Have you ever had that longing desire to ride bikes in a deluge of rain? Me neither. Call me picky, but I insist on the sun shining and the temperature hovering around 70-80F, right?
Christine had 2 e-bikes and rented a regular bike for Kyle because she had lots of fun excursions planned for us. The e-bikes were amazing - as soon as you started going up a hill, electricity kicked in and there was hardly any effort required. No huffing and puffing for us fine ladies. She had both our bikes decked out with tiny vases filled with roses from her garden. I pictured fun, sunny rides along the Baltic Sea to castles and maybe a bar or two, everyone smiling and singing songs from The Sound of Music. Yeah right. Most Germans don't even know the Sound of Music movie. Also, Germany has a llittle thing called WEATHER. And you never know what that weather is going to do from one minute to the next. It can be all sunny and innocent, birds chirping, then suddenly it is pouring buckets on your head.
The one and only day we rode bikes, we headed into town to visit a local museum. I was keeping a wary eye on the clouds in the distance, but our ride to the museum was effortless and fun. So far so good. The museum was interesting with paintings from local artists and furniture and clothing used in this area hundreds of years ago. I heard an ominous noise and when I looked out the window, it was pouring rain. Oh no. After a while it stopped, and we got back on the bikes. Christina pulled on rain gear - waterproof jacket with hood, waterproof pants. She had brought the same for me but being the fashionista that I am, I declined. In fact, I scoffed at the very idea. Surely it wouldn't rain again after the downpour we had just witnessed.
It started sprinkling as soon as we rode off and then the rain started coming down in sheets. Sure doesn't rain like this in southern California. It rained so hard my eyelashes were soaked and dripping onto my eyeballs, making it hard to see. It rained so dang hard that giant puddles instantly appeared in front of us, testing our bicycle maneuverability skills. By the time we got to our destination, a local brewery and restaurant, Kyle and I were soaked through and through. We were both in a foul mood as we dripped into the outdoor restaurant. The patio was sheltered by large umbrellas and I watched as water cascaded off the umbrellas and down onto the street like Norwegian waterfalls. I was dumbfounded. We ordered beer and wine and big German pretzels which improved our moods considerably. The rain was still pouring so we ordered another round. Finally it stopped long enough for us to make our way home. Our route took us through a funny street where kids had thrown tennis shoes onto telephone wires. Wow, they do that here too?
I came down with a nasty cold the next day and my German mom insisted it was because my feet had gotten soaked and I hadn't changed my shoes!
No comments:
Post a Comment