Finding Frankfurt

May 27

I’ve seen the beautiful churches of Speyer, pedaled through Worms looking for a campground that wasn’t there, and eaten “Knuckle of Pork” (which turned out to be the knee) in the center of Frankfurt.  After setting up my tent at the Frankfurt campground (shared with lots of Bruce Springsteen fans there for his concert), I walked into the neighborhood and into a local bar.  I ended up in an engaging conversation with Lirim, an outgoing German of Albanian decent.  We talked for hours about language, politics, Albanian history, and the work cultures of our countries.  It was a great connection, and a fun conversation.  The bar owner, Islam (from Cosovo), gave me a complimentary beer when I told him I was from America.  What kindness!

The next morning was a real low point for my moral.  I was having a really hard time navigating out of Frankfurt, the map I had was terrible, and I had lost my snap-on plastic map case so I couldn’t even keep my inadequate map in front of my eyes.  I took a long detour in Bad Homberg (which was quite beautiful) to a huge bike shop that was able to replace my map case (it helps that my Ortlieb handlebar bag is German made) and I continued north.  The riding got better and better as the day went on: busy highways gave way to small country roads with hills that weren’t too steep, far less traffic, with castles on the horizon.  Upon arriving at one castle on a hill (Muntzenberg), I found myself in the middle of a giant renaissance festival, surrounded by jesters, knights, apothecaries, and all other sorts of characters.  After snapping some photos and asking a few questions, I rode on.  I stopped for a kebab at a Turkish owned restaurant in one small town, and finished the day with some of the best riding I’ve had on the entire trip.  It’s amazing how the highs and lows can come in such close proximity to each another.

I camped at the top of a hill in Homberg and shared a site with a lovely elderly couple from Friedberg.  After bathing at a faucet and eating my dinner, I visited with them under their camper canopy.  They told me stories of their travels, having driven their VW camper all over the continent: Lisbon, eastern Turkey, Italy, Scandinavia.  We looked at maps late into the night and ate some of the chocolate that Jean-Marc had given to me.  They gave me ideas on where to go next, what highways to take, and what sights to be sure to take in.  They also let me know that there wouldn’t be truck traffic for the next couple of days since the next day was Sunday and Monday was a national holiday.  Maybe it’s time to throw down and make some miles?