11. day - Klein Rosenburg - Dessau






Trip: 38,4 km/h
Average speed: 17,8 km/h
Max. speed: 32,4 km/h
Overal time: 27:14h

Arrived! Mette and I arrived in Dessau today. As planned we will end our tour here. Tomorrow morning we will go back to Ludwigshafen by train. And next Monday we will take a flight back to Finland.

I probably need some days or weeks to process this trip. But alreay now I can say that it has been a great experience. We saw so many things. We passed through beautiful landscapes and we meet many interesting people. I never thought that I would enjoy this trip so much. Biking is a very good way to travel.

PS: I will post some photos of our trip to this blog during the following days.

10. day - Magdeburg - Klein Rosenburg





Trip: 54,3 km/h
Average speed: 16,9 km/h
Max. speed: 28,8 km/h
Overal time: 25:04h

This morning, for the first time during our trip we had a lack of motivation. We both wished that we could have slept a bit longer. At the breakfast table I came across a brochure of Magdeburg's suburban railway. Their offer appeared tempting: bicycles transportation free of charge. We checked the schedule and it would have suited us just perferct. There would have been the possibility for us to take a train next to our last night's hotel and get off pretty close to our today's hotel. However, I am very proud to say that we did resist this temptation and we biked.

I have to agree with Mette. I did not find Magdeburg very exciting either. Many of the buildings looked a bit dull. Besides the cathedral and the Hundertwasser house, there are rather few interesting buildings. And the infrastucture is showing many features of Soviet style architecture, mainly how the streets are arranged.

Once we left the centre of Magdeburg, the houses became more appealing. Some houses along the old Elbe riverbed are representative, indeed.

For a while we followed the dyke and shortly before we reached a town called Schöneberg I saw a young calf which, for some reasons, was outside the pasture fence. I went to the farm nearby as I thought that I should inform a responsible about this. I was lucky, the farmer was just on the court yard. I told him about the calf and the fence, but he said that everything is alright and the he does not bother that the calf is outside the fence.

I have to admit that when cycling through the Eastern parts of Germany during this trip, I liked the smaller town, the villages and country much more. The bigger cities that we have passed, like Wittenberge or Magdeburg, looked cheerless and dreary. On the other side, people that we have seen and met on the country side somehow managed to maintain their genuine friendliness and their joy of living.

Mette and I started to have a habit during this trip. Each evening we discuss about the highlight of the day. So what was my highlight of the day? Actually, today there had been two. The first highlight today was a break that we took in a small village which name I unfortunately do not recall. Anyway, we sat on a bench and ate some cake that we bought from the local bakery. That cake tasted do good. The other highlight was not a particular moment as such. It was more of a feeling, a good feeling. And this came from the fact that we, besides being a bit unmotivated in the morning, still went by bike today. It was a good decision.

9. day - Buch - Magdeburg






Trip: 64,7 km/h
Average speed: 19,7 km/h
Max. speed: 42,1 km/h
Overal time: 21:51h

Monday special! Today's report is written by Mette...

Ja, för omväxlingens skull också lite svenska (hoppas att det inte hindrar dig från att läsa).
Vi visste att vi skulle ha en lång färd framför oss, och var visst lite oroliga gällande den möjliga motvinden, så vi steg extra tidigt upp och njöt en god frukost i buffetstil på vårt härbärge.

Kom alltså i god tid iväg och hade tur eftersom det inte var blåsigt. Annars var de bekanta gråa molnen på himlen, fast idag var de inte fyllda med regn : ) Fördelen med ett tjockt molntäcke är ju att den skyddar från solen, som skulle leda till ännu mera svett och dessutom solbränd hud. Idag var det rentav lite morgonkyla i luften fram till tio tiden.

Vi hade alltså bra "drive" och kom snabbt framåt, så vi utnyttjade situationen och försökte köra non-stop. Några pauser blev det givetvis: Svens tarometer spelade lite spratt och slutade fungera för en tid, tankaden vatten i oss och köpte mera i en liten ortsbutik, åkte färja osv.

Hade otur när vi ville åka längs med den utvisade cykelvägen och ignorerade en liten skylt om att vägen inte var användbar. Landade därmed i flera hundratalsmeter fårskit (ursäkta uttrycket, men det var som jag säger). Visserligen träffade vi sedan också fåren, vilket ju i och för sig alltid är trevligt, men denna gång hade fårskötaren också sett till att cykelvägen var spärrad och vi hade inget annat val än att köra genom samma bruna och luktande väg tillbaka och ta en omväg för att komma vidare.

Lite föra Magdeburg träffade vi också på en stor sluss så vi kollade in hur det massiva verket fungerar eftersom det kom två båtar som åkte in. Enormt vilken kraft vattnet kan ha!

Magdeburg är en stor stad så gps fick hjälpa oss videre till härbärget, vid det här laget var vi faktiskt redan ganska slut (hade dessutom fått lite motvind). Var smått besvikna när ingen öppnade på härbärget, och fick inte kontakt ens per telefon. Väntade flitigt och visst kom vår värd, hon hade varit utan telefonkontakt i den lummiga trädgården och jobbat. Vi fick ett trevligt rum och skyndade att göra oss färdiga så att vi kunde åka till centrum. Tog spårvagnen och steg av vid domkyrkan. En mäktig kyrka, delvis under reparation. Intressant arkitektur av Hundertwasser, peppade på ett trevligt sätt upp centrumet som kanske annars var lite av en besvikelse för oss.

Köpte vårt kvällsmål i butiken och njöt den på rummet. Vi känner av musklerna. Två dagar kvar till Dessau, så det ger oss ännu tid till många sevärdheter längs vår färd. Vi njuter...

8. day - Havelberg - Buch






Trip: 52,1 km/h
Average speed: 16,9 km/h
Max. speed: 40,1 km/h
Overal time: 18:34h

We had breakfast in our hotel. Later on we found out that there had been a Swedish couple at the same table. Our departure time today was a bit earlier than the previous days. Our legs were recovered and our motivation was strong. Even the weather had been good. In short, excellent conditions for a biking day.

The only downside was that several times it had been difficult to find the right direction today. Once we even lost our way. Shortly before Arneburg, where we crossed the river, we found our selves biking on the dyke's turf. And around Schönfeld we ask a farmer for direction and we thought that we understood his instructions well, but still we ended up on a path which was certainly not suitable for bikers, eventhough that the signpost indicated that this should be the case. As the Elbe river made a slight turn towards west after Havelberg we currently face strong side winds. This should be over once we have reached Magdeburg, our tomorrow's destination.

A highlight of the day had been Tangermünde, with its medieval houses, fortress and churches. Tangermünde had been mentioned for the first time by bishop Thietmar von Merseburg in 1009. It had been built as fortress to protect against Slavian people from the east side of river Elbe. In the 14. century it served as side residence of the German emporer Karl IV. He wanted to support trade between Prague and the trade centres in England, Scandinavia, in the Baltics and Nowgorod in combination with the allied Hanse towns in Hamburg and Lübeck.

Nearby Tangermünde there is a town called Schönhausen, in which Bismarck was born. As it was a bit off our our track we decided not to go there.

Our today's accommodation is on a horse farm. I suppose that our sleeping rooms served as stable in the old days. We got to know a couple from Saxony who stay over night on the same farm. We went out to eat together. After we eat they invited us for a glass of vine. We had a nice little conversation.