Bernkastle to Ernst
Trip Start
May 06, 2011
1
11
17
Trip End
May 23, 2011
Ernst, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Bearen (Bears) Hotel offers their guests a free breakfast with the room which is common practice. But this one was first class in every respect. I will add a few shots of the dining room. Very quaint, spotless and bright with decor on the theme of Bears. I think I ate enough to carry me through the day but just in case I made up an extra sandwich of various meats and cheeses and by around 1 PM it served me well. Guess I have the old calorie furnace going full blast.
Anyhow, I was back on the trail by 9 AM and today I passed through many river towns and varying landscapes. Once I thought I was lost when the pavement ended and I started climbing higher and higher through a coarse gravel grade better for mountain bikes than road bikes. However, after refering to my map it seemed to be the correst routing. The river was still in sight down below and the road had disappeared apparently further inland. I learned that it ain't all peaches & cream. This went on for about an hour, up and down, several times low gear couldn't make it and I pushed until finally I emerged on the level hardtop again. But coming down the rough rocky trail reminded me of a mountain biking experience I had a few years ago in Belize that resulted in a very raw and painful bckside or rear end if you will.
Note that several of todays photos are of an old ruins with only the walls intact. This is the remains of a cloister just across the river from the town of Bremm. From what I could gather from the plaque it was completed in the year 1190. The occupants fled the French Revolution troops in 1794 when it was evidentially sacked.
By the time I made my days journey to Ernst I logged exactly 80 additional kilometers. That's 50 miles and just about the limit for this tired old bod. I must say in retrospect that the experience was really great and the weather even greater. At noon I had to shed my fleece jacket and long sleeved undershirt and don a light weight T-Shirt; also removing the zip-off bottoms from my trousers. The full sun made itself felt quickly.
Finally finding Haus Schwarzenberg, my overnight reservation in Ernst, was like finding an Oasis in the desert. I am sprawled on the bed with the laptop in my lap, my clean laundry drying from every available hook while awaiting the dinner being prepared for me down below. It is Rock Salmon, the same dish I had last year when I stopped here going in the opposite direction. The owners remember me and it was like greeting a long lost friend. Things like this make travel special. Robbie, I am so sorry you are not up to biking. I miss you loads and wish you could share in my adventures in a way other than through these missives.
Just one more comment on todays ride. While climbing through a wine field today I heard a chopper very close to me. I stopped and dismounted to see where it was. It seemed so close. Then it made a pass right over the wine field and let loose with a stream of spray. All I can say is I'm glad it wasn't Agent Orange or Blue because I got some drift of it on me. Nothing like being in the wrong place at the right time. Hope the pictures show it well.
I tried everything to find wi-fi access in this little town. No business has it. I will have to wait till tomorrow at the earliest to post this missive. All for now. Over and out.
