Gastropods

It´s amazing how every day around 10:30 the need for some German apple cake takes hold and one must find a Konditorei and satisfy the hunger. So far, I have sampled four distinct apple cakes: a sweet cakey style with chunks of apple; a sour layered concoction of apple slices in a crumble shell; a sweet apple pie with icing on top; and a cake akin to zucchini cake made with loads of cinnamon and grated apple. All have been very welcome at the time, along with a large cup of hot chocolate or milk coffee and a restroom to die for when it comes to amenities and cleanliness.

Which gets me onto gastropods. In France there are red-ochre slugs as large as, if not bigger than, my index finger. One cyclist ran over one which caused him to fall off his bike, that´s how big they are. In Germany the slugs are browner and smaller, just like the snails, which are brown and modest in size, unlike their French counterparts which are huge and pale nougat in colour. I am sure there would only be a need for four or five if you wanted to prepare a meal with them.

And I suppose I should mention dogs. I don´t think the French dogs are happy as all those I came across were either on short leads or caged in small dog runs, snarly and barking. German dogs on the other hand, are more waggy and pesky, and some even snuggle up for a damned good ear rub, like Sally we met along the way when getting directions, or the Eggelstetten dogs arriving at the bar for a pre-soccer match drink. However, I have ordered a dog scarer to be delivered in Vienna, to cope with those Romanian dogs.

As we move further east, the cars are getting bigger. Ninety-nine per cent of cars in France are small - lots of Smart cars, for example, whereas on entering Bavaria, we are coming across more 4x4s, but still not nearly in the number we see in Australian suburbia. In France it is possible to purchase bio-fuel at regular service stations, as well, and just to make the comparison, unleaded is approximately €1.60.

We have travelled for three days along river valleys, surrounded by bucolic German endeavour. I am still gob-smacked by the firewood that each householder collects and stacks. On average, I would think there are 20 tonnes per household. The gardens are overflowing with all manner of vegetables, fruit orchards, large shady walnut trees and full-blooming roses in reds, crimsons, pinks, gold and creams. Each fills the air with perfume, a heady dose when mixed with the piles of silage in the farmyards and the sprayed-on liquid manure in the fields.

More technicals:
About 1,1790 kms, give or take a few, so we´re a quarter of the way there.

June 13: Ulm to Eggelstetten, 100 kms, about 5 and a half hours of zipping cycling
June 14: Eggelstetten to Kipfenberg, 95 kms, about 5 and a half hours of pleasant green fields ripping by and only a little rain
June 15: Kipfenberg to Regensburg, 105 kms along white gravel paths, again, 5 and a half hours or thereabouts, but tiring...course, we made up for that with a hearty meal and some wine at the Augustiner, a Biergarten not to be missed should you be by this way.