A short day

Internet was slow last night and it took many efforts to publish the blog. Pretty frustrating, but I finally got it. 

Slept later than usual, which was good, and got a splendid breakfast this morning. It's going to be a good day. I'm predicting that at 9:40am. 

8:25pm

It was a good day despite  a number of things. 

Remember that I was concerned about finding my way around town? That turned out worse than I could have imagined. 

The author of the guide book had me riding on a dike (dyke in the book) to come into the city and start the maze. That would have been fine except the dike was blocked off for repairs. An entire stretch of the dike was inaccessible, fenced off, and completely torn out for reconstruction. There was no way around it. 

I backtracked to an exit off the dike and met a group of locals that had run into the same problem. Nobody knew the best detour route! 

I palled up with Johannes, a youthful 71 year old who spoke good English, and joined the group as we cautiously navigated through the town. That turned into a pretty enjoyable time! 

We finally got to the point where their destination varied from mine and we bid each other farewell. 

With no hope of finding the book's alternate route, I decided to head for my hotel. I had downloaded a Google map of the city the night before and could use that offline to find the hotel. 

The only problem is that Google Maps offline has no bicycle option. It assumes you are in a car and kept trying to get me on the autobahn. I don't think that is a good place for bikes. So I fought with her as she attempted to get me on to onramps and I kept passing them by trying to find an acceptable route. 

I finally made it. 

But enough of my problems.  I didn't get a lot of pictures today. The official route was only 32k, though the detour added unnecessary kilometers. 

Leaving Dusseldorf 

The route takes you by a nice riverside bike track. That's a good thing about biking in Germany. Most roads (don't know about the autobahn but i doubt it) either have bike lanes or there is a bike track separate from the road. 

More bike track. 

I saw a river boat with Geni's middle name! The II designation is because it is the front half of a hinged boat. 

Tree lined track

Flower arrangement along the way. 

And this is my room in all its glory. It does have a bathroom but the shower is out the door and shared. 

You know, the one thing I had in Ireland that I don't have here is the ability to chat with most people. As has been said, I can start a conversation with the checkout clerk. Not so much here. It was good to call and chat with Susan this afternoon/morning. Keeps me from just talking to myself. 

More tomorrow as I head on to Xanten. In two days I will be in my last country.