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.

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.

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.