Journey Reports

Germany   April 18th 2016, Leutershausen, Germany
About Germany

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Jakob:

The first week is coming to an end. We travelled all the way along the Rhine up until Mainz where we took a day off. The day after, we cycled alongside Main and Tauber river and now arrived at the banks of the Altmühl, which is slightly high flooded. The last days we were staying at different people's places, who were all amazing hosts! Strangers, sweaty and exhausted as we were, we knocked on doors and asked for a place to put up our tent and – of course – for the source of life; water. What we were provided with exceeded all our expectations. Sometimes we were offered a bed, we were able to take a shower, our clothes were washed and ironed, and breakfast was prepared in the morning. However the most delightful thing was talking to those people about interesting and deep things; alongside delicious, regionally brewed beer.

Exactly the humanity we are cycling for, which we are hoping to foster and to explore, is the humanity we find in the numerous people we meet every single day.

Just an hour ago, we were sitting on a bench, eating a huge ham sandwich with olive oil and spooning the remains of Nutella, when an old man riding a bike stopped by. “Boys, where are you coming from and where is the journey taking you?” he asked. We proudly told him about our plans and expected him to be surprised, or at least a bit impressed. Confused by his unfazed reaction, it took a while until we realized who this man was. Burkhard Rühl, the man who, crossing Turkey, Syria and Sinai, cycled 12.000 km to the west coast of Africa. You would have been able to read our excitement and fascination for this man in our eyes. Long story short, we had a shelter for the night and some good advice. Half an hour later we were sitting in the mosaic artist's garden. Right now, as I am writing, Ernest is reading Burkhard's book “A Cycle Tour from Nuremberg to Africa”...

{Translation from German: Jessica}


Ernest:

We haven’t left Germany yet, but after 700km over the last 10 days I can truly say how interesting it is to travel by bicycle. You pedal along slowly which enables you to discover the different features of each region you pass. The landscape changes progressively in a way that you can constantly compare it; the architectural style of the churches and their towers captures which part of the country you are at.

Language is one of the things that changes the most: Germany is very rich in dialects, and I can say that after 700km of this journey. It is frustrating that after having learned this language for more than 4 years, I am still unable to hold a conversation only 150km away from Bonn, where I used to live. I am given the opportunity, however, to increase my knowledge about this country and its culture, which has been a crucial part in my personal development.

One of the most remarkable things so far is the kindness and trust everyone has displayed towards us. Maybe because of what we are told everyday on the media, mistrust and fear have been growing amongst us. Most of the current news are the bad ones, and that cannot be ignored, since it’s happening and it’s real. However good things are also happening at the same time, but those are left in the background because they are lacking in such morbidity or sensationalism.

I am one of these people who believe that good can win over evil, and this idea has been growing deeper over the last few days. When late afternoon comes and we start looking for a place to spend the night, we knock at someone’s door and ask if we could use a small piece of their yard to set up our tents and borrow some water to cook. The next morning we leave that place with a nice dinner, shower, breakfast, homemade marmalade jars and very intimate and passionate conversations with total strangers. This kind of reaction from people brings me closer to believing in us: the humanity.

We are in Munich, after 100km we will be arriving at the Alps: the first big test, physically and mentally. We are feeling well, ready and looking forward to facing the challenge.

{Translation from Catalan: Indra}

 i20160418-01 i20160418-02 i20160418-03 i20160418-04 i20160418-05Burkhard Rühl with his bike from the 12,000 km trip to Africa in 1988^ Burkhard Rühl with his bike from the 12,000 km trip to Africa in 1988 ^
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Comments to this report:

martin writes:

April 22nd 2016, 00:39

"Fremde sind Freunde,
die wir noch nicht kennen"!
Schön wieder was von euch zu hören!

Joan Roig writes:

April 22nd 2016, 08:05

Quina experiència nois!! em poso a la vostre pell i imagino la satisfacció i gaudi interior que teniu, disfruteu del moment!! és únic i irrepetible!!

Josevi Forner writes:

April 23rd 2016, 12:25

Endavant Ernest! Estem amb vosaltres!

Sarah Schmidt writes:

April 23rd 2016, 12:54

Das sieht ecbt toll aus. Ich freue mich, dass euer Projekt euren Erwartungen entspricht oder sie übertrifft. Weiter so, es macht Spaß euch zu folgen...

Imma Borrós writes:

April 23rd 2016, 23:23

Una bona experiència!
Ernest, ja he vist l,estelada.
Bon viatge!!

Steffi writes:

April 26th 2016, 18:07

Mir kommen immer noch Tränen in die Augen, wenn ich etwas von Euch lese. Es berührt mich sehr, was Ihr erlebt - ich bewundere Euren Mut und beneide ein wenig Eure Freiheit und was sich daraus an Eindrücken und Gefühlen ergibt. Alles Gute für die Alpenstrecke und weiter solch großartige Hosts! Meine Gedanken fahren immer wieder ein Stück auf dem Gepäckträger mit ;-)

Joan Roig writes:

April 27th 2016, 08:04

Ànims nois, a partir d’aquesta tarda, tindreu una finestra de gairebé 3 dies de bon temps!! Encara que als Alps a les tardes aquesta època, pot haver-hi tempestes!! Una abraçada!!

Joan Roig writes:

April 27th 2016, 08:05

Eine Radreise, quin regal lo d'aquest bon home, sou afortunats!!

Burkhard Rühl writes:

April 28th 2016, 09:22

Ich erlebe und fühle mit euch!Und bin gespannt auf jeden euren Tag.

Manfred Müller writes:

April 28th 2016, 14:17

Hallo Jungs, schöne Eindrücke die man von euch bekommt. Hoffe das ihr weiterhin viele gastfreundliche Menschen begegnet und öfters mal eine Dusche und ein Bett zur Entspannung auf eure lange Reise angeboten bekommt.
Haltet die Ohren steif und alles Gute auf eure weiteren Reise.
Gruß Manfred ( Caritas)

renarte writes:

April 28th 2016, 16:21

Viel Glück Jungs ... ich werde mit euch reisen..

Eli Melero writes:

May 02nd 2016, 08:57

Oléeee Ernest!!! Amaaaazing!!!!Disfruteu de cada moment!! cheers from California!

Albert roig writes:

May 03rd 2016, 02:06

Pell de gallina, a seguir pedalant i a seguir compartint com ho feu perque histories com aquestes enganxen moltíssim. Tota la acolllida que rebeu es perque qualsevol sent orgull de poder formar part i colaborar en la vostra història! Endavant nens!!!!!!

Uli & Isi writes:

May 05th 2016, 20:38

Hallo
Wir hoffen das ihr den Loiblpass gut gemeistert habt und beim Schönwetter in Ljubljana angekommen seid.
Wir fahren in Gedanken mit euch mit.

LG.Isi und Uli

Katrin writes:

May 09th 2016, 19:20

Bin zufällig auf euren Blog gestoßen! Ihr seid ja der Hammer :D Wenn ich früher davon erfahren hätte, hätte ich euch erst mal ein schönes Carapaket in München geschnürt!
Wünsche euch ganz viel Ausdauer und Kraft für euren Weg! Bin jetzt schon sehr gespannt auf die nächsten Berichte!




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