Chapter 7: This isn't Iowa

The bicycle path didn't always hug the banks of the Danube. Often it took us through fields of corn, on narrow paved farm roads where the bicyclists easily outnumbered the occasional car or truck.

A couple weeks before leaving for Germany I helped my daughter's friend drive from New Hampshire to Colorado. We saw a lot of corn. In many respects, Germany was no different. We bicycled through many cornfields. It was mostly young or adolescent and I was glad that it wasn't full-grown or we might not have had any views at all. I often thought, "This could be Iowa."

But they grow other things, too. This looked like some sort of grain.

Wildflowers tucked themselves in alongside the crops.

The towns we saw in the distance helped to remind me that we weren't in Iowa after all.

It was the towns and the culture, way more than the scenery, that made our Germany trip memorable.

There was soccer and beer and the city of Straubing.

On our ninth day, a Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Straubing to find the historic downtown filled with people celebrating the city's 600-year anniversary. Rob and I both found it overwhelming and decided to walk our bikes through the crowd and find the campground we knew was on the other end of the city. After setting up our tent and showering we walked back into town in search of a quiet restaurant for dinner. Then we ventured into the crowd. Bands played on stages set up several blocks apart from one another. People sat at tables drinking beer and eating food from the many stands set up along the sides of the street.

We saw these tables everywhere, set up in large beer gardens and at festivals where beer was always served.

Germans love their beer, lots of it. We didn't find craft beers on the menus, and Rob couldn't find any IPAs. We usually had a choice of a pilsner, lager, or ale. Someone told us that the beer is produced by breweries that will serve a particular region of the country so you just get what's available wherever you happen to be. Beer is cheaper than most non-alcoholic drinks - it costs about as much as water -  and you could order it in mugs bigger than you would imagine possible. The drinking age for beer is 16.

In the U.S., if there is beer available at an outdoor venue the authorities carefully control where you can drink it. I ran a race recently along the coastline of New Hampshire and beer was served afterwards. Free. I would have loved a beer. I wanted to drink it while sitting on the almost empty beach, letting the waves hypnotize me while digging my feet into the sand. But that wasn't allowed. You had to drink your beer inside a pen with hundreds of other runners and no place to sit down except on some pavement. I skipped the free beer.

In Straubing, you could order a beer and enjoy drinking it while wandering down the street looking for a place to order some food,  or sitting down with friends at one of the many long tables set up for the festival. Rob and I didn't order any beer because we'd had some with our dinner and I don't know about Rob but I was afraid I'd have to pee on our walk back to the campground. So we didn't have any beer but instead we walked up and down the street taking in the sights. 

And what we noticed was that everyone was gathered around a bar or sitting in an outdoor restaurant watching TV. They may have been listening to one or another band playing, but their eyes and attention were focused on Germany playing Sweden in its second game of the World Cup soccer tournament. Having lost already to Mexico, it was a must-win game. Rob and I had watched the game against Mexico and might have stayed to watch this one, but we couldn't find a place to sit down.

I don't think these people were waiting in line for beer.

You can see the stage set up in the distance, but clearly people were interested in something other than the music.

We walked back to our campground, next door to a boating club of some sort where the game was playing. I figured we'd be kept up on a Saturday night with partying after the game ended, but it quieted down shortly after we got into our tent. I assumed Germany had lost. But I was wrong. They won. I guess it's just not a part of the culture to go crazy when your team wins. Then again, they still had another must-win game to play in a few days.

Poking around the internet I found an article saying that Germany has a serious alcohol problem. And growing up in a family that is one hundred percent German heritage, I could believe it. But I really did enjoy the laissez-faire attitude around beer.  Back in Munich we found a festival on a college campus and sat down for some music and beer and talked to a couple students who were just enjoying some conversation over a couple beers. We noticed families with young children. No one was drunk or loud or rude. Sitting in a beer garden can be a very pleasant way to spend an hour or two.

Also back in Munich we caught the next German World Cup soccer game. This time we were ready for it and found a restaurant where we sat outside and enjoyed dinner and beer while we watched Germany play South Korea. Sadly, they lost.

Chapter 6: Following the Danube - Downhill All the Way!

After leaving Danaueschingen (the official starting point) the Danube quickly became a small river, but not big enough to support boat traffic. This was taken our second day.

We rode 419 miles over 11 days. Rob likes to tell people that it was all downhill, since we were following the flow of the river.  But we passed many people going in the other direction so it couldn't have been that much downhill. Really, it was mostly just flat, easy riding. Most days we hardly broke a sweat and we quickly mastered the few hills that came our way.

This picture was taken our second day out. Notice how flat the bike path is. This was not a challenging ride. We were happy just toodling along.

We did hit one short steep hill that brought us to this lovely rest stop put there just for bicyclists on the outskirts of a little town. We got off our bikes and pushed them up the last bit. (We have no pride.) There was a shelter with a picnic table, maps, and a log book. I glanced through it to see if any Americans had been there. And the only American entry was by someone from Los Angeles complaining about the hill. They had written something like, "Why would you put such a steep hill on a bicycle route for tourists?" I thought, "How pompous you Americans are that you think a hill can be erased just for you."

These are a couple closeups of the rest area. It felt very welcoming. In fact, during the entire trip we felt welcomed as cyclists (except when the people blocked me from getting off the train). 

If you look carefully you'll see a bit of wildlife hiding in the grass on the island in the middle of the river. This picture was taken on day 3. You won't see this part of the Danube on your Viking River Cruise.

But later that afternoon the river had become a significant presence. We stayed overnight in Riedlingen, a small city across the river from the bike path.

On day 6 the river became large enough to support a local yacht club.

On Day 8, we came to the Weltenburg Abbey, about 250 miles from the start of the Danube. From the abbey our Danube Bike Trail guide book said: "The official bicycle route takes a steep and busy road up the mountain and then follows a rough forest track, bypassing much of the dramatic scenery as the Danube winds its way through the Franconian Jura. We therefore recommend you board an excursion boat or wooden barge at Weltenburg and enjoy the views from the water on the 5 km. trip to Kelheim." 

The excursion boat makes its way through the Danube Gorge to the Weltenburg Benedictine Abbey. 

We opted for one of the wooden barges. 

Our bicycles fit easily on board.

That's the Weltenburg Abbey in the background.

A view of the Danube from a bridge in Regensberg. Now we're getting into serious river cruising territory. Still day 8.

Day 10, we took a ferry across the river in Niederalteich.

Day 11, just before Passau. The Danube's gotten pretty big, big enough for plenty of river cruise ships to take over the riverfront.

Passau is located near the Austrian and Czech borders, at the confluence of three rivers, the Danube, Inn, and Ilz. This was the end of our journey.

I suppose a professional photographer could take pictures that would turn the Danube that we rode along into a much more majestic and picturesque river, but in the end, from my point of view, it was just a river. So what makes it such a big deal? A big enough deal for all the river cruises that make their way up and down its waters, and all the bicyclists that ride along its shores? 

Whenever we seek a new adventure we look for a compass, a direction to guide our wanderings. The Appalachian Trail provides hikers with an historic trail over a couple thousand miles. Mountain climbers in Colorado check off the list of fourteen thousand foot peaks. Rivers serve tourists with a means of luxury travel where they can see many cities without having to pack their bags every morning. And the Danube, with its maintained bike route along its shores, gave us a compass for exploring the peaceful beauty of the German culture and countryside.