I may have been slightly negligent in not following up on this idyllic vision, to tell you that neither of us slept a wink that night. Doris moved from bottom to top bunk because the mattress gave less spinal support than a hammock. The top bunk was marginally better but amplified ever minor movement into a cathedral filling creak. Doris spent the night awake trying to avoid making noise and I spent it awake, being woken by the noise.
Tonight's accommodation is also simple. It comes courtesy of a lovely couple who have run this Gasthof, in the middle of nowhere, for over twenty years. It is pretty basic but given that they were not open for business when we pitched up, we were grateful that they took us in at all. Heating would be a big bonus right now but we have been well, though basically, fed and I have no particular aversion to sleeping in my fleecy, socks or if, necessary, my boots.
Actually, we are lucky to have anywhere to sleep at all. We spent the day dodging rain clouds, walking through beautiful countryside, on a windy day that, for the first time, saw us resorting to our warmer clothing. Somehow, we escaped the rain but it is a selfish pleasure when so much of our journey has been through farming communities that have gone six weeks without rain. The forecast is good for them and bad for us for the next few days.
Our plan today was to walk 20 kilometres to Fuerfeld with, as usual, a stretch target to walk three or four kilometres further, to the next village, to put us within striking distance of Ruedesheim. Before we set off this morning, we tried and failed to find accommodation in Fuerfeld or any of the nearby villages. But not everything is on the 'net, so undeterred we set off, knowing that we could call the German equivalent of “Yellow Pages” when we got closer.
Unfortunately, our destination turned out to be in a valley outside mobile phone range. A kilometre from Fuerfeld, we decided to ask a the wonderfully helpful lady pictured below if she knew of anywhere.
She spent ages on the telephone, trying to find us somewhere but neither the Baker nor the Mayor could help and the priest did not answer his phone - nothing open. She then offered to drive us to a couple of local places that she knew that might be able to put us up for the night. With the weather closing in, it would have been silly to refuse.
And so we ended up here. Initial signs were not too promising. The proprietor, who arrived shortly after us, was somewhat startled to find us in his driveway. He confirmed that we could stay but advised us that he couldn't let us see any of the rooms until his wife got home from shopping. Dressed in a t-shirt and what, to me, looked like pyjama bottoms, he sat us outside the Gasthof while he fiddled with his car.
We shivered and he fiddled. We prayed that his wife would arrive soon. Eventually, she did. She went inside. He came over to chat. We shivered. He chatted. We shivered. After some time, we were invited inside and shown to a modest room but one that is, heating aside, adequate for our needs. And then she disappeared without a mention of dinner breakfast or life outside our small room. After a while Doris ventured downstairs to find out what might be possible and we dined on scrambled eggs, ham, beer and wine.
It is hard to form a firm impression of someone when one doesn't speak much of their language adequately but, given that we arrived unexpectedly, our hosts seem to be warm and friendly. They just don't feel the cold much.
Before closing this entry, I need to mention that Doris limped through most of yesterday's walk and all of today's with some back pain that, on occasion, goes into nasty spasms. Needless to say, she never complains but, as I have bleated on about my problems, thought you should know, as she is too modest and stoic to mention it.
Modesty would also prevent her from mentioning her amazing map reading skills – so good that I feel there may be something supernatural at work. Without her I would probably be in Austria by now. It is only a matter of time, I sense, before we stop in a forest and she declares something to the effect that: a 58 year, 11 stone, balding Mexican, with a short right leg, passed this way two days ago, carrying a green parrot and two iguanas, one for them pregnant with twins.
Doris didn't do a music choice for yesterday but I guess that Canned Heat's “On the Road Again” is the obvious choice.
Today's musical choice is the Barking Bard, Billy Bragg and "The Warmest Room".
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