hostel life, and a days cycling around Munich...

typical view from when I spent an entire week in the hostel in Munich... I didnt once get a full nights kip, as there was always some German footie fans chanting "BERLIN! BERLIN! WE RE GOING TO BERLIN!!!"... which I thought was really good of them at 400 in the morning... bless them...

Beckhams freekick, and a very English evening..! ;)

Rowan trying to steal something else... bloody hooligan that lad. ;)

with the English girls in town, turned out they were sisters we met a couple of English girls whod been living in Germany for 15 years so went back into Munich center for some beers that evening and this storm formed and the heavens opened JUST after we got into a bloody good barrmany for 20
celebratory burgers, as we d been sausaged upto Hell all day long...

HAD TO BE DONE..!!! :)
a mad footie pitch painted onto a hill..!!! GENIUS!!!
After England had won it, thanks to Beckhams freekick... there was beer and sausage aplenty, and more followed that night..! :)
Fan Fest
scene from the Fan Fest.
getting ready for the Eqcaudor vs England match at one of the many Fan Fests around the country. This one was huge, and was held at the Olympia Platz. Was great to be around so many English again, and all the flag waving and cheering was in good humour, with no trouble at all.

this was after we had tried to get cheap tickets on the door of Bayern Munichs ground, and failed miserably..! Was good to see the ground tho, all lit up at night, but it started to rain heavily, and we found this umberella on the ground so claimed it as our own..! Came in handy, and I now have it on my bike as an English Mascot..! (quality aswell..!)

MUNCHEN!!!!!

English yob... ;)
we saw Frank Skinner and David Baddiel in the beer garden, but they looked pretty chilled and we didnt want to interupt their day for a photie so I took this covert one..! Was good to see them over here for the World Cup!
some guy tossing his caber.
the Eternal Wave, where surfers come to ride, right on the edge of the park and the city... pretty cool place.
this is the Chinese tower in the English Garden, with its own beer garden.
the are rivers like this throughout the gardens, with everyone piling into them and just floating for k after k around the place..! A lot of nudists aswell, as nudity is accepted in Munich.
a good old English lad I met in the hostel here and we teamed up for a week. Rowan was here to see some of the World Cup, and here we were in The English Garden, the largest public garden in Europe and very nice. Designed by an English bloke, to look English... good stuff..!
this guy was fantastic..!!! he took some requests and played the likes of Mozart and Vivaldi amazingly well. got some good footage of him.
a gay lion... dont ask...
at last..! I found a backpack to fit me..!
even the babies defend the Church from Evil, bless em...
a statue of Satan being slain by The Archangel
the interior of one of the churches. this one was ALL white, except for a jet black pulpit...
loads of old churches and such in Munich

Just done 120ks straight from Fussen to the center of Munich and had a beer and a sausage in the middle of the Brazian and Oz supporters and my head went...

Up the Romantic Road to Munich

another river I took a paddle in to cool my feet off. good drinking ater top up aswell...
Japanese tourists are fastinated by hieght, and at times youre standing there with all these little people who want to be in a photie with you... they ALWAY at some point say "Peter Crouch"..!!! ARGHHHHH!!!
another interior

i wanted to travel up a section of the Romantic Road from Fussen to Munich and see some of the many old churches there, so had detours aplenty. was WELL worth it as you can see from the interiors of these ones.

Nesslewang (The town I couldnt leave), Electric Storms and Fussen

the view from the bridge by Ludwigs Castle...
this lad worked in a youth hostel and talked a few Oz girls into coming out with us for a late night drinking session.
bike starting to get it a bit... the crank cover cracked as I took a hill and went into the side of the road... bikes holding up great in general tho... I have no complaints.
one of the many lakes around Fussen.
ermmm... I didnt stay.
another storm brewing... some good lightening here..!
glad to have reached the place were Id seen so many pictures of..!!!
the fairy tale castle at Fussen of Mad King Ludwig II. The interior was unreal... the guy was a mentalist..!!! :)
I camped wild behind her house one evening, but the weather turned really bad in the middle of the night and two lightening storms passed over. the tent got completely soked thru, me gear gor wrecked and at one point, I ran out into the lashing night in just my shorts, as a bolt went off so loud or close that the back of my neck went a bit "funny" and I had a girly panic attack. I hid in someones basement with a bloody big rat for over an hour then tried to find my way back to the tent in pitch black. then the second storm came over. suffice to say I got absolutley no sleep and was a bit shook up in the morning. I can laugh it now, but at the time by myself it was a tad hairy...
this was her father photo studio in the basement.
i spent a few days in Nesslewang and got invited to her parents place where they cooked up a fantastic BBQ and plied me with Weiss beer... its a hard job, but someone had to do it... they were all really kind and went out their way to see I had enough (beer)
Miriam was helping her father with some shots and I got talkin got her and we arranged to meet for ice cream and crazy golf after she finished.
one of the photoshoot shots...

Nesslewang was just another little town Id normally cycle on through, but as I past by, I noticed a photo shoot on the roadside as it was a holiday for dressing in traditional clothing around Bavaria.

Back into good old Germany for beer and sausage..!

this roadside food just gets worse and worse... ;)
gravy... :) always good to see these signs!!!
this guy saved my bacon with a few free bottle of beer, as the sun was particulary hot that day and I saw a large whirlwind (Draconfluch here) at the side of the road sucking up dirt and grass.
fresh water for free everywhere..!
a captive audience!
a father and son I met on the way whilst staying at an old Spanish ladies house, so I got back into speaking Spanish for a good fews days there. these two were doing the pilgramge from Italy to Santiago on foot, not bike..! A good laugh aound the breakfast table that morning...

everytime I cross a big river or stream, soaking my feet is essential..! I spent over two hours in this Alpine river as the scenery was gorgeous and had a cold beer...

The road up into the Alps...

had to get close to the edge at some point up there as the views were unbelievable..!!! From the summit, it was possible to see SIX countries at once. It was 2500m above sea level all in all and quite chilly but a beautiful clear day which was good for viewing.
JACK CONQUERS THE ALPS..!!!
these people have problems... the drop beneath them was massive.
just about to crest it, we came over the drop and this was in front of us all of a sudden, and it was a good feeling to see the safety of the station!
we still werent even near the top when I took this...

putting on a brave face in the cable car, as most of the time I was holding the handrail. I was convinced it was just drop, and there were kids in the carriage trying to rock it to see what would happen... I didnt know the German for "Do you want to play outside?"

after 5 hours, I reached the point where I could get to a cable car, but had a serious trouser moment when I realised how high these mountains really are. you can just make out a cable car in the middle of the picture. (My trousers are fine now...) To reach the summit by cable car, even though I was already 1300m up, it was another 1500m suspended over a sheer drop... so my trousers went again.

one of those roads Ive always seen pictures of but never cycled, and I NEVER will again..!!! ;) The hill just does not end, its corner after corner after corner and it left me about 10 pounds lighter..!!!

to get to just the base of the mountains, I first had to cycle uphill 1300m. It took about 5 hours, as the sun was so hot (again), and in places the road so steep that if you stopped, to get started again you have to be at a right angle on the road and turn up into the hill. I just couldnt turn the pedals otherwise... it was all great fun tho..!

The Great Escape into Switzerland

the son (sorry, but at the mo, I really cant remember the names!!! Ill update) is planning to travel the world with a friend for TWO years in this landrover they took apart and customised themselves... hes only 23 and had some proper knowledge about all things mechanical... his mate done they spray job. they were such great hosts and done a lot for me, and ill miss them.

one the roadside just by their house, this was where lightening had struck a few years before. Also, he told me that one of the local farmers had had ball lightening pass through his barn, leaving a perfect circle through all the wooden walls there...

this is his son and one of his daughters, who set up a campfire and got me a few beers, and we watched a full moon come up over the Alps that night, and it lit them up so bright, but the photie came put a tad pants... soz about the blur, but I was drunk for a change...

this is him, with his brother who owned this restaurant in Appenzell. EVERYTHING in the picture that is made of wood, came from his buisness... they do some seriously quality work there, as he took me around the showroom and you could see they took pride in it.
I went around Appenzell one night with the owner of the house who knew a lot of pople there, as he owned a very succesful carpentry buisness. He bumped into a friend who has an interest in bicycles from the WWII, this being one of them..! It still had the holster on it, and to brake you pedelled backwards, and as Id had a few, I nearly slammed it into a shop wall... Oh, how he laughed...

one of the many different flowers they had gown in their garden, most were wild apparently.
tent pitched, cue BBQs and Beers garcon...
I ended up staying a few nights with a really welcoming familly in Appenzell

whose house I called at to ask about camping nearby, but as always people here take you in and look after you. This was a shot of just part of their garden where I pitched the tent and had yet another great panorama of the big Alps, which were now only a days cycling away...
As I got further into Switzerland, towards Appenzel, the scenery became more and more "perfect". Everywhere you look its like a painting, with perfect fields and farms.
Catherderal exterior...
Inside the amazing Cathederal in St Gallen... beautiful place with a breathtaking fresco on the ceiling...
Officially in Switzerland when I saw the flag..!
At Romanspoint, or nearby, with the Alps getting closer in the background..! Also, downing my first daily beers...
saw this limited edition 100th anniversary Harley, and took it for my big three legged bro... hiya Paul lad..!!!
This was taken at the "check point" (really pants one) as I crossed from Germany into Switzerland... I had to ask to make sure I was actually in another country as you just roll on by..!

The garden Island of Mainau

the Triffids even look nice in Germany.
one of the many lovely views from Mainau
wood statue detail
these statues were all over the island, and sometimes caught you by suprise... the poses on some of them were fantastic.
steps with water fall down them
fossilized tree trunk
text for the fossilized tree trunk
reflection in a waterball.
statues on a bench looking over their shoulders on the flower island of Mainau. It struck me, because a few nights before I drew this scene of two people on a bench looking over their shoulders at each other..!!! Freaky madness...

Mainau is basically an entire island that has been turned into a massive display of flowers, herbs, foliage of all sorts and a huge amount of trees from all over the world and its all been landscaped to feel idyllic.

Ferry across Bodensee to Konstanz

Moonrise over Bodensee from Konstanz
the guardian at the entrance to Konstanz Harbour... she reminded me of one of the staues from Sinbad or Jason...

the goalie and one of the defenders I think. They kept trying to get me to sing Three Lions..! They love that song over here fo rsome reason..!?
met up with a travelling german footie team who were all on the razz, this guy was so far gone we piled up beermats on his head and I think we left him asleep in this Irish bar... heavy police presence all around, but they never seem to be needed which is good.
Except for this one..! We shared a drink after with some of her friends aswell which was pretty cool.
i went to an open air big screening of the opening game, which was fantastic. Another sweltering hot day, drinking beers surrounded by Germans and I painted a big red St Georges Cross on my face, but as you can see they took it all in good humour...
getting the ferry from Meersburg to Konstanz

Pfullendorf to Meersburg through the village of Salem

Swan on the Bodensee.
In Meersburg Castle, this was "The hole of fear" where prisoners where lower 35m down into a dungeon with no way out and left to die. There was some examples of graffiti found, with things like "Stop grumbling dear fellow, this could be worse and God will be with us soon"..!!!
baggy trousers, and over my shoulder Switzerland.
In Meersburg Castle which was exceptionally old, there was this suit of armour among many, but it was famous for being one of the feared Black Knights, who meer presence apparently caused many trousers to be spoiled for miles around. I cant find the exact name of these knights tho, but they were really bad guys apparently, causing opposition to flee in terror as soon as they realised who they were up against... cool.
chilling at night looking back into town from near to where I was camped out.
Meersburg street scene.
Quite a name for an "Art" gallery. They really push the boundaries in Germany...
Meersburg water front on the Bodensee... an absolutley gorgeous town with view across to Switzerland and Austria and vast views of the Alps once again.
when I reached Meersburg, this dog summed up the feeling in the place... mello and nice.
in Salem
approaching the village of Salem through the marshes with my bike was ace..! I liked the sound of the place, as Ive read Salems Lot and it didnt dissapoint..! It was quite a spooky place, with old crumbling gamble roof house and a single large spire... great stuff..!

Sigmarengen to my first view of the Alps..!

The old German couple who invited m to stay in their Orchard.
These were a few a the farm animals, the dog was Max and took a shine to me hen he spotted the food Id been given and followed me around as I investigated the woods nearby.
I pulled up at a farm to ask for water and the old couple who livd there said I could pitch my tent in their orchard which had unparrelled views of the Alps. I couldnt believe my luck, and then their son bought out some food and a couple of beers for me to chill out... I try to expct the unexpected, but sometimes things just surpass anything you could think up and its great. I got talking to the old man, and hed fought in the war under Hitler, and had had three of his fingers shot off. He kept telling me that he had spent a lot of his fighting time in snowy regions where the weather killed them off one by one. He must have seen some sights. A surreal moment was when he showed me how he used to Seig Hiel at the breakfast table..!
Happy to have reached the Alps..!
one of my first views of the Alps from the ground, which knocked me bandy, after cycling down from Brugge all that time ago through the bad weather. It was a really good moment seeing them sticking up from over the horizon and I just sat and looked for over an hour on the roadside... a great day..!
One of the many staues outside the castle walls.
Sigmarengen Castle, where some Nazis and French Bigwigs stayed during the war. It has an elaborate history, and the largest private armoury in Europe, which included everything frmo German helmets to Samuri full body armour. Some of the broadswords there where bigger than me, and Im just over 2 meters tall. I also picked up a single section of knights armour and it was seriously heavy. They used to put on full leather covers, then put chainmail over that, and then put on full suits of armour... how the hell they then went to battle and fought is beyond me... Maybe they drank Vodka Redbulls before a serious kickoff...

Heidelburg to I cant remember the name, but it was on the Danube..!

I really cant remember the all names of the various places I travelled thru to get to this 50k section of the Danube, but it was beautiful countryside all round. I basically followed the Neckar River which was stunning from Heidelburg thru to Heilbronn, then I think Tubingen and onto the town of Rottweil, of canine fame... from there I went southeast and got to this place which was like a farm with decent rooms in it, and we had evening meals around a fire whilst the lady of the farm cooked regional dishes in a kiln and over the fire. All the kids had lumps of dough on sticks and stuck them over the fire, and it tasted GREAT!!! :) I THINK the section of the Danube was from Tuttlingen to Sigmaringen...
moon shot and top of farmhouse.
nice cliffs rose sheer out of the danube shores all along for 50ks.
cooking regional dishes in the kiln.

I just remembered, I completely forgot to mention Stuttgart aswell, and have photies but will add them later as my memory stick filled up.

Heildelburg Castle

half of this round section had sheared away and was resting against the tower itself, so you could see inside...
i loved this, parts of the castle were falling down, and there were single outer walls remaining that you could see the scenry and sky through, which gave the whole place a very "light" feeling


up in one of the castles many gardens... this place was so nice and mello...
view down into town from the castle gardens

Heidelburg Castle

Mainz to Heildelberg

no idea what this thing is... some sort of welcoming man-monkey...

Heidelburg at night after a few dunkels...

part of the university castle at Heidelburg

I don´t know wether this is sinister or not...

the huge tower as i was leaving Mannhiem behind

night evening light on a building in Heidelburg.

in Mannhiem, the Borg made an appearance, carried out some group assimilations and probings, then left...

attack of the telegraph poles...

there was a festival in Mannhiem, and it took ages to wheel the bike through the pulsing sweating throngs...

I met this dude down the side of the Rhine. He basically has opted out of society, and was travelling up from Southern Spain and making his money by playing music on a flute he made himself. His dog was all over me and was called Liza, and rides around in the front of his bike, which can be seen in the background next to his tent. He also put a drop of oil on the chain for me, and it´s done wonders. (He was a bit of a space-cadet to be honest...)

Funny place name, also one for you Owen..!!! Notice the British place it´s twinned with..? Didn´t you live there..?

mad fountain in Mannhiem. I met a couple from London here, and the bloke was giving it loads about the FA Final, and I had a hard time convincing him I was a blue... and then rubbing it in again..!

Down the Rhine, this day was a cracker and really hot, so I dumped the bike for awhile and took off my trainers and socks and had a good soak for awhile... just what the doctor ordered...

loading the bike onto yet another barge to cross a river... it´s sometimes nessecary to make these crossings two or three times a day, depending on how the paths are laid out...

the bike is holding up well...

another random block in the road... everyday something like this crops up at some point, some more difficult than others to get around or through. All good fun tho..!

just come off another ferry and getting help from a German couple.

poppy field

Wild flowers in the reserve.

Part of the Rhine that is a nature reserve is absolutely gorgeous. There were huge eagles, hares, pheasants, all sorts of different birds and cuckoos, and the path took me right through the lot of it. With the sun shinning down aswell it was a cracker.

The path suddenly deteriorated so fast, I found myself stuck in really thick clay. This stuff was so difficult to remove, I had to eventually call at someones farm and try to blast it away with water but it done nothing, so it was back to using a stick for about an hour. It was like glue...

a large type of Heron I think... so much wildlife in this part of the Rhine.


mad radar dishes from out of no-where...

Mosel to Mainz

interior of a church I stumbled into in Mainz. It was a really impressive place with paintings over most of the walls and ceilings.

Couldn´t work out if this was a bloke or a lass..? Damn big organ tho...

there´s no escaping the games indus... ;) I´d love to hear John Vattic in German...

Detail of the ceiling of the church in Mainz.

Mainz old town... a really good selection of beer houses here, and I tried my first black beer... :)

Knobi Bon Bon...

Mainz Dom.

At the top of the climb and knackered...

As we´d taken the wrong river, we had our work cut out first thing to get from the Mosel Valley up and over to the Rhine. It was a big climb that took us one hour just to get to the top, then we had to get across which was about 25ks, then we had to regain lost ground and get to Mainz... my legs were like jelly at the top but the ride down was class..!!! We ended up in a beautiful gorge that led into the Rhine again and it was good to see it..!!!

Cologne to Koblenz via the Rhine

this was German Corner, were Eberhard and I were too busy chatting about the WWII and instead of following the Rhine, we ended up 50ks down the Mosel..!!! It was a really nice region tho, with vineyards over almost sheer cliffs. Even mistakes turn out well..! You can see the Rhine going in the other direction, around the back of the monument.

I didn´t get this ladies name, but we had a good laugh at the campsite bar in Bad Briesig on the Rhine. I got some good advice about the trip down to Constance and also some free drink and good solid German food.

this was a marker of how high the flood waters have reached on the MOSEL river. The reason we were on the Mosel was that we took the wrong bloody river (!!!) at a place called Deutscher Eck, German Corner.

this was Eberhard, which means "strong boar" apparently. he was 70 years old and totally commited to cycling. two weeks prior he completed a marathon cycle, then the next day embarked on cycing around Germany and was on his final leg to Munich when I teamed up with him as we were going the same way. He had some stories to tell, one of them being his serving in the army at the same place as Elvis. Also when I meet him again in Munich, I can have a copy of a photo of the two of them in the German base..! Also, he has a copy of a track Elvis recorded of a German song he used to hear the troops singing on the march. Good stuff..!
Anyway, we´ve parted ways for now until I reach Munich, but it´s easier for me as I had a really hard time keeping up with him... 70 YEARS OLD!!

on the campsite, there was a convention of all these old Citoren cars, and the next day as I continued down the Rhine, loads of them kept driving up to the meeting... proper enthusiasts...

in my tent, which is large, but my feet still stick out the end...

Cycling down the Rhine with a break in the weather, I decided to chill out for an hour and ate some fresh bread and olives I´d brought from a market in the main square in Bonn...

again...

I´ll say no more...

Brussels, Namur, Liege and into Achenn GERMANY!!!

Close up of the Dom. Not Dom who tried to kill us with sweets in work...
A view of the Rhine looking up river. I will be cycling in the direction that the white boat is pointing, and it should take me to South Germany towards the Alps.
The bridge into Cologne which was completely destroyed by the Allies during the war. And the huge Dom in the background which they tried to avoid bombing because of how impressive it is. It took more than 600 years to complete... Like some computer games I've worked on...cough...
Just arrived at Cologne and well chuffed..!!! Got myself some Kolsch and 3 meddalions of pork which was bang on...
mello
West German backroads... sorted for cycling.
Turkish lad Eugene, helped me get out of crazy Achen..!
French lad Timore, good taste in music..!! Deep Purple and ACDC etc...
heh heh... Ausfahrt...
view tower at Three Stone Point.
at the Three Stone Point, where the borders of Belgium, Holland and Germany converge... It is the highest point in holland, at over 300m.
quality...
heh heh...Hombourg...
in middle of nowhere just before I got seriously lost in some woods,I saw this photoshoot... random madness..!!!
just before crossing the German border, knackered and glad of a good feed and pint.
more debris from the storms blocking the paths .
bullet holes... they must have taken some barrarges here...
the bunker
km after km of cyclepath is flooded, as the weather has been really stormy for three days solid, with strong winds, normally bloody head winds, lighting and heavy rain constantly. Trees have been blown over all over the place and a lot of roadside crashes aswell which doesnt bode well..!!!
the text at the bunker near Liege

this was Rich, an Autralian who was also cycling solo,but around Belgium and France. He has also cycled across the Nullabor Plains in Oz, which I might do next year if I make it thru this one...

Antwerp to Brussels

Brussels at night,was gorgeous with all the buildings lit up
shopping center
something tells me this was a bar for men who like their men hairy... what a name! L Homo Erectus..!!! LOL!!!
shopping center
church in Brussels
the EU where I filed a complaint for them to get their fingers out...
an origional Heironymous Bosche painting... amazing.
I think I passed out when I saw this..!!! I remember the horror of it all trying to do the translations... Uuhuuuhuuhh... lol
this fella had already cycled direct from Belgium to Rome, and it took him six weeks. He got me a beer and we discussed possible changes to the route, as he said it's a difficult one thru Slovenia and Tuscany is a killer apparently...
saw this ship on the canal from Antwerp to Brussles, and sure its the one from Albert Dock!!!
Happy to be in Brussels..! The main sqaure is amazing...
at times the path gets completley lost for various reasons,but its good trying to pick your way if the weathers good, if its not it makes a big difference.


beer shop

Antwerp

this crane was trying to roll a ship that had rolled completely over and apparently killed two men onboard. tv camera crews were there to catch it all...

mad
centre square
center spire of Antwerp
these cyclists took me under their wing and led me into Antwerp after Id been cycling all day. I was completely knackered, and fell behind... they were all over 50 and like rockets.

Gent and Saint Amains

these other two cyclists helped me with directions and advice.
pitched my tent in this farm, and had to handwash all my gear. this lady knewhow to talk for hours.
taking a roadside break, doesn't look it but it was roasting
on the ferry
Gent lighting
waiting for the ferry to cross the canal. ferries in Belgium are free as there's so much water to cross!!!
castle in Gent
Gent architecture
this was the very start of the cycle paths on the way from Brugge to Gent, at the start of my first days cycling.

Brugge

Aye, after a few beers she convinced me I needed a face mask from Korea...
this is You Jin from South Korea, sharing a beer before the FA Final. She later gave me a pendant she wore to put on my bike for good luck. It's on the front of it now.
typical Belgian beer shop,where I spent about 12 hours...
canals and little rivers run all over Brugge
one of the many spires in Brugge
another one...
some kids I met in the hostel, Rocket Charlies, between us we spoke about 11 languages which got confusing but a good laugh.

start of trip

this is the morning of the trip at around 5.30, hence the expression of blankness.

I had to cycle thru London during the morning rush, which was crazy, but met a cyclist from Hoylake who led me thru the traffic... Also,as I was waiting at London Waterloo for the Eurostar, Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall of River Cottage walked right past me and gave me a cheeky grin, like hed just given a bird a quality stuffing...