Distance cycled: 89.5km from from beside a pile of firewood between Strasbourg, France and Basel, Switzerland.
Average speed: 17.5km/h
Moving time: 5h07m
Total distance: 2966km
Border X'ings: 12
Money spent: €2 in Germany, €1 in France and 17 CHF in Switzerland. In total about €16 this was spent on groceries coffee and baked goods.
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Today was freezing, I mean really, really cold. It was one of the few times on this trip I needed to wear gloves. But, it didn't rain, just some slight drizzling.
Waking up this morning I really had difficulty getting motivated to get out of bed and pack my things, even contemplating ditching this trip and going somewhere warm with beaches. But you see I am on a mission and can't give up that easily.
I was going to hang about Switzerland and Germany till a heavy metal band (one of my favorites) named Wintersun were playing in Munich at the end of the month leaving me to cycle over the Alps in November but looking at the map I see that getting south of the alps to Italy is a much better option; I'm headed that direction now anyway.
My thought process of giving up on this trip quickly diminished when cycling the vineyards in the small hills just around the corner from where I camped where some locals spoke to me and handed me a bunch of grapes. It really doesn't take much to keep me happy this generosity goes a long way with me.
The gratuity of the locals I met today in both germany and France was fantastic, I got coffee, food and smiles. This really helped me to continue the day under the overcast sky.
I managed to make it to Basel, switzerland where I drifted around the city center looking for Internet that wasn't easy to find until I was directed to Starbucks.
I wanted to stay with someone on the warm-showers website but I couldn't find anyone on such short notice. It wasn't such a big deal so I continued on my route to Bern - which I found out today is the capital of Switzerland. This is where I'll be catching up with Sue who I met in Columbia the first time I was in south America. It's now all organized to meet tomorrow at 5pm at her and her boyfriends place - I do not want a repeat of what happened to me a couple of days ago.
It was pitch black when I finally found some level ground to pitch my tent on. One thing is for sure, I'm camping in a place where people who cannot make it to the toilet in time do their business. This explains all the mushrooms about and also why I managed to rub my hand in someones fecal matter. This really put me off cooking anything for dinner. Yuk!
Free grapes
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