Day 15 - 14 km walked today- Total walked 327 – Spay

We have only had one day without walking, during our 15 so far and today our bodies decided to call a halt, or at least post a warning.

When my Achilles Tendons started hurting, towards the beginning our of journey, Doris asked me to grade the pain on a scale of levels 1 to 10, where level 10 was having to stop walking. We have used this code ever since to communicate to each other the severity of the various injuries that come and go - or that we simply choose to live with rather than stop. I'll not bother to list them all, as it would be too tedious, but two have been giving us problems of late.

For the last three days, the top of my left leg has, in early afternoon, started to ache slightly around at level 2. A couple of hours after in started, on days 13 and 14, despite the pain having progressed only to level 6, the muscles around the front of my thigh tightened to a degree that reduced me to a hobble within a very short time.

Doris has continued to experience problems with her back. Usually, it stays at level 1 or 2 but now and then it spasms straight to level 10. With some stretching, it usually passes, or at least reduces to level 2 or 3, and we are on our way again.

Today, around lunchtime, Doris's back spasmed again. This time it stayed longer but after a rest, we decided to press on. Around the same time, my leg started to nag at me again. After another spasm, we had a tough choice whether to press on or find accommodation in the pretty Rhine-side village of Spay. We both felt well enough to carry on but were uncertain for how long. So after dozing off on a bench and watching the boats go by for a while, we decided to call it a day, give our bodies some minor respite and, vitally for us at that very moment, have a siesta.

Of course, a rest for us is still having walked 14 kilometers with full packs, beginning with one of the steepest climbs and descents that we have ever done. We decided to walk a path which, on the map, was slightly away from the road. We assumed that the path was just slightly higher than the river but it just kept going up and up, until we were at the point you can see in the picture below.

Having taken the picture, we had to clamber all the way back down to river level level again, along a pretty treacherous path. It was frustrating to spend nearly 2 hours, to get just a couple of Kilometres further forward but it cemented our decision to stay at river level for the rest of the day, rather than take any of the “shortcuts” offered by our map.

We are keen to get past Koblenz tomorrow, which is doable, if our bodies agree to come with us, but I suspect that we may need a complete day of rest in the not too distant future, when Koblenz is behind us.

...well that was all a little earlier and I think it appropriate to add a postscript.

Despite our disappointment at not getting further, we have had a really nice day.

I really like this part of the Rhine. It is populated by small picturesque towns and villages, along its banks, where Germans seem to come and stay for a break – socialising, eating, drinking and just relaxing next to the soothing, reassuring and fast moving lake which is the River Rhine. In a way it is similar to the coastal resorts of Southern England but without the amusement arcades and candy floss – the feel is more like the villages of Devon and Yorkshire.

So it felt so nice to stop here, have a lazy, refreshing siesta, then idling around for a bit, before going down to dinner. The Gasthof where we are staying is modest but popular, so we decided to eat here, We came up trumps, as you can see in the picture below.

I know what you are thinking. It's a picture of pizza and glass of white wine! Ah but you would be wrong. So very, very wrong. Firstly, it isn't pizza, it's a local specialty named “Flammkuchen – no cheese or tomato, just bacon, onions and parsley, on a a very thin pizza type base – quite delicious.

Secondly, it isn't just white wine, it's local Riesling. Now I know that I have mentioned this before but love knows no boundaries. I have always found dry white wine to be somewhat aggressive for my palate and stomach but this stuff that I keep getting served, full of peaches, strawberries and raspberries, is a total and delicious revelation. Not glugging gallons of it is a real challenge. Did I mention that I don't usually like white wine? Perhaps I did?

So being in Germany, how better to end the day than sitting in our room with a glass, watching the Baltics and Balkans battling out the Eurovision Song Contest - made tolerable by the total absence of Terry Wogan and a commentary that I can barely understand. Just and endless procession of outfits and songs that stayed sadly out of sight during the cold war. Welcome to the new Europe even if, at least musically, it is very much like the old one some 30 years ago!

Today's musical choice? Tempting to pick Lulu's timeless Eurovision classic, “Boom Bang A Bang” but I will stay with the day's overall feel and go for “Take it Easy” by Jackson Browne.