On the Romantic Road from Raustetten to Dorfgütingen
Tuesday June 19, 2018
Raustetten, where we just spent the night, is a very small village. I could hardly believe there would be a hotel here. In German they say it's a place "wo Fuchs und Hase sich gute Nacht sagen", where the fox and the hare wish each other good night. Miles from nowhere, or at least that's the way it feels. Actually it's not far from Fremdingen, a real little town. And if we had taken the bikepath via Fremdingen yesterday, we might have spared ourselves the final stony path here. Sometimes the planned routes aren't quite perfect.
View from the room where we had breakfast
Gasthof Waldeck, surrounded by fields and forest
One more shot before we get on our bicycles and start the day
The day starts out cool and gradually warms up, same as yesterday. We also have strong headwinds, same as yesterday. Today we have fewer unpaved sections, an improvement over yesterday. And we see some more storks on rooftops and in the fields.
I love the rolling countryside we are cycling through. It's not dramatic and I might just have a lot of photos that look very much the same: hills, fields, bicycles, sky with clouds, then more fields and another shot of our bicycles.
I love the rolling countryside we are cycling through. It's not dramatic and I might just have a lot of photos that look very much the same: hills, fields, bicycles, sky with clouds, then more fields and another shot of our bicycles.
We are either on excellent bike paths or small roads with little traffic.
Morning glories on the roadside
Well, yes, we did have a bit of dirt track, but it was easy to ride, nothing serious.
More fields and wild flowers and bicycle and sky and clouds
At one point our route crosses a road under construction and not yet open to traffic. Such a temptation - pefect smooth asphalt and no cars. Ever the optimists, we decide to give it a try. Oh how lovely to sail along on a bran new road and have it all to yourself. Except it ended abruptly. We have the choice to either backtrack or push our bikes down an embankment of loose soil. Nobody wants to backtrack and Janos can help me with my bike. There is another road down there, and we even see a bicycle path going in the right direction.
It's steeper than it looks in the picture. I couldn't have managed my bike alone. To the left is the bicycle path we will take.
We notice some tire marks - we aren't the first cyclists to take this route.
Today we pass through Dinkelsbühl, after Rothenburg probably the most popular of the picturesque towns on the Romantic Road. It is studded with historic half-timbered houses, painted in fresh, bright colors. And it's a tourist magnet.
We enter Dinkelsbühl through this gate tower.
On the way in to the old part of town - still empty here
I can imagine in days of yore these houses weren't in such fine shape. The living quarters were probably dark and damp and hard to heat. Maybe they still are and just the house fronts have been spruced up.
Here we are in the center of Dinkelsbühl with its beautiful facades.
Dinkelsbühl - I like these pictures where you don't see all the cars.
What craftsmanship was involved in the construction of these buildings.
An elaborate hanging sign
We had a look at the church, St. George's, late Gothic.
Interesting detail from the baptismal font in St. George's
For the next 15 km our path basically follows the Wörnitz through pretty countryside until we reach Feuchtwangen where again it is worthwhile to take a break and have a look around.
Another stork sighting - this time we were close enough for my zoom to get a sharper picture.
Do you get the feeling? You're on your bike and are surrounded by all that sky, and fluffy clouds, and fields, and a smooth path, and no other people ...
Next stop is Feuchtwangen - very pretty but smaller than Dinkelsbühl, and not as touristy.
Storks in Feuchtwangen
From Feuchtwangen it's eight km to our destination. We cross over to the other side of the Wörnitz on small paths and are then on a quiet road across the fields. We finally hit a short stretch of dirt path before we reach Dorfgütingen. Again, we are staying in a place that is little more than a group of houses, hard to call it a town. It has a church, a heavily trafficked road runs through and that's about it. We had booked in advance, and I chose this hotel because it seemed to be at about the right distance for a day's ride. I didn't consider the possibility that there would be no place to eat in Dorfgütingen.
Gotta love these roads.
We're almost there.
Our hotel looks a little shabby, its restaurant is closed. Fortulnately, our hotelier is not only friendly but also helpful. We are thankful that he is able to organize a small meal of bread, cheese and cold cuts for us. He also has cold beer.
He is amazed that we are traveling by bike. Although we are only a few kilometers distant from the official bicycle path where in the summer hundreds if not thousands of fully loaded bicycle tourists pass through, this form of travel is foreign to him. I wonder how he can have missed it. Obviously, few cyclists leave the beaten track, and our hotelier probably doesn't leave Dorfgütingen very often either.
He is amazed that we are traveling by bike. Although we are only a few kilometers distant from the official bicycle path where in the summer hundreds if not thousands of fully loaded bicycle tourists pass through, this form of travel is foreign to him. I wonder how he can have missed it. Obviously, few cyclists leave the beaten track, and our hotelier probably doesn't leave Dorfgütingen very often either.