Translated by SFT
We
slowed down to enjoy the scenic Rhine
River and
then rested on a bench in the park. Dressed in a raincoat due to a
light drizzle, we ate our German style dinner. Behind us were a group
of tourists having their meals under a big umbrella. They probably
wondered where those 2 ‘peculiar’ people (that would be us) came
from and why their bicycles were loaded with all the bags.
Let
me start with our arrival at Germany. We unknowingly entered the
country. Why did I say ‘unknowingly’? Because the sign in
Germany only indicates ‘You have left Austria.’
I assume
that is because the boundary between Austria and Germany is just a
bridge on the Salzburg River. Germany is only 20km away from Salzburg
and there’s no customs on the border. No wonder Brother Yang used
to drive from Salzburg to Germany to get his groceries.
I
went back to Austria to take more photos as mementoes.
Crossing a
country without a visa would normally be considered illegal; however,
since Austria and Germany are both members of European Union, you can
travel between the two countries freely.
So,
we were now in Germany, experiencing unusual summer weather. Global
climate change does not spare Germany. Summer in Germany is usually
sunny days, but it’s rainy these days. We stayed in the barn on a
farm at our first night in Germany.
My first impression about
Germany is neatness- even the tractors are parked in an orderly
fashion.
Climate is changing; people are changing. The only things
not changed are German persistence and the delicious beer.
Big
cities are not exactly our favorites,
so we did not stay long at
Munich.
We rode along the Neckar River and headed to Heidelberg.
In
the midpoint of our journey,
we passed a little historic town,
Bad
Wimpfen.
In the center of the town are old buildings of which
materials are wood and clay; the brown portion of the walls is wood
and the white clay.
We
mistakenly got in the lane for pedestrians only. After we walked
uphill for a short while, we decided to take a rest and had some
snacks while relaxing on the bench.
After
we arrived in Heidelberg, if we ride along Rhine River, we can get to
Holland without help from GPS (We don’t have one, thus we get lost
often, so we are very happy about this.)
We
saw a lot of hills, castles
, old streets, and grape gardens along the
bank of Rhine before we arrived at Cologne city.
Now
back to the moment that we were enjoying our dinner in the drizzle.
A gentleman named Florian, who lives in Budenheim, approached us with
an interest about our bike travel. I took out my home-made hand
written name card and started introducing ourselves:
We are from
Taiwan and have been biking around the world for 23 months, riding
25000km by now.
“My
son and his friend plan to bike around the world next year,’ said
Florian. It’s a small world. Florian’s son, Hardy, came to visit
his father during his time off. They just arrived here and walked
along the river bank.
Upon
hearing that, we issued our invitation without any hesitation, “If
you ride to Taiwan during your trip, you are welcome to stay in our
place.’ Florian outperformed our passion, ‘I can smell you are
nice people. Put away your stuff and come to stay with us tonight.’
What
is the smell of nice people? I lowered my head to smell my bike suit.
It had not been washed for 3 days. Is this the smell Florian referred
to?
Generally
speaking, German people abide laws and are also very reserved. In the
era of hippies, it’s not legal to invite strangers home. Therefore,
it’s rare that a German person would bring home strangers since
they did not want to violate the laws.
When
Florian was young, he once brought home 5 hippies with long hair. His
mom was shocked, screaming, “Oh, My God, what happened? Why all
these long-haired weird people were here!”
He
had learned his lesson. This time he called his wife first so that
his wife would not be shocked. Florian told me this story in
English. I jokingly told him that maybe I should consider keeping
long hair. Meanwhile,
I was curious about why this retired German
could speak fluent English for there’s no English subject in German
schools’ curriculum when they were in school.
Right
in front of his wife, Florian revealed the secret that when he was
young, he had an American girl friend. His English is very good all
because of his passion for her.
Hardy and his 8-year long
girlfriend Lena plan to go on their dream trip next year. They asked
us a lot of questions. We all enjoyed the chatting. It’s a
wonderful gathering. I showed Hardy the pictures I had taken in our
trip and Hardy had all those beautiful sceneries in his dream all
night long.
They
have a hundred year old attic where we stayed for the night.
After a
sound sleep, we tasted an authentic German breakfast sweet bread and
jam made by Florian’s wife, Barbara. Not only had they fed us
delicious home-made food, they gave us some bread for our lunch.
Florian is a retired mechanical engineer.
He loves
sculptures and art works. He also likes to modify
bicycles. He had a
heart surgery a few years ago, so he cannot have strenuous exercises.
He has modified his bike into an engine-propelled one.
Now
that we had satisfied our stomach, we needed some exercise. All the
family members pedaled with us.
Hardy
said to us before he headed home, “We live in Düsseldorf.
If you bike along Rhine River, you will pass our place. Welcome to
stay with us then.”
We cried out, “No problem! See you in
three days.”
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to be continued…
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