To Kipfenberg, Germany

Today was a lovely day biking predominantly on gravel roads in beautiful valleys.

Last night, I was chatting with one of my fellow riders. He was musing about what had made Germany unique so far. He noted that there were pretzels available at almost every meal. This is one I had as part of my breakfast.

As we were leaving town, I noticed that this particular section of the Danube had rapids, the first I can recall seeing on the river.

Out of town, we rode past one of these small memorials that appear semi-frequently.

A bit under 10 miles into our ride, we cut away from the Danube River so that we could ride through Altmuhltal, one of Germany’s largest nature parks at about 1150 square miles in size. It is in the heart of Bavaria between Munich and Nuremberg. It follows the Altmuhl River. To get there, we started by riding through farmland.

And a couple of villages…

In Germany, a nature park is different from a national park. It is a protected cultural landscape where people have lived for centuries. This was a typical view as we rode along today.

Here is a photo of a small community of people living in tiny houses. Above on the rock is some sort of ruin.

One of my fellow riders took this photo of me next to this sunflower field.

Here was our lunch stop for today. In the background, two people were getting ready to climb the rock tower.

I loved these decorated hay bales. Let’s all wish Veronika and Jonas a great life together.

So many of the small towns that we cycle through have wonderful visual treasures in them. This plaza is fantastic.

Burg Kipfenberg overlooks our hotel tonight. The castle was built around 1200. The castle fell into decline in the 19th century but was restored in the early 20th century. The castle is now privately owned.