7 From Bürgeln to Lahnau - Marburg, Gießen & Warmshowers

After the Fränkische Schweiz, the Würzburg vineyards, and the Spessart or Röhn, I didn't feel like climbing any more hills. So, on the recommendation of friends, I decided to cycle along the Lahn River from Marburg to the Rhine and then head north again, instead of taking the direct route.

In the morning, I leisurely packed my things and looked forward to a delicious breakfast in Marburg when a woman passed by my semi-tidy sleeping spot during her morning walk. At first, I couldn't gauge the intention behind her question of whether I had stayed there overnight, but it quickly became clear that she was simply interested in my journey and found it "super brave" for me, as a woman, to travel and sleep outdoors. I was naturally pleased with her interest, but the latter comment made me think for a while and bothered me, as it seemed that, unlike me as a woman, it is not considered problematic for a man to travel alone... And mind you, we are talking about traveling within Germany in 2020!

Fittingly, a shower set in while I was contemplating this, and I actually had to unpack my rain jacket for the first time. However, by the time I arrived in Marburg, the sun was shining again, and soon, thanks to the wonderful old town and a super cute café with incredibly delicious breakfast, my whole face was beaming again ;) At one point, I even caught myself wondering if there might be exciting master's programs in Marburg, that's how impressed I was with the city at first glance :D

After breakfast, I strolled through the upper town for a bit and balanced out the lack of altitude meters along the Lahn Valley Cycle Path by pushing my bike up the super steep ascent to the Landgrafenschloss.

However, the first section of this riverside cycle path surprisingly didn't run very close to the river; I only caught occasional glimpses of the Lahn during a few crossings and otherwise cycled on well-developed cycle paths in the expansive valley. As the afternoon progressed, the clouds piled higher and it was clear that a thunderstorm was approaching. This had also been predicted the day before, so I preferred not to camp. Fortunately, I was able to find a host through Warmshowers.org (like Couchsurfing, but for cyclists) who was willing to accommodate me spontaneously.

However, I did manage to reach a section right by the Lahn and took a short break on the bank. There was so much litter lying around that I couldn't bring myself to just continue cycling, so I picked some of it up. However, when I later tried to throw the items in a trash can at a campground, I was promptly scolded by an older lady, asking what I was doing and whether I thought it was okay to just throw my trash in a non-public trash can. She didn't even let me get a word in and continued to complain that the bins were only there because they would be emptied tomorrow... Faced with the irony of the situation (so the trash will be emptied tomorrow anyway?!), I had to hold back from bursting into laughter and instead threw 'my' trash into a public trash can 100m further away. Welcome to Germany :D

To be fair, I should mention that all the other small encounters I've had on the way have been super nice, and many people have wished me good luck on my journey :)

Just as the thunderstorm was approaching, I arrived in Gießen and waited in a café until it stopped raining. Then I leisurely cycled the last kilometers through the beautiful Lahnauen to my Warmshowers host.

I was warmly welcomed into a beautiful, bright apartment, and was able to shower in peace. My host had even bought vegetables especially for me, and we cooked stuffed bell peppers together :)

Since my host has already undertaken several tours, including from Germany to Kyrgyzstan, we had wonderful conversations and the evening went by in a flash. Thanks again for the great hospitality and the fantastic first Warmshowers experience!