Day 14_ From Wittenberge to Berlin

Day 14_  From Wittenberge to Berlin

 

We saw: our friend Marc, his wife Lotte and the kids, Malu and Emil, in Berlin

We ate: BBQ rump stake and gilthead bream (dorada) with asparagus in Marc's garden

We pedaled: 51 Km

Our average speed: 20 Km/h

We slept: Bristol Hotel Kempiski, Berlin

 

Wittenberge was a desolated town with beautiful abandoned buildings from the DDR period. We walked by a real estate agency where they had ads for amazing properties under amazing prices. The reason being, apparently, is because this area has still such a feeling of DDR -"grey and sad"-, that no one ones to live there! It is such a pity because it really beautiful, and would be a perfect spot for having a country house.

 

So we left Wittenberg in the morning to go to Berlin. We decided to take the train to Nauen, in order to pedal 50 Km into Berlin. This way we could advance some distance and stay 2 days in the city, since our friend Marc, a graphic-film artist who lives in Berlin with his family, had invited us to his house for a barbeque.

He bike ride was through beautiful forests and deliciously paved cycling lanes but biking into the city was awful. Smelly, noisy, crowded and impolite riders. No one said even said hello anymore. But we arrived to our destination anyhow, thanks to Boris piloting again. He is amazing at it and seems to really enjoy figuring out the map.

 

Let's not forget that the Soccer World Cup started the same day that we started our bike trip. So today, Berlin was revolutionized by the fact that Germany was playing against Ghana. Germany had to win otherwise, they would have be eliminated from the tournament. So after some German beers, a delicious barbequed Dorada fish and wine, we watched the soccer game with our friends. The Germans were dressed for the occasion, where wearing all-black uniforms with golden numbers and in the second half of the game, the Turkish hero, Mesul Özil, gave Deutschland the victory. Ironic.

 

We ended the night with some Camapri and ice and went back to our camping grounds, the Kempiski Hotel, for the sake of keeping up with the Posh Biking theme. There, resting our heads in horse hair pillows, and nice cotton sheets, we had sweet dreams. (Although my dreams were about stressfully traveling to Canada, I had gone through every security check but now, I was inside the plane and it did not know how to store my bike in the upper luggage compartment!).