Today was epic!
We started the day, as always, with a yummy hotel breakfast.
Then, we scurried over to the church for the worship service. Of course, it was in German but the minister, who must be aware of the likelihood of foreigners in the congregation, spoke particularly slowly and clearly. We understood more than we expected and less than we liked. We were a little lost on the first hymn but could follow along with all the others and sort of sing. Trying to read the music and sing the words while also trying to remember how to pronounce the words is not very easy!
The service began with prayer and then a responsive reading. We could read that fine, of course, and understood the gist of it. The service also included reading of a passage of scripture by a layperson with a deep voice, unison praying of the Lord's Prayer (which we will learn in German), and recitation of the Apostles' Creed. At least Amelia thinks it was the creed, thanks to her years as a presbyterian she recognized it. We will also try to learn that in German. Such things are easy to find online with Google.
Today's service also included several christening/baby dedications. In fact, there were many young children in the congregation. Clearly children are welcome as many parishioners (who, no doubt, walked to church) had rolled their strollers and baby carriages right up the center aisle and parked them at the end of their pew.
During the last hymn we had an interesting experience. Amelia was sitting on the end and while we were standing to sing a small child climbed over and behind her, then behind Andy, then dropped down to stand between Andy and an older gentleman just beyond. She seemed quite happy there but clearly she'd escaped from her parents. After a little while she climbed back out and joined her parents a couple of rows behind us. It was pretty cute.
At the end of the service, the minister gave a benediction that sounded like the benediction our former (now retired) pastor in Fort Smith gave, Numbers 6:24-26. Then the organist played one more piece and everyone (including the minister) sat silently until he finished.
Next, we wandered off to lunch. We decided to see what was open, which wasn't much. We ended up at a kebab house with only a few tables indoors and a few outdoors. We ate outdoors. Andy had Currywurst and Amelia had Bratwurst. Both were yummy. We have developed the habit of ordering different things and then sharing some. This restaurant was on a little corner of a pedestrian area. On the opposite corner was a similarly sized Asian restaurant (more or less Chinese) which was also open. So, this was a good spot for people watching and for spotting dogs. Dogs are very popular in Germany and we see them everywhere. In the city they are usually leashed, but out in the country on the bike paths they are rarely leashed but seem to be well behaved as none of them have chased us on our bicycles.
The next order of the day is predictable: a bike ride. Andy had read through the little bike route book for tourists and chosen a loop that started not too far from Schwäbisch Hall, so we headed in that direction after checking out a route to get us there using Google maps (which will show bike paths and such if you click the right places). We found a dedicated bike path we could reach that would then take us to the loop.
Unfortunately, this dedicated bike path involved crossing a busy road, then going up up up for ever. OK, it wasn't forever, but it did involve very steep paths with grade up to 18%. Even the Tour de France racers would be cranky at this. Amelia made it only part way up and then stopped when her heart rate reached Def Con 1 (i.e. 170). She walked and pushed her bike from there. Andy went to the top, then came down to the bottom and biked back up. Andy is not a normal human. This was an inauspicious start to a longish (relative to others this week) bike ride. It so turned out that this ride had several much longer climbs, but at least they weren't quite so steep!
The path signage on the first half of the ride was very good so it was easy to figure out where to go and when to ride down a road or bike lane and which bike path to enter next. Around the half way point, near a lovely lake with lots of people enjoying the good weather, we stopped at a cafe for Cokes. We also refilled Amelia's water bottle since Andy forgot his and we were sharing. After our break, Andy's rear tire was flat so he made a quick tube change while Amelia helped a lady find the (very hard to find) restrooms with her bad German. She'd found them before as the only place to fill up the water bottle, of course.
We continued on, though lovely forests and up up up up more hills. In this part of the ride, the main long hill was a road, so cars were going by now and then. The road was not wide, perhaps just wide enough for two cars. Germans, as you might guess, drive very fast. They also, however, drive safety and politely. We never felt unsafe (unlike just about every minute on roads in Arkansas or Alabama) and we never heard a horn honk and no one yelled at us to get off the road (as back home...).
At this point in the ride, Amelia was pretty toasted, when the next long hill showed up, she had to walk the last part. This was also the point in the ride when the nice useful informative signage ceased to exist. Remember, we were riding on an official bike route that is included in a publication given to tourists. Apparently, the little villages on the southern part of the route didn't get the memo about signage. Fortunately, we knew enough to get suspicious when things seemed off, and stopped to turn on the iPhone and check with Googlemaps (so, yes, we, have used that horribly expensive international calling/data plan we ordered with AT&T, and thankfully). We had to backtrack three times to get back to the planned route. Near the end, we ignored the route and followed the bike path we could see on Googlemaps that would take us straight back to our part of town. We finished with at least 30 kilometers (18+ miles) but the actual riding time was 2 hours 40 minutes due to all the hills and Amelia being the world's slowest cyclist on hills.
It was all good but some lessons have been learned. For example, Andy NOW knows how to read the bike route book information that indicates whether a route is easy, medium, or difficult (this was a medium! Heaven only knows what a difficult route is like). Tomorrow, Amelia will choose the route (something flat along the river would be nice). German drivers are fast but courteous, even to cyclists. Never trust the signage on the bike route to be complete.
We rushed through a shower so we could have upper before the hotel restaurant folks locked up for the night. We were the last customers but they were very nice and served us a magnificent four course meal (bread, then soup or salad, then main course, then desert). We ate every drop and bite. ALL THE CALORIES ARE BELONG TO US. After that ride they do, anyhow.
Then, we crashed in bed, Andy sleeping pretty well, and Amelia having her usual insomnia which is why this is being typed before the sun rises.
No comments:
Post a Comment