Another summer, another bike tour !  This time a trip across Germany from Berlin to the Rhine, then up the Rhine to Koblenz, where it joins the Mosel / Moselle.  I will head west along the Mosel / Moselle in to France, perhaps even a bit of Luxembourg, and then when I get in the region of Verdun I will start heading north along the Path of Peace which follows the front line of the First World War, up towards the coast, breaking off to get to Dunkirk and the ferry home.

Why ?  Adventure, exercise, nice cycling, time away, simple life....

I flew on the Tuesday form Brum to Berlin.  All worked well.  Thanks to Ryanair. I left the day after my last Latin GCSE exam - the poetry paper, Virgil’s Aeneid Book Six, for those of you who remember it ! - which wasn’t the best timing, but there are only two flights a week from Britain’s Second City to Berlin, and I wanted to get at it and not wait until the weekend before travelling.  A couple more days between exam and leaving would have been comfortable, but I did get everything organised and planned and was ready to go Tuesday morning.

Schoenfeld Berlin Airport is now the main airport for Berlin, the other two, I think there were, have  closed.  It’s to the southwest of the city, which suited me for my travels.  I stayed in a very hip, cool, iPartment Hotel, where everything was done on your phone.  Until it didn’t work !  It was very convenient for the airport, and very de nos jours, and I was able to get myself sorted out, bike built back up, and ready to leave early in the morning.  The weather is a bit like in the UK, brightish, but with a bit of a chilly wind.  It promises to get warmer as the week goes on.

Cycling in Germany is a delight.  I’d say 95 % of the trip today was on dedicated separate cycle paths, not just some mean dual purpose strip, but built for bikes, mostly by the side but separate from the road, and quite often leaving the road and traffic some distance away and heading off across country.  People stop at roundabouts and at junctions to let me through.  None of that “I’ll mow you down if you so much as think you are going to cross the road before I get by”, which you get in the UK.  I’ve said it before, but I will say it again - we should be ashamed.  Mind you, there is a great deal we should be ashamed of - how the country is run, the aggressive attitude of people to most things and to others, the useless infrastructure, a morally bankfrupt and incompetent Conservative government, Brexit Britain, Nigel Farage, Rish! Sunak, Librium Liz, Boris Johnson, and even that self-satisfied Lordy Cameron who arrogantly and carelessly unleashed the Brexit demons.  Sorry ! I still feel very sore about the whole Brexit business and the lies and misleading that took place. Anyhow, on a more positive note, Germany provides all that is needed for this cyclist.  

Once out of the environs of the airport, I was in to the Brandenburg countryside, very flat and wooded, with little towns along the way, all seemed to be called Dorf-something or other. Past fields of asparagus, spargel, it being the season apparently, and to celebrate tonight I had cream of asparagus soup.  I think the German asparagus is whiter and milder tasting than ours, and perhaps a bit thicker and bigger,  but still delicious.

Lutherstadt Wittenberg is named after Luther who was a monk /friar here and posted his reformist theses on the cathedral doors.  The rest is history.  Lutherstadt is the Lutheran Vatican / Rome, and many earnest Lutherans come here to see where it all started.  I think I might have agreed with Luther about many things. I’ve been here before, I think when I was cycling the Elbe / Laba route from Hamburg to Prague.  The hotel I am staying in used to be called the Luther Hotel, but has changed its name to Martas Hotel  Maybe Luther’s wife was called Marta ?  It’s even got a stillness room, aka prayer room.  Maybe it doubles up for yoga or pilates ? Anyhow, it’s just the same hotel, albeit with new Marta / Frau Luther branding, comfortable, and with secure bike storage.  Suits me.  Dinner was asparagus soup, as mentioned, and pasta with baby calamari.  The calamari were disgusting, undercooked and slimy.  I put them to one side.  I think it’s caused a bit of consternation in the kitchen;  they keep popping their heads out to look at me.  I won’t be doing the sights of Lutherstadt, seen them already.  I will have an early night and get an early start tomorrow.  I did 75 miles today, and it has taken its toll, and I’m pretty tired.  I will sleep well.

Tomorrow I head further west, and will be camping tomorrow night on the banks of the Saale.  I don’t enjoy camping, and have got out of the habit, but feel that I should in order to be an authentic bike packer.   Weather looks set fine, with no rain, and getting warmer.  I’ve chosen a nice camping place, which has a restaurant, showers etc.  I mean, there is no point in slumming it too much, is there ?  If tomorrow night goes well, I could be inspired to do more camping ! Preferably glamping.

I’ll have another instalment of my stream of consciousness for you tomorrow !

Berlin -Lutherstadt  :   Lutherstadt - Bernberg. :   Bernberg - Blankenberg  :  Blankenberg - Einbeck  :  Einbeck - Kassel  : 

Kassel - Kirchheim  :  Kirchheim - Marburg  :  Kirchheim - Limberg/Diez  :  Limberg/Diez - Mainz  :  Mainz - Koblenz  :

Koblenz - Krov  :  Krov - Remich  :  Remich - Verdun  :  Verdun : Verdun - Reims  :  Reims - Amiens  :  Amiens - Arras