Surly They Won't Make It

29/10/24

It was to be a beautiful day again. But we stayed in bed as long as was reasonably acceptable. All the houses in Germany have shutters. So their curtains tend to be flimsy and see through. Shutters are preferable to anything else for us. It’s a complete blackout!

Our accommodation was perfect for some rest. A big sofa and television and a nice kitchen for some small meals. We indulged in some of those foil wrapped rolls that you unfurl and bake with some apricot marmalade. They call jam marmalade here. 

Frankie set forth into the town to gather supplies as someone needed to be at home to wait for two different parcels, unfortunately from Amazon. Yesterday morning in a sad mishap Jonathan ripped the tent porch slightly with a bottle of Hirsch Talg. This was a soothing bum cream gifted by Christine. It had those sharp plastic corners. As a result we had ordered a roll of Tenacious Tape. This would stop the hole enlarging and be useful in the future. Better than duct tape. 

The other parcel was a set of Schwalbe Mondials for the black surly. Apparently it might get harder to find 700c tyres and the marathon plus have no tread. In a mild feeling of panic they had been purchased. It didn’t look possible to get them later on very easily.

It was odd to be out of each others company after two weeks but we figured it could be healthy for us to have some alone time. Pfzorheim wasn’t that interesting but neither of us had been to Netto yet. It wasn’t very good. At home the stove pot was scrubbed having never been washed before and the tent was dried.

We made some snacks to carry with us for the next couple of days. Flapjacks with dried fruit. A nice warming curry was for dinner with plenty of tofu and vegetables. We weren’t eating much of the latter compared to at home. 

It was a shame not to be cycling in the sunshine but it was an absolutely necessity to rest. In the evening we started to get nervous about riding again. Not sure what our new path would look like exactly but confident it would be hilly. Elevation would be a challenge to conquer but vital if we were to ever leave the Rhein or finish the Rhein path even. It goes up sharply at the end to the source!