Grüss Gott!

That means hello in Bavaria, or so I'm told. We have been on the road/bike trail now for one week, and Internet connections are scarce. We are now in Hof, which is in Bavaria. We traveled along the Saale River bike trail, from Barby to Hof (rode from Matthias' home town of Gommern to Barby, which wasn't far, first.) The ride is nice, though it has gotten plenty hilly the last few days. I blame the extra weight of the large packs on our bikes as the reason I have to walk my bike so much (but it could also be the extra weight on me!) Actually, we're doing pretty well - about 50-70 km per day. Weather has been terrific. Twice it rained in the evening, just as we got the tent put up, but we haven't had any rain during our ride yet. Strange for Germany.

We have stayed all but one night (plus tonight) in campsites. Once we stayed in a youth hostel, which wasn't bad at all since we were the only ones there...literally! Even the guy running the place left at 10PM! And, the breakfast (included) was fabulous! Tonight we are staying in another youth hostel. It isn't empty, but we have our own room. On the bright side, I get to watch the Germany/Sweden match tonight (Matthias isn't into Soccer at all, so I haven't kept up with the games, although I did get to see Ghana celebrate beating the US two days ago. I can't help but love some of the fans' slogans: "God Bless America and let Ghana win!" Very funny.

I would describe our planned route now, only we don't really have one. We plan to head down through Bavaria toward Munich, and then get over the Alps somehow (most likely by train) to Italy, where we hope to ride through Tuscany. This is all subject to change, however.

Till next time, take care!