Cologne sent us off on a beautiful sunny stunner of a day.  Waving goodbye to Margreet and Bernd we set off on our loaded bikes to follow the Rhine. Wanting a scenic river path and to miss the traffic we took a shortcut. Loaded tour bikes do not do well down stairs, we had both brakes on and took it one step at a time.

The bike path along the Rhine was stunning and soon we were in lush grassy fields.  Other bikers would drop in sync with us for a quick chat. One guy offered to escort us part of the way. Sure!

He shot ahead with his racer and clip-ins and not wanting to look bad we hustled our heavy butts as fast as we could after him.  It was hilarious, and was definitely the fastest 5km we had ever done! Thanking him we parted ways, slightly out of breath on our side.

Spring is now in her element and cherry and apple blossoms were everywhere.  Tiny daisies were scattered across the grass, looking like fresh snow.

Almost every town we passed through had castle ruins high up on the hills or tucked into the landscape.

We settled ourselves into the campsite, Goldene Meile, and walked down the river to watch the sun set, with a couple cold ones of course.

Day 1
Camping fees: €16.50
Internet: €6
Cafe/Restaurant: €15
Groceries: €9.35
Total: €46.85/$65.30AU

Day 2
Camping fees: €16.50
Shower tokens: €2
Cafe/Restaurant: €35
Groceries: €9.55
Total: €63.05/$87.90AU

Day 3
Camping fees: €16.50
Cafe/Restaurant: €2
Groceries: €9.86
Total: €29.36/$40.90AU