Day Four of the tour: Gemünden to Kreuzwertheim (Updated)

Shortly after leaving Gemünden, we saw a line across the bike path with a stone marker. Turns out it was the 50th Parallel. So we stopped to take some pictures. We were headed south at the time so we actually crossed it going north yesterday but didn't see any indication.






Tuesday is actually a bad day to be riding in this area -- there are three breweries we passed that are closed on Tuesdays. So we didn't stop much for beer. But I did take some "postcard" photos so you have something to look at. This is a church that was across the river. For some reason a canal freighter was docked out in front.




And a little further down the river a castle on the hill overlooking a village.






As we road into Marktheidenfeld we could see the Martins Bräu brewery in the distance. In the foreground is a small circus that was in town.




When riding thru Marktheidenfeld we saw a place named "Bräustubla" so it seemed a good place to stop for lunch. They had a bike rack but it didn't work too well with small wheels.




The had Martins Pils and Dunkles on draft. I had the Pils, the others the Dunkles. The Pils was pretty much what I've come to expect in this region. The Dunkles was very good with a nice roasty finish,




They also had a bottled Märzen so we tried one for desert. It tasted very much like the Pils despite the color.




Once we left Marktheidenfeld we passed some vineyards. I didn't take any pictures of them in the previous area, so I stopped for some here. A lot of serious work had been done in the terracing and it looked quite old.














We decided to stay in Kreuzwertheim, a little shorter (60km) than usual. First, there were really strong headwinds the last 30km or so and we were tired. A the next town with with hotels seemed be 20 km farther which seemed a bit too far.

Kreuzwertheim has one of those "closed on Tuesday" breweries, only it turns out they are on holiday until Sept 7. I don't know if that makes me happy or sad, I guess I'm glad I didn't try to reschedule things so we were here on a Wednesday.




Our hotel had Kauzen beer from Ochsenfurt which we had just tasted two nights ago. But they had the Pils which we haven't had. We did and it was blah.




They did have the Weissbier as well, only not the cool glasses. No matter, the beer was still good.




We went for a walk thru the village and noticed this nightclub looking place. The had a sign for the local beer (Spessart) and the door was open so we went in. The place was empty -- literally -- because the bartender was out the back on a smoke break. I don't think he expected customers then, certainly not folks like us.



He only has bottled beer in the summer so we had a Spessart Pils and a Dunkleweizen from Lohrer Bräu (sold under the Keiler name). We had passed Lohr on the other side of the river today, but it is a large brewery with no tap room so we didn't make a detour.

The Pils was very good -- the best of the trip so far. I was doubly disappointed we didn't have a chance to taste it on draft. The wheat beer as OK but not as good as the Kauzen.





Walking back to the hotel we passed the most interesting store I've seen in a long time. They sell carnivorous plants (the sign translates as "meat eating plants." They are only open Friday from 2-6pm or "by appointment." My guess is most of the business is mail order/internet, but I'm not putting any sensitive body party near any strange plants until we are well out of town!






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Location:Hauptstraße,Kreuzwertheim,Germany