Deggendorf-Straubing Germany-8-7-14

by | Aug 7, 2014 | Bicycling Europe-2014, EuroVelo 6, Germany | 0 comments

Deggendorf-Straubing Germany

Villages and Danube

22 miles (36 km)

Total so far: 606 miles (975 km)

Ascent: 660 ft (201 m); Descent: 609 ft  (186 m); Max Elevation: 1138 ft (346 m)

Route 2,965,678 – powered by www.bikemap.net
From Deggendorf, the bicycle path shown is a dedicated paved bicycle path from to the outskirts of Zeitldorf. But in fact, the bicycle path was gravel all the way through Zeitldorf with the exception of a small amount of paving. In some places the gravel was quite thick and quite rocky. It was not the nice packed small gravel that we had seen in Austria.
It seems so far, in Germany that the Euro Velo 6 route is more on small roads, a few busy streets, and numerous unpaved sections. The plus factor is that the route goes through many historic and charming villages. The negative, for us, is the slower gravel. From Passau to Vienna, there are more beautiful paved bicycle paths along the Danube, but you must leave the path to see the villages. The scenery along the route is pretty German farmland; there are some nice villages that the path goes through. Houses are bedecked with flowers spilling out of flower boxes. The villages are small, rural. There must have been an old church with steeples in every one of them.

We saw numerous guesthouses and a lot of free camping sites along the Danube as we were traveling through this section, particularly between Mariaposching and Pfelling. None of these were mentioned in Bikeline.

We planned another short day in hopes of doing Internet again. But I think we are learning the bottom line in Germany is that the campgrounds do not offer any Internet at all. We shall have to go into Straubing for a hotspot in order to get Internet. Mind you, if you have a smartphone with a German Sim card, Internet would not be a problem, but our smartphone died. We got to Straubing by noon, just before the rains began again. So far we have been very lucky to either be in camp or get to camp and all set up before or after a strong rainstorm has already finished.

The campground in Straubing is very convenient to the old town…about one kilometer away. It is a very big place with spaces for lots of motor homes. The designated area for tents is larger than other campsites we have stayed in.

There is a Beer Garden which serves minimal food entrees.

Once again, Anne spent the afternoon in the bathroom…plugged into the only power available!

That evening, the campground began to seriously fill up. Big families with big tents rushed to get all set up. By accident, we arrived just in time for a three-day Oktoberfest Festival which is one of the more famous festivals done in Germany other than Munich. This festival drew hundreds of people, but it was not considered to be as wild as Munich. They were all here in the campground!

Octoberfest in Straubing

Traditional Dress and Music

8-14-14

We decided to stay an extra day to see the festival as well as finish catching up on the Internet.
Finding an Internet spot in Straubing was just about as difficult as everyplace else we have been. We went to numerous cafés and finally found Valentino’s Café had a good Internet service. So, Anne spent the day there from noon until 6 PM catching up on all of the blog entries.
In the meantime, we needed to find a source for Internet to carry with us since our Nexus phone had died. So we went to a computer shop and found a Samsung tablet that we could install a Sim card for Internet. It was much bigger than a phone so we figured Mike would be able to see the writing on the screen. Anyway, after talking to the store people, and researching reviews of the item, we decided to buy the item on the basis that the Sim card would give us the Internet. So they charged the Tablet up and we came back a few hours later to buy the Samsung tablet.
Well, the Sim card that they sold us, did not work. So after much ado, Mike said since the Sim card didn’t work and that’s why we bought this computer, now we wanted to return it. Well, of course, they had no interest in giving us our money back. So this went on for quite a while. The shop actually denied that they told us that the Sim card worked. So eventually, they told us about another Sim card and where to go to get it. Well that card worked and we did buy the Samsung tablet which now gives us Internet in Germany. Hopefully we can also buy a Sim card for it in France.
Straubing is a beautiful, traditional town. The main pedestrian street is lined with cafes and beer gardens. Old churches and other stately buildings define the street.
We stayed for the festival that evening and enjoyed the German music played all up and down the streets and at the fairgrounds.

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