Dresden to Lubeck (6 days: 633.49km @ 19.5kph approx)
In the last 6 days since we last reported it has been steady riding, following the Elbe River through Germany towards Hamburg. In Dresden we checked maps and realised how big this country is, particularly if you follow winding rivers. The weather hasn't been the greatest: a strong head wind and rain showers. We are now approaching the 4000 km mark of our journey.
The Elbe marked the border between East and West Germany and we have mostly been in the former eastern part. Along the border we have cycled past old abandoned observation towers and remnants of the old fence. Many of the villages are still paved in parts by cobblestones which look beautiful but not too friendly to ride on and certainly slows down the pace.
Three days ago on the little village of Niegripp we stopped at a pension , and when the lady saw the tents on the back of the bike she asked if we preferred to camp in the backyard ( €5 instead of €50) which we thought was great. When her husband heard we came from Australia he immediately rang Siegfrid, who was home visiting from Oz. Siggy (his nickname) came over and we were shouted to beer and Jaegermeister by our host. Siggy escaped East Germany in 1966 when he was 17 and now lives in Queensland. We had a great evening and slept very well .
Yesterday we left the river and headed north towards Denmark. We are currently in the lovely old Hansa city of Lubeck. If we can get a YHA booking for tonight we might stay and have a rest day before tackling the 90km to Puttgarten where we will take the ferry to Denmark and then move on to Copenhagen and the final part of the journey.