Day 23

Bit of a nothing day. Got a bit lost getting out of Poznan. I don't know what it is but city centres are fine. The inbetween bits between cities are fine. But getting from the edge to the middle of a city always prooves to be a pain. Made it to Konin. Pretty but dull town. Very austere. Lots of tower blocks neatly arranged in rows, and freshly painted. Very neat, but lacking in atmosphere. The further east I go the smarter Poland looks.

Day 22

A rest day. The day past with me stumbling abouth thinking to myself "I do like Poznan", sitting in the old town and walking to the lake.

Day 21

I suspect Poland must have some very lonely lorry drivers. I suspect this as I noticed in a coupe of lay by's prostitutes waiting for business. I suspect they were prostitutes, or may be hitch hikers taking somewhat extreme clothing measures to attract a lift.

Anyway, the day was sunny, then rainy but I made it to Poznan. I like Poznan a lot. I found a squat close to my hostel which had political talks (in Polish, so I stood mute and confused) and a performace art show in the rather dark damp basement. I did not really understand it. It featured a woman lying on the floor whilst a man put a step ladder ontop of her. This was acompanied by rather screechy saxaphone music.

After a little while I left, wandered and found that the Malta music festival was finished. So named not after the country but the lake in the middle of the city. It being free, covered ( it was wet) and having a beer stall I settled in a watched a few bands before crashing out rather drunk later on.


http://malta-festival.pl/en/?langset=true

Day 20, Poland.

Polska baby! My first impressions are odd, Poland looks like esat Germany, but quite so well "done up". A curious site was the amount of scrap yards full of ex millitary equipment. Tanks and helicopters happily rusting next to clapped out Opels and Mazdas. I passed through a town called Gorzów Wielkopolski. A bit of a shock. Very run down, neglected even. Not the prettiest introduction to a country.

Although not a huge day I still managed to make a bit of mistake and almost turned onto a Motorway. Fortunately a chap in a car was there to shout at me. I figured I had better stop and rest. Whilst slouching in my guesthouse room I switched th TV on and noticed that English language films when dubbed still have the english version audible under the dubbing. 

Day 19

A great start to the day with a whizz along a closed (due to a massive fan park and TV screen for the World Cup at the Brandenburg Gate) Strasse 17 Juni and the Tiergarten before heading off via lots of iconic Berlin sites and out towards Poland. I like Berlin a lot. And it was good to be in a big city after riding through the countryside and smalll towns for so long. Mmm Skyscraper I Love You.

I finished the day at Seelow, just short of the border. A town that post unification pretty much closed down. There are derelict things everywhere. It has the feeling of a set for a cult horror film. I half expect to find a woman's head inside my wardrobe in the hotel. Thankfully all I find is coat hangers and a bit of dust. They must have covered their tracks.

I spent my evening exploring as much as I could. I managed to get into an old abandoned theatre and mooch around. It was rather big and must have had many a ply during the communist era. Now all that the stage holds is broken glass, lights and sound gantries watched by upturned chairs and damp. 

Day 18.

For a while I thought following the Berlin Mauerweg would be a interesting route to explore the city of Berlin and it's surroundings. I also felt curious to see what was actually left of the Berlin wall. Well I followed the northern loop from Potsdam to the Brandenburg Gate and I can say almost nothing. What did strike me is the sheer size of the wall. One can read statistics of length and breadth, but to spend one full day until rather late riding just about half the route left an indelible impression. What one see's now however, along what was the death strip is mainly forest, a quick grow conifer and silver birch mix. One can also see many nice houses for the well to do and rich that have sprung up along the rivers and lakes that sepertae Potsdam from West Berlin. I guess as the Wall came down prime construction site became available. Anyway, as one cycles what are noticable, especially through the forested sections, is mile after mile of shorn fence posts. A clear indicater of where the wall once was.

One nice change I did see was the conversion of a former guard tower into a wildlife conservation hut and learning centre for school children to study the forest ecosystem that has grown where the wall once was.

Day 17

A quiet day today. No riding. Just lots of walking in the rain at Potsdam. I had a look at Sans Souci. The gardens are free but one has to pay extra for entrance to the palace. I'm not sure about the "modest" description of Freddie's summer palace. It still looked rather sumptuous to me. He loved cherries apparantly, and was prepared to pay the modern equivalent of 100 euros for a single cherry. The decor was bright, interesting, lots of roccoco and chinois. I hired a little radio thing with earphones to learn more about the palace. Unfortunately as is often the case with these things there was a tendency not to get to the point in descriptions of life and construction of the palace but more a desire to present the story of Freddie, his royal entourage and the palace in a somewhat fawning and cutesy manner. I kept skipping through the commentary and noticed that most other visitors were doing the same. 

Day 16

Potsdam! And lots of rain! I stopped at Lutherstdt Wittenburg in the rain, and had a brief look t the Ctaherdral. Unfortuantely for me it is in the process of being done up so it is coverered in tarpaulin. I made a break from cycle paths as well. Crossing Europe is taking too long and cycle paths are too circuitous. So I decide to follow the main road tp Potsdam. As it is Germany there are cycle paths adjacent to the road, so I whizz through 70kms in an afternoon. This will be my new tactic.

Day 15

Blood hay fever. Sneeze, sneeze, wheep, wheep. Nice ride tho. I got to Dessau for the evening, and saw lots of Bauhaus stuff. Lots of clean lines and ordily living. However there is an element of Dessau that reminds me of Basingstoke as a kid, all that concrete I guess. The town was still dead after half 8ish. And a wander around the city showed that there are many apartment blocks, but very few apartments have their lights on. All very peaceful, dark and quiet. I end up contemplating what German people must do in the eveing. No one is out, and it would seem no one is home either. There must be something happening somewhere, a party of immense size, a gathering of disproportionate curiosity? I could not find an answer so went to bed. With my lights off. Perhaps that is where everyone is.

Day 14

From west to east. Today I crossed the old West/East german border at Eckertal. Now marked with a sign and statue of two pwople shaking hands through a gap in a wall. I noticed a bit of a change as I continued east. The twee medieval towns stopped, to be replaced by the austere lines of communist era apartment blocks. Perversly these made a refreshing change, as it was something new to look at and cycle through. The towns are getting smaller too. Gasterslaben was my finishing point today. Another very quiet town. Quiet is good however, as it leves roads free from heavy traffic. Anyway, it has been two weeks and I am still to make Berlin. I feel I have underestimated the size of Europe.

Day 13

Getting a bit better at the distances now. 100km days are very much possible. And regularly as well. As I am now in a post Garmin phase of the trip I am having to Navigate the old School way, by use of maps. Fortunatley cycling in Germany one is well catered for. Maps and signposts are eveywhere, so I take a photo of the map, and press on. No faffing with electro gizmos. Just cyclng and I think my miles have increased as a consequence.

So, again a long day. With some tough, bumpy routes, forest tracks and abandoned roads left for cyclists to use. It got so bumpy it shook my front wheel loose, and a bolt from my mud guard! And a very large and very curious field full of marijuana out in the middle of nowhere. I made it to Goslar today. Another pretty medieval town. There seem to be many of these around here! All very nice but all very quiet.

Garmin Update

It is broke, kaput. Piece of rubbish. I think the bumps have done for it as the USB plug at the back has come loose and now it won't charge. I shall not shed a tear, bloody thing. I should have thrown it into the river at Greenwich as I was so tempted to do.

Day 12

I am getting even more nervous about the distances today! Lots of cycling took me through Hoxtar, a very pretty medieval town to Holzminden. A curious little town with a massive closed down factory in the middle, with a brand new shiny job centre buit next door. I guess the folks who lost their jobs will not have far to go to sign on!

Day 11

To Verl today. A little lost in Munster before heading east through the countryside. Small town Germany is quite like small town Netherlands to look at. Unfortunately rain stopped play a little early. Food then a brief watch of the England Uruguay match, which made me chuckle as the camera panned to the Uruguay fans after they scored their second and amongst them was a lone Scot going absolutely bananas! 

Day 10

A swift swift day along many a river bank to Munster. A pretty town if not so exciting. Nice lake to walk around and pretty churches. Curious as one restaurant has a urine yellow fountain just in front of it. I decided not to eat there...! Lots of Doms, and Shlosses. And lots of cobbles. I am about to become very aquainted with the German love for cobbles...

Day 9, Germany.

Deutschland baby! A manic day crossing about a bazzilion big bridges before I finally made it to Germany! My firts real experience of small town Germany with an overnight stop in Vreden and a B and B owner who did not like the small town attitude of where she lived and made sure I knew about it!

Day 8

Rest day in Nijmegen. It was lovely to hang out with Leonie, a friend I made in Malaysia 14 odd years ago and had not seen since. She now has a little one, Eli, who like to whizz around on his little tricycle and put things away and in the bin! I suspect when he grows up he will be very house proud! Nijmegen I think has changed since my lasy visit 8 years ago. I am sure much of it has been smartened up and parts pedestrianised. It remains a nice little town and a great place to kick back for a day.

Day 7

To Nijmegen to see Leonie! I followed the cross Netherlands cycle route (L4a for the geeks out there). It is a very nice ride, and well sign posted. The Dutch system seems to be quite easy to follow. Red sign posts for direct cycle routes. Green for sightseeing. I had a little stop in Arnhem to have a look at the bridge. It is very big! Arnhem seemed nice but admittidly I did not see much, only the river.

Day 6

I have a feeling this may take longer than expected. My mileage is not so great! A bugger of a head wind, some confusion with the sign posts but I made it as far as Utrecht. I found a cheap hostel, free food but 25 bed dorms. I hate dorms. I thought I might stay up and watch England play at the soccerball championships. I chose not to as I was knackered. I woke up to find England had done an England so I was quite glad I missed it.

Has free wifi

killed the internet cafe?