Day 7 Gambsheim to Strasbourg

 Today was the worst day of the entire cruise.  We woke up to rain.  Not that that made it a bad day.  It was  just drizzly.  Sadly the problem was that what I believed to be allergies was not, but was instead a full blown flu.  

George and I both caught it.  We had a dreadful sleep the night before.  We kept going between hot and cold.  I managed to work up quite a sweat and had hoped that it would be gone by morning but no such luck.  I stayed in bed while George went and told OJ that we simply couldn't join them.  

I wish we could say something nice about the day, but all we did was sleep. they did bring lunch to us.  And to let you know how sick we were, the beer was opened but not touched!  

Oskar and José went on their trip while George and I watched the locks go by.  

That afternoon George slept while I spent a bit of time packing.  Once that was done, I passed out again.  

Around 5 I got up to pay our bill, but the Hotel Manager refused to take it even though I was sick. He did allow us to have dinner in our room, but required me to return after 7:30 to pay the bill.  Not cool.  I went back to the room, slept some more, once dinner was finished, I again got dressed and returned to pay the bill.  

We slept the night through, and the next morning awoke around 8.  Said our good-byes to our friends and headed out to get the van and return to Italy.  

Along the way, we stopped to get some dijon mayonnaise for George and some good German sausages for me.  Our hotel for the night was in Milan and it was a just barely for me.  We arrived, I prepared a salad for us and a couple of deviled eggs, but neither of us ate.  Once again, we passed out.  

When we woke on the 16th, we lazed in bed until 10 and I was 1/2 tempted to just stay another day, but as it was only 4 hours to Panicale, we opted to just go for it.  We arrived home in good time, unpacked the car and crashed.

I write this 4 days later and am still miserable, but work must go on.  We returned home, had one day of rest, and then hit the ground running as it were.  

Monday was to be a day of rest, but George and I had packages to open, and updates to the work to see.

On Tuesday I had to pay our property taxes which were due Monday!  Now this may seem like nothing to most.  You get a bill for the appropriate government agency and pay your bill.  Here, your comercialista pays your tax bills, or you calculate them yourself and hope you got it right.  Thankfully we live in a very small commune and I was able to go over to the commune office and have them calculate the bill for me.  I won't tell you how much it was, but Kat's apartment in Ft. Lauderdale cost more than all of our places here in Italy combined.  

Once I got the paperwork, we drove the 15 minutes down the mountain to Tavernelle to go to the bank.  Thankfully there was no one in line before me so I was able to pay quickly.  While there I sorted out why my Mastercard wouldn't work in Germany and set it up for our trip back to the States this coming month.  After dealing with the bank, I dropped my glasses off to get adjusted and we returned home.  Just in time to meet with the elevator man who came in from Spain to check the electrical workings.  It passed inspection and we now have a working elevator in the Palace.  

I also met with the electrician and discussed the need for emergency lighting in my pantry.  There is no natural light in there and as there is a door I think it necessary.  Since we've been here we've noticed tat almost every storm in the castle comes with a blackout.  I don't want to be stuck in the pantry.

On Wednesday I met with the plumber to change the direction of the water jets in the Turkish sauna.  The 

decorator had them shooting out on either side of the body instead of at the body.  

I have told him many times to do things my way, and you would think with the amount of money he's making off of us he would.  Sadly, he still wants things his way.  This attitude of his has lost him the work on the pantry.  I was going to have custom cabinets installed, but since he didn't like my design and ordered his own, the plan was scrapped and he lost commission.  Fool!

We also met with the man who is going to install the new garage doors.  This was an ordeal as he wanted to make the entrance smaller!  The Tesla only has 5 inches to spare to get in now.  I simply told him if he can't do what I want I will find a new company.  That worked!  Garage doors will be ordered in the size and style that I want this week.  

Thankfully Thursday (today) has been free for me to write this blog post, put together some presentations for the upcoming IPP, and have a game with my lover.  

Friday I run to the bank again to pay for a new heating and water system for the palace and the garage doors.  You see, we get to claim a good tax break on the work being done, but only if we go through the bank to do it.  All of our bags are packed and will have been loaded into the van awaiting our trip to Rome on Sunday.  Here we have taken a hotel for the night prior to our trip to the States for IPP.  

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I hope you enjoyed riding along on the bikes with us.  I know it doesn't seem very puzzle related, but we were with good puzzle friends, and I know I would be shot if I told you about the puzzles that Oskar and George were working on.  Sadly, we didn't find any puzzles along the way, but I did get those boardgames for the Casa dei Giochi so I'm happy.  

Until next week...Happy puzzling all!

Day 6 Speyer to Pittersdorf to Gambsheim

Yesterday we had an "emergency" tour briefing in the lounge at 5 pm.  Turns out the river has flooded again and most of the bike path we were to take in the morning is flooded.  Plans have changed, and the morning is now for a leisurely boat ride down the Rhine and the afternoon will be our ride.  We are told we need to choose the French or German side of the river and we opt for the French.  

That means George and I get to have a lie in as lunch will be served on the ship.  And we did just that.  As long as I had the morning off, I also did some studying for my Patente.  At 11:45 we dutifully went down to lunch.  I remember a salad.  Oh yes, blue cheese sauce spaghetti (it was delicious hot, but terrible cold).  and George had a burger.  The waiter brought our meals while I still had the soup course that's why I know about the sauce.  

Of course we did observe a few of the sights as we traveled down river.  

Big floppy hat to the rescue from the hot sun!

After lunch we took off again.  We stopped in Plittersdorf Germany long enough to unload bicycles and riders.  Once more we were joined by George's new friends from Ohio.  We started out riding along the German side and came to a ferry crossing.  What luck!  The ferry was docked on our side.  How unfortunate though that it decided not to run on this day.  German side it is!  

We all took off down the path only to discover that our path ahead was still flooded.  We all did a giant U-turn and headed down a different road. Oskar had us all wait around 15 minutes though because there was such a large group of bikers he felt it dangerous.  As it turned out, there was an accident ahead.  One of the ladies fainted and required medical attention.  When we came to the area they were in, there were around 30 bikers all bunched up waiting.  Oskar did the sensible thing and traveled through them and carried on.

We came to yet another ferry crossing and this time hopped on quickly before they could change their minds.  

Along the path we saw much beauty.  The way we were to take in Germany was rough going.  We had to have great concentration to just stay upright as the path was so narrow.  Add to that the grass cutting and my allergies starting to cause a drippy nose and a slight headache, and I had had enough.  Oskar did right by changing sides.  The French side was more wild with tall grass and beautiful paths.  On the ship they told us we would find biergartens and WC's in Germany, on the French side we would see nature and use her toilet.  

Because of all the flooding, our rout that was to be 39 kilometers turned into more like 49. Thankfully Oskar had a map and is an excellent guide.  We stopped for a coffee and cookie next to a church for a short break and to check emails.  Good news!  The tiles have been delivered for the kitchen. 

We carried on until we hit Gambsheim where we once again returned to our ship.  George and I opted out of afternoon tea (not that we took much of it on this cruise).  Instead we went to the room for a bit of a nap before dinner.  My sinus' by this time were killing me and I was ready to call it a day.

We both went down to dinner, but George was feeling so bad, and the service was incredibly slow.  they served and cleared all but 3 tables and were bringing out the dessert before we were finished with our main course.  It was a shame because this was the captain's farewell dinner and was the best meal we've had on the cruise.  

Dessert was Baked Alaska, and had I not felt so poorly, I would have had some.  It's been a long time.  I followed George to bed and called it a day.

Day 5 Mannheim to Speyer

After a nice long sleep, we got up fixed breakfast and headed out to Speyer today.   

Back in the saddle again. Gene Autry keeps going through my head. Better than Eddie Grant I guess.  Did I tell you my ass hurts?  I’m not used to this.  Yesterday we walked 14,000 steps. That’s more my thing.  

Today’s ride was much shorter.  We only went 27km according to the book. We were able to see more of the flooding along our route.  The dirt on the trees and shrubs was much higher up, and the water had not receded as much in this area.  I have to admit, the overgrown trees was absolutely stunning.  This is what I remember of the German countryside from years long gone.  

When waiting for OJ to get off the ship, George befriended another couple who ended up following us as they were a bit lost.  Around 11:30 we stopped to have a coffee and use the loo.  

I was smart and wore the sweatshirt I purchased yesterday.  It was bloody cold today.  Oskar pointed out some of the pockets of warm air we were traveling through, but I assured him that was just George outgassing.  Old men do that a lot you know.  

While having a coffee I got the news that our kitchen flooring was being delivered!  Every day we get closer to moving into the palace. 

We carried on past yet more industry.  One of the electrical plants we went past was rather dystopian.  Here we crossed on yet another ferry and  headed on our way back to the ship. 

We had a picnic in the park before OJ headed off for the Technology museum.  I wanted to go, but George was exhausted and our nipples were ready to fall off.  We returned to the boat, took a very long shower and crawled into bed to warm up.  It was funny listening to a conversation about....quantum computing, these 2 gentlemen were trying to school Oskar on his area of expertise.   I didn't really understand it, but it was just funny when George explained what Oskar does for his real job. (Not the puzzles.)  Anyway, it reminded me of a conversation we had a few days ago about not bragging if you only know a little bit about something.  (Note to self, stop being a know-it-all!)

We met everyone for dinner later that night as always.  tonight it was Italian night.  

Oskar womansplaining photon spins

No comment on the food, but given where I live.... Bless them, they tried.  

After dinner George and Heidi played a game of chess.  He won again, but said she was stiff competition. 

Until tomorrow.

Day 4 Mannheim

 Mannheim 

Today we opted out of riding our bikes.  I wanted to see Heidelberg Castle and OJ had already seen it 25 or so years earlier and didn’t want to go.  

Here’s how rusty my German is. I got us on the train instead of the tram. Now this normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but I did tell George it would be a bit of a milk run.  That my friends is an understatement.  It was nothing but a milk run!  We detoured so much it wasn’t funny.

In the end, we took a route that took us through the German countryside.  I won’t make that mistake on the way back.  Train route 5 had two lines, one that went through Weinheim and one that is a straight shot to Heidelberg.  Well, thankfully we took off at 9:30 because you know I got us on the one that took the longest route.  

It was fun though.  We got to see a lot of small towns along the way.  56 stops later, we finally made it to Heidelberg, but I was freezing.  First stop H&M to buy a sweatshirt for me.  Then we had a nice long walk down a pedestrian walkway filled with shops and cafes.  We wandered down until we came to a direction board.  I needed the restroom.  Of course they are on every other corner, and we took off in search of one.  There were 3 on the street we chose so this should be easy to find.  

No such luck!  By this time, George found a bush and I said I would suffer through until the castle.  There had to be one there.  So we carried on walking. We got to the gate and saw that it was straight up hill.  Now, I quit smoking over 7 years ago, but I still don’t own my lungs.  This hurt.  I imagine it was much like what it would have been like to climb from the valley below to our castle. Why is it that most castles are built on hilltops?

We got to the top and paid our entry fee of €9 each. And then we walked up more.

At the top was the expected WC and George and I agreed to meet in a same spot at the top.  I went off to the loo, and when I returned, he was no where to be found!  I ran around like an idiot looking for him to no avail.  Eventually I called him on the phone.  He had wandered inside to look at a big wine barrel.  He had forgotten that he said we would meet outside.  Silly man!

He was so thrilled by this barrel that we had to go back inside and take a look.  The barrel in the photo to the left is a normal sized one.  The one to the right is massive!  But even bigger still is the one inside the room below!  It holds xxx liters of wine!  Now that is impressive.

We then walked around outside and took a look at some of the sculptures that are adorning the walls.  I am beginning to get sculpture envy now.  I can’t wait until The Lovers is uncrated and installed.  

From here we took a walk around the grounds until we came to a bench to have a bit of a picnic.  It was truly a magical afternoon.  I was sitting with my lover on a bench dedicated to Johann Goethe and his lover.  Can it get anymore romantic?

After lunch, we saw a statue of Bacchus and a grotto that had been dug out of the hillside.  It reminded me very much of our garage.

The round tower of the castle had slipped and 1/2 of it had fallen over.  I’m so glad Antonio fixed our long slit before we arrived in Italy.  I can just see 1/2 of our tower falling off.  I am guessing the maintenance fees on this place are astronomical.  And just look at the thickness of those walls!

The view of the city from the castle walkway was magnificent!

After we had taken in the view, we decided to head back to the ship.  We were in no rush as the ship was docking here over night so we wandered back down the pedestrian area where I stopped for a currywurst. 

It wasn’t very good so I’ll be getting another somewhere along the way before we leave.  Or maybe I’ll just buy the stuff for it and make my own when we get home.  (One more thing for the shopping list!) George wouldn’t let me buy the monkey :(

We got back to the train depot and had issues finding the right train.  I saw a conductor and he told me which way to go.  We found train 5 that was taking the fast route and hopped on it.  As we were traveling, it stopped at a station and the doors wouldn't open.  When they eventually did, most people got off.  We of course knew we had to stay on to continue back to Mannheim HBH.  WRONG!  I looked up after 3 more stops and saw the number of the train we were on changed to 25.  I saw where it was headed and realized we were on yet another milk run.  Back to Weinheim for us.  

Some of the graffiti was nice.  

Our adventure came to an end after about another hour. From here we walked back to the ship for dinner . 

George and Oskar did something with a puzzle. 

After, we decided on  an early night for tomorrow we ride again.