The start of the Danube bike trail on the first day that is wet and rainy

                                                      Homes  along the Danube in  Ulm

After 8 months of planning we are finally on our way to bike the Danube through Germany,Austria,Slovakia and Hungary.We flew overnight to Frankfurt with our crated bikes hoping they would be waiting for us in the airport which they were. We found a quiet corner and Peter and Murray reassembled them. It was then off to the connecting train station where we wheeled the bikes onto the train and headed into the hub of Frankfurt to catch our main train to Donaueschigen 3 hours away.We got our first view of the beautiful countryside with wheat and corn fields in the distance. That night we saw the Danube spring in the center of town which is the beginning of the Danube river.
     Thursday we were up,packed and in the saddle for a 95km ride to Sigmaringen. The bike trail started in town ,it was about six feet wide and paved.Wow!Impressive.We spent the morning weaving through lush farm fields (literally)and saw a town every 2 to 5 km. The towns are beautiful-built on hills with orange roofs,window boxes with lush flowers hanging from them and the very specific German architecture. Everything is very neat and clean. The towns have very narrow streets with some cobble stone  areas.When we are in town the drivers are very considerate.
     Everybody here bikes -from young to old -often with paniers to shop.Peter is very impressed as every town has at least one cafe with pastries.He is in dessert heaven.
In Signaringen we got a taste of our first German beer -in huge steins and as Kim our daughter told us -cheaper than water.I left my wine glass in Quebec and will enjoy the local beers.What a way to rehydrate after a day of biking.
    Our second day was 110km to Ulm, a beautiful city right on the Danube with an amazing church - the tallest in Germany.We again biked through farm fields and small villages often sharing the bike path with farm vehicles.Peter has even seen the occasional John Deere .The sunflowers in sections of many of the fields are in full bloom.Obviously lack of rain is not an issue-everything is lush.We have seen a few castles in the distance but nothing up close.
    Today is a rest day in Ulm-laundry and bike cleaning and tuneups. Our first day we awoke to rain so started out in full rain gear but it didn't last long but our bikes got gritty.Since then it has been beautiful-temps similar to home.We are in a beautiful hotel In Ulm right on the river and plan to spend the afternoon sightseeing.