Successfully wound my way over railway tracks and autobahn to escape the suburbs of Heidelberg by about 8.30am. and out into open country along the aptly named Speyer Strasse, reassuring as my target today was Speyer, meaning spires in German.Very soon my Google map and reality diverged: the suggested routing for a walker, in fact along a cars only, very fast road. Time to head off along the walk and cycle trails. Much more relaxing, of course, safer and away from the noise of machinery that is Germany. Never noticed it on previous visits to this country, and maybe I am just getting grumpy, but Germany has to qualify in my mind, as the noisiest country that I have visited. They are not joking when they refer to it a the 'locomotive' of Europe--complete with the roar of industry and it's grinding gears. Good to know that these guys are hard at work, so as to pay the bills for their Euro cousins in Greece and Spain.
Enjoyed the long sections that I walked on paved tracks through stretches of dense forest. Beautiful, given that today was a bright warm late summer day. In fact, I went through several spells when I did not see another human for probably a full hour. Nice and tranquil and good for the nerves, but it is always good to pass people and obtain a reconfirmation that one is on the correct track. Not infrequently, one has to make a gut decision when the path splits and there is no sign to reassure. It is my general rule to try and obtain a double confirmation (ie: from two people) that a route is correct. Nothing is more dis-spiriting that lengthy re-tracking.
After 6 hours solid walking, except for a short lunch break where I used a handy bench in the car park at the famous Hockenheim auto race track, I began a steady rise from the flat countryside to the level of the major bridge that carries traffic directly into Speyer on the west bank of the Rhine. I calculate that this is the 14th time that I have crossed the Rhine on bridges and ferries since Amsterdam, a month ago.
Speyer is a very classy town that knows how to market itself. In fact, my hotel tonight is part of the air museum complete with a jumbo Boeing 747 on a pedestal over-looking the main entrance. The town itself is full of art galleries, libraries, concert halls all housed in beautiful neo-classic and baroque buildings. A great place to sit out in the cafes and people watch on a sunny day--if only I did not have tired legs.
28.2 kms. walked today per Google Maps.
648.8 Cumulative kms. walked.
Type of overnight lodging: Hotel at the air museum.
Cost of lodging: 64E..
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