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.

Copenhagen-Rodbyhavn

Having enjoyed an excellent few days with friends in Copenhagen it was time to start moving again. I cycled late into the night to reach Rodbyhavn. In the morning I met a German Guy called Timas who was also cycling south into Germany. Timas was a historian writing a Phd on a brigade of Hindu and Muslim soldiers who fought in the German Army during World War 2! He was a really interesting Guy and had a radically different approach to cycling which centered around beer and cigerettes. Pictured here is us cycling over the bridge onto the island of Falster and Timas in a field of Hemp on the island of Lolland.

Copenhagen-Amsterdam!

Due to time constraints I have been racing across Europe to get back to London for a friends wedding and have not had time to do the blog justice. I will be finishing this blog of in Blighty with pictures and tails from my travels so have another look in a week's time for the complete story. In brief: its been emotional.

Helsingor-Copenhagen

After a late crossing into Denmark from Helsinborg to Helsingor I made my way down the coast to Copenhagen.
Copenhagen is a city of bicycles and on entering the city I asked at some traffic lights if anyone knew how I could get to Christianshavn, the district of the town where I would be staying with some friends I had met at Ting. A really great guy called Jesper said he would show me the way but ended up giving me a tour of the city, taking me to Christianshavn and having dinner with me and a friend of mine from Norway, Daniel. Christianshavn (Christania) is unique. In the 1970's a group of Hippies moved into an abandoned military barracks on an island in the East bridge area of the city. The community grew, 900 people currently live there, unfettered by planning laws and property tax in a semi-autonomous state. The Danish Government eventually recognised the area as a social experiment although there have been moves by authorities recently to reclaim the area.
Pictured here is the spire of Vor Fresers Kirke, Our Saviours Church which stands at the entrance to the Christania enclave, a stunning building. My friend Sigve's house where I stayed. The entrance to a commune housed in a converted munitions battery. The bicycle entering the gatehouse was made in Christania and is typical of the bikes found here made by a local co-operative workshop. The bridge tower's were designed by Rudolph Gtlob and are good examples of early modernist Architecture (I was shown them years ago during a lecture on my BA). Here is also a small clip of Lek, a wonderful woman from Ting also staying at Sigve's and singing in Greenlandic.
Copenhagen is a very is a very interesting, pretty, madly expensive city. A blend of Scandinavian calmness and European bustle. I ate delicious vegitarian food and the best Curry Daal I have ever eaten there (Go to Tasty just outside Christania if you ever visit you can get a meal for the equivalent of two pounds eighty!). Also check out the bathhouse and Sauna in Chistania (make sure u by some Morrocan Rasul to smother over your body, it looks like mud but it's great).

Halmstad-Bastad-Ängleholm-Helsinborg

This area of coast has very rare habitat called dune heathland where woodland and sand dunes mix. I camped just outside a nature reserve at Mellbystrand and cooked a beautiful dinner of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and rye bread on the beach. Pictured here is the new library at Halmstad by Buro Happold, the sea turning red at sunset at Mellbystrand, some bronze age burial mounds near Forslöv a vast and elegant barn near Kattarp and some pictures of Helsinborg where I got a ferry to Denmark from at night.

Saro-Kungsbacka- Falkenberg-Halmstad

I sorted out all my stuff in Kungsbacka and finally managed to get my phone working. Orange are useless. When I arrived late at night I chanced upon Reading football club centre half Alex Pierce as I was trying to use the payphone at the station and he very kindly let me use his mobile to ring home. Reading FC were on a pre-season tour there. I wished him all the best with the club's promotion next season.

Pictured here is Maria who was mowing the lawn near where I pitched my tent outside Kungsbacka. She suggested I have a go. It was great fun until I tried to park the mower in the back of the truck.
A converted windmill I think. A cool truck I tried to upgrade to. An island off the beach at Särdal (near halmstad) at sunset.