Day 28 - Europe 2011

Day 28 - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - Regensburg to Deggendorf - Trip 95.03 kms Time 5:35:10

Another terrible night. The church bell kept waking me up every couple of hours. I had to get rid of the duvet as I was to hot - then I was to cold... Went down for b'fast at 7:00. It was quite busy so no chance to make myself something for lunch. I checked out of the hotel at 9:00 but before setting off I had to go to the bank to get more "geld" and also I wanted to go back to the shop where I saw the track suit last night. I eventually found the shop which was just opening for the day. After having a closer look I decided the material was to heavy and the jacket didn't have a full zipper.
I set off for Reinhausen just North of Regensburg in order to get on bike route to Passau. It felt like I was going in the wrong direction for the first couple of Ks but eventually I found the Passau route. It was very well signed and I was able to make it all the way to Deggendorf without getting lost. I passed through Tegernheim and Donaustauf. Saw the WALHALLA modelled on the Parthenon. When I stopped to take a photo with telelens (I'll be damned if I was going to climb all the way up there) a father and his 10-11 year old son arrived on their bikes. They noticed my helmet mirror. The young lad was curious about my mirror so I let him try on my helmet. They were doing a 100K timed ride to practice for an upcoming competition. I continued on to Demling, Bach a. d. Donau, Frengkofen, Kiefenholz (took a shortcut), Oberachdorf, Tiefenthal, Leitenberg, Pondorf (looked for Snell Imbiss but in spite of "Geofnet" sign there was no one about so had a banana and the last of my granolla bars that I had brought with me from home. Then it was on to Pittrich, Kossnach and Straubing. As I was passing through Straubing I saw a McDs so went in for a McFish, etc. It barelly filled that empty hole in my stomach but it would have to do until dinner time.
After lunch I headed for Hornstorf, Reibersdorf, Bogen, Pfelling, Mariaposching (caught up to the Dutch couple, that I had met earlier, who said they cycled from Holland leaving June 7. Madame seemed to be struiggling. They had camping gear but were looking for a Zimmer Frei). I made the mistake of following a bike sign to Metten which turned out to be the wrong direction. I had only gone about 100M or so before turning around and getting on the proper route to Deggendorf. I arrived at 4 ish. I ran into an Aussie couple also looking for an hotel. The first hotel I tried was full. He sent me to the Hotel Stadthotel where I got a room for 45E with b'fast and Internet. The Aussies arrived a bit later I guess they had gone off to check out some other hotel first.
I took off my panniers and left them in the hotel lobby before walking around the back to garage and locking up my bike for the night. I was able to take the elevator up to the 3rd floor with my bags. Showered and did laundry. I discovered I had a nasty blister on my 2nd toe which had been causing me a great deal of discomfort all day long. I drained it and put some Bag Balm on it. I had trouble figuring out where to plug in the CAT5 cable for the Internet so went down to the reception. No one there. I found a young lady in the restaurant and explained my problem to her. She came up to my room with me to show me where to plug in beside the phone jack under the bedside table!!!
I was able to check my e-mail, etc. I sent an e-mail to Jim Rogers asking him if he knew the correct procedure for extending my health coverage beyond the 5 weeks with Johnson Inc. as I was not getting a response to the e-mail I had sent them several days ago.
I went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. As I entered a waitress said my "Frau" was waiting for me in the "garten". I was stunned. Another waitress came over and said I was the wrong guy!!! I ordered "sweinbratten" (roast pork) which came with a huge dumpling and salad and a cold beer to wash it all down with. I saw the Aussie couple paying their bill but they didn't bother to come over and chat. Just paid their bill and went out.
My foot was to sore to go "walk-about" so I returned to my room and was able to get a couple of days of blogging done.
Cheers, Roly