“I`m crazy, but not that cr
azy.”
We pulled into a camping site about 4pm, hoping it would be open and we could spend the night. As we found the owner, she looked at our bikes, then back to us and asked where we were from. From Canada, we said. “But not with bicycles,” she said. “Yes,” we replied, and told her of our plans to go around the world. “We`re a little crazy,” I said, recognising that look of disbelief. “That`s okay. I`m crazy too,” she said, before adding, “But I`m not that crazy.”
She must have decided we were sane enough to spend the night though, showing us to a little plot of ground right on the lakefront, for a bargain price of just 9 euros, including a hot shower. German campgrounds, as we`re finding out, are quite good value. Even better, the owner kept the bar open in the evening so once our tent was up we trotted up to the pub for a meal and some beer.
“Should I make you a real German meal,” she asked, once we had a couple beers in hand. We accepted, and soon afterwards a plate with a huge pork shank on it, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut appeared. A real German meal, and perfect fodder for hungry cyclists. The beers were only 1 euro each, and from a local brewery in its 300th year, so we indulged a bit, while she chattered away to us in German. All about the campground, how it was open all year and beautiful when the snow came, and how she was learning to run it after buying the property in April. Every few minutes, she looked at us, laughed, and reminded us how crazy we were.
Shortly after 6pm we paid our bill – including a discount from our host in exchange for a postcard from Spain – and stepped back into the cold wind to make our way back to our tent. Despite a slightly lower distance than some other days, we`d worked up a bit of an appetite and now with our stomachs full, we were tired. The landscape turned distinctly hilly today.
Good thing we found a bit more energy in our muscles! While climbing plenty of hills, we also had to dodge rain storms by dipping into bus shelters and deal with a biting wind, that seems to be sweeping across most of Germany at the moment, bringing snow and high tides in the north. Thankfully, the forecast for tomorrow seems to place the only bit of sun in the area we`re in now. Hopefully our good luck with weather will hold.