August 28 - Starting wet and ending wet.....but dry in the middle

Friday - Sommerach to Retzbach
It started raining at 3:00 this morning then the church bells started ringing at 6:30. We are going to get a early start today! Fortunately it stopped raining before we had to pack up the tent.

These whirly things are hanging all over the campground, each one painted differently....and they are all for sale according to the sign on the tree. A little too big for the panniers.

It might be cloudy but it is 67F according to the thermometer on the office and still dry.

The gate back into Sommerach looks like it is hungry and wants to swallow Doug.

Still all about the wine.

The pears look like they are getting close to ripe too.

Schwarzach

This cheery girl is part of a set of statues of kids playing in the central square.

The rain is back for a little while.

Kitzingen

Crossing the Main in Kitzingen

Lunch at a bakery in Marksteft. It was a great sandwich so not sure why Doug captured such a strange expression. The pastry was even better than the sandwich!

Prize for the cutest toilet paper. Thought of granddaughter Tia and how much she would like it.

Kids having fun in Marktbreit

Another gate that looks like it has teeth! This one is missing the eyes and the nose though.

This river has a wide floodplain through here so the highway bridges are REALLY high and long.

Ochsenfurt

In Sommerhausen looking across the river at Winterhausen.

Good place to take a break while a little shower passes by.

We didn't realize that the Santiago de Compostela (The Pilgrim's Way) passed this way. 2743 km equals 1700 miles.

More grapes! See...Germany isn't just about beer.

Wurzburg - Marienberg Fortress - home of local prince-bishops for 500 years, severely damaged in WWII, rebuilt in 1990, and now home of 2 museums. It also follows the Law of Castles.

St. Burkards, just below the fortress

The only way we could get the whole boat was to take a panorama shot. It is really as long as it looks!!

Farther along the waterfront in Wurzburg. We ran into some people from the boat here...they were from Texas so we could tell right away that they weren't locals.

Most of the city was destroyed at the end of the war. Only 7 main buildings in the city escaped damage according to the information in the little museum adjacent to City Hall.

Doug was off finding the bathroom in the mall in the prior picture. Donna is hiding from the rain and watching the bikes. These 2 spent several minutes observing and discussing our gear.

City Hall

The route crosses the old bridge which is closed to cars and full of tourists.

It was a perfect place to linger, watch people and eat ice cream.

But we finally did need to move on as we still have 12 miles to go.

A local angel helped us find this tunnel after we had ridden by it twice without recognizing it because there were steps at the other end with a foot wide bike ramp adjacent to them.

 

Under to train bridge just north of Zell Am Main - put our rain jackets on for good but it is still warm.So very glad that we hadn't planned to camp tonight!! Best grafitti  we've seen so far.