Day 41: Further up the Rhine

At breakfast, I realize what I've missed about the hotel: a beautiful inner courtyard. I've been to the bar three times for supplies, but my mind was on blogging. The last course led to a formidable Pinot Noir. I still wanted to look at the weather report, but there was still the World Championships in Athletics with the women's 100m final. I can still remember the beginning of the news, then I must have fallen asleep. Because of the heat, I wanted to leave as early as possible, breakfast was then at half past 6. Then I remembered that I had received a new donation stand, which I absolutely had to add: a little over €6,900! At least €1,100 will be added from Frankfurt, so I'm over €8,000! It's working in my head: Can I make €10,000? Can I encourage Karlsruhe, the two Stuttgart and the two Unterföhring companies or their employees to donate €2,000 despite the holidays?
It'll be half past eight before I roll. But in the fresh morning air it rolls well. I follow the Rhein-Radweg, which leads past Worms. I don't make a detour, I want to cycle, I want to move forward. The nearest big city is Ludwigshafen, noisy and busy with construction sites. Because of all the detours, I find myself on the bridge to Mannheim (does anyone remember Joy Fleming? "Über de Brick" was the name of her song for the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson, today known as ESC. As far as I can remember, it didn't belong to one either given the front seat...). Then so be it, I tell myself, and fight my way downtown, where iced coffee costs €8.50 - best performance for the year. Then I ponder: Schwetzingen or Speyer? Both have advantages and disadvantages. Speyer wins. So over another bridge back to Ludwigshafen, quickly out of the city, down to the Rhine, sweating and still feeling good. I emptied my liter of tea a long time ago, there was a supermarket in a suburb. But the fountain offers drinking water, the bottle is refilled and thirst is quenched.
I check in at the Altstadthotel (doesn't quite have the flair of Bingen, but it's okay), treat myself to a coke and relax. The walk to the cathedral follows; I've gotten into the habit of just sitting in a pew in churches and absorbing the atmosphere. I really like the churches that are plain inside, the baroque style is far too much for me. I know some impressive churches that go in this direction, Augsburg has one, the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsö (Norway) and a church in Reykjavik.
In the Goldener Hirsch I eat pike-perch fillet with tagliatelle and vegetables plus Parmesan, drink the now obligatory two yeast non-alcoholic beverages, get a smile from the waiter when I thank him with "köszönöm" (I noticed that the innkeepers are from Hungary) and get ready full and in a good mood on the way home.