it was heat or my stomach bothering me or if I was tired from yesterday's hills or what, but the wheels weren't turning easily. We rode 53 km, according to Dad, since my computer faded mid day. It felt like more, and was the first day of this trip I wished I wasn't riding. Still, we saw some cool towns along the way. Pictures are: Neuenbërg skyline. Breakfast pastry and ice cream coffee float in Neuenbërg. Platz in Ettinger where we hung out in the shade, dodging some of the heat and eating lunch. Weisswurst with pretzel, bratwurst with mashed potatoes, and schwarzbier and Franziskaner hefeweizen.

Photos 6/26-27 Schiltach to Höfen- part 2

Riding over the top of a hill in the Black Forest. Unfortunately we took the wrong road down, and had to climb all the way back up 200 meters. Dinner in Bad Wiltbad- roast beef with onions, pork chops in a mushroom sauce, knödel, spätzel, and salads, plus beers. There was grass growing in the middle of our table (intentionally). Watching Spain vs. Portugal in the Weltmeister (Euro Cup) with other campers at our campsite in Höfen. We drank hefeweizen during the game, poured properly and into the correct glassware even at the campsite kiosk bar.

Photos 6/26-27 Schiltach to Höfen- part 1

Beer with dinner in Schiltach. Cool wrought metal signs for businesses are common- this swan bar was in Alpirsbach, where they brew the beer we drank the night before. The name of the town supposedly comes from a monk and brewer who was fond of his product, and one day, drunkenly spilling his beer in the stream, exclaimed 'alle bier ist in der bach'. Pretzel with seeds and strawberry jelly cake from a bakery in Alpirsbach. Riding through a not-so-dark segment of the Black Forest.

Black Forest: Offenburg to Schiltach 6/26

74 km today. Bike tube vending machine, in case you get a flat while the bike store is closed. Marktplatz in Offenburg- there was an open-air farmers market thing when we were there in the morning. Castle on a hill in Ohlsbach, surrounded by orchards and vineyards. We bought some cherries from a farm stand nearby, but have not yet tried them as we've been waiting for a source of water to wash them. A shot of the edge of the Black Forest woods. The trees are suddenly very tall and thick, with not much new growth around the edges. I'll try to get a better picture soon, but I bet it really is dark and creepy in there. Campsite in Schiltach.

Dinner in Offenburg 6/25

Germany is reasonably priced. Falafel plate, giant doner sandwich, bread, and beer all ran $15. The beer was only $2, and tasty.

Photos from 6/25- Stechelberg to Offenburg

View of our campsite in Stechelberg, CH on the rainy morning we left. Outside the Basel train station. Lunch on the train- hazelnut yogurt rivals skyr in my book for favorite dairy product of the trip, with some of the Gruyere I've had a close second. Bike route from Strasbourg to Offenburg, flat, smooth, running through farmland.

The cost of mistakes

I suppose when traveling there are known mistakes and unknown mistakes, and we go to Europe with the information we have, not the information we want. I of course have made mistakes that I didn't ever notice so far on this trip, but I've also made a few that I know of, and they're interesting to me in part because the cost has been quantifiable, and because of the distinct decisions that led to them.

On the big scheme of things, they're tiny. I left my European electrical adapter plugged into a socket at a campsite in Olafsvik, Iceland. Replacement cost at a mall was $12, a lot more than Amazon, plus any opportunity cost for the time spent hunting for adapters. I'm counting opportunity cost a zero, though, since going to that mall involved some fun exploration and resulted in us finding some Icelandic microbrews we would not have otherwise.

Two days ago I left behind the Ubu bike water bottl from Lake Placid Brewery at a cable car in Switzeland. By the time we got back down, it was gone, and searching the lost and found, recycling bins, and garbage bins all suggest that someone else took it. I hope they enjoy it. Sorry for losing the bottle, Daria, and I'll buy you a new one when we go back to the brewery. Replacement cost was $8.75 at a bike store in Offenberg, which did not sell the bike maps we were looking for, but we would have checked anyway. So opportunity cost was low.

Finally, just a few minutes ago we hit an Aldi for groceries. I paid with a 50 note for 8.83 of groceries to break the bill, even though I had small change. They don't give you plastic bags at most grocery stores, but I had decided not to bring in my spare bag, that I could just balance the small amount of groceries out the door. Finally, after receiving my change, I hurried to gather my groceries to make room for the person behind me. It wasn't until I had packed the groceries onto the bike that I realized I had dropped one of the two 20 euro notes I'd gotten as change. Of course it was long gone by the time I looked for it. This is not the main reason I don't use cash in the US, but the complete lack of ownership information is, for me at least, a bug, not a feature. Being out $25 just like that is pretty irritating, especially given the (perhaps irrational) extents I would go to in order to save that much money.

I keep trying to just breathe deeply and not let silly mistakes spoil my mood, but they certainly are irritating.

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3 countries, Stechelberg, CH to Offenberg, DE 6/25

We hit 3 countries today, but only biked 36.75 miles. We woke up in the morning to pouring rain on our tent (and my laundry drying outside), rolled over and went back to sleep, and finally got moving in a light rain and fog. We rode from our campsite in Stechelberg down the valley back to Interlaken, where we caught a train to Strasbourg, France via Basel. We arranged it this way to pick up my dad's suitcase, which we'd sent via Swiss rail to be stored in Basel. Strasbourg is where we're storing the suitcase now, in the hotel to which we'll return in about a week for the leg with Libby and neighbors. Strasbourg is also a good launching point to visit the Black Forest, our next goal.

The Swiss rail system is very impressive- fast, clean, silent trains running punctually and regularly. They're not cheap, but compared to everything else in the country, they're value for money. Bikes cost us $20 extra for each of us in Switzerland, but they may have been free in France (no one ever checked the ticket).

We had a bit of a layover in Basel, but once we found the baggage storage office, it took only an efficient moment for my dad to get his bag.

This contrasts sharply with Strasbourg, where I tried to reserve a spot on my TGV to the airport for my bike. I waited in long lines at the ticket office, and once I got to the front, had to wait for one of the 2 English-speaking agents. One had a 'closing in 5 minutes' sign, but was busy selling about 18 tickets to a French speaker. The other had no such sign, but was also busy. 10 or so minutes roll by, and both English booths promptly close- one of which with no warning whatsoever. I asked other agents if they spoke English or Spanish or (snarkily) Chinese, but no go. So, frustrated at the Kafkaesque process, I bailed. My dad talked me into trying again. At a different set of ticket windows, there were no English signs, but I was determined to pidgin French my way through. I conveyed what I wanted- reservation, bicycle, TGV train number, date, but couldn't understand the answer. Fortunately, this ticket agent went and found the English-speaking manager, who told me that I was out of luck, and no matter what the internet says, I had to buy my ticket and reserve the bike at the same time. You can't even make bike reservations online. The logic behind having to do this all at once is incomprehensible to me.

Across the border to Germany, our 3rd country of the day, we rode through perfectly flat an nicely packed tracks running through farm land. We had searched for camping in the area, and had found Camping Kuhn in Offenburg. Of course, when we arrived, it was in an industrial park and they sold RVs. Fortunately people in the parking lot gave us directions to a campsite nearby. When we arrived, however, the gates were locked and there was a sign saying they were closed for weather. There were RVs there, though, and someone loaned us a cell phone to call the number on the gate. We got in and set up the tent, but one of the other RVers had to loan us their key to get into the toilet or out the front gate, and we couldn't open the door to the showers. We were about to use the key to go find some dinner in town when yet another of the RVers walked over and asked in German if we would like the leftover bratwurst they'd grilled with dinner. So we sat at their RV, and they generously gave us bread, salad, beer, and sausage while my dad talked to them in German and they tried to help conversation along. I didn't understand much at all, but they were 3 older siblings visiting the area, and we talked a bit about Germany and America, soccer and government.

We finally left and found more food at a kebab shop in town. Dinner and beer ran $15 total- very reasonable for the amount of food.

We couldn't leave until the owner arrived at 9 the next morning, but the price was 10 euro (fine) and everyone was so nice it ended up being a pleasant experience.


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Gimmelwald and Mürren 6/24

Dad and me in Gimmelwald, after taking the cable car up. View of a neighborhood in Mürren. North face of the Eiger in the distance, collecting nasty weather.

Interlaken to Stechelberg 6/24

Riding through Lauterbrunnen. Valley near Stechelberg. Campsite in Stechelberg.

6/22 and 6/23- Zug, Luzern, Interlaken

We rode 57 km on the 22 from Unterageri to Luzern, and 88 km on the 23rd from Luzern to Interlaken. We took a train over the Brünig pass on the 23rd, saving tons and tons of climbing, but there were still plenty of steep hills along the lake shores, with good views down below. Switzerland is staggeringly expensive, which has spoiled my mood a bit. Zug was quaint and old, and filled with little cafes on the lake shores. Luzern has sailboats, Maseratis, and casinos, and seems aimed firmly at the glitterati. I was really cranky after realizing a pint of beer was $10 at the place it was brewed, but I was cheered somewhat by great views from the bridges and the city wall. We've been camping, which is expensive, too, but the campsites have had relatively nice facilities. We've also been self catering at grocery stores. The cold cuts are pretty standard, the bread is above average and diverse, but the cheese and yogurt have been great. We've had a bit of Emmemthaler and Gruyere, and they are easy cheeses to demolish. We've also tried about 6 or so different Swiss beers (all Helles lagers), out of convenience stores and groceries.

The ride from Luzern to Interlaken was longer and more challenging, with some steep climbs on the mountains along the lake shores. We took a train from Giswil to Meiringin, over the Brünig pass, to save hundreds of meters of steep vertical climb. The views down from our riding route to the lake, and also from the bottom of the valleys, were astounding.

We've noted that the Swiss like to pack in the farmland. We cut across an air field as part of the bike path, and they were cultivating the area between runways. They also build up onto steep slopes, and I can't imagine how they harvest any of that.

There are fewer bikers here than Germany, and almost no bike tourers that we have seen. Some sections of bike path are phenomenal, like the carefully paved path built out over the edge of a lake, just for bikes and peds. In other sections, the route is rocky, uneven, and insanely steep. It's impossible to tell from the signs or our maps which will be which, except that it seems a roller blade icon indicates a particularly nice section. Swiss drivers are a mixed bag- some patient and safe, others blow by us with oncoming traffic and no shoulder, cutting it very close. It's far from a biker or budget traveler paradise, but the scenery is one of a kind.

The plan at this point is to spend a couple more days in Suisse, then hop a train up to the border and spend the rest of the time in Germany in the Black Forest, both to seek out better biking and see some places that interest us.

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Luzern to Interlaken 6/23 part 3: Brunig pass to Interlaken

Luzern to Interlaken 6/23 part 1: to Brunig Pass

Lake south of Luzern- there were phenomenal bike paths around this lake, built out over the water. Dad riding on one of the paths on Alpnachersee. Dad in the valley near Sarnen.

Unterageri to Luzern 6/22 part 2: Luzern

Lake from Luzern. Luzern from one of its covered bridges. Dad on the covered bridge. Luzern from a watchtower on the city wall- that river moves unbelievably fast.

Unterageri to Luzern 6/22 part 1: On the way

Dad in the Zug old city, by an old fire watchtower. Kussnacht, where we ate our picnic lunch. Lunch- salami, gruyere, local bread, and a hazelnut stuffed pastry (not shown). The Vierwaldsättersee (lake) outside Luzern.

Zurich to Unterageri 6/21

Zurich's wire ceiling, assembling bikes at the Zurich Hauptbanhhof, dinner in the camp house while it was pouring rain, campsite in Unterageri. The ride was not too scenic most of the way. 3 miles today, a lot of up hill.