After a mystical misty start from the Dennenloher lake we cycled along a cycle path that ran along the motorway bringing us into the Franconian town of Ansbach in Bavaria where we had a relaxed breakfast and did a bit of sight seeing. Ansbach is famous for its Faience porcelain, its Margravial Residence and court gardens, its also very proud about its own Bratwurst which apparently is coarser and longer than its rival, the good old Nuremberger. However, being vegetarians we didn't do any taste testing. Instead, we took a cheeky peek into St. Gumbertus Church, home to the Wiegleb Organ—a Baroque marvel and the largest historical organ of its kind in Franconia. It’s a cultural centerpiece of Ansbach, and honestly, something my gran would’ve loved to play on, probably in her Sunday best with her old friend Mazel singing along next to her.
Not far from the church stands a bronze bust of Kaspar Hauser, the town’s most mysterious resident. Kaspar Hauser was a mysterious youth who apparently just appeared in 1828 claiming to have been raised in isolation (very weird, I'm not sure I get how that happened)—some people at the time believed he was a lost prince, others thought he was a tragic imposter. His short life and suspicious murder in Ansbach still spark intrigue today. Created by Fritz Nuss the sculptures eyes are the most noticeable thing, they're creepy! Sunk in the solemn droopy expression they reflect the mystery and melancholy surrounding this mysterious persons life.
Because of the heat, again over 35 degrees, we did a cheeky little train hop and skipped Nuremberg all together and save ourselves about 30 km's, I'd recently spent a few days there that included a sightseeing tour so I didn't feel I needed to visit it all again, with the heat melting everything in sight it just made sense to catch the train to Erlangen saving our energy and sanity. From Erlangen we followed the Rhine- Main- Danube canal path... again a very, very tedious few kilometres on a white gravel path that just glared in the sun making us long for cold beer and a cooling swim. We achieved this wish in Forchheim, where we camped for the night at the side of the river Regnitz. We were literally right on the water edge which was great, except I almost lost our 3 litre water bottle that I'd just filled when it rolled into the river as I plopped it down... Oops, that meant I had to go in for another swim to rescue it, not that I complained.
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