Google Says Danube is Here!

Saturday  02.06.2012   Wangen – Nendigen  80.3 kms

Best breakfast we have yet had. Eggs, smoked salmon, ham, cheese, bread – I could go on. We did our best to do it justice but we needed with us, those with larger appetites. To collect our food we were required to walk the length of a very large dining room adorned with a proscenium arch and possibly a stage. Feeling quite smug at having packed, posted the blog on a very slow connection, we were on the road by 09.30. Alan had researched this section of the route before we left and produced google maps which we were sure would see us through. All went very well until at Bodensee, the E6 disappeared! Just when we needed him, Mr. Master Navigator took a vacation. We covered the same ground three times to no avail and finally made a call on the oft maligned Tourist Information. We were pointed in the right/different direction and made use of our old friend the sun! So we found a way, not the way and after a few more kilometres we found ourselves at the base of a hill. Not that unusual, and Al says I must not be boring about arduous undertakings, but this hill went on for about 12 kilometres!  When we reached what we thought was the summit, we rediscovered the E6; we took it.  Another miscalculation; where the road continued at a gentle climb, this path tumbled downhill and then turned a right angle and went steeply uphill to join the main road!  What planet are these planners on?! 20% hills for loaded touring bikes – I don’t think so. some 700metres higher, with little energy left in the legs, we did find the Donau. Hoorah and hooray! The views back over towards Bodensee were spectacular – the first time we have reached such dizzy heights this trip.  Now to find somewhere to lay our tired little bodies. We could not find the energy to erect a tent, much less cook a meal so we latched onto the first pension we found - full! The second was not really open yet! The third was open and welcoming! Unusually, for a German gentleman of mature years, this sweetheart spoke really good English and when we commented on the fact, it transpired that he had spent some three years in the States in the fifties. Good memory, I’d say. Delightful couple and a great place to rest our legs and everything else.