Today we reached the Baltic sea – riding 55 km from Raben Steinfeld to Wismar.

We started out with a scenic ride around the lake to Schwerin. A beach volleyball day was about to start at Zippendorfer Strand, a number of courts were set up and groups of teenagers were milling around. It is a beautiful little beach, with white sand and very well kept houses along the road.

The weather was changing and it first started to rain as we were coming into Schwerin. Big lazy drops at first, but eventually we were forced to find shelter. Our shelter was under a cover near a cafe with a wonderful view of the Schwerin castle (see photo below). The cafe was closed so we didn’t linger long after the rain stopped. It was still warm, even with the rain.

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The rain stopped long enough for us to ride around the other side of the castle. Small groups of people were gathering outside for some event. They looked a little incongruous in their period dress, overlaid with plastic rain jackets.

We were just about to leave Schwerin, onto the “Schwelfwerder” Island, a finger of land between two connected lakes (Schweriner See and Ziegelsee), when it began to rain again. We dashed across the road to a petrol station and sheltered in their store waiting for the storm to pass, drinking coffee. They had some comfortable chairs to sit on and the attendant was friendly. It was quite a storm with thunder and heavy rain.

Once we got going again the rest of the ride was easy. We started out with our rain jackets on, but soon abandoned them as we got too hot. Our route went over the island and then around the lake – through Wickendorf, Seehof, Hunford, Lubstorf. We turned off the wooded cycle way to have a quick look at Schloss Wiligrad, a small castle. Then through Bad Kleinen and Hohen Viechein, after which we took a long straight route away from the lake. This was an off road bike path again – to Moidentin, Mecklenburg, and finally Wismar and the Baltic Sea.

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At first we were puzzled about what this was (see photo below) – a nearby sign informed us that it is a fish ladder, funded by the EU fund of regional development. There was a cafe advertising smoked fish next door, so I guess some of the fish don’t make it.

We arrived at our accommodation fairly early in the afternoon. Other groups of touring cyclists were arriving at the same time. This was the most expensive accommodation so far, but far from the nicest. It is very basic and feels a bit like a youth hostel for adults (and our rate doesn’t even include breakfast). We had to pay more for a “family room” as the “double rooms” were all booked up and it still felt cramped. It is getting harder to find budget accommodation, probably due to the season but I think also due to this being a popular tourist area.

We added another 13 kilometres to the odometer looking around Wismar. This is evidently a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the uniqueness of the architecture. The old town is fairly extensive with old gabled houses, pedestrian only streets, outdoor cafes and tourist shops. There were also Harbour festival on the go. We went down to have a look. There were fun fair rides, rowing races and lots of stalls selling all kinds of food and novelties. The beer was overpriced (especially for something in a plastic cup) so we didn’t eat or drink there. We bought some food at supermarket and ate it outdoors on the hotel terrace in the evening.

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