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Author: jenny

Saturday 16 May – in which we meander around some smaller towns

Saturday 16 May – in which we meander around some smaller towns

We started the day by going back to nearby Moritzburg, to have another look around the impressive schloss – set in the middle of an artificial lake with geometrical gardens all around. It was built and used as a hunting lodge by the Duke of Saxony in 16th century.

We spent some time sitting on a bench in the huge park behind the schloss – it was like sitting in a room as the hedge goes all around the bench. We took some more notes of Elsbeth’s life stories for the biographical notes we are writing. Then we meandered around to the front of the schloss and had some beers at a outside cafe on the terrace of the castle. Some people came by all dressed in period costume, but it wasn’t clear what the occasion was.

ElsbethMorritzburg

We walked around the town. There are lots of horse drawn carriages carrying tourists, with the horses looking very well cared for. We also admired some beautiful small gardens around people’s homes. At the end of our walk we stopped for ice cream cones, and Kris went to fetch the car again while Elsbeth and I sat in the sun.

Then we went onto Konigsbruck – another cute little town but with nothing exceptional to see. It was extremely quiet, being Saturday afternoon nothing was open except a kebab place. After a walk around we decided to try a kebab. The food was good and cheap and the place was friendly with a little bar alongside the kebabs. It was unusual for us to see some people smoking in a back room around some slot machines when we went to the toilet! Elsbeth had a discussion (in German) with the Turkish owner and his wife abour the election in Turkey.

Our next stop was Kamenz. We parked opposite the town hall, just as a wedding party was coming out. The bride looked much younger than the groom. This town was also almost eerily quiet.

We walked down the street to the monastery church of St Anne (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klosterkirche_St._Annen_(Kamenz)), which had an impressive old exterior. There was also an ice cream parlour opposite, and this was actually the liveliest part of the town, with a number of cyclists and families eating ice cream.

The church is now a museum, but is also evidently used for ecumenical services. It used to be the church of a Kamenzer Fanciscan convent. There were a number of interesting objects (copies of Luthers writings from 16th century, small relics, etc) in special display cases dotted around the sides of the church. Also a collection of beautiful gothic 16th century alters, with different themes. I liked the alter that showed scenes from the life of St Francis.

AlterStFrancis

 

After visiting the church we enjoyed ice creams at the ice cream parlour opposite. We then found the part of the old town wall, which had been built by monks around 16th century but it was not very impressive.

Opposite was the Lessing museum (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing – 18th century writer, playwright and philosopher). It was almost 5pm, so they let us through to have a quick ten minute look for free. It was all in German so I couldnt pick much up. There was a nice garden next to the museum with some interesting sculptures referencing some of his works.

We also visited main Lutherin church in the town (St Marien) and the site of Lessing’s birthplace opposite the church (it evidently burned down). The we walked around the church with was surrounded by graves. The oldest stones were almost completely warn away – centuries old. One of the newest was for a woman who died this year, aged 100.

Friday 15 May – in which we take in a lot of history

Friday 15 May – in which we take in a lot of history

Today we visited Torgau, another picturesque town along the Elbe, but with some interesting history. Torgau is well known as the place where the US and Soviet forces met during the Second World War, on 25 April 1945, later known as Elbe Day. This is the first fact mentioned by our hosts at the hotel when we said we were going to Torgau.

The memorial to the meeting is also the first sight we saw after we had parked. It is a plaque alongside the river overlooking a long bridge. The original bridge was destroyed in the war.

memorial

We then went into the Torgau castle, which is unique in that it still has brown bears in the moat. Only one was visible when we went by. There was an exhibition called “Luther und die Fursten” in the castle, which we went through with audio guides. It was all about protestant reformation and all the political intrigues and battles related to it in Saxony. There were some very old objects – old original bibles and other texts from 16th century, old suits of armour and robes, pictures and so on. Also a sash that one of the kings wore in battle, was then injured and used as a field dressing – he later died. It still had his blood on it and there were fragments of the musket balls that had killed him. Another object that I remember was a chalice that had been made bigger, by adding an extra lip around the edge – this was after they came to a compromise to allow the members of the congregation to take communion.

castleTorgau

Torgau is very significant because the Protestant dukes signed a treaty of mutual assistance here. It was also here where Luther and his friends worked out the articles that later became the basis of the Augsburg Confession – this is why the town is sometimes called the “wet nurse” of reformation. We visited the superintendents house where these articles were written.

I was also impressed with the castle church, which was the first Protestant church built in Germany in accordance with Luther s ideas He consecrated it himself in 1544. They had a recording of his sermon and the hymn composed for the occasion by Johann Walter playing in the church. The alter is according to Luther statements – “a simple free-standing table resembling early Christian traditions”. The most decoration is around the pulpit, which has stories relevant to the reformation – Jesus interpreting scripture in the temple as a child, Jesus and the adulteress (forgiveness by grace alone) and Jesus driving the money changes out of the temple.

The town church of St Mary is also nearby the castle and of special significance as Luther’s wife, Katharina von Bora is buried there – there is a memorial to her in the church and it was touching that someone had left fresh flowers there.

There were also a number of exhibition halls off the castle outlining peoples experiences of the Second World War – all in German but interesting to Elsbeth.

We had lunch sitting outside at an Italian restaurant (served by a Greek waiter!). The town was very quiet, just a few tourists around.

We then walked on to the town square, where there was a fun fountain featuring a bear, a dog and some jesters. Also an ice cream parlour, where we bought some yummy cones.

On our way back we went through Wermsdorf as our map indicated there was something of historical significance there – we found it – the biggest castle in Saxony. This is called Hubertusburg Castle and was built as a “temporary” residence for Augustus I. We pretty much had the place to ourselves – it is massive and some of the buildings seem to be empty and in the process of being restored. It doesn’t seem like it is really being promoted as a tourist destination, unlike other castles such as Moritzburg. One wing of the castle houses a state archives and there is a hospital at the rear of the grounds. We found out from plaques on the wall that this is the site where a treaty was signed in 1763 that ended the Seven Years war, together with the Treaty of Paris.

bigcastle

Our last town of the day on the way back was Oschatz – we only stopped briefly. Another cute town with a typical town square – it was nice that the church bells were ringing when we arrived.

Thursday 14 May – in which we go on a boat trip and celebrate Ascension day

Thursday 14 May – in which we go on a boat trip and celebrate Ascension day

We had a boat trip booked and planned through our hotel for today, so had a slow start to the morning. We got the internet working this morning, so Elsbeth and I did some catching up with news (floods in Wellington) while Kris fitted out the bikes for our upcoming trip.

Kris and I took the bikes out for a quick ride up the Elbe – just a couple of kms and back – to try them out. We passed hundreds of bicycles along the way (not an exaggeration). We began to suspect that something was going on as there was a festival atmosphere and some of the (male) cyclists had bottles of beer in their hands.

The owner of our hotel kindly led the way for us to our boat trip, which started opposite the Schlosskirche Diesbar-Seublitz that we had visited earlier. We had to take a ferry across the river to get to our boat trip, on the Clara von Assisi. There were lots of people going each way across the Elbe with bicycles. We got on the Clara von Assisi just as it was being untied from its moorings.

The boat was covered and we sat at little tables, where drinks were served (so we had beers).

boatride

A tour guide on the boat gave a running commentary, all in German – Elsbeth appreciated it and said it was very witty. The whole trip was about an hour – we went up the river for 20 min, and then back down for 20min and then up again for 20min to our starting point. We found out from the waiter on the boat that it is Ascension day, and a public holiday. It was also men’s day and men traveled to the pubs along the river with bicycles – thus the number of people out.

When we got off the boat we bought some sausages in rolls from a stand nearby. There was music and a stand selling beer and lots of people – a real party atmosphere. Most of the people were traveling on bicycles, many decorated with flowers. Also lots of young men in groups – their bicycles clinked as they went by as they tended to have beers on the back.

carnaval

We crossed over again on the little ferry and walked a couple of km down the other side to the place where we had eaten Spagel a couple of days before. It was unrecognisable from the previous traditional sleepy cafe, as there was a beer garden at the front and a DJ on the veranda. He was playing traditional music. We sat in the beer garden by the Elbe and soaked in the atmosphere. It was wonderful when the sun came out. Also interesting just looking at all the people going by – all types – some groups of older men out together, young men (tipsy), families with children.

We had some more sausage and tried out a quark doughnut. When Kris went up to get a last beer and glass of wine he got talking to a young man at the counter. The young guy then handed Kris a round of drinks that he just bought for us.

Wednesday 13 May – in which we see the Elbe Sandsteingebirge

Wednesday 13 May – in which we see the Elbe Sandsteingebirge

Breakfast at the Hotel Garni was beautifully done, with linen tablecloths and beautiful breads, cheeses, boiled egg, cold meats and fresh fruit salad. Also as much coffee as we could drink.

We then set off for a trip along the Elbe to see the Elbe Sandsteingebirge (Bastei) – some special rock formations along the Elbe. Kris took a route hugging the river as much as possible, and we rode along past Dresden again. Our first stop was Pirna, founded in 1233 and directly on the Elbe. It evidently gets flooded every now and then, the last time in 2013 – they were still repairing some of the cobbles. The bicycles from the nearby Elbe cycle route were very visible with a number coming into the town and an electric bike charging station by the tourist office.

BikeCharger

Elsbeth had a hankering for a ice cream sunday so we stopped at a cafe for one. Elsbeth had a Sunday, Kris a “spaghetti” ice cream and I had a quark-torte (cheese cake) – that I had seen on several menus so far.

ElsbethIceCream

We set off again in search of the special rocks. At one point we rode along part of the Elbe cycle track which is shared with cars (though having to give way to bikes). The landscape became more and more hilly, presumably because of all the hard rock that didn’t weather away. Kris took us along the south side of the river first so that we could view the rocks from the opposite side. It took quite a while to find – the roads became incredibly narrow in the little towns along the rivers and we reached several dead ends. At one point Kris had to reverse to let a rubbish collection truck come through. When we found them at last we stopped briefly to have a look around. There are hotels on this side of the river and also a ferry going across.

SouthSide

We then went over to the north side and made our way to the Bastei from that direction. You can’t drive right up to them, you have to park in a paid parking lot and walk ten minutes up the road. However once we got to the viewpoint it was worth it, as you look down at the river and the rock formations – far, far below.

Rocks

Looking down we could also see clearly where we had stopped on the other side of the river.

NorthSide

On the way back we detoured through the town of Stolpen to look at the Burg Stolpen castle. A castle has been here from the 12th century and is made out of basalt stone. Some TV crew vans were set up at one side of the castle.

castle

The castle has a tragic history – Anna, Countess of Cosel was exiled to it for 49 years, from 1716. She was the mistress of Augustus the Strong but fell out of favor as she interfered too much in politics. Sounds like a very unusual woman for her time, as she was well educated and also had a previous marriage. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Constantia_von_Brockdorf)

We walked around the castle, which is huge, first through the forest park on one side (very atmospheric). Then through the little village on the other side.

Tuesday 12 May – in which we walk along the Elbe

Tuesday 12 May – in which we walk along the Elbe

Today we had to move out of our accommodation, so we took some time in the morning packing the bicycles and all our other stuff back into the car. Kris managed to get them in with their wheels on this time by putting part of the back seat down and lying them on their sides on top of each other.

Our first stop was a bicycle shop near Meissen, to see about the front panniers. It was a small bicycle repair shop, but he seemed to have a steady flow of people coming through. We found the Kris’s bike can’t fit a front pannier rack, as it doesn’t have the right mountings, so we bought a large basket for his handlebars instead. We also bought some spare spokes and a bicycle computer for the trip.

Next we took a bit of a drive north of Meissen, first through Neschutz, we passed a castle (Schloss Hirschstein) on the opposite side of the Elba then came across Schlosskirche Diesbar-Seublitz. We stopped to have a look and found out that a St Claire convent had been founded there in 1268, and later destroyed during the Hussite wars (15th century). The convent church became part of a baroque castle built in the 18th century – designed by the same architect as the Frauenkirche in Dresden.

SchlossDiesbar

We had a look in the church, which has a lovely organ and some very uncomfortable pews. We also had a look at some memorials/ gravestones that had been dug up from the site – some as old as the 13th century.

We then took a little walk along the Elba – along the same path as the bicycle track. There was a little ferry going over to the other side. Also some grape vines growing on steep terraces along the banks.

ElbeWalk

We passed a couple of restaurants before we came to one where we decided to stop for lunch. We sat on a large veranda and we all ordered white asparagus (Spargel) – which is a specialty of the season. Everybody is trying to sell it, adverts everywhere.

Spagel

We then went onto the town of Riesa, which also had an old convent. When we got there we found the convent was now part of an animal park and there was not much to see, just a pretty town square.

We came back to our new accommodation at Hotel Garni Fam. Moissi in Nieschutz near Meissen and the Elbe. This is a very different accommodation to the last place. It is a small hotel run by an elderly couple. It seems they are just renovating the place so it is very smartly furnished. It even has beds with heads and feet that lift up automatically. We have a big room with table, chairs and kitchenette on the top floor. Unfortunately Elsbeth’s room is in the basement (3 flights down). The only advantage for her is that she has a big screen to watch German TV. We had our evening meal and some red wine together in our room.

Monday 11 May – in which we go to Poland

Monday 11 May – in which we go to Poland

Today we visited Gorlitz on the Polish/German border, about 120km away. We did most of the distance on the autobahn. We were surprised at the number of trucks coming the other way along the autobahn – presumably shipping goods from Poland.

The Polish side of Gorlitz is called Zgorzelec and this is where we landed first, as the Gorlitz off-ramp was closed. We spotted some large shopping centers on the outskirts of the town and decided to stop to see if we could get front panniers for Kris’s bicycle. Kris found that the salesperson couldn’t speak any German, even so close to the border. Also couldn’t help with panniers. The shopping center was very modern.

We circled around a bit and found the German side of town (Gorlitz). We parked near the old city and had a wander around.

GorlitzOldtown

One of the buildings had sun dials on it’s wall.

GorlitzSundial

There were also a couple of very old watch towers. After having a look in the cathedral, which had huge casts of it’s old bells (one called Suzette) exhibited at the back, we headed back to move the car. We then took a walk through the newer part of the central city. It has lovely wide boulevards, with trams running down the center, and modern shops. The whole place was remarkably quiet for a weekday.

We also came across a film crew on one of the streets off the main center. There were white vans parked over a number of streets, and a vertical lift crane with huge lights and lighting screens that used to shine light from the outside of the building to the inside. The whole crew were sitting on a pavement eating lunch, which was being served from a van nearby (and looked very yummy with salads and so on).

GorlitzFilmin

We found a nice place for lunch – the Golden Ostrich (Goldenen Strausen) hotel – we could sit outside off one of the main town squares. Elsbeth and I had the sauerkraut with goulash and dumplings and beer – really good.

GorlitzLunch

As we sat there a group of students went past, all dressed in funny wigs, the boys dressed as girls. One stopped to ask for a donation. She said it was their last day of school and they were fund-raising to support the school.

After lunch we went back into the Polish side of the city to see if we could draw some money in preparation for our bicycle trip. Again we were surprised that the staff at the Deutschesbank couldn’t understand German and had to call someone from the back who knew a little German. We were asking about the exchange rate as we didn’t know how much to draw. Luckily the machine spelled it all out for us (the rate is about 2.5 Zlotych to NZ$1). Communication is going to be a problem when we reach Poland.

We went and did some grocery shopping at a Carrefour on our way out of town – my favorite French supermarket. It had a large variety of goods, not just groceries. We even found a Polish English dictionary – but not sure it will be much help as it is more aimed at helping Poles with English pronunciation than vice versa. We also bought some Polish beer and some bread, cheese, etc for our evening meal.

Sunday 10 May – in which we explore Dresden and see some more schloses

Sunday 10 May – in which we explore Dresden and see some more schloses

We discovered that the car plays MP3s from a USB stick, and we were prepared for this journey by converting a bunch of our OGG files to MP3 – mainly German songs. So we set off to a suitable musical soundtrack.

Dresden has surpassed all expectations – the historical buildings around the center are magnificent.

ElsbethJennyDresden

It is impressive that so much of it has been rebuilt since the war. We spent hours just wondering around looking at all the buildings (and statues).

KrisDresden

Some highlights were attending part of the mass at the Catholic Cathedral. I found that even though it was all in German, I could follow exactly where he was in the service. It was very high church – with bells and part of the mass sung. We also went into the Frauenkirke, which was totally re-built after reunification. The rebuild cost E18 million, and was raised through an international fund-raising effort.

FrauenkirchePiano

We had lunch at a market near the center. There were many stalls selling various sausages and beer on tap. We had curry wurst and beer. We also bought some gingerbread.

Elsbeth fell on uneven paving stones near the river – thankfully she was unhurt. A number of people rushed to help pick her up.

We went for a drive to see what we could see on the other side of the river, and found the Schloss-Albrechtsberg, which Prince Albert, younger brother of the Prussian king, built for his mistress in 1854. He had to leave the Prussian court because of his marriage to this mistress, who was of a lower rank. We took a walk around the gardens admiring the views down to the Elbe river and the scent of violet bushes along the walkway.

Back in our car we circled round to the other side of the river and saw that there are two more smaller castles standing beside Schloss-Albrechtsberg. Along the river we also saw some people barbecuing, children paddling, and lots of cyclists and walkers.

We took a route through Moritzburg on the way back to Meissen and found another Schloss – this one standing in the middle of its own lake.

Moritzburg

Saturday 9 May – in which we go bicycle shopping

Saturday 9 May – in which we go bicycle shopping

Today we went bicycle shopping, which involved a trip to the nearest Decathlon in Dessau about 200km away. Decathlon is the discount sports store where we bought bicycles on our last trip – we had done our research in New Zealand and found out that this was the only Decathlon in the vicinity.

We had another long trip on the autobahn. Kris has become very good at zipping in and out at the right speeds. Lots of green and yellow fields and every now and then a group of huge wind turbines. We found the store easily, Elsbeth spotted it just as we were coming off the autobahn.

Thank goodness they had suitable bikes at Decathlon after the long drive. Only E250 each, and they come with back racks and a dynamo on the front wheel (we will have to see what impact the dynamos have on long distance travel). He bicycles are similar to the type we had last time (B-Twin), but a newer model. We also bought panniers, water bottle holders, a light tent (2.4kg) and sleeping mats.

KrisBikes

After bike buying we took a drive into Dessau and had a look at the Schloss Georgum and the Elbe river. In our meanderings we passed a field with miniature horses and one had a young foal! I have never seen a horse so small – it was the size of a dog. Extremely cute as it was very active, running around its mother.

We never found the river, but did find the Schloss, which has fallen a bit into disrepair and it seems like they are restoring it. It is surrounded by woods and gardens which were pleasant to walk through. There was also an animal park nearby where we could have seen kangaroos and alpacas if we had been so inclined.

ElsbethDessau

On our way back we took a turn off the autobahn to look at a town called Delitzsch, just north of Liepzig. The center was pretty with cobbled streets. There was organ music emanating out of the church near the center, adding to the atmosphere as we walked around. Kris pointed some roofs out that looked like something out of a Terry Pratchett novel, very steep and rickety. We found a central square, with one café open. It specialized in Russian cuisine, we all had borscht, which was very good.

Friday 8 May – in which we explore Meissen, learn all about porcelain and get free parking

Friday 8 May – in which we explore Meissen, learn all about porcelain and get free parking

Breakfast (Fruhstuck) prepared by our hostess Ute Schirner, was very good and generous. It consisted of fresh bread rolls, cold meat, cheese, boiled egg (from their own hens), jam and plenty of good coffee. Kris and Elsbeth got talking (in German) with Ute about the area and concluded there is a lot to see along the Elbe river.

After breakfast we headed into Meissen. After taking a wrong turn into the industrial area of Meissen, we found ourselves back on the right road and suddenly came across the river with the wondrous castle and church towers on the other side, and lots of old red roofed houses clustered round. It reminded us of some of the French towns we had visited together three years ago, also overlooking rivers, but Meissen is of course also totally unique.

We rode into town looking for parking – and had our first lucky experience of the day. As we pulled into park, Kris saw the man in the car next to him gesturing and was handed a parking ticket with an hour parking still on it!

Having been away from Europe for three years, we were again taken up with the beauty of the buildings, cobblestones, the statues and interesting little shops, the atmosphere of the old town. We meandered around a little. Eventually we found the tourist office and Kris booked our next accommodation in the same area (unfortunately Ute couldn’t accommodate us at Gasthaus Shirner).

Meissen

We decided to extend our parking time and see if Elsbeth could make it up to the castle. We took it nice and slow, first just a bit uphill along a cobbled street, but then eventually having to do quite a climb up a series of steps. She did amazingly well and made it to the top at a steady pace.

meissenview

The castle is the oldest surviving German castle. There is also a bishops castle, and a Cathedral with high twin towers, which is 1000 years old. We had a good look through the inside of the Cathedral, which was just beautiful and still felt sacred, even though it is serving as a museum. The high alter and choir stalls are totally separated from the nave. Some beautiful religious art, both modern and ancient, old style stained glass windows (no big pictures in the glass).

We had a luxurious lunch at a café right next to the Cathedral, sitting on the surrounding fortified walls. We sat at an outside table in the warm sun, looking out over the town and the river. We all had the potato soup, served with pieces of sausage and crusty bread. Elsbeth and I had a Meissen beer, choosing the dark variety, which was also a treat.

By this time our parking was running out again so we needed to get back to the car. We decided to take a lift down that we had seen earlier, but this put us on the wrong side of the town. So Elsbeth and I had a seat at a bus stop and sent Kris off to find the car and bring it round to us.

Next planned stop was the porcelain factory, which Meissen is famous for. Kris took us on a planned detour to the town on the other side of the river, and some unplanned detours through a nearby tunnel and along the Elbe river. Eventually we got to the porcelain factory vicinity and had the second lucky parking experience of the day. This time a lady handed us a ticket paid up until 5pm! Is this common practice in Germany?

The porcelain factory has been there for 300 years and still manufactures very expensive beautiful handmade porcelain. It was the first porcelain factory in Europe. There were demonstrations of how they shape the porcelain by hand and also how they paint by hand. There was also a museum with a huge number of historic and modern pieces – some that had been made for various European royalty, A lot of it was quite hideous to my taste, but then every now and then there was something quite lovely. It definitely gave me an appreciation for the effort that goes into handmade porcelain. We all felt quite visually saturated at the end of a couple of hours at the museum.

Thursday 7 May – in which we arrive at the end of a very long journey

Thursday 7 May – in which we arrive at the end of a very long journey

We finally arrived in Berlin after a grueling 36 hours on planes and in airports. We had to wait another four hours or so at Berlin Tegal airport for Elsbeth to arrive – schlepping our luggage around with us. We found the hire car place, drew some money from an auto teller, got onto the wifi, charge Kris’s laptop and had a good coffee and bagel at a cafe with comfy couches. Our first German bread – yum.

It was so good to see Elsbeth finally coming through the arrivals door.

Then back to the car hire place to organise the car. We left Kris to it, practicing his German with the care hire lady, while Elsbeth and I sat and chatted on some benches nearby. Kris came back to confer with us about taking extra insurance (with no excess) and an extra charge to take the car out of Germany in case we want to go into Poland. We ended up taking all the options. Kris had booked a hatchback with an option for auto transmission (automatic is good as he will be riding on the wrong side of the road). They offered him a choice of a manual hatchback or to be upgraded at no extra cost to an automatic eight seater – a Ford Tourneo Connect – which Kris took.

I was amazed when I saw it – my first response was that it looks a bit like a hearse (with dark tinted windows). Next response – this will be an excellent vehicle for buying and carting bicycles!

hirecar

It is one of those vehicles with masses of computer controls on the console, so just switching the radio off was a challenge. Also windscreen wipers on the side where we usually find the indicators. It is a big, wide vehicle, not that easy to turn around, adding just another challenge for our poor driver. It is so high that we can reach our arms right up above our heads before we touch the car ceiling. It also has a large window in the roof.

Our first wrong turn took us back into the airport taxi area!

Finally we got going into quite heavy traffic – managed to turn off quickly and head out for the Potsdam area to the South West of Berlin. We soon found ourselves on wooded roads and began to catch sight of some of the water from a series of rivers (parts of the Havel) and lakes characterising the area. We went in and out of various little settlements, some with fantastic looking homes along the water, others with cobbled streets.

Our idea had been that we would make our way to the Gastehaus near Meissen, slowly along country roads, and keeping off the autobahn. However after spending a couple of hours around Potsdam we began to get worried about how long it may take us to get there! Especially when we passed a familiar looking street more than once around a place called Babelsberg. The problem was a combination of confusing road signs in an area with many dead ends where roads doubled back on themselves. (Kris trying to cope with the confusing roads, driving a people mover and driving on the wrong side of the road). We were relieved when we found a sign that said Leipzig (right direction) so we soon found ourselves on the autobahn.

I was nervous as I had heard about the speeds that cars do on the autobahn – but happy when I saw a speed limit of 120km/hr. However Kris soon discovered that at 120km/hr he was one of the slower vehicles on the highway (either the limit was a suggested speed or the minimum expected). Cars were passing him at a pace. Kris got into the swing of things, and after a while was passing trucks at 140km/hr. or so. It honestly didn’t feel that fast – I think relative to what the other traffic was doing and the fact we were in a large car.

Naturally we made good progress – traveling around 150km before coming off the autobahn at Schipkau, about 40km from our destination, to try the country roads out again. You really don t see anything much traveling on the autobahn. We found ourselves in semi industrial areas and struggled navigating around the next settlement, Lauchhammer, which was not so pretty. We saw quite a few of those featureless East German apartment blocks – apparently with people still living in them. We stopped at a supermarket and bought some bread, cheese, cold meat, fruit and wine. The next little town of Elsterwerda was a lot more attractive, and we considered stopping for something to eat, but everything was looking closed up as it was past 6pm. Eventually we found the main trunk road to Meissen and it was quite easy to find the little town of Jessen from there. The road into the town is relatively narrow (not always possible for two cars) and runs between alternating green and neon bright yellow fields (I think the yellow is rape seed for canola oil). The yellow fields almost hurt my eyes when I look at them. After riding around the town a bit, and it is really very small, just a few streets and houses, we were relieved to find the Gastehaus Shirner.

Kris had found the Gastehaus on the Internet and we booked our first five nights here from New Zealand. It turned out to be quite a find. Kris and I had booked a double room, but have been given the self contained flat. Elsbeth’s single room is effectively a double, with an on suite bathroom. There is also a nice common dining room and outdoor terrace dining area directly overlooking the fields. It is on the edge of town and very quiet. The décor is a bit old fashioned and quirky (for example artificial flowers hanging on the walls). We become accustomed to this odd décor from various accommodations during our last cycle trip. The rooms are very clean, well equipped and comfortable, at an excellent price.

We had a lovely evening chatting, having a glass of wine (or two) and the food we had bought earlier. Kris fell asleep on the bed in his clothes and I didn’t have the heart to wake him up to shower and change.

ElsbethWine