It stopped raining in Prague...

A trip to Prague brought back memories of the few days Catherine and I spent there in 1993. Then it was cold and brisk, gypsies roamed around on alert for hapless tourists, and the premium entertainment was Blacklight Puppetry. Now the traders have moved in big time and the plethora of cheap and gaudy puppets, Bohemian crystal - not cheap and not always gaudy - painted enamelware and the usual claptrap of flags, fridge magnets, postcards and the like dominate the old town. It is hard to find a smoke-filled sausage shop selling dark beer peopled by locals. In fact, the only locals on display were hidden deep in the reside trial areas away from the hustle and bustle. A constant police presence ensured touts were kept at bay and Thai massage places had popped up everywhere including the little fish treatment to be had in full view of the passing parade along Wenceslas Square. Highlights for me this time were seeing it through Des and Ruby's eyes, wandering home along the river one evening and having a drink in Hotel Europa, still resplendent in its gloriously untouched secessionist or art deco, not sure which really, splendour.

Hotel Europa

From Prague we returned by train to Magdeburg via Dresden then onto our camping platz for the night before taking off westwards across Germany for four days of cycling, our first three in glorious sunshine. Perhaps even a tadge too hot for long days in the saddle over gravel, cobble, dirt, mud and paved cycle ways. Following Radweg 1 has been scenic, but hardly direct or easy at times. There have been hills and climbs aplenty as we have skirted the Hartz mountains; rivers and streams burbled by; and corn, wheat, oats and barley to keep us company in the farmlands. Many crops have suffered damage on account of the inclement weather of recent weeks and are unharvestable. The aromas of shed-kept cattle have been constant, doing battle with the enormous community silage repositories.

Camping at Hoxter

The Silver Fox

Our crew have been keeping us well fed and watered for which we are very grateful. It is lovely to arrive in camp to a cold beer and tasty snacks. Dinners are full of flavour with lots of salads and veggies. Yum. And we have dessert every evening too. Des visits bakeries and loads up on butter cakes of a solid German style, and tops them with berries sof all sorts. I fear I am gaining poundage regardless of the kilometres whizzing by under my wheels.

The trip has not been without drama. Liz fell on Saturday and is in hospital undergoing surgery. Maureen has had bad news from home. The weather has made some of us more fractious than others. To date we have covered about 1200 kms I think.

Munster is the most amazing place for bikes. I took the Silver Fox to the bike wash housed in the bike park, a huge hall housing thousands of bikes positioned close to the railway station. Apparently 40% of trips in the city are bike trips, and it shows in the amazing attitudes and infrastructure. I dream of such an approach in Melbourne, which I gather has just become the world's second bike city. When I mentioned this to a German man a few days ago he fell about laughing. He had been to Melbourne you see.

The Silver Fox gets clean

Bike park

 

It seems that we are still dogged by bad weather. Rain is ever threatening. There was a sudden and long lasting thunderstorm two nights ago which wiped the sweat from our brows and the smiles from our faces. Let's hope we might find blue skies and paved paths in Holland.

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From behind the former Iron Curtain

Some of you may be wondering what is happening to us deep in the German woods. One thing I'm sure Is that I saw a wolf cross the road - grey, large, careless gait. Problem is I saw it only a kilometer or two from our camp which is, surprisingly, situated deep in the woods. It is Beside a lake, or 'Am See' as the Germans say. We prefer to say 'In See' however, as it still has not stopped raining.Oh for a dry day.

Trabi broken down at Brandenburg To

The locals say we have thunder and lightning ahead until at least Prague. Having purchased an umbrella in Berlin I feel ready for anything on foot but the large navy blue cloak I bought at bicycle heaven is cumbersome, and sorry to say, not stylish. I want to throw it off forever, but it keeps me dryish, always good.

Pretzel bike

We are also writing to Angela Merkel as many of the radwegs seem to be more appropriate for teenage mountain bike riders rather than old age pensioners battling the wettest summer in Germany since cocky was an egg. Unfortunately we did not have the letter ready in Berlin as we passed her parliamentary offices where we could have hand delivered it. Damn.

Bears at Torgau

Berlin is as lovely and under construction as I remember. We cruised down to Kreuzberg and took in the notice 'YUPPIES AUS' before settling into a bar and ordering up on the beers. All sorts dwell there. We might have gone clubbing but opted for the tapas bar instead. Contacts have been made for Barcelona. Yum!

A gem was had by conversing with Frau in Bad Schmiedeberg who after telling me she had lost 20 kilos after the death of her husband - no, I am NOT suggesting anything - took me to meet the pastor who showed us into his church. The 'high'light was climbing the tower and viewing the village below.

Two brown bears in the former moat of the Torgau Schloss amused me. One stretched out in the few rays of sun that escaped through the rain clouds, one leg propped up on its cave. It seemed a good place to keep bears, but their significance was somewhat lost on me. Apparently there have been bears in Torgau since the 1400s. Nelson thought they may be grizzlies, but that seemed a trifle remote.

Eat your heart out in Belgram

If you wish to tune out of the metrics, do so now.

Sunday 8 July Copenhagen to Ystad: 72 kms, bright sunshine, TITS 3'55

Tuesday 10 July Ystad to Trelleborg: 53 kms, grey, head wind, spatters of rain, TITS 3'06

Wednesday 11 July Rostock to Krakow am See: 80 kms, rain and showers, TITS 4'30

Thursday 12 July Krakow am See to Waren: 58 kms, rain, rain and rain, lovely lunch of home-made tomato soup, TITS 3'53

Friday 13 July Waren to Himmelpfort: 103 kms, TITS 5'58, serious rain with extraordinary stretches of mountain bike riding trails. We needed to rescue Nelson, Gloria and Bob who took a wrong turn.

Saturday 14 July Himmelpfort to Berlin: 76.5 kms, 4'09 TITS, serious rain again so caught a train in from Orienberg.

Tuesday 17 July Berlin to Radigke: 118 kms, 6'38 TITS. It took 2 1/2 hrs to ride the 15kms out of Berlin. The rain stopped at Potsdam and the rest of the ride was in sunshine with a headwind. Lovely to see the sun and get out of the plastic. A great little camp ground with Herr getting us a crate of local beer to wash away our ride.

Wednesday 18 July Radigke to Rotta: 48kms, 2'56 TITS. Wolves nearby - I'm sure I felt one circling my tent during the night. I woke to a woodpecker searching for breakfast. Great day's riding.

Thursday 19 July Rotta to Torgau: 64kms, 3'18 TITS. NO RAIN AT ALL WHILE RIDING! Who cared about the strong winds.

Friday 20 July Torgau to Moritzburg: 90 kms, 5'11 TITS. Some time along the Elbe Radweg then a deviation onto Moritzburger Weg through small farms, towns and woods which opened out onto a large lake which held the reflection of a stunning castle.

 

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Hello mudda, hello fadda, here we are in Coberamba...

...if it ever stops raining, we will appreciate our traing...Can you believe it? Rain and 16 degrees. May as well have stayed in Melbourne.Well, maybe not. If I was in Melbourne there is no way I would ride 100+ kms in driving rain, but for the last two days, that's kind of what I have done. But I have been in exceptional company and have enjoyed wonderful campsites and splendid meals. The catering/luggage/dogs body crew have done themselves proud. We have dined like kings and drunk like fools, but hey, what is new?The last three nights have been spent beside clear sandy bottomed lakes. Alas, I have not swum in any.We have cruised through woods and farmland that would make an Aussie farmer envious. We have displayed much enthusiasm for the German Backerei, which should make Aussie cafes blush with shame. And we have found the best tapas bar conveniently located almost next to the laundry. Indeed, I am in heaven.

Quark and cherry cheesecake

 

 

Ruby's chicken dinner

 

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It might be the land of the dancing queen...

Leaving Copenhagen

...but I did not hear a single bar as I rode through fields of whispering wheat onwards to Ystad. We were in Sweden before we knew it - 35 minutes on the train, one scheduled every 20 minutes, with a carriage set aside for bikes and prams. Even with our 15 bikes, there was still room for more. And I suppose we were on sealed bike paths for about a third of our 70kms. Lovely!The costs in Sweden are high so even though I would have liked to stay longer, it may have broken the bank.The highlight of course was being in Ystad, home of Kurt Walllander. It may seem strange to follow landmarks through a town that are pure fiction but that's what I did and loved it.We had a windy ride to Trelleborg but arrived in time to se the town. Highlight was the public gardens replete with chooks - and lots of Austrailian birds in cages including the ubiquitous black swan and budgie.The ferry trip overnight was smooth and if it hadn't been for Maureen's snoring, it would have been peaceful too. We awarded her 8 out of 10 for effort.

Home of Kurt

Danish countryside

 

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Is it still raining there in (Melbourne/Copenhagen)?

Ny Haven

Smorebrod

Last night we met a man who wanted to know if we had located a bodega nearby. A bodega, not only the name of a superior yet inexpensive wine - I still have a bottle I believe purchased New Years Eve 1995 - is a place where young Copenhageners hang out til the wee small hours, imbibing various beverages. We had not seen an immediate bodega, but this did not dampen his enthusiasm for passing on a little local knowledge about weather and how to predict it. 'You know how it has been sticky today,' he said. 'Well, it will rain all day tomorrow.' So far he is correct. Rain. Rain. Rain. Down it falls. The summer gardens in abundant bloom will be happy today.Copenhagen is a pretty, peaceful, quiet city of 500,000 souls. Cost of living is high. There's lots of shops and cafes as well as more bikes than I have seen in a lifetime. So far I've clocked up almost 20 km of training rides, so feeling on top of my game. We are considering renaming the tour "The Old Crocks Tour" as stories true and terrible abound regarding our collective well-being. Miss Pigott has broken ribs and whooping cough, fortunately now abated. Bob is on a recumbent due to a pinched nerve. Sally is spluttering. Garis is past spluttering. John has a bit of asthma. Maureen and I share the broken wrists. It's been too wet, windy, cold (insert other weather words) everywhere regardless of the hemisphere - and so on and so forth.Jobs day today. Equipment, van cleaning, laundromating. You know the routine. Let me leave you with a note I spied in the History Museum a couple of days ago. It was pinned to a board headed "Why I came to Copenhagen".L

History Museum note

 

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We're leaving on a jet plane

The Cootamundra wattle outside the kitchen window is threatening to explode into yellow flames but only a few sparks are visible this morning as I soak un the last of the garden and breathe in the dogs, We're off - three months of adventuring through ancient cultures awaits: the first eight countries I will be able to touch and smell form the Silver Fox's saddle, and then ninth, - Morocco - will be a more languorous exploration altogether, ensconced as I shall be in a tiny hotel in the old city, all the better to stroll the medina and ogle the snake charmers, Hope you're as ready for the ride as I am.

 

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