Day 13 Worms, Germany - More miles, More churches, More Obstacles than Expected

Joan's View

Breakfast served by Pam

Pam, our hostess at her house, made us a traditional German breakfast: boiled eggs, bread, deli meat, cheese, etc. Pam's husband passed about 10 years ago and now she does Airbnb. She speaks several languages, but says she prefers reading most books in English because the German interpretation is off. She is such a kind soul that we wanted a picture with her.

After leaving around 8:45 only several miles down the road we were looking for the ferry that crosses the Rhine. We practically rode right on it along with one other car behind us and the ferry took off. No waiting. 

Tony is stuck in the detour

Just a little down the road we had a detour along some road work. Tony had to lift the tandem through the gates and I moved a barrier (just a little bit).

A little further down the road, we saw this super cute, creative advertisement for a festival. 

By then, we had traveled enough miles that I was on the lookout for a bakery and cappuccino stop, and fortunately for us, around here there are lots of them. 

After about 20 miles and as we rode into Speyer, the plan was to take about a mile detour to see the famous Speyer Cathedral. We took turns going inside. As each of us waited outside with the tandem, we watched or talked to numerous visitors wanting to know more about the bike.

More curious people.

Tony successfully navigated us back to our planned route, and we continued on some country roads. We passed lots of vegetable fields today like in previous days. We saw red beets, potatoes, corns, beans, cabbage, kale, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, leeks, radishes (we think,) and some that we were unable to identify. At one point, we questioned why there were so many geese in this one field. Getting a little closer we could see tons of carrots that some farmer left behind after harvesting their field. Tony stepped out to get a few for us too and strapped them to the back bag. 😋

Tony & the geese collecting carrots

From there we entered into the city of Ludwigshafen. Ludwigshafen is a real industrial town that seems to have quite a few refugees. Seems like we spent hours riding through there. Tony called it the city that never ends. We had a detour, a few wrong turns where Garmin displayed" off course", and some bike maintenance. There is a squeaking noise that Tony tried to fix several times. The fairing also slipped down so that my shoes were hitting it. It took Tony 3 potty stops to get us through Ludwigshafen.

We finally rode in Worms around 4 and fairly quickly got into our Airbnb. It is a comfy, modern apartment. We threw a load of wash in the washer because we have one, and then walked to the Worms church which was only open for a short time yet. The church is huge and remains from an old settlement in this area. We lit some candles for our loved ones there too.

Dinner was across the street at a pseudo-American restaurant, but the food was very German. Tony had schnitzel and more German beer.

Lastly, the question for today comes from the fact that we passed so many sunflower fields and observed that most of the sun flowers face the same direction. Which direction is it?

??????

Tony's Extras

What a ride today, filled with so many turns, detours and three main cities. Navigation was a challenge, but that is part of the adventure that makes it fun. We really had the opportunities to visit some amazing churches/cathedrals today. So much beauty. The side chapel of one of the Cathedrals that we lit candles was beautiful. The Crucifix above the altar was golden and magnificent. 

One of the relics in the Cathedral in Speyer was a full bone, usually they are just fragments.

The Cathedral in Worms was consecrated in 1019. 

Actually, in Speyer there was a beautiful Protestant church as you can see in the picture below.

The temperatures were nice and cool today in low 60's. What a wonderful day exploring Europe.