we got our bikes fixed up yesterday at a bike workshop at a "queer wagon
platz". i got a new seat, cos although i really liked my skipped leather
brookes saddle it was really uncomfortable. today we got some tools we
need, some camping gaz and clare got new panniers, and i think we will
leave berlin on monday. we have also picked up a lonely planet for
eastern europe, a saucepan, and a tarpaulin so i hope we can carry it all!
(25/06/07) Hello. Its a bit early in the morning as I write this so excuse the lack of literary brilliance, but just wanted to scribble down some thoughts on Berlin and Germany before we hit the road again today. Its been a week and a half since we rocked on in to town and been jam packed with fun outings and demonstrations (and some not so fun for those arrested), visiting 'Vokus' (peoples kitchens) for tasty food, drinking at funky 'leftist'/co-operatively run bars and dancing at the Kopi, infamous squatted apartment block. Also cycling past the wall, past old East Berlin estates, past old war memorials, through the nice suburbs of the West, under the Blackenburg gate.. past the weird bear statues everywhere.. its a great way to check out any city!
Quite a few cycle karavaan mates and other chums have also been part of what we call the 'G8 dregs'
staying on a little too long after the protests to really justify it as a reason for still being
here - Berlin is just so darn cool! So we have all had a great time exploring the place and often
end up commenting on and comparing it to England and London.. Why does the Berlin
'alternative/anti-capitalist movement' appear more actively involved and sorted when it comes to
spontaneously organising a solidarity demo and getting a couple of hundred people on the street,
or putting on Voku's every night of the week? It is a bit unfair to compare as a few things seem
to influence the phenomenon; here there are no true 'squats' but housing projects that thus have
long term agreements which provide an assurity that a project or event can survive quite a long
time. But even still I've been amazed at how passionate people are here about providing 'autonomous
spaces' and how much energy they put into creating the alternative lifestyles that go with the
philosophies. Its inspiring!
OK, time is up on the computer so will leave the ponderings for now. Cheers to all who made our stay
in Berlin!
Leaving Berlin
Monday
We are not very good at leaving cities. When we left London the scheduled early start turned into a
4pm departure, and Berlin was the same. There is just too many distractions. So after visiting the
bike shop, using the internet, getting some last minute tourist shots by the wall and a falafel sandwich
we cycled out of the city. We were a group of four for a while, joined by Rachel, who cycled us to the
outskirts, and Saskia, who we recruited to ride to Ukraine! The sun was shining, but not for long.
In keeping with the last week (all the weathers in one day) a thunderstorm rolled in and dropped loads
of water on us.
(02/07/07) We didn't make it off of the Berlin map this day, but still found a nice forest to camp in.
It was good
to be camping and cooking on a fire again although not too happy about reappearance of the ants and mossies.
Our secluded forest was not so secluded it turned out. In the morning an articulated lorry carrying logs
was on our doorstep, but when we told them we were leaving soon they didn't bother us.
Tuesday
Spent the day fighting a headwind, and probably did massive zig zags because we soon were navigating
without a map. Help was at hand though, in the bizarre but flukey form of the Europa Skate Way, a
designated roller skating path (nice smooth asphalt!) linking towns, complete with information maps
en-route.
After lunch on the Beruth village green we found a clothing bank with the door open, and so did some good rummaging for clothes.
More thunderstorms and torrential rains; by the time it got to the evening we couldn't cope anymore and hid under the tarp in a forest till it stopped! Good luck was on our side regarding camping spots. Just when we were ready to drop we found a beautiful spot in a pine forest, a bit more concealed than the previous night.
Wednesday
Cycling through very quiet villages and beautiful forests (is germany all covered in forest?) the
wind had got even stronger. We struggled to Herzberg, then around Herzberg in search of the elusive
supermarket. Eventually had a nice long lunch on the church lawn, where some friendly locals looked
first a bit curious, then brought us some tourist brochures (including a local cycle map, which proved
invaluable) and a Herzberg branded shopping bag. We decided a road map would be a good acquisition to
avoid zig zags and so got one that gave Berlin to Czech border.
Thurday
The flat terrain started to change to gentle hills, and then to big hills. We met a friendly local cyclist
25km from Dresden who took us his route into the city. Was a great help and source of local information.
Felt a bit bad we made him late for work cos we were slower than him carrying all our luggage. The descent
into Dresden was really cool. A long, steep drop with great views of the city. It started pouring with
rain when we got there so we weren't really in the mood for sight seeing, more just hungry and tired. Saw
some cool old building though, and a nice bridge, then followed the Elbe River cycle route out of the city.
At this point the scenery changed dramatically to a river valley flanked by steep forested hills and cliffs.
The sun set between the hills, over the river behind us. Free camping was a bit tougher this night, the only
flat ground belonged to peoples gardens. Just when we thought hope was lost a picnic table complete with roof
appeared out of the darkness. Home is where the bike falls!