I’m not as specialist as other people with bicycles, but at least I have the will to pick it up and go drive for hours. So, on Friday I woke up and decided to go for a 2 day drive down the river Main (in Germany) and visit most of the towns I pass.
I made pictures which can be found on following URLs: Visiting Würzburg River Main (part 1) Visiting Gemünden and Lohr am Main
Saturday I started out a bit late because I had some trouble fixing some gear on I bought the day before. Yes, not good idea to check on your bike just before leaving, but it just makes it more exciting! Breakfast, shutdown my machines, I took off taking the train in Aschaffenburg at 10:20 (train was late, hooray!) to Würzburg where I arrived around 11:45. Train was packed with cyclists!
Würzburg disappointed a bit at first around the train station. I think it’s in most cities like that. Once past this, the city opens up a bit more and shows what it got. I learned going through the city that it was actually totally destroyed by [American bombs during World War II](). Quite a tragedy, and it answered my questions why there weren’t much more old buildings.. Two highlights were Residenz Castle and the Festung Marienberg. The latter one I visited more thoroughly since it just got me curious, standing there up the hill.
The journey continues, after this short visit to Würzburg, downstream along the river Main. The plan was to get to Wertheim somehow, either by bicycle or train. Though, I only made it till Gemünden, a small town after Karlstadt. The latter one I missed, as I took the wrong (painful) road, only to join the regular route after crossing the Main. It started raining heavier and I had to put on my jacket. Add to that that it wasn’t really warm, and very windy: I was shivering. So I decided after having a meal and some apple juice in Gemünden, to take the train towards Lohr am Main, where I could hopefully take a train to Wertheim.
This is were I got it wrong and I should have planned better. There was no train to Wertheim from Lohr, and it was too far away to get there by bike (was already past 18:00). So, I took a ticket back to Aschaffenburg and quickly visited Lohr, which was beautiful. I only had 10 minutes, it was raining, and I was getting really tired.
The trip I planned for 2 days, ended in a 1 day trip, but it was worth it. I’m not used to do these things and this is how I will learn it best. Preparing is a must, though it’s more fun to just pick your lazy butt up and get on the road! I will do the rest of the Main later, well, maybe tomorrow. Just hoping not to get to much rain, at least not all the way.
Part 2 is coming!