Harwhich-London!

The night ferry from Hook to Harwhich was a very odd experience. The Stena Brittanica is a huge boat. There were very few passangers and very few staff. It felt a bit like a ghost ship. The only food available was a very chinese 'style' restauant that served baked potatoes and ham with noodles! The whole thing was very odd. It was also late getting into Harwhich (the wedding was at 3 O'clock). I have never been more delighted to touch English soil than I was that morning and I couldn't wait to see my family again.
Cycling from Harwhich to London, on the A120 and A12 however, was one of the most terrifying thing I have ever done. All joy I had at being so close to home quickly dissolved in sheer terror, as oil tankers sped past, just inches from my handlebars.There is no way cyclists should be aloud on A roads in this country. Certain sections had metre or so of verge but other's none. It was madness.
Why can the Government here not just build a cycle lane next to each new road? Would a metre wide asphalt path really cost that much extra?

Things got better on the outskirts of London and after a free meal of beans on toast at Little Chef I was ecstatic to pass under a road sign marking the London Borough of Havering!

I could feel myself getting closer to the heart of London. Tower Hamlets, Bow, Whitechapel, Brick lane, Cannon street station, The Strand. Trafalgar Square was within touching distance, and then, there it was. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the Olympics on a big screen and in front of them was my Mum, Dad and about 20 Chinese tourists to applaud my arrival!
Pictured here is my Mum telling tourists about the journey, they all cued up to have their photo taken with us! 5pm on Sunday the 3rd of August. ₤668 raised for Cancer Research UK.

Hook of Holland

The Dutch coast North of Hook is a vast expanse of sand dunes and pine trees more reminiscent of Mediterranian France than Holland. At other points it stretched for as far as you could see and felt more like a dessert. A really beautiful, unexpected, area.
Pictured here also is a war memorial slightly further up the coast from Hook.

Amsterdam-Hook of Holland.

Having rejuvinated myself with the riches of the Dutch Empire and the friendliness of its people I set forth ones more with home just a short breadth of water a away. Peter, a graphic designer who I had asked directions from at some traffic lights, cycled with me down to Leiden at which point I made for the coast road. We discussed many things and he was a good guide. Another thorougly good Dutch person!
Here is a pic of a bizzare flower festival I passed, a lifeboat factory, and an infatable statue of liberty at a classic car convention.

Amsterdam-Hook of Holland

A new Dutch Callbox design.

Amsterdam

The wind had completely wiped out my legs. I finally got into town at about half one in the morning and couldn't find anywhere to eat or stay. Once again the friendlieness of the Dutch blew me away and John-Paul the owner of the De Herberg pub cooked me a meal, on the house, despite his kitchen being closed, as a donation to my trip. The De Herberg was a Cheers style pub where everyone knew everyone and I soon became the focus of much curiosity. John-Paul's friend Arnold who lived a few doors down offered to put me up in his flat so I was sorted. Arnold was a youth worker in Amsterdam, a totally solid, 24 carat bloke. Staying at Arnold's also entitled me to free pizza from the takeaway place he lived above as well! Pictured here is one of Arnolds 2 dogs, Spicy.
Amsterdam is a lovely City but far too crammed with tourists. I think its a place to visit in the off season. I spent hours in the Rietveld designed Van Gogh Museum which was great. Van Gogh is probably my favourite painter and it was fantastisch to see so much of his work. The word Genius is over used but Vincent was the real deal. I came away with a far greater understaning of his life aswell.
The greatest treasure I found in Amsterdam however was the Rijksmuseum. Most of the museum was under renovation so only the highlights were on show. The museum houses pottery, silverware, furniture and paintings from Holland's golden period in the 17th century. Equisitley inlaid cabinets, Rembrandts, Frans Haas, Titians, Delft pottery, Piet De Hooch, Rubens. An extraordinary collection. If you are ever in Amsterdam, go there.

Anningahof sculpture park

Zwolle-Amsterdam

Holland is flat and great for cycling. True, but its also unmercifally windy at times. Cycling into a gale force headwind totally exhausted my legs and somewhat soured my memories of eastern Holland (Hundreds of windmills, huge fields, canals etc).
The Dutch are a great bunch. I thought the Germans were cool but Dutch is where its at. They sound like a cross between Sean Connery and Alan Hansen. I was watching this Comedian on Dutch TV and I could hear thick Scouse and Geordie aswell. I chanced upon a private Sculpture park just outside Zwolle (www.anningahof.nl) which, despite the fact it was closed, I recieved a tour of from the owner Hib. Hib a former investment banker had jacked in his career to make a business out of dealing in Dutch contemporary sculpture. The park was huge and beautifully landscaped. A hidden gem. In Zwolle I tried Dutch East Indian food. Holland used to have colonies in Indonesia and the cruisine from this region had made its way back to Holland. Pork satayed in a peanut source with Fries and mayonnaise, which the dutch have with everything, delicious!
Here are some pics form Zwolle cathedral aswell.

Hello from London!

Hello everyone! I will be finishing this blog off with a final installment of mad pictures from Holland this weekend (promise!). You can donate to Cancer Research through:www.justgiving.com/oliverdude until October 31st. The project has now raised £668 so thats really great news and will deffinately contribute to the research budget at CR. Many thanks for all your support.
You can now leave comments on here aswell which you couldn't do before so I don't why thats only just started working. Have a go and see if it works.

Meppen-Schoonebeek-Hardenburg

I had been making good time cycling across Germany from Hamburg and it had taken me less than two days to reach Meppen from Hamburg a distance of about 240km. The weather however was turning against me and I was now cycling into a strong headwind as I crossed over the border into Holland. This was totally exhausting. Dutch roads are well set up for cyclists so this was some recompense.

I had know idea there was oil in Western Germany. There were several dozen of these wells along the road approaching the Dutch border.

Bremen-Cloppenburg-Meppen

Getting out of Bremen turned out to be as almost as hard as getting out of Hamburg. Once you get on to the red roads its very straight forward, 90% of them have cycle lanes, but these are often linked by Autobahn when they reach cities (no speed limit, very scary!). The whole thing is not well signposted for cyclists either.

Pictured here: The road outside Lastrup after I was completely soaked to the skin by a sudden thunderstorm. It was a warm day and I was cycling west in the late afternoon. The rain and sunlight were so intense I could see only a few metres in front of me. The experience was quite extraordinary. I was totally overwhelmed by water that was almost on fire with sunlight. It was as if someone had smashed me over the head with a giant liquid glitterball! I continued cycling and was dry within a few hours.
Late night lorry convoys coming over the border from Holland

Hamburg to Bremen

Negotiating your way out of German cities by bike is not straightforward. The best option is to take a compass bearing and distance to the exit road and keep going. It took me a good hour and a half to get out of the complicated road system connecting Hamburg to its sister city Harburg. A very tedious experience.
A very kind hotel owner in Otterburg just outside Bremen let me camp in her garden overnight and use the hotel showers. I had been making more of an effort with the language and it was paying off. I had a very energetic conversation over dinner in one pub with a man who thought Lobscouse was the most delicious meal ever. He had given me some very dirty looks when I entered but warmed up when I attempted some German.
The centre of Bremen is a UNESCO world heritage site, containing several excellent examples of late medieval architecture. It was heavily bombed in the war however, more so then Lubeck, and it's town centre is full of ugly post war buildings. As beautiful as the surviving medieval town is, it was another example of this tragedy, and a reminder of what might have been.
Pictured here: A Hamburg Canal 'canyon', A bridge leaving Harburg, A trompe l'oeil frieze on the outskirts of Bremen. Public sculpture in Bremen.

Rote Flora, Hamburg

Apologies for the poor drum sound. I had to film it on my phone. An amazing club, very friendly and relaxed. The Rote Flora (Rotten flower?) is a meeting place/commune for counter culture in Hamburg. A decaying wreck of a building held up by spray paint, the site is prime real estate but the owner, the son of wealthy industrialists has refused to sell.

Hamburg

Lubeck-Hamburg

I had really been looking forward to seeing Hamburg. My brother has visited several times and was particularly impressed by the Rote Flora anarchist clubhouse in the Sternchanze district. I could have spent a great deal longer in Hamburg. The city feels really energised but is not too vast or overpriced to become overwhelming.
Being a weekend in the middle of July it was virtually impossible to find accomadation which didn't cost a small fortune but I did eventually find somewhere half reasonable at 2 in the morning in the sex district!
Probably the most defining aspect of Hamburg for me was the proximity of heavy industry to the cultural centre of the city. On the south bank of the Elbe, right in the centre of town, the cities shipping industry builds, loads and renovates everything from container ships to oil tankers. Cranes and docks working day and night stretch along this bank in both directions for miles. Regeneration along the north bank of the Elbe is at full tilt and I have never seen as many construction cranes in my life. There is a real buzz in the air.
Throughout my trip I have endevoured to sample local foods and I did not realise how unique the culinary character of Hamburg was until I came across a very fine restaurant opposite St.Michaelis church. The Old Commercial Room is a fantastically adorned restuarant. From the signed photos on it's walls it seemed that there was not a celebrity on the planet who had passed through Hamburg and not eaten there Right Said Fred, Samuel L Jackson, Henry Kissinger.
I explained to the waiter that I was after a local speciality and he recommended without hesitation the Lobscouse. Not only was this dish served only in Hamburg he informed me, it also took a long time to prepare from an unusal cut of beef and came with a certificate detailing the recipe and commemerating the experience. I don't think I have ever been as excited or intrigued before the arrival of a dish before.
Lobscouse is a paste of beef which has been hung for about a month and potatoes. It is then served with two fried eggs on top, pickled cucumber and beetroot. As I was warned the appearance of the dish was not going to blow me away. This was somewhat of an understatement!
The paste tasted fine with the egg yolk and pickles but after that quite bland. Certificate in hand however I was not disappointed. Sometimes the weird, wonderful and unique are satisfying for being these things alone.
Pictured here is the interior of St.Michaelis church a quite incredibly ornate building, the view from the top of the spire and wood carvings in the church doors. The meal of Lobscouse. A viewing platform on the waterfront. Three men in the traditional dress of German carpenters on their graduation day. Street lighting on the waterfront. The interior of the Rote flora anarchist house and a video of a punk band there.

Lubeck

Lubeck is a beautiful old city and deffinately worth visiting if you are in North Germany. It was bombed in the war and the Cathedral bells have been left shattered on the floor of the East apse where they fell as a memorial. Having been to Coventry and seen the devestation that befell one of the greatest medieval cities of Europe it was hard not to feel emotional here and in Bremen, two other medieval treasures. It was seeing this damage that made me realise just how much Europe lost during these years of madness.
Pictured here are the gates to the city.

Fehmarn-Lubeck

Inexplicably ignoring the advice of the tourist information lady on Fehmarn I decided to shun the coast road down to Lubeck and work my way down futher inland via Oldenburg. It was in Oldenburg that I came across an odd little restaurant tucked up a hillside. The eccentric but friendly Chef and owner, Kurt, insisted that there was no menu and proceeded to make me possibly the most delicious meal I ate during the whole trip, a huge steak with horseradish, galic butter and grilled vegetables for eight euros!
Pictured here: Kurt, Me with a Norwegian Father and and Son who I had met in Pansdorf, they too had been been in Christania and were cycling from Oslo to southern Spain. A flower, fruit and veg seller in Lubeck, the bronze door handles of Lubeck Cathedral.

Rodbyhavn-Fehmarn

From Rodbyhavn I got the ferry to Puttgarden on the German island of Fehmarn. Pictured here: A locally made road sign. A garage door painted in the regional coat of arms these appeared everywhere on the island on anything from gateposts to mailboxes, notice the depiction of the bridge above it, a strong source of local pride. The bridge leading to the German mainland. The sign warns of the danger of high wind to cyclists, I crossed on a blustery day and it was quite difficult to keep a straight line.