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07:34: I resolved to get up at 07:07 and was up a few minutes later. My feet ache, my legs ache. I’ve skipped having a shower but looking out the window after brushing my teeth, I see the rain is pouring down. I’m going to have breakfast. Hopefully it’ll have passed by then, otherwise it’s going to be a damp and muggy morning’s walking.
08:16: Finished breakfast. I’m sitting at an alcove by a window looking out over steep wooded hills stretching away into the distance. The rain may have stopped. There’s high cirrus in the sky and above that, blue sky.
The breakfast room is full of throngs of children but they’re being quite low-key.
I’m going to head back to my dorm (which I had to myself last night) to pack and check on the weather conditions.
08:22: OK, it’s still raining. A steady rain. There is some sun poking out — I see shadows and they’re getting stronger.
08:37: The rain has stopped. I’m going to pack, get water, and go.
09:08: Leaving the hostel.
09:11:00
09:12:03
09:20:32
09:21:06
09:37:42
09:52:03
10:04: Back on the cycle trail on the valley floor. That was tough enough — slippery underfoot, steep descent draped with spider webs and doused with droplets from wet branches.
10:42:24
10:42:50
11:05:02
11:06: Stopping for elevenses of apple, walnuts, raisins and water. I’ve caught up with a female German walker and I want to let her crack on without me lingering behind her.
11:23: That was nice. My grumpy mood still hasn’t lifted. It’s clouding over again.
11:35: 21 km to Sigmaringen.
13:02:51
13:03:01
13:07: Sigmaringen 14 km. Gutenstein 3.3 km.
13:21:17
13:27: Outskirts of Gutenstein. I’m really flogging myself along here.
13:42:23
13:58: Sitting down in a bar, where they can make a mixed salad with cheese. They also have fabulous-looking cake. Beats asparagus soup with couscous.
Planning from Sigmaringen to Riedlingen: 34 km campsite to campsite?
Best to stop at Gasthaus Adler, Ortstraße 1, +49 7586 378 in Hundersingen and then press on to the camping north of Riedlingen
14:58: Getting up to pay. €18.20 for a cheese salad, Apfelschorle, cherry cheesecake and black tea. I need to take money from the wall in Sigmaringen ASAP.
15:08: Back on the track. The sun is cracking out of a cloudy blue sky. My mood has improved somewhat, finally.
17:24: Less than 4 km to Sigmaringen. I can see it on the crest beyond.
18:10: Checked in at the camping. €22.00 for two nights.
18:51: Tent set up. Chatted to Magnus from Sweden (who’s cycling to Croatia) and a grumpy but helpful Russian with hardly any German or English. Heading into the supermarket now to take some money out and maybe eyeball the old town.
19:01:19
19:05: Stopped at the first Turkish place for pide with spinach and egg and chips. I take delight in how the Germans murder the French word pommes. They pronounce it “POM-mess”.
21:36: Night is falling. I’ve been back at the campsite for about an hour and a half. I had four-fifths of a giant portion of chips and most of a pide with spinach, cheese and egg, followed by a half litre of coke. I wandered on stiff feet back to the campsite where Magnus suggested I “protect” my water bottles as someone passing by had asked him for them. He said no, unsurprisingly.
I sat and read essays from Maurice Wilkes’ Computer Perspectives (1996, I think) which is a brilliant assessment of the state of computer hardware and software at the time, with references to developments leading to that time. His predictions are a pleasure to read.
There are hordes of very poorly-managed teenagers yelling and running around, but there don’t seem to be any responsible adults keeping them under control. Perhaps this is a last blast before the school holidays begin — or perhaps it augers what the Summer in German camping sites will be like. They remind me that I hated groups of kids, even when I was a kid. The capricious, random viscousness always creeped me out.
