Visitor from afar

Just got back to Gommern after spending 10 days touring around with Stu. It was great - a bit of a hectic itinerary, but we wanted to show Stu as much of the area as possible. So, when he first arrived, we drove through Gommern (stopping for coffee and cake with Matthias' parents, cousin, and Oma) to the house in the Harz, where Stu (pictured to the right with some bovine friends) was able to shed the jet-lag. The next day, we went to Wernigerode, an old town in the Harz mountains with a pretty castle (second picture to the right). We also took a short hike to a cave and ruins of an old monastery (circa 900 AD) near the house. Fortunately, we had great weather for this part of the trip.

On Sunday, when it began to get cloudy, we drove to Dresden, where we visited the Zwinger museum (at least the section with art by the old Dutch masters.) We also visited the FrauenKirche, a church in the middle of town that was destroyed in WWII on which restoration was just completed last year. We also walked quite a bit around town, admiring the scenery, and ate lunch in an historic keller (cellar) restaurant.

As the typical German weather (rain) set in, we left for Prague, stopping in Terezin on the way. Terezin, or Terezinstadt in German, was a town used in WWII as a Jewish ghetto and "transit camp" before prisoners were sent to extermination camps further east. We also visited the nearby prison camp, where Jews and non-Jewish "enemies of the Nazi regime" were held in unbelievably horrid conditions. It was a sad and distressing, but important, visit.

After Terezin, it was a short drive to Prague....or it would have been, if we didn't have to drive completely through the city (which doesn't mark routes very well) to our hotel which was so far out of town that it was off the map! Yes, the pension was nice, but a bit too far from the center, in an all-residential area. But hey, at least we got to live like the real Prague-ers. (Prague-ians? Praguens?) During our stay in Prague, we had some nice meals, and enjoyed touring the neighborhoods by the old town square and castle, as well as the Jewish quarter and old synagogues. Stu is pictured here on the Charles Bridge.

After Prague, we drove to Karlovy Vary, a Czech spa town located near the German border with a number of hot springs that have medicinal properties. It was a beautiful town, our hotel was lovely and central, and we had fun sampling the water from the springs. Pictured to the right is a view of the town from a nearby hill.

Finally we spent the last three nights in Berlin, where Stu met a friend from Italy. I really loved Berlin - despite the fact that Gommern is only about 1.5 hours away, I had never spent much time there (never more than a few hours at a time.) So, it was great to be able to stay for three nights. We went to the Bundestag (home of the parliament), Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Altes Museum, and Kreutzberg (neighborhood known for immigrants and young people....kind of east village-esque.) Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the charger for my camera battery, and Stu isn't much of a vacation photographer, so we don't have many pictures of our 10-day adventure. Then again, for those of you who are tired of sifting through my albums (is there anybody out there?), this may be a relief. Anyway, the photos are included at the end of the Germany 2007 album (link to the left.)

So, we're off in a few days....this Friday (18-May) unless there is a downpour that morning (not unlikely.) The next update will be from the bike trail, where I have decided not to take the laptop (major withdrawal is about to set in!) I guess the entries will be a little shorter, but perhaps more frequent. As a recap, we are planning to ride from here along the Elbe river to the North Sea, and then join the north sea cycle route through Holland to Belgium, then Scotland (by ferry and bike), Norway, Denmark, and back to Germany. Here's hoping for good weather and tailwinds!

Bremen, Becks, and Bikes

We are still waiting to start our next bike tour, and still awaiting Stu’s visit (this Friday.) Since the last entry we have been enjoying the unseasonably warm and dry weather in the Harz mountains (where I’m writing this now) and spent a weekend in Bremen visiting Katja and Thorsten. They were great hosts, showing us the best of Bremen – home of Becks beer and the Werder Bremen football club. We had loads of fun touring the old town, drinking Becks (regular, Gold, and Limon) at the riverside beer garden (and at home), riding bikes along the Weser and rowing a rented boat through the park. A highlight of the visit was our side trip to the Fish Market in Hamburg. Matthias has always talked about this market as something special, and it was. It’s only open on Sunday mornings (around 3AM until around 9AM), so we left at 5AM for the one-hour drive to Hamburg. Many of the people there were out all night – partying around Hamburg’s famous Reeperbahn (a red-light district) but there were also quite a few serious shoppers doing their grocery shopping for the week. They sell everything there, from fresh and smoked fish, to fruit, meat, candies and souvenirs. What makes the market really special (besides the live band in the market hall) is the way items are sold. Hawkers yell out to the crowds, making jokes and telling stories, as they fill up a bag or basket with loads of goodies and then offer it at a lump sum (cheap!) For example, the smoked fish guy would take a newspaper and load it up with smoked salmon, some trout, three eels, etc., etc., and then offer the huge package for 15 Euros and wait for someone to bite (kind of like the opposite of “fishing” I guess.) Then, the transaction wouldn’t be complete without ribbing the customer a bit. We ended up buying about 3 kilos (about 7 pounds) of fresh fish filets for 15 Euros – and cooked up just a bit of it for dinner the next night. Katja also bought a huge basket full of fruit and vegetables for 10 Euros. Great deals, and lots of fun!

After our three-day visit (after all, fish and visitors begin to smell after three days) Matthias’ parents picked us up in Bremen and we were once again off to Hamburg. We visited Matthias’ cousin Sonja in the afternoon and in the evening went to see the German production of Mamma Mia. It was a good thing I had seen it before, because the whole thing (including the Abba songs) were in German. Still, it was great fun! (Yes, Mamma Mia is still Mamma Mia in German. Same goes for Waterloo….)

We got our bikes back last week and have done a little bit of riding around the area – but unfortunately, we are far from being in shape for our ride. Hopefully all of that will work itself out once we start (as it did last year.) In the meantime, countdown to Stu’s visit….2 days to go! Looking forward to showing him the sights, and hoping the weather stays as good as it has been.