Molly on the Main

Got up around 9 am and had bacon and eggs for breakfast.

Steve and I took our bikes and went off to see places in Bayreuth which have special meaning or good memories for us. First we stopped for a few photos in St. Georgen, where we lived in a 400-year-old house for a couple of weeks back in 1991. The house has since been replaced with a modern apartment building, but we lingered at the address for a while to recall it.

Next, we went to the train station to apply for the refund due us for the cancelled trip on the high-speed train. This involved filling out a form and putting it in the mail. If all goes well, we will receive a refund in a week or so.

From the train station, we rode to another street where we had lived in Bayreuth along the little brook known as Mistelbach. We lived in an apartment on the third floor of a building which had a balcony overlooking the brook, and it was very close to the center of town where we usually shopped for groceries and other things. There is a bicycle trail which runs alongside the brook, and it is lined with chestnut trees which are now in full bloom.

From the apartment house location, we rode a familiar route into the center of town. By now, it was around 2 pm and we felt hungry enough to get a couple of bratwursts for a late lunch. As we stood and ate the wursts, we looked around and noted things which had changed since we lived there. The little shop with the children's wooden toys - the Holzwurm - was no longer in business, some shops had moved into the Rotmain Zentrum (a small shopping mall built near the center a few years after we moved away from Bayreuth), and other favorite shops had changed names or closed.

After our late lunch, we rode toward one of favorite bakeries - Hulinsky's - not to buy anything but just to see it again and marvel at the aroma and their craft. From there, it was a short ride to Wahnfried, the villa where Richard Wagner once lived. Adjacent to this was a home where Franz Liszt had lived. And both are only steps away from the Hofgarten, a woodsy setting with sculptures, small canals surrounding a little island, and broad walking paths under the majestic trees. We paused there for a few photos, then made our way back into the center of town via the Neues Schloss (new palace.)

We stopped at the tourist information center to get a photo of us with a bronze statue of Richard Wagner and then wandered a few doors down to (another) one of our favorite bakeries - Zollinger's, where we paused for coffee. While we linger over coffee, we resolved to get to bed earlier tonight so we can tolerate tomorrow's miles. As we left the center of town, we stopped at our former bank to use the ATM machine and replenish our wallets.

After a quick pit stop back at the house, we went to our appointed dinner spot, Mohren Bräu, where we enjoyed an excellent schnitzel and listened to a lively discussion from the Stammtisch about the results of yesterday's EU elections. I could not follow the conversation well enough to summarize any single view, but it was apparent that there were varied and competing opinions about the significance of the results and how the election might affect the current balance of party power in not only Europe but also its 28 separate states.

After dinner, we rode back home and began organizing our stuff for tomorrow's start of our ride along the Main.