The tolling of the bells

We were woken at 6am by 10 minutes of tolling bells.  We weren’t sure whether this was a regular Sunday occurrence, or if it was in celebration of Whitsun, the holy day of Pentecost, which commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit.  

The tolling of the bells accompanied us out of town starting at 9:50am and we wondered whether they would continue until 10am as we moved beyond hearing range.  We briefly followed the river before turning into the hills.  We could see rain in the distance and I had just taken a couple of photos of the approaching rain clouds when it started to rain heavily.  

For once we had a tail wind, and as we turned east the rain was on our backs making for easier cycling.  The rain didn’t last too long and we had dried off by the time we reached Donauworth for morning tea.  Located on the junction of the Danube and Wornitz Rivers, we entered the town through the Riedor Tor, one of four original town entrances which now houses the City History museum.  

Not long after leaving Donauworth we encountered the steepest hill of the day – one which even challenged the Dutch couple on e-bikes who reached the summit just after us.  We chatted to them for a while before enjoying the descent into Marxheim where we found an undercover table on the veranda of a sportsground clubhouse for lunch. 

We followed the Danube for quite a few kilometres, spending much of the time on a levee bank with expansive river views.  We crossed into Neuburg an der Donau where the skyline was dominated by its Renaissance Castle, which now houses several museums.  

Our accommodation was in a large apartment block just over a kilometre from the city centre.  Once we had checked in, secured the bikes and showered, we headed back into the town centre for dinner at Restaurant Central, one of the few places open on a Sunday night.  It specialised in traditional Bavarian food and beers and the servings were enormous.  We definitely needed a walk after dinner!

We returned to the bridge and passed through the old city walls to see more of the Castle, and the Hofkirche, the Court Church of Our Lady.   

We explored the different levels of the defensive wall, passing the Upper Gate, with views across the town.  We were soon back in the city centre and enjoyed discovering a delightful fountain before returning to our accommodation. 

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