In which Sid and Doris have their first day in Germany and learn how quiet Sundays can be.
We chose Arnhem so we could go to the Oosterbeek Museum and then sit by the Rhine with a beer. We have chosen Haltern am See because it is on the way to Eisenach and Weimar. It had a period of importance in Roman times when there was a huge camp here, but of course the museum will be shut tomorrow/Monday.
So, the vital statistics ..
Distance: 108 kilometres
Climb: 367 meters
Meteo: not much wind but thunder shower just as we were getting into town, doh.
Our route out of Arnhem took us under the new John Frost Bridge, through some small suburbs and over the Rhine further East. We had been expecting Germany to be shut on Sunday but had reckoned without the similar Dutch determination to suspend commerce. Second breakfast was cereal bars in a church square.
Very soon after second breakfast we crossed into Germany with coffee houses open. The old border post has been turned into a private house and the sign you are moving from one country to another is the change of Tarmac. No officials were present, which a shame because a well stamped passport is all part of the excitement of international travel.
Although we have seen Germans out enjoying themselves with big motorbikes and small dogs we seem to have crossed into No Smile Sunday. We will check to see if this has been carried over to Monday, a more traditional No Smile day.
Cars of the day: A fastback Mustang from about 1970, a Citroen Dyane, a Fiat 850 Sport Coupe (imagine how Sporty) so you can take your pick from a not very inspiring bunch. I am not putting up Porsche Boxsters, we saw some. There were a lot of sports bikes out and the best thing we saw all day was a new Kawasaki Z1. In the same way Fiat have made a new 500 so bike firms are going over the best of the back catalogue.
Bird of the day: we did see a fairly chunky buzzard, but much more fun were two Oyster catchers well off home territory in a town garden.
The route today has been quiet. We have not had the fun of bashing around small towns as we did yesterday. Apart from the rain on our way into town we have had a pleasant day through farms and woods.
The Ratshouse Hotel proved hard to find because shrouded in scaffold and netting. Two German cyclists were also looking for the place (a Bett and Bike recommended hotel) which helped as our German is pointy smiley.
The rain has stopped so we must look for beer and dinner.