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.