BIKE RIDE TO SCHRIESHEIM

BIKE RIDE TO SCHRIESHEIM, SILVER MINE, TWO CASTLE RUINS
On Friday morning I started looking at my map trying to decide where I should ride since the rain has stopped and it looks like nice weather.  I saw a symbol for a mine near Schriesheim so I googled it and found out it is only open a couple times a year and this weekend happened to be one of those times.  So I decided to ride out there to check it out even tho it would not be open until the next day.  I thought I'd see if it was possible to ride there and if it would be worth riding there as a Saturday ride with Steve.   The mine is 500 years old and had silver and a iron compound used to make ink.   It was a nice ride, great weather, lots of farms, flowers, things to see, great views from up high.  I made it to the mine and talked to the old man who probably owned the property.  Steve and I decided we could ride there for our ride the next day.  After I visited the mine property I had no urgent reason to return home right away so I kept riding.  I went up to the 13th century Strahlenburg Castle which is just above the town.   Last time we where at that castle last March there was snow on the ground.   http://susanssmith2012.blogspot.de/2013/03/bike-to-ruin-strahlenburg-of.html
After that I continued south along the slope through vineyards and forests to another Ruin Schauenburg.  Then a pleasant ride home.  I don't know how many miles I went that day, over 5 hours tho and when Steve and I went the next day we rode about 19.5 miles and we didn't go to the second ruin.

These wild flowers look like morning glories but are very tiny.
They are growing along the bike paths near farm fields.
In Idaho this is called bind weed and is a bad weed
because it has roots down about 8 feet and is almost impossible to get rid of.

This was one of the bike paths through the farm areas.
Looking towards Weinheim on the hills in the distance.

Looking toward Schriesheim over the farms.

Don't know what these little plants are but to me they look like Dr. Seuss characters.

This tree farm was very interesting and well kept.
I think they are trees for landscaping as I couldn't see any fruit.
The farmer had names on the trees, so nice, but I couldn't recognize the plant names.

These are currents or Johannes berries here I think.
They are about the size of a large pea.
Grows on vines like grapes.

This is the mine site.
Anna Elisabeth

This is where the band would play the next day, opening day.
We didn't stay for the night festivities.

This is the spring at the mine site.
I didn't drink from it but I did see another bicyclist rinsing his face and arms in it.

This is looking down the hill from the mine site to the small town of Schriesheim.

You can build something beautiful even out of rocks that are put in your way.
by Goethe
thank you Friederun who translated this for me.

View of Schriesheim from the Strahlenburg Castle restaurant.

View from restaurant.

View of my bike and the top of the Strahlenburg Castle.
I am above the castle in the vineyard.

Baby grapes with town below in the distance.

The vineyards have great paths to ride along.

A winehut patio.  Self timer photo.

Winery hut sign from 1872

Largest dandelions I've ever seen.

Further along and higher on the bike path looking back at the castle and town

The rest of my ride to the next ruins was through the forest like this.
Some too dark to take photos and some too steep to ride, had to walk, and some a little bit muddy and some pretty steep down hills too.

The sign at the TOP of a really steep sections that I had to walk up.

Map to the Ruin Schauenburg.

the sign about the ruin that I couldn't read and I'm too lazy to translate it all.

The bridge over the moat

Looking across at the cliffs

The view of Schriesheim and Ladenburg further out.

Ruin wall and town below

My bike in what would have been the middle of the castle

more rooms of the castle

The wild flowers growing the castle were very pretty.
The bees where everywhere enjoying the flowers too.

There where also a few of the pesky fly's, really big fly's, sounded like a helicopter flying around.
I didn't noticed the cricket until I posted this photo.

I really like how the wild flowers grow out of the ruin walls

Riding home I like the poppies and daises growing along with the corn.

These thistles grow in many places

This was growing next to the poppies and looked like a poppy variety

Our lunch spot next to a vineyard

Lunch - P B & J, apple, drink, chips, and cookies

In the mine we wore capes and hats.
None of the pictures in the mine came out very clear, it was too dark.

3 branching tunnels.  They could only chip away 1-3 centimeters each day.

Usually 12 year old kids would be the workers to push ore carts out of the mine, the lowest paid job.

One of the shafts that we did not go down on this tour.

It was COOL and cool 10 Degrees C, in the mine.
The end.