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Monday, July 8th - Wertheim to Rothenberg-ob-der-Tauber, 6739 km
There is some confusion after breakfast as the American couple and I wait for a long time to get our hostel cards back. Apparently, we need to wash, dry and put away our breakfast dishes first, but the only signs are in German and no one is available at
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The second delay is that I need to repair the front fender. The rivets holding it to the rack have worn out and it is dragging on the front tire, which is both annoying and dangerous. I find a bike store in town and buy some screws, epoxy glue, a spare inner tube and new toe clips. I love that most European towns have bike shops. I repair the fender, pack the other goodies away and ride up to have a look at the castle. I don't pay to go into the castle, but I have a walk around outside, the parts that are accessible to the public without paying, and take a snapshot of the view. The climb up to see it is worth the view.
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The Tauber is another river that has cut a steep-sided, snaky canyon though the surrounding landscape. This canyon is about 120m (400 ft) deep. Only three
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I do better at keeping to the trail for the rest of the day, but still at one point I get lost with an old German couple from Darmstadt who are as confused as I am. The trail we found serves as a shortcut cutting off a bend in the river. It climbs over a 200m hill and drops us back into the Tauber Valley on the other side. Here I leave them behind as they putter along at a slower pace.
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There is a big hill into Rothenberg though, which is built on a ridge high above the river, and it almost knocks me out. Perhaps because of Rothenberg's extremely
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It has been a longer ride today but I am not too hungry, probably another side effect of the heat. I walk the streets of the old town and shoot off a roll of film
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Back in my room in the pension it is very quiet. There is no sitting room where the guests can mingle and I am feeling quite isolated and lonely. I can't say I miss traveling with Mike as we rarely talked much, but after six nights in youth hostels this feels way too quiet. Watching others without meeting them doesn't satisfy me either. When I move away from English-speaking areas, where youth hostels are uncommon, this will happen more and more and I am beginning to wonder how I will handle it.
PHOTO 1: Wertheim Haus
PHOTO 2: the climb over the 200m hill
PHOTO 3: Castle Neuhaus
PHOTO 4: Tauberbischofsheim
PHOTO 5: bike path near Lauda
PHOTO 6: Weikersheim
PHOTO 7: Tauberzell
PHOTO 8: bike path near Rothenberg
PHOTO 9: Rothenberg ob der Tauber, the most photographed view
PHOTO 10: Rothenberg, centre of town
PHOTO 11: Rothenberg Town Hall
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