clairedavieswriter

My server at breakfast told me that the Germans have a word for the cold snap we’ve just experienced here (of course they do): it’s Schafskälte. Literally, cold sheep. Because it always happens just after the farmers have sheared their flocks of their winter fleeces. I doubt any sheep were shivering today: for the first time in two weeks, I wasn’t cold in short sleeves, even when we’d just set out:

Due to a combination of faith in the local cycle signage and sheer carelessness on my part, I managed to diverge from Guillaume’s route twice today, which meant (a) a bit more unpaved surface than planned (which is more tiring on the legs, and more taxing on the tyres):

(b) an unscheduled climb up a steep forest track:

And (c) overall a few more kilometres than intended, on our hottest day so far:

In fact, it was the first time I’ve needed to refill one of my two water bottles. But as luck would have it, when searching for coffee in Dinkelsbühl, I inadvertently chose a cafe with one of these in the window:

The cheery lady owner explained it meant a cyclist-friendly place that would refill water bottles, and recharge phones and bike batteries, at no cost.

In her case, it also meant a place that served a sensational cherry and chocolate torte. It may have been 1pm, but I decided lunch could wait.

I’d really been looking forward to visiting Dinkelsbühl, and it did not disappoint. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but I exclaimed out loud when I first saw its towers, outer wall:

… and medieval high street, where many buildings dated back to the early 14th century:

While definitely still popular with tourists, it had a more relaxed vibe than Rothenburg and many fewer souvenir shops

It was easy to find quiet corners just a short distance from the main street

Nordlingen, our destination and the third walled town of the day, is different again. Yes, it was also an imperial free city, and still has 2.7km of intact walls:

And gorgeous medieval buildings, like these in the Marktplatz:

(Though unlike Rothenburg or Dinkelsbühl, many of Nordlingen’s houses have this slightly serrated, almost Dutch-looking, roofline):

But oddly, Nordlingen is much more low-key, tourism-wise than either of the other two. There’s plenty of accommodation for visitors, but the shops are much more normal and my sense was that the streets this afternoon were mostly full of locals going about their business.

Incidentally, Nordlingen also has a fascinating geological claim to fame, because it’s built in the middle of a 25km-wide crater formed when a meteorite landed here 15 million years ago. Gloria tells me it is ‘arguably the best-preserved impact crater on the planet’.

I have no photos of that, so here’s one of Nordlingen’s 3-D scale model for the visually impaired, showing its almost perfect circular walls, and 10 watchtowers:

Highlights today included this latest example of hay bale art, celebrating the marriage of a local couple – I particularly love the rose detail in the groom’s buttonhole:

This was quite random: it was on the other side of a busy road and I had no idea what it meant but it looked important, and my curiosity was piqued so I made a dash across. It turned out to translate as:

‘Here you are crossing line of latitude 49. At approximately the same level you’ll find Karlsruhe, París, the northern border of the USA and Mongolia’

I actually had to check, because I was sure we must be south of Paris by now, but sure enough:

Here’s one for the chicken-lovers (Lisa C I’m looking at you). This was a special bridge for the girls, from their house on one side of the road to their garden on the other:

Here’s a crummy close-up of a chook in transit:

Speaking of local produce, I loved this smart-looking honey-and-related-products vending machine in the little village of Larrieden:

But my unexpected encounter with this fellow was my Highlight of the Day:

I’ve never come across a tortoise in the wild, and I had so many questions, but he was too shy to answer any of them:

Speaking of slow travel, all being well I only have four more cycling days left on this trip. Tomorrow I have a longish ride to Augsburg, where Bernard is going to put his wheels up again while I explore the city. On Saturday, we start the 3-day countdown to the border. Stick around folks, it’s all uphill from here!