Postings from Germany

The Middle Weser Bike Tour
Part 2
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Leaving Windheim, we were on the alternate route of the bike trail, mostly farm land and areas of sand and gravel mining. It's not all that attractive when the mining is being done, but the operation leaves behind these artificial lakes that then are used for fishing or ...


...... a interim feeding ground for the geese before they head off again to their winter grounds. (This picture isn't so great, but it was taken from the bike underway!)

After passing through Rußland (Russia !!) and not even noticing it, we arrived in Buchholz, established in the 6th century, a place that had maybe 10 houses and a church that was built in the 12th c - Romanesque with some early Gothic elements. Inside it was rather simple (we were able to go in since someone was getting it cleaned up for Sunday services) with pews were solid wood, hand carved, a bapistry with simple bronze decoration from the 13th c. , and one remaining fresco in the apse.

I'm still agog at how old some things here are!

This is one of the many windmills along the way - it's not only the Weser Bike Trail, it's the Stork Trail, the Lower Saxony Windmill Trail and the NordArt Trail as well. This windmill is in great shape. Most are used for community events and such these days though a few are privately owned and have been converted to homes. Charming as that sounds, they don't really lend themselves well to living arrangements. Big and drafty.

This was curious - a "village" of 26 small barns and storage places a bit outside the village of homes and farmhouses, all a bit different in style and construction. It was done to reduce the danger of fire to the living quarters since hay especially is so combustible. And I guess kitchens caught on fire now and again as well and could burn up all the winter feed for the animals!


Apple trees. There is a glut of apples, walnuts, pears, pumpkins, you name it, this year. It doesn't look like lots of these will ever make it to market or the Mosterei (where they press the apples for juice). Maybe some wild pigs will enjoy them.

More churches. It's a good thing that taxes support churches over here, otherwise I'm quite certain that many of them would not be standing. This one has a steeple that's entirely made of brick - rather unusual. I wouldn't have wanted to be the stone mason for that project. (It looks white because the mortar is bleeding - another job for the masons.)

So, finally into Nienburg. This is not so far from Affinghausen but was hardly known to Werner when he was growing up because there wasn't any public transport. It is another pretty place with lots of half-timbered houses, a nice Rathaus in the Weser Renaissance style, and the center of the asparagus farms in Lower Saxony. We'd looked at the book on hotels and picked out an old converted water tower to stay in (see left), which would have been fun, but the book was a year old and I guess there weren't enough people interested - now it's all offices!


Oh well, we found an absolutely wonderful little bed and breakfast right on the Weser - we even had a little terrace to sit on, though it was a bit too cool to really do that for very long! Around the town, find a place for dinner, around the town again and then to bed.

October 28, 2006

Happy Birthday to me

Here I am outside the cute B&B holding the red rose Werner gave me that we'll later attach to the bike handlebars. And I wonder why people keep looking at me!


We walked around the market place and looked at all the stands, enjoyed listening to some band music (there was some sort of mini-festival going on - Germans do like to have a party!)



Here's the movable "Starbucks" at the market!


And here's a cool ball of granite that floats on the water. You can spin it with such little effort!









Finally we hit the road at 11 or so but our little party was soon to be over - the rain started.





I resisted putting on the water RESISTANT (NOT - PROOF) pants for about 15 minutes, but then it was clear that it wasn't going to clear. Those outfits get a bit warm and besides that they're a bit noisy, all that rubber and nylon and plastic rubbing against itself.

Decision time. Or no decision, really. We don't like being cold and wet and we have nothing to prove, so we make a beeline for the nearest train station. It's not on the trail anymore (who cares?) and the wind is blowing, too.



We get to Eystrup and find the train to Bremen is (lucky us!) a few minutes late and after fumbling for money and messing around with the ticket machine, we end up RUNNING to the train. The engineer had a heart (they don't all) and waited a minute for us.



There's a saying in German "Alles schief gegangen"- Everything went a bit askew - and so this last picture, askew, in the main train station in Bremen, waiting for the commuter train to Vegesack.

But nothing went wrong really - it was a wonderful trip, a relaxing couple of days away from the usual, lots of fresh air, lots of pretty things to see. Great company, too.