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).

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.

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.