4. day - Bleckede (Neu-Wendischthun) - Dömitz

Trip: 27,3 km (plus a couple of km by boat)
Average speed: 17,6 km/h
Max. speed: 34,9 km/h
Overal time: 9:18 h

Today's bike ride was short one because we decided to take part of our trip by boat. We left our accommodation at "Alte Schule" in Neu-Wendischthun at around ten o'clock. Before that our host served as a really delicious breakfast. There was plenty of food and we took some on our way. Actually we had been the only guests and the place we stayed could not have been more on the country side. We slept with the window open and we could hear a cow all night long. The cow had been really loud and I was wondering what was wrong with her something must have really bothered her. I would like to mention that the cow did not bother me at all (nor did she bother Mette), I was just curious to know what her problem was. I decided to ask our host: "If a cow is mooing all night long, what is her problem? Is she hungry, lonely or..." The answer was prompt and simple. The reason for a cow to moo alnight long is that her udder is full and she wants to be melked. I should have known this myself.

After we left Neu-Wendischthun we went back by ferry to Bleckede. On the ferry we could already see our cruise ship "Bleckeder Löwe" which we intended to take to Hitzacker, about 20km north of Dömitz, our today's destination. In front of the ship there was a bus and a bunch of elderly people. I was wondering whether they intented to go on the same cruise and whether we will be ending up on some kind of sales show where we had to buy under group pressure some very expensive (but useless) household devices. Mette told me that these sales shows are known in Finland too. My worries turned out to be unneccessary. The bunch of people were retired colleagues of a German health insurance company, the "Techniker Krankenkasse". Nice people indeed and some of them talked with us. Mainly they were curious where we are from and where we will go. Having them on the cruise might have been useful as we were the only passengers besides this bus load of people. I wonder whether the ship would have departed just for the two of us.

Once we arrived in Hitzacker we went of board first. While mounting our bags on the bikes another biking couple arrived. Without even greeting the woman complained to me that we would be standing in their way. She told me: "You are standing in a stragically stupid position" Mette and me looked at each other and felt sorry for her. It was obvious that the reason for her being upset was not us but her being uncapable of carrying her fully loaded bike over the small landing bridge to the ferry.

We spent a shortwhile in Hitzacker. Its main attraction is a historic old town with timbered houses built on a peninsula. We decided to take off for the 20 km ride to Dömitz after a while. The ride was excellent because we were cycling on a special bike road on the dyke. The road smooth surface, the excellent sign posts and backwind made our ride enjoyable. We passed a farm on our way and I thought that this had been the best view of today. The farm house was really beautifully restored. It was built of red brick stones with white windows and thatched roof. The stables were built in the same style. There was life on this farm. A cow was grazing under an old oak tree, some henns with their chicken and a proud rooster were picking worms in a meadow full of apple trees and some pigs enjoyed wallowing in the mud. It was just like a farm in a children book.

Shortly before Dömitz we passed the river another time. The bike path followed over the bridge a heavy trafficed and rather big overland street. It said on the poles that the bridge had been built in 1992. No wonder, some years earlier the river had been the inner German boarder and there was no need for a bridge.

We arrived at our hotel shortly after four o'clock. It was easy to find the place. Once we arrived we saw the same couple that we already got to know in Hitzacker. It turned out that they will be in the same hostel tonight than we are.

Mette and I very much enjoy this bike ride. We came to the conclusion that traveling by bike has many advantages if compared to other means of transportation. It is fast enough to get somewhere. In the same time it is slow enough to enjoy the scenery. I believe that biking is a much more intensive way of traveling if compared to car or public transportation, because it simply combines more senses. One does not only see, one can also hear and smell. And on a bumpy road you can even feel...