On the border

Last few days been occupied with finding used push bikes for my two grandchildren who are arriving in 10 days for a weeks holiday. We have grand plans being hatched for some bike riding with Uncle J who will also be flying in for a short break. He's a hard case MTB rider..

On Tuesday I had put out an online "Seek" ad and shortly afterwards was contacted by a family in the parish who had a suitable bike for 7 y.o. Charlotte. Was in good shape and price at 25€ reasonable.

There used to be good chances of getting used bikes for free at the recycling centre but nowadays they are under strict orders not to allow anyone to have bikes others are "throwing away". They must be put aside for the refugees - I can fully understand the policy but was a bit taken aback when one of the workers at the yard suggested going down to the towns refugee home as they had so many bikes, they would almost certainly be able to give you one cheap from their selection of "For Sale" stock.

Still had the problem with 9 y.o. Elliot's bike. Needed something a bit sporty so that he could compete with Uncle. My online search took me outside the local area and happened to see a very good look bike, somewhat outside my budget and certainly way outside my "Pick Up" area. However I liked the look of it and phoned the people.

Today I drove the 160km round trip to collect it and was thrilled it was just as good as described and in the photos. 45€ was a fair price too. The village where I went called "Brand" is very close to the very famous Neuschwanstein castle near Füssen and no more than 2km from the Austrian border.

The lake in the Blip is the Weissensee just below the village and bordered by the mountains and just 1km from Austria although there is no road link here. The abandoned and semi deflated rubber dinghy has absolutely nothing to do with refugees!

It was a beautiful but very hot day, over 30°C so I hadn't taken the dogs along and thus didn't stop for more than taking a photo. Would have been nice to have had a swim in the absolutely clear and very enticing water.