Day 9: Düsseldorf to Kettler´s Haus

To Family Kettler´s Haus

(Monday - 11th June, 2018)

Today I got off to a late start again. Ate breakfast, worked on some blog stuff, and stopped at a bicycle shop in Düsseldorf to get my brakes and shifters checked out. Shifting hasn´t been very reliable lately, but pretty sure it´s just an adjustment issue.

I went to downtown Düsseldorf to try another Altbier. Altbier is, as its name suggests, an ¨old¨ style of brewing beer: top fermented rather than bottom-fermented like many current lagered beers (even such famous American lagered beers like Miller  High Life...). It is darker, and usually more complex in flavor than pilsners. I tried Frankenheim Alt and Ueriches Alt the night before and hoped to try Füchsen (Small Fox Beer). But alas, the brewery outside seating was full and I couldn´t find a secure place to lock my bike. I don´t know if they sell bottles, but maybe I´ll ask my relatives.

Lunch was a bit heavy... I ordered ¨Oma´s Hackfleisch¨ with rough mashed potatoes thiking it was like a cooked burger patty, It was more like really thick meatloaf with a tomato sauce. It was quite good, but I would regret this choice of heavy food a bit later in the bike ride.

As I went back to my bike I noticed a well-dressed 60 or 65 year old man standing over my bike, observing it. I went up to him and said ¨Hello¨ and told him in German that it is my bike. He commented on how classic my bikre looks and asked how old it is. I replied that it was built in 1985 but I ¨renovated¨ it. It was difficult taking about the technical parts of the bike that I don't know them in German. So I told him a bit about my journey. He told me he and his wife biked from Austria to Italy over the Alps in two days! But he emphasized that was a long time ago, they don´t bike that far anymore.