Prague, Neisse, Oder, Usedom, Berlin Cycle Tour

4 – 21 May 2010

Tuesday, 4^th May

We left Riniken in grey weather with a miserable forecast, especially for the coming Thursday. We met Georg at the Bären Inn at the top of the Bözberg Pass, had a drink, and set off for Basel as it started to spit. By the time that we reached Frick it was raining, and continued to do so all the way to Rheinfelden, where we stopped in the old town for another drink, and to dry out a bit.

Afterwards, it had stopped raining, so that by the time that we reached Basel, we were more or less dry, except for our feet. We found a very nice Greek restaurant up past the Zoo for an evening meal before returning to the station to wait for the City Night Line (CNL) at 21:07.

Our mental state was really rather low because of the weather prospects. A couple of beers in the restaurant car before bed helped to cheer us up a bit, though.

Wednesday, 5^th May

We arrived in Prague at about 11:00 and started by finding our hotel, the Hotel Tosca. We were able to check-in earlier than the official time of 14:00, but it took an age. Eventually it was done, though, and it was a treat to have a shower!

We sorted out how to get a day ticket for the metro, trams and buses, and we went into the old town, starting at Republic Square, then past the Town Hall with its astronomical clock, and on to Charles Bridge, which was, like 2 years ago, being renovated. By this time, we were getting in need of some food, but it was difficult to find anything to our taste because it was so touristy. Eventually, we jumped on a tram, and hit lucky after a couple of stops - ham eggs, and beer for about CHF 7.50 each.

After our meal we took a tram up to the castle, and looked around the cathedral - impressively large, but spoilt by all us tourists. We wandered down the hill to the river, across the bridge, and back into the old town, finding the Jewish synagogue. By this time, we had had enough of traipsing around and fighting the cold. It had also started to rain. So we took a tram back to the hotel for a rest before finding somewhere to have an evening meal.

After the meal in a noisy pub just up the road from the hotel, it had stopped raining, so we went for a quick foray by tram down to the old town. It was midnight before we got to bed.

Thursday, 6^th May

This turned out to be quite a hard day - contrary to my expectations. First of all, I underestimated the distance by about 20 km; secondly, I assumed that a route down a river would be simple, which it wasn't; and thirdly, the weather was against us.

Getting from the hotel to the A2 cycle track along the bank of the River Vltava (Moldau in German) was, with the help of a compass, no real problem. Following the route along the river was also not too bad, except for one point not far from Prague, where the river did some S-bends and I lost my orientation for a while. There was a stretch of stony river bank that made DDR cobblestones seem like smooth asphalt, and there was also a long stretch of "single-trail" with a vertical drop into the river on one side. At that point, I decided that it was safer, if somewhat cowardly, to get off and push rather than risking a fall into the river. It also rained heavily for quite a while in the morning.

Fortunately, it stopped raining before the "single-trail" stretch, but the trail remained muddy with horrible tree roots to contend with. We also stopped to brew-up coffee and shelter from the rain at Zamky, and that helped to pass some time waiting for the rain to stop.

We stopped for a small bite to eat at a stall at Libcice, and from there the going got easier until we eventually reached a ferry crossing over the Vltava at Luzec. It took a while to raise the ferryman in his house on the other side of the river, and all the time heavy black clouds were approaching from behind; it was only another 8 km or so from the other side to our day's goal of Melnik, where the Vltava joins the Elbe.

At it turned out, it was about 30 minutes too far. The heavens opened before we got there, so we ended up getting wet through again by the time we got around to looking for a hotel, which was definitely a pity. Georg also had his bike chain come off for the final steep push up to the centre of Melnik. However, we found a very good hotel with huge rooms, and managed to dry out before looking for evening meal. It was only Italian, but very good.

Friday, 7^th May

Amazing! We woke up to sunshine and blue sky. After yesterday's cold rain, it was a real treat. Breakfast was also very good.

We started the day by calling at the tourist info centre in Melnik. They were able to set us off on the best way by bicycle to Doksy, but couldn't help us regarding accommodation in the day's goal of Straz. So we set off from the town - it was very fresh, but nice and sunny, so we were able to ride in shorts.

After a short, steep descent to the main by-pass around the town, which we crossed with difficulty because of the heavy traffic, there followed a long climb along cycle track 203. However, the top turned out to be a relatively level plateau, so the cycling became easier, despite a stretch of dirt road. The route continued into a beautiful, wide, limestone gorge following a stream with vertical cliffs, all the way to a coffee halt at Kokorinek. From there, it wasn't far to Raj.

From Raj, the cycle trail became number 143, and started with a long, steep climb to cross over a watershed, and finally went past the impressive castle of Bezdez and on to Doksy, where we brewed-up tea and had a picnic lunch in the town square. We went into the tourist office to ask again about accommodation in Straz, to find that it was a 1-hotel town.

There is no reasonable cycle trail from Doksy to Mimon, so we followed the main road. The traffic was very light, if a bit fast for Georg's taste, and the going was easy. So we were soon enjoying a beer in Mimon, with Straz only a few km away.

The last stretch of the day, along cycle route 241, was a bit up and down, a bit like in Finland in the area around Sysmå, but it was very, very quiet. The route went around another impressive castle on top of an isolated hill, and then we were in Straz before we knew it.

The housing in the town is dire, communist block style apartment blocks, and there is a single hotel. At least it is very cheap (~CHF 36 for 3 people), but unfortunately there is no breakfast. Our room is on the 7th floor!

The town was apparently founded as a result of uranium mining in the area. Now that the deposits have been exhausted, many of the residents apparently commute to the Skoda factory in Mlada Boleslav, or work in related supply factories. In any case, it is really very drab and characterless. The evening meal of schnitzel and chips was adequate, but not very exciting

Saturday, 8^th May

We started the day with breakfast in our room, after Georg had insisted on being the one to go shopping for something to eat. The lady in the reception had loaned us a kettle, so making tea was easy. After breakfast it was a case of getting out of the hotel and onto cycle route 3007, which was supposed to take us to Osecna. Unfortunately, just a short way out of town, there was a junction with no visible cycle track signs. I took the main road, which set off up quite a hill, rather than going around the edge of the lake. This road went round a sharp bend to the right, but a dirt road went straight on east, the desired direction. We took the dirt road, and it got worse and worse, sandier and sandier, steeper and steeper, but still kept going east, until we had to push. Fortunately, we met 3 foresters, who set us right, and got us onto tarmac again, even if it was rather rough tarmac, and on to Osecna.

From Osecna, where we passed a large group of German hikers (there seem to be very few Germans around, despite the proximity of the border), we followed the main road for a short while to Kotel, where we could take a quiet, if somewhat hilly, side road to Cesky Dub, where we had a well-earned, late-morning coffee.

On leaving Cesky Dub we picked another minor road leading to a possible goal for the day, Hodkovice. As is often the case, there was a nasty climb to get out of the town, but it turned into quite easy going after that and we were able to stop for a picnic lunch just before getting to Hodkovice.

Our possible goal for the day was a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) indicated on the map on the way out of the town at Radonovic but, before getting there, we had to negotiate a drastic road-works at the autobahn underpass. There then followed a horrendous climb that went on and on. And there was no sign of a B&B. In the end, we got to a saddle, and were able to look down into a new valley with a town in it, and another town at the top of the hill opposite. We thought that the town in the bottom was Rychnov, which was correct, and that the other was Jablonec, which was wrong - it is very hard to read the contours on our Czech maps!

With there having been no accommodation in Radonovic, we had to rethink our strategy. The guide book indicated some 300 m elevation gain from Rychnov to the source of the Neisse, and only 250 m from Jablonec. We therefore thought that it would be worth going through Rychnov and on to what we thought was Jablonec to finish off the day. However, the climb from Rychnov was endless and steep, much bigger than it had looked from the top of the hill, and certainly much more than 50 m. When we got to the top, we saw the real Jablonec at the bottom of the next valley, a long way below us. The town that we had reached was the small town of Kokonin. From where we were now, the source of the Neisse was only 7 km away with not much climbing to do. So we decided to visit the source first, and then find a hotel in Jablonec for the night. It worked out well. We had the source to ourselves, and very nice it was too with the late afternoon sun. It was amazing how quickly the tiny trickle from the source turned into a decent mountain stream with water seeping from the gravel all around.

We had trouble getting our bearings in Jablonec and finding a hotel. We managed it in the end and have a huge room for the 3 of us for a very reasonable price. We also had a huge evening meal for a very modest price. If all goes well, we should be in Zittau in Germany tomorrow night.

By the way, today was a public holiday in the Czech Republic - celebrating victory in Europe in 1945.

Sunday, 9^th May

This was quite an easy day. We were expecting it to start with a strenuous climb out of Jablonec up to cycle route 3038, which we had followed yesterday to the source of the Neisse, and from which we had looked down on Jablonec, but it turned out to be quite easy.

We were on quite a main road, and were looking for a turn-off to Radlo. Unfortunately due to Kari's eagerness, we turned off too soon onto a forest track. This started off in the right direction, but petered out after quite a descent, so we had to turn around and climb back up again. After that, we were soon on the official Oder-Neisse cycle route with its green triangular markings, and managed to follow it without difficulty as it skirted around to the west of Liberec.

The route is marked quite well, on the whole, but the markings are sometimes very widely spaced, so one often has the worry of having taken the wrong turn at a junction. We did that just once today at Machnin, where we missed a left turn after crossing the river, and went up a hill unnecessarily before we realised our mistake. We could have kept going and picked up the route again in the next village, but it looked as though we were going to miss a nice gorge, so we turned round to pick up the correct route again. It was a nice stretch, but was also quite strenuous.

On the whole, though, it was a day of easy going with lots of gentle down-hill, very little traffic, and very pleasant scenery. The distinctive tower above Liberec, Jested Tower, which we had already seen 2 days ago, and which we have slowly gone around in an anticlockwise direction, has now disappeared behind us.

We reached the border town of Hradek just before 14:00 in time for a late lunch. We ate a big meal to use up our Czech money, especially the loose change. It was then a short stretch from the town back to the cycle track along the river, over the border into Germany, and on to the charming old town of Zittau, where we had decided to spend the night. We had a modest home-made sandwich for supper.

Monday, 10^th May

For once, I was able to catch a bit of the weather forecast on the TV before breakfast. I didn't catch it all, but it looked pretty bad with plenty of rain during the day. Given that it had unexpectedly rained during the night, this was not very encouraging.

I was, in any case, a bit depressed. I had read a tourist information booklet the previous evening about the industrial history of the area and, in particular, the history of brown coal mining between Zittau and Görlitz. There were huge deposits of brown coal, which had been mined for over 250 years, increasingly intensively, until they gave out (except for a remaining field near Turnov on the Polish side of the border) in the 1990's. Since then, local industry has been depressed, and probably explains the many delapidated buildings that we have seen along our way. When one thinks of the huge energy demands of the big cities today, it's hard to see how it can all be sustained when one sees that this relatively small area can exhaust such huge coal deposits.

Anyway, we had a good breakfast and set off with Görlitz, a mere 40 km away, as the goal for this "rest day". It was very pleasant cruising along with no hills and a tail wind along the banks of the Neisse. After just over an hour, we reached the Kloster St. Marienthal, which made a very pleasant stop. It's basically closed to the public, but one can stroll around the grounds, and buy an ice cream.

On the way, we had passed the so-called Neisse-Pillar, where the open-cast mining in Poland had started to threaten the stability of buildings in the DDR until they got shored up.From there, there were impressive views across the river to disused open-cast mines in Poland.

From the Kloster, we continued to Ostritz, where we were able to buy the necessities for a picnic lunch, which we enjoyed on the banks of the Neisse on the outskirts of Görlitz. We had fried sausages on bread with cake to follow. We then spent a couple of hours sight-seeing in Görlitz - a beautiful town. Unfortunately, Kari discovered that she had a puncture, which needed fixing before we could go on. We went up the tower of the church of St Peter and Paul, but it was disappointing - and expensive. One was only allowed to go up half way, and even so it cost EUR 2 per person!

As I mentioned above, we had intended to stop in Görlitz for the night, but the going had been so easy, and it had not, despite the forecast, rained at all, that we were not ready to stop. So we decided to go on to Rothenburg, a further 25 km or so. The hotel there might also be a bit cheaper, we thought.

The going actually got a bit tougher, since the wind had changed and was now against us. The route was extremely pleasant though, so we reached Rothenburg in not much over 90 minutes. We were dithering around on the town square when a lady asked us if she could help. When we said that we were looking for accommodation, she recommended a guest-house, and phoned to check that they had space for us, It turned out to be perfect, and cheap to boot - EUR 40 per person for full board!

After eating, we walked into the town to find a bit of night life, but it was deader than Brugg. On the way back, it started to rain!

Tuesday, 11^th May

We woke up to grey skies and rain drops on the windows - not very encouraging. However, after a good breakfast - the Neisse-Aue Gasthaus in Rothenburg is well worth a visit - it was at least dry, if cool, so we set off. I made the mistake of trying to make do with shorts, assuming that it would rain at some time, but it turned out to be too cool, so I changed to long trousers when we stopped to brew-up coffee for our lunchtime picnic in Bad Muskau. I put on normal gloves too, which was also good.

The cycling has become very straightforward, at least if one stays on the German side of the border. So we decided to make it a bit harder at Podrosche by taking a 20 km stretch through Poland to get to Bad Muskau. At least there was no traffic, but every now and again there would be a stretch of cobblestones, I think where there was a tendency for flooding. They were so rough that they made the going very hard indeed, and very slow.

Eventually, though, we got back across the border into Bad Muskau, rewarded ourselves with an asparagus soup and very nice cappuccino, and intended to sight-see the town for a bit like we had done in Görlitz. The town turned out to be too small, so we just found a nice spot in the town park, the Fürst-Pückler Park, to brew-up and eat the packed lunch from the guest-house in Rothenburg.

We then continued the remaining 30 km or so to our day's goal of Forst, a rather uninspiring town. I suspect it suffered very heavily in the war, and was then "blessed" with DDR-style apartment blocks. We found a rather drab looking but very adequate guest-house, and had a very nice evening meal in the town, followed by a game of darts in the guest-house. What more does one need!

Wednesday, 12^th May

The day started late because Kari wanted to visit the Weaving Museum in Forst, and it didn't open until 10:00. It was well worth a visit; there are the old carding machines, spinning machines, and looms from the former mill, with 2 men acting as guides, who had obviously worked on the machines until the mill was closed in 1991 following the re-unification of Germany. All the machines are in working order, and were demonstrated.

We then set off on the cycle trail to the north. It was very green and scenic, but really rather dull, mostly cycling on the top of the Neisse dyke until it joined the Oder after about 50 km. The Oder is wide with lots of water (about 350 cubic metres per second at the moment). There are huge barges chugging up-stream very, very slowly.

We reached our goal of Eisenhüttenstadt by mid-afternoon, and found a reasonable B&B. Our Chinese meal this evening was very disappointing, though.

Along the way, we could do with a bird expert to help us to identify the numerous birds. There are lots and lots of bird calls that we can't recognise. We had a warm day, for once, and it didn't rain. The forecast continues to be bad, though.

Thursday, 13^th May   (Ascension Day)

We awoke to a sunny morning, but it didn't last. It clouded over, and there was a cold NE wind, but at least it stayed dry. The landlady sat with us over breakfast, and told us something of the collapse of Eisenhüttenstadt since the fall of the Berlin Wall. She was of the opinion that things were better in the DDR!

We set off early with Frankfurt (Oder) as or first goal, but with Georg pressing to get as far as possible. It was Ascension Day, also known as Herrentag (Men's Day) in Germany. There were lots of cyclists out and about with bunches of lilac on the handlebars, and groups of men obviously intent on drinking lots of beer.

We made good progress, and were soon having coffee and cake in Frankfurt. The cycle track had also become more hilly, a welcome change from the rather monotonous Oder dyke.

However, soon after Frankfurt, the trail returned to the dyke, and it was simply a case of winding away to maintain 18 to 20 kph with the wetlands of the Oder to our right, and the lowlands of the so-called Oderbruch to our left.

Our goal for the day was Kienitz, a total of some 80 km, and where there was a group of guest-houses and B&Bs. When we arrived, though, and found them all to be full, we started to realise that a warning, which we had been given by the 4th person sharing our CNL compartment on the first day, a resident of Dresden, that accommodation might be hard to find during the Ascension Day weekend, might become reality.

We tried telephoning B&Bs listed in the Bikeline guidebook, without success, either because there was no answer, or they were full, or the handy's reception was very marginal. We changed tactics, and headed away from the Oder in the direction of Wriezin, a larger town with a railway station, and lo!, after just 3 km in the village of Ortwig, we found a not-very-promising guest-house, and it had a 3-bedded apartment available for only EUR 18 each. We were very lucky. The evening meal of salted pork shin and pork cutlet with roast potatoes was very good too; much, much better than last night's Chinese meal.

We could do with it warming up, though. It has turned really cold.

Friday, 14^th May

The guest-house in Ortwig, Richters Gaststätte, was really very good and to be recommended. We had breakfast in our room with nice fresh bread, salami, cheese, jam and honey. But it was still cold, and the wind was generally against us. Essentially it was a case of ticking off the km cycling along the Oder dyke. There were very few guest-houses. It was 27 km to the first village, where we bought ham and cheese, but the baker was too far off the route to go to - we thought we would soon get some bread in the next village. We also managed to cycle past all the guest-houses except the last one, and that was not yet open. So we didn't get our morning coffee either. The next baker turned out to be in Schwendt, after a total of 62 km!

Between times, however, we had a break from the tedium of the dyke. As we reached Stützkow, we found the dyke route closed, and a diversion via Criewen signposted. We followed the signs to the best of our ability, but probably missed a critical sign somewhere. We ended up on a "single trail" through mud and sand for some 3 km to Criewen. At least it added variety to the day.

By the time we were through, it was only a few km to Schwendt, unfortunately along a rather busy road. We had decided to make sure of our accommodation for the night in Schwendt with the help of the tourist office. The young lady there phoned a guest-house in Gartz for us - very simple.

After buying bread we had a rather cold picnic by the church. Afterwards, we had a look at the church, including a climb up the church tower - very impressive. The final 20 km to Gartz were mainly along the dyke again, but with a short stretch through pine forest. As a compensation to the rather monotonous cycling, there's certainly a lot of nature to be seen, especially wetland nature. Today there have been storks, swans, kites, a crane, and a roe deer, not to mention the many bird and frog calls.

Saturday, 15^th May

There's not much to report for today. It was raining and cold when we got up for breakfast at 08:00, and was still raining and cold 2 hours later when we set off.

The Oder-Neisse cycle trail leaves the Oder after Gartz, since the river flows over the border into Poland. The trail gets more convoluted and hilly, but the main problem was the head wind and rain. After 2 hours we had had enough and called it a day in Penkun. It was a pleasant hotel but, all the same, a very long afternoon despite a look at the church and a long look around the Schloss Museum. The museum is in the middle of renovation, looking all right from outside, but rather run-down within. There are a lot of interesting household memorabile to be seen.

Sunday, 16^th May

This was a much longer day than intended. I think that Georg wanted to spend the night in the same guest-house in Usedom as last autumn - anyway, he was quite definitely the driving force, if not always in front.

The day was at least dry, if very grey, to start with, and the wind was favourable. We stayed on the main roads as far as Hintersee, rather than following the cycle track, to make it a bit shorter, and with the thought that there wouldn't be much traffic on a grey Sunday morning, which turned out to be the case.

We were soon in Löcknitz, and headed straight on to Hintersee to stop for a coffee. In the meantime, it had started to drizzle, occasionally quite hard, and the only guest-house in Hintersee was closed. So we went on to Rieth, quite a lot of the way along a very nice "single trail" through a pine forest. Since it was a) a Sunday, so we couldn't buy a picnic, and b) it was still drizzling, we stopped in Rieth for quite a big lunch. Then it was on to Ueckermünde, and decision time over coffee and cake.

Should we stop in the town for the night, or press on 30 more km to Usedom? Georg phoned the ferry at Kamp to check that it would be running late enough for us (the tourist office was already closed), and then phoned the guest-house in Usedom to reserve a room.

We had a short 2 hours to do the 20 or so km to the ferry, which should have been comfortable. As it turned out, the wind had got quite strong and was against us, so it got to be quite tight with the time, but we managed it, and were still able to enjoy the wetlands between Bugewitz and the ferry, where there are lots of water fowl.

The ferry turned out to be much smaller than last year's version, but it got us across to the island of Usedom all right, and from there it was only 5 km to the town of Usedom and our B&B. The shower, beer, and evening meal were all very welcome. The weather also cleared up nicely for a walk around the town afterwards.

Monday, 17^th May

We awoke to sunshine - quite a treat. We didn't have a very big goal for the day, simply to reach the coast at Ahlbeck and so to finish off the Oder-Neisse cycle route, and then to continue back (west) along the coast to Zinnowitz ready to catch the train to Pasewalk tomorrow.

The trail along the north shore of the Stettiner Haff, i.e. the south east coast of Usedom, was very pleasant and easy with sunshine and a tail wind. The stretch from Garz across to Ahlbeck was strenuous on account of the short, steep hills, but was very pleasant through the pine forest. Along the way we saw the heads of 3 deer sticking up in the middle of a barley field, which looked quite comical.

The crowds on the Ahlbeck and Herringsdorf promenade were a shock - people everywhere. We continued along the coastal cycle track, stopping for a sunny brew-up and picnic at a park bench to the wonder of the passing promenaders. During the picnic we were serenaded by a busker on his accordion playing tunes from the sixties.

After Bansin, the trail got very hilly, some of the hills being as much as 16%, but all very short, and it stayed in the forest along the coast, protected from what would have been a very strong head wind. We plodded on, feeling very superior as we, with our heavily laden bikes, overtook lots of holiday makers on their unladen rented bikes, which they were pushing up the hills. Eventually we reached Zinnowitz.

It wasn't clear at this point what we should do exactly, either get a train straightaway to Pasewalk, or find accommodation in Zinnowitz. In the end, we started by going to the station to try to get information on trains back home from Berlin. But the woman at the ticket desk at the station was useless, not helped by the fact that Usedom is served by a private railway company, the UBB, and not by the Deutsche Bahn. So we gave up trying, and went to the tourist office to find a room, which worked out well.

Georg and I then returned to the tourist office to surf the Net for information on travel possibilities back from Berlin, bought our tickets to Pasewalk for tomorrow, and had a beer, whilst Kari enjoyed a well-earned shower. Once we had all showered, we went for a stroll along the pier (very strong wind and cold) and finally had an Italian meal as a change from the ubiquitous chips and fried potatoes. We're hoping for a Chinese meal in Pasewalk tomorrow night, in the same restaurant as last autumn.

Tuesday, 18^th May

This was a rest day. We simply travelled by train from Zinnowitz to Pasewalk and booked into the posh (for us) Hotel Knobelsdorff, where Georg and I had stayed last year. We also booked our return trip to Switzerland on the CNL from Berlin on Thursday night.

After lunch, we had a look around the huge, red-brick church, including a climb up its tower. The tower collapsed in the 1980's just before it was to be restored. As a result, it was totally rebuilt. After visiting the church, Georg returned to the hotel whilst Kari and I visited the town museum. Georg's room, by the way, has a bath. We think he spent most of the afternoon in it!

We're looking forward to a Chinese buffet meal tonight, also like last year!

Wednesday, 19^th May

Again we got away without rain, at least from above. It had rained so hard in the night that there were puddles everywhere, and the unsealed stretches of cycle track were quite dire.

We followed the Berlin-Usedom cycle track markings religiously, which leads one through very beautiful scenery in the lower Uecker valley, but adds many, many km to the distance. Pasewalk to Prenzlau, for example, is 24 km by road and turned out to be 34 km by bike. The trail across the Uecker valley from Rollwitz to Nieden was really bad - soft sand and puddles everywhere. We got through with dry feet though, thanks to the spats.

The day was really grey with the tops of the wind turbines lost in the blanket cloud. Distant views were non-existent. The predominant smell is of rape flowers, and the predominant sound is of larks singing.

After a coffee and apple strudel in Prenzlau, we made good progress with the tail wind along the Unteruckersee to Warnitz, where we picnicked at the lake side. Then it was on to Stegelitz, another 7 km and our second night's stop last autumn, for a beer. Alas, the "Old School House", where we had stayed and were hoping for a beer, was closed, so we had to do without. There are very few guest-houses along this stretch of cycle track.

Between Stegelitz and Steinhöfel we hit a stretch of a few km of totally water-logged track. There must have been inches of rain recently, and the track was basically a strip of mud. I managed to get through without getting off to push, but it was a close thing. I was simply driven by the desire not to get my feet wet.

The route became hilly and forested through to our goal of Joachimsthal. The day's distance was getting to be quite high, and the legs, in consequence, rather tired. The lack of a beer wasn't helping either. In the end, we reached our goal and found a very nice hotel with good evening meal, and a bowling alley for afterwards. We were able to put our bikes in the garden shed for the night. The back garden of the hotel was so water-logged, that I got wet feet putting the bikes in the shed.

Just before getting to Joachimsthal, we saw a family of 5 wild boar. Earlier in the day, we had seen a couple of storks and a group of cranes.

Thursday, 20^th May

It's a good job that we did a long day yesterday because, by the time that we reached Berlin's main station, it was quite a long day today as well.

The cycling was, on the whole, not too hard, except for a short stretch crossing the autobahn just before Biesenthal. We also then made it a bit longer, and much harder, by deciding to visit Helenenau in Bernau-Börnicke, where Georg and I had stayed last year. We tried to follow tracks on the map to reduce the distance (Helenenau is some 6 km off the direct route into Berlin), but they turned out to be quite soft and wet, which more than outweighed the saving in distance.

We stopped for a nice small picnic at the base of a wind turbine near Börnicke, and had a beer at Helenenau. Kari had another puncture (rear tyre, this time) there, which made the stop a bit less relaxing.

From Helenenau, we hacked through the forest for a bit until we reached tarmac cycle tracks along the road into Berlin. We stopped for a quick BigMac on the way because I got hungry. We found the way to Berlin's main station very easily via Alexanderplatz, Brandenburger Tor and the Bundesrat. We then sortied out from the centre for about 30 minutes to find a modestly priced restaurant for an evening meal. We then returned to the station to wait about an hour and a half for the train back to Switzerland.

Friday, 21^st May

We arrived in Baden on the CNL just before 09:00, and cycled to Riniken very easily with a tail wind. We stopped in Turgi on the way to treat ourselves to a cup of Swiss coffee - welcome home!

The End