Crossing country borders is no fun nowadays - where's the officious chap in a dull green uniform demanding to see my passport, flicking through it before finding a page on which to stamp the entry visa? Or, at the very least, a big sign stating you are now entering the Federal Republic of Germany? We're having none of that in Europe (unless you're entering as a refugee through the eastern region)!! All we saw as we cycled out of Millingen aan de Rijn was a small sign with the EU ring of stars, in the centre of which was 'Deutschland' written...... and that was it, we were in Germany.
I do miss collecting countries in my passport and in my YHA card! 😁😃😃😁
Our first day in Germany proved to be a very long cycling one - 93kms of mainly urban riding as the last bit was through the conurbation of which Oberhausen is a part. It was a very interesting day though as this area of Germany is full of ancient history.
Our first German town was Kleve where we stopped to look at the information panels and saw a large group of MAMILs enjoying coffee at one of the cafes - all in the same colour labelled lycra gear. We stopped in the next town, Kalkar, for our morning tea and thought that the same group had caught up with us but they proved to be another group of MAMILs in similar outfits out for a Sunday ride. Anyway, Kalkar was bathed in sunshine and was a very pretty town with the Sunday bells of the churches peeling for all to come to pray. Apart from the town square full of little cafes the town is also famous for the nuclear reactor that never really got commissioned due to protests & Chernobyl disaster so was turned into the Kern-Wasser Wunderland.
I had read about the Roman museum and archeological site at Xanten only a couple of days earlier but was determined to take the time to visit the LVR Römermuseum. Xanten itself looked like a town worth visiting due to its old buildings and church but we didn't have time to visit both. We ate our picnic lunch sitting on the grass in the shade before entering the site; it was a fiercely hot day BUT I was really pleased to spend between 2-3 hours exploring this fascinating place.
The main archeological dig is under cover in a building designed to reflect Roman design - this is the main museum. The rest of the vast site is dedicated to recreating what this Roman town may have looked like and what kind of activities people may have undertaken. Seeing it was a Sunday in the school holidays and fine, the place was packed.
We left around 3pm & upped our pace to make up some time as needed to get to our AirB&B before 6pm. Off through Bislicher Insel to cross Rhine at Wesel - the cycle lane on the bridge was wide AND busy. I wanted to take a photo of the Rhine there & of the people using the bridge but it really was a cycle super-highway - once in the stream of bikes one just couldn't stop until over & divided off onto the various routes on the other side!!
We followed the Ruhrgebeit cycle route signs into Dislaken and from there on in it was totally urban with cycleways weaving under, over & alongside the arterial roads into Oberhhausen. There we went to the address provided by our AirB&B host Heidi (who turned out to be Klaus) who sent us to a completely different address & different type of accommodation than what we expected from ad. Instead of a room in a person's home we got a whole apartment within a block on Weierstrasse, north of where we had hoped to be. The area was a bit dodgy but close to two supermarkets & not too far from bikeway route to the Ruhrgebeit sites.
We stored our bikes in the basement area and then carried our bags up 65 steps to our top floor apartment overlooking the canal (drain) that ran through a small green strip. We threw our bags down, had a quick shower & were going to go up the road to get a felafel for tea but recalibrated time wise as wanted to get to the Landschaftspark in Duisburg Nord to see the lights on the old industrial infrastructure. We thought that there would be cafes at the venue ..... there were but nothing vege!! A cuppa had to suffice for our dinner that night! The lighting effects weren't as dramatic as I was expecting but it was still worth cycling the extra 16km or so there & back to see what the place was like at night. Quite a few people at the complex either enjoying a beer or two or watching an outdoor movie on a warm summer's night. There has been some clever re-purposing of this industrial site into a public space anyone can enjoy either for free or for minimal cost for events.
At around 11pm we began our ride back to our B&B along one of the Ruhrgebeit cycleways. All was going well until we met a diversion due to work being done on the trail so using Google we tried to find an alternative route but instead we found ourselves in the middle of cornfields & dark villages going round in circles!! We did finally find our way & arrived around midnight keen just to collapse into bed. Hmmmm - the synthetic sheets did not make for a good sleep on a hot night!
Mon 14th: A leisurely start. Walked up to the Aldi supermarket to get some supplies in - weirdly laid out!! Small compared to our huge barns. Anyway, got what we needed then back for breakfast & clothes washing session. Whoops! Got the sink plug stuck & no matter what we tried it wouldn't come out!
With the washing all hung out we set out for the Gasometer to look at that particular feature of industrial culture but more particularly to see the current exhibition 'Wonders of Nature'. Cycled there following the Ruhrgebeit signs for much of the way alongside the Emscher river/canal & then over a bridge. Next to the Gasometer is an adventure park called Tree to Tree where people can participate in a ropes course - it was really busy as was the exhibition.
Spent a good couple of hours looking in detail at the photographs of the natural world across 3 floors then lay back & watched the world pass by in the darkened globe room. I think I may have fallen asleep. Caroline wnet 10 floors up to look at the viewpoint but my fear of heights, particularly when there's heaps of people around meant I stayed lying down!
After we tried to find the Siedlung Eisenheim (1844) workers housing development that the industrialist Krupps provided but couldn't find it despite following the signs! We did see some workers housing elsewhere in the Ruhr so didn't miss out completely. What we see today was saved from demolition in the 1970s when collectives of workers and students worked to protect the housing that remained as listed buildings. [See photos, academic paper & haniel news]
Frustrated we moved on to revisit the Lanschaft park in daylight but stopped for lunch at some cafe along the way where had tomato soup & bread for lunch. Nothing to write home about - the soup tasted like it was out of a can & the bread was dry. :-(
Once at the Landschaftpark we took our time walking around and reading the information panels. Much quieter place on a Monday afternoon with the cafes not open & the information closing early. Still one cn't help but be amazed by the sheer scale of the industrial complex and the fact that it was once closed off to all but those working there but now open for all to wander freely.
Got ourselves back to our apartment just fine by following the same route we took the previous night but could at least read the diversion signs properly. Pretty hot & sweaty by the time got back with clouds building up for a thunderstorm. Lovely to be able to cook our own meal of stir fry veg & tofu with quinoa, and relax in our own company. Relaxing and much needed.
Tues 15th: The night had been very sticky so we weren't surprised when a thunderstorm hit around 9am so we delayed heading out to the Rhien Industrial Museum housed in the old Altenberg zinc factory. The factory was opened in 1854 by an entrepreneurial Belgian who could see that the Ruhr region had the resoruces he needed to make zinc and, eventually, steel. The exhibitions were very interesting an certainly did not avoid explaining the detrimental effects on both human life and the environment. Certainly the early workers were exploited & suffered from terrible diseases caused by exposure to lead & zinc. Av life expectancy was 45; capitalism at that time may have offered homes & food security but then the capitalist factory owners had them as virtual slaves. The capitalists also understood the impact they were having on the enivonment & generally paid off those who complained & settled out of court. They also made sure they broke up any unions that workers tried to form ...... some things haven't changed really!!
Also, had our impressions of capitalists like Krupps confirmed in terms of their manufacture of weapons during both world wars. I doubt they truly supported the politics of the various leaders but they played along to ensure they kept their profits healthy. That said ..... one can not be but impressed by the technological developments that these industrialists designed and implemented. The steam forging hammer at the museum is certainly an impressive beast!!
Tried to find a decent cafe on our way home but to no avail - trendy latte lover cafes are not the type of place that draws in customers in working class areas. Plenty of burger bars, kiosks and trinkhalle. Dropped into Lidl on the way back to apartment to get yoghurt but found them not much better than Aldi.... able to buy what we needed I guess but hated layout & the range. A little bit of middle-class snobbery coming through there!!
Enjoyed a cider with another delicious home cooked meal of pasta & tomato. And much needed time to work on diary & write postcards.
Wed 16th: We were up early to pack, ready to leave by 10am but the landlord, Klaus, and his cleaner arrived early as they had more guests coming into their 3 apartments in the block that day. At least they helped us take our bags down stairs.
By 1015 we were off toward Essen - expected to be a 15-20km ride.
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