Fancy a statue of Stalin?

Another drizzly morning, so we took our time packing up and queued for a while to buy bread and pastries at the local bakery, which was extremely popular.  By the time we were cycling out of Ulm the rain had eased and we had removed our raincoats.  

The path ran along the Danube or its tributaries and it was easy cycling.  We stopped for morning tea in a shelter at the side of the bike path as we didn’t trust the weather.  The rain held off and it was fine, though overcast when we stopped for lunch at the edge of Lake Wunschsee that would make a lovely swimming spot in summer.  

We were surprised to see what looked like a statue of Stalin standing outside a gravestone manufacturer.  The statue was one of six bought by Josef Kurd from the Easter Bloc with the intention of creating a sculpture park.  The plan failed and when he died, his sons tried to auction them off, but no bids were received, let alone the starting price of 58,000 euros. 

We passed through the pretty town of Dillingen, and were tempted to stop for an ice cream but the ominous skies encouraged us to keep going. 

A wise decision, as a few kilometres later, the rain returned and we picked up our pace, relieved to finally arrive at our guesthouse in Hochstadt an der Donau without getting too wet.  

Gasthof Berg was pretty basic, but our room included a fridge and separate lounge area which was much better than expected.  We were located across the road from a supermarket, and needed to ensure we had enough food, given the next day was Sunday and supermarkets would also be closed on Monday due to the Whitsun Monday public holiday.  

We explored the town, passing Hochstadt Palace, built in the late 16th century as part of a marriage settlement between Philipp Ludwig and Anna of Cleves.  It is now a museum on the history and techniques of making faience, tin- glazed pottery. 

Having explored the dining options, we settled on the pizzeria La Vita. The pizzas were a generous size, and we took home enough for lunch the following day.  Whilst paying, we chatted a while to the waitresses who advised us that we were the first Australians to eat at the restaurant and that they both wanted to visit there one day.

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