When I turn 46, I say "No more nonsense": Bad Muenster am Stein (In 45 years, I never tired of this town)

I sleep well in Blaubach. Having a balcony to smoke on is nice too;saves me all those trips down the stairs.

And even yesterday's very questionable hotel reception experience is about to be remedied !

The breakfast is very good, but I’m not sure how much I’m going to pay for it.

Time to check-out and pay for my breakfast. Since I didn’t get a receipt yesterday I fear in the deepest recess of my accounting organ that I’ll be charged again, wouldn’t be the first time; maybe I am too trusting.

But No, au contraire, the owner apologizes for yesterday’s receptionist demanding money beforehand. Not standard at all, even here. And the breakfast is free anyway. Wow, the hotel just went up a star in the TripAdvisor rating.

firmly tied down

First stop is the flower shop which is 2 km downhill, halfway on the way to the cemetery. I suspect that there are no hand-shovels lying around the cemetery, so I buy two perennial colourful plants and a little shovel.

I guess not many people buy plants and then transport them by bicycle, because at first I get a blank look when I ask the salesperson for some flower-arranging wire.

I make it to the cemetery without loosing any plants.

Not exactly standard cemetery flowers, but these people deserve some colour in their afterlife

At the cemetery I find out that it’s impossible to dig into the rocky ground to any depth with that tiny little shovel. I manage to dig a hole that will contain just over half of the clematis’ root-ball, but the lampoon plant will have to sit on top of the graves and hope that rain will come in time.

Pedalling is easy today and by noon I am in Lauterecken (don’t worry if you’ve never heard about it). I discover the Asia Bistro Triangle (???), which judging by the menu is run by Thai people (But of course they have to offer Peking Duck as well). Fish fillet in red curry? YUM. I ask the waitress whether they also have Green Curry, because there is NONE on the menu. Germans don’t eat what they’ve never heard of, LOL.

Town square in Lauterecken

But yes, they will cook me a fish fillet in a spicy green curry. With all these extra wishes, I have confused her so much that she has to come back and ask me again what I would like to drink. Sylvaner of course, a dry-semisweet white wine of the region.

OF COURSE, there are no chopsticks on the table, but she actually brings me some after I ask. Maybe to make up for the fact that my curry is decidedly YELLOW and not GREEN. Also, the fish is BREADED and DEEP-FRIED before it gets thrown in the curry. WTF? I blame it on Germans, especially after noticing that all the other guests who arrive after me do so in a trapezoid manner (narrow minded, narrow footed, with big wide hips in the middle).

ON the other hand, the fish is FRESHLY FRIED (try finding that!) and the curry contains a wide variety of fresh vegetables that actually work with the flavour (instead of just yellow curry powder; I had that before, YUK)

A yummy curry and 2 glasses of Sylvaner later (This stuff hits HARDER than a whole bottle of Champagne !), it’s time to hit the road again. 35 or so km to Bad Muenster am Stein.

When passing through Meisenheim, I am drawn by a church spire that I see from the main road. Somehow this spire is different than all the other ones in this region. I actually ENTER a CHURCH, because it is so different. And I am glad I did. This church is GORGEOUS.

Just a bit PROUD, because at this time the above picture (by yours truly) is the official picture on TripAdvisor to represent Meisenheim

Time to roll on. I'm actually anxious about getting to Bad Muenster am Stein.

Soon the creek/small river that the route has been following, namely the Glan, joins the more well known river Nahe

As soon as I have checked in, I walk through the spa gardens where older people inhale in front of HUGE structures where water trickles branches and somehow releases creates an imitation of salty sea air (Only 50 years ago a trip to the actual ocean was unthinkable for most people) and down to the river Nahe.

I am shocked how nothing has changed. O.K, maybe those yellow duck pedaling boats are new. I can't remember exactly how old I was, maybe 7 to 10, when I was here, pedaling the slow river in one of these boats with my grandpa JJ. Standing here and looking over the water, time seems to have stood still for 40 years.

I didn't take this ferry with grandpa (we had boats, no need for a ferry), but I last took it about 20 years ago, a few days after the funeral of my other grandfather. The ferry (barge?) is pulled across the river by hand.

Now here is something that changed. On the other side there used to be a restaurant. I remember ordering Curry sausage with french fries. It burned down shortly after my last visit; people say with a little help from the owner. But I didn't come here for the restaurant; I came here for the Stein and the castle ruin atop.