Munich or bust!

Greetings from Rothenburg, Germany!
This is Annie. Sorry that I have no pictures to share, the internet cafe we are in doesn´t have the capability. It´s a shame, cause we got some beauts! (More spandex than you can imagine!)
So we´ve ridden about 700km so far, going south down the Rhine River from Njimegen, Holland into Germany. We picked up the Main River in Mainz and then connected up to the Tauber River which took us into Rothenberg last night. We now are heading southeast along the Altmuhl River towards Munich, another 350km or so. We´ve been wild camping for the most part, every few days we break down and set up at a regular campground for the sake of hot showers and the occasional kitchen and biergarten (just how it sounds folks, beer garden!). Survival is the name of the game; our days are focused on riding, eating, and sleeping with laughter and silliness splattered about. Some stories from the road:
- While stopped outside a boat docking area, some partygoers came out to invite us in. We ended up camping there and crashing an end of the season all-out boat party, complete with Hanau, the local liquor (aka moonshine), an awards ceremony, and the best german cuisine yet. They invited us back for next year´s party. Favorite quote, ´´You´re drinking apfelwein (apple wine)? Don´t air out in our toilet. Many small things will come out of your butt.´´
- Sundays can be a problem for locating an open shop or restaurant for food. One Sunday, hungry and cranky in a small town, we came upon an old man and asked if he knew of anywhere to get food. He not speaking a word of english, and us not a word of german, he brought us to a bar where we loaded up on beer and fries. After disappearing for awhile, he returned with his accordion in hand and played us some wonderful tunes with a faraway look on his face. Everyone in the bar applauded, all 8 of us.
- It´s just the girls for now. Our Australian friend Jody hurt his ankle and is resting up in Guzenhausen, where we will meet him in a day or two. Happy recovery Jody!
- We toured a castle in Marksburg, complete with torture chamber, chastity belts, and armour from as far back as the first century.
- It´s been cold, but beautiful, a little rainy as well. Our rides lately have been really hilly, which means massive thighs and beautiful views of the valleys below. Oh gosh, and our stomachs are full of apples since there are apple trees a plenty. Was Johnny Appleseed German?
- I wish I could include pictures of the beautiful places we´ve been camping...along the rivers where we filter our water and take baths (if we´re brave enough), with raging fires over which we cook our meals, surrounded by trees, wilderness, and those darn stinging nettles. As you can imagine, we are a little grimey, and Nadia smells like a skunk (just her jacket really, which got sprayed).
Those are the stories for now, friends. Sorry again for the lack of pictures, we´ll fix that soon.
Next stop, Munich for OKTOBERFEST!!! Hope all is well back home!

three riding down the Rhine, one left behind :)

hi friends,

It's Nadia here to give you an actual update using words instead of pictures. I have plenty of time to write since I decided to stay in Holland with my family for a few days. Annie, Mo, Julia and new addition Jody from Australia left Holland Thursday morning to bike down the Rhine river into Germany. I plan to catch up with them on Sunday or Monday by train. It should only take a four to five hour train ride to meet them in Kohl, Germany. Although I'd rather be biking with my sistas I'm staying in Nijmegen to recover from my knife wound :) I was able to do shorter rides with them in Holland one handed but wasn't feeling up for a one handed 70 mile ride! I tried to take my stitches out with the help of one of my aunties on Tuesday but was entirely grossed out when I saw that the cut was still open at the top. The next day I took two more out but wasn't able to get the fourth one out. It was stuck and hurt way too much to continue. Luckily I was able to visit the 'house doctor' of my uncle yesterday and she quite calmly pulled the rest out in a matter of minutes. And even though I don't have international health insurance she gave me a consultation and did the job for 20 euro... thank you to the Dutch socialist health care system.
I got a call from Annie a couple hours ago. She said they went 70 miles yesterday and wild camped along the Rhine. They went for an evening dip in the river, which loosened up their muscles and was very refreshing. Today however has been rainy and cool. They called me from a small town coffee shop where they were drying off and warming up. Our convo was cut short by the automated dutch lady saying they were running out of phone minutes. Their adventure is going well and I cannot wait to be riding with them. I'm hoping by Monday I will be able to put pressure on my palm again and move my finger enough to hold on to the handle bars. Until then I get to spend quality time with my mom's side of the family. The best is meeting my cousin's daughter Fae, who is almost two. She is adorable and has already given me the name "Na Na."

Much love from the Netherlands,
Nadia

Nadia's cousins!

Here is Jeroen standing in the kitchen of his Rotterdam flat where he lives with his girlfriend Marijlein. Check out that awesome red stove. The top folds down when your not using it.

a view from Jeroen's livingroom. He had a great party last saturday night filled with mid twenty year old drunk Dutch kids singing Michael Jackson, Offspring, and Ace of Base karaoke at the top of their lungs. Oh and you bet we were a part of that! It was momentarily interupted by an old Dutch lady in a long red coat, waving a finger and yelling up at us from the street level. I couldn't understand her but I'm pretty sure she was pissed. Ooops.

My youngest cousin Bobby(16) with his girlfriend in Nijmegen where he lives in the attic room of Eddie and Carla's house, my aunt and uncle. They are cute, no?

Geared up on route from Delft to Rotterdam, Holland

Moniqe and Annie on a bike trail along Holland's extremely green and flat landscape.

Annie is very curious about these haapy cows.

Holland is under sea level. These canals are everywhere! Holland= half land half waterways.

A bit more of Amsterdam

we had to act the part
since we hit up the red light district
which made us hungry.

what is the difference between a blond and a croquet?
A croquet has brains...

Rotterdam

This is the water heating device for the sink.

Delft, the New Church, the Old Church

We traveled to the Ronstad to visit Nadia´s cousins. Nadia and Monique are in front of the Old Church in the town of Delft. Delft is like a quiet, miniature version of Amsterdam with canals, sinking off kilter buildings and cyclists. (it is vaguely apparent that the church is at a slight angle behind them)

And here is the rest of us in front of the New Church! The Royal family of Willem of Orange is buried here. Willem stopped the Spanish invasion in the 1600s! Woohoo!

Hank's Harring stand

We tried Hollandise special harring, which is cured with salt and eaten with onions and pickles. Tasty!

The steep stairs to our room in Amsterdam

This was our hostel in Amsterdam

Bob's youth hostel! We were lucky to get a room all to ourselves with four beds. We just had to turn the other cheek to avoid the small curly black hairs in our sheets. Blessed is the person who invented the sleeping bag.

Arrival!

We arrived at Schiphol airport at 7 am dutch time (midnight for us). We spent a few hours rebuilding our bikes, evoking the curiousity of some. At some point we were told to move but mostly people tried to help us and watch us work. The airport staff was the most interested.

Routes!

Here are two potential routes. The blue line follows the Rhine River south and connects to the Danube River heading east. The yellow line hits Berlin and takes us south to Prague. Both stop in Budapest, where we tentatively plan to hop a train to Genoa where Nadia's family lives, and we'll resume cycling along the mediterranean coasts of France and Spain.

Yellow line: 1,037 miles

Blue line (northern): 1,123 miles

Mediterranean route: 1,234 miles

We've discovered some great cycle routes, many car free!:

Rhine Cycle Route: http://www.velorouterhin.eu/en/

Danube Cycle Route: http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/Danube/Danube.htm

Prague-Vienna Greenway: http://www.pragueviennagreenways.org/

River Elbe Cycle Route (Berlin to Prague): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Cycle_Route

Prost!

A minor delay

4 days before departure and I cut my hand! 11 stitches!
Looks like Monique, Julia, Annie and I will have to take time out for medicinal healing in one of Amsterdam's lovely coffee shops until I get theses stitches out. I'm already feeling better thanks to my wonderful friends and family. Thanks for the arnica Velga!