Day 16 - Ludwigshafen to Germersheim

 62.9 km - Total so far 875.90 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 16

Safe and secure in Germersheim.

We had a lovely evening in our shared accommodations last night and made extensive use of the common areas (kitchen, dining room, etc).

On yesterday's ride, we complained of a lack of sensorial stimulation over about 20 km. 

What a change a day makes. Getting out of Ludwigshafen was challenging bordering on crazy. We had to ride over railway tracks, street car tracks, on overpass and underpass, go through short tunnels and our navigation tool, RideWithGPS, decided to misbehave and display the path pedaled instead of the intended path.  It took us almost an hour to ride 7 km. On a positive note, not once did we have to worry about vehicular traffic.

Once out of town, we had the usual bicycle path through woods, along dykes, some very nice industrial areas, passed through 2 villages and took a very short ferry ride across the Rhine. The cost was a measely 3 Euros for the both of us. We have spent up to 10 Euros on a ferry.

Huge something plant

As we neared the town of Speyer, we could see a huge building. It did not look like the usual big church because of its four towers and two domes. Even with scaffolding for repairs, the Speyer Cathedral (consecrated 1061) is an impressive building. Next to it, there is a tactile model of the Cathedral for blind people. Founded by the Roman's, Speyer is one of the oldest cities in Germany.

Spider play structure with Speyer Cathedral in the background

Cathedral tactile model

We are spending the night in Germersheim, a fortified city on the Rhine that is part of the Rhine fortification line of the German Confederation 1815 - 1866.

Ludwigstor Gate

For Ivy so she sees GrandMa Roux's face