SPARGEL UND SUSS KIRCHEN

56km


June 7, 2011

After breakfast we packed up and again set off along the Rhine River, going south, which is upstream. The route was pretty good and we made good headway as we watched hundreds of barges laden with sea land containers three high. There is lots of industrial traffic along the Rhine here because in addition to the river traffic there are railroad tracks on both sides of the river and the trains are frequent, about 20 minutes apart all day and into the night. Lots of freight moving up and down the Rhine.

About every half mile there is another majestic castle perched upon the craggy cliffs lining the river. I think Don stopped and took a photo of every one of the 105 qe passed. So there should be some good castle photos to post here.

After several miles of typical river canyon, with steep walls rising up sharply from the river, the terrain suddenly opened up into broad agricultural plains with fields of wheat turning gold and orchards and other crops. At this time of year, early June, there are two very important things--spargel and suss kirchen.,

Spargel are the white asparagus and are a special favorite in Germany. Most restaurants and cafes feature a special spargel menu at this time of year and one day we did partake. Don had the special spargel mit schwein und kartelhofen. This is several spears of white asparagras, artfully arranged on a special plate and then potatoes and pork. I had spargel suppe.

The suss kirchen are sweet cherries. The cherry trees are laden with fruit ripening in the sun. We stopped at a driveway stand and bought some, but I was tempted to pilfer a few from the trees that line the bike route.

Before long we were riding through family vegetable plots and the next thing we knew there was a big freeway overpass! We tried to ride along the river past the big city of Mainz, but that didn’t work, so we turned around and Trixie led us right into the city. We had hoped to fined a nice zimmer along the river, but had made a reservation at the Mainz B&B Hotel, just in case. We rode along, my worst nightmare, right into the heart of the city. Of course the B&B Hotel is in the industrial sections and Trixie wants to route us the shortest way, so we had lots of city streets and some traffic. Luckily there were lots of bike lanes and that helped a lot.

Finally we made it to the hotel and checked in, stowed our bikes, took a shower and now I feel much better.

It is bittersweet that this is our last day of point to point riding. Tomorrow we get our rental car and set off on an unscripted week of exploring Germany.