Berlin BBQ

Germans - just so damn tall!

Shortly after arriving back in Berlin, the parents of the guys held a barbecue in my honour. It is great to see the guys again and have a chance to talk to the parents about the trip.

Rostock and Gustrow revisited

Rostock

 

This time we receive no guided tour on the ferry to Rostock.

On the way to Gustrow, we take Google Maps advice which leads through a field of hundreds of sheep. No matter how often Google leads us down uncrossable paths, the guys blindly follow Google's shortest route suggestion. The sheep turn out to be the highlight of the road to Gustrow.

That field of sheep

Again Gustrow provides us with some culture. This time in the form of two school plays. The guys have become minor celebrities and a breath of fresh air among the teenagers in Gustrow.

As we are running out of time and, I feel, motivation to cycle further, we stay in Gustrow for an extra day. The guys decide to take a train the rest of the way to Berlin. As they are in charge, we spend the last day of the trip onboard a train.

Introduction to cathedral organ playing

The guys are proud to announce that they have spent a total of ~360€ for the 19 days for all five of us (per person we spent on average 3.80€/day). This means that they get to split the remaining ~240€ among the four of them. I just hope that they realise that this was only possible due to the very generous people who let us stay with them and provided us with food during our journey.

The theatre crowd

Heading south

To make our life easier, the guys decide to retrace our route back to Rostock, staying in the same places as on our way here.

The route south proves hard-going with a reasonably strong head wind every day, especially on the stretch to Idestrup. Everyone is going to bed early in Koge and Praesto, due to lack of mobile phone battery life. All rejoice therefore when we find electric sockets and a kitchen in Idestrup. The guys stay up late until after midnight, barely talking to each other, each engrossed in their mobile games. Next time I will insist on a mobile phone ban: no GPS, no phone, no games, no social networking... I think this would be even more of a challenge for teenagers, as simply cycling and camping for three weeks.

Danish hospitality

Beach, just outside Copenhagen

Seems like having no further destination has left us all a little aimless, as we tour about the city. We avoid the major tourist attractions and spend most of the afternoon cycling about and grocery shopping. Shopping with the guys proves extra taxing in Denmark. Everything must be cheap, regardless of how low quality the food is.

On arriving back to base, we find that there is a large school class staying in our shelter. Luckily for us, they have extra food and give us enough food for the next day too. We enjoy food that is beyond out budget; namely cheese, pastries and juices.

Copenhagen, we reach our destination.

The guys dig into some lentils.

Lasse has a very hard day today due to developing a cold in the night, but battles through it. What helps us is having a tailwind blowing us to our destination, Copenhagen.
There are free shelters located on the outskirts of the city and we are most impressed by the cityscape before us and the facilities to hand, especially the opportunity to build a fire and use the massive inbuilt grill.





On the first night we cook lentil soup. Again the guys have accepted that they would be open to new culinary ideas from me, even if it costs a little more. We also use the fire to cook popcorn (the guys are immediate fans) and tea (quite sophisticated). We have such fun, we opt   to spend a second day at this location.

Recharging a phone in the wild.

Køge, on holy ground (nearly)

Where did we leave Linus?

We arrive in Køge and ask at a church to sleep somewhere in their wonderfully landscaped gardens/ cemetery. Not sure if the minister knew we were coming, but he finds a spot for us on the perimeter of the church grounds. I get the feeling that he feels that God is really testing him by sending this motley crew to his doorstep and this the very evening when whe is expecting guests.
Again, I get to choose what I would like to eat and we have white rice with roasted vegetables in a coconut sauce. The guys are skeptical at first, but enjoy the meal.

Præstøv by the sea

 The cloudy sky and lower temperatures mean that the gang is not struggling with dehydration on the daily rides and sleeping better at night.
Denmark has proven more difficult to find free accommodation, but there they guys tell me that it is allowed to camp for one night on public land in an emergency. Our emergency is to save the cash we need to feed ourselves for the next week and a half. There are even designated areas with tables, fireplace and regular rubbish collection and it is to such a place near Præstøv we steer our trusty steeds. The small site neighbours the sea and provides our first opportunity to build a fire, something that really gets the guys excited.
I get to prepare a salad and feel reinvigorated, after so long eating somewhat foreign, to my body, beige foods, such as pasta, white rice and cheap white bread.

Toasted trousers and shoes a la Flynn

Denmark ahoy!

We start the day at 6am, and this comes as a shock to everyone. As planned, we meet up with Lasse at the ferry terminal and the gang is united once again.

Lasse looking somewhat bemused on the bridge

 The guys have arranged that the ferry tickets are free. What makes the ferry extra special is the guided tour given to us by some of the crew. Firstly of the catering areas and more excitingly, the engine room and finally the bridge.
It proves challenging to face the Danish headwind, even if our journey is only 25km today. We cycle on to Idastrup where we overnight with, yes, yet again, on church grounds. Having full kitchen facilities tonight we dine on potatoes (a step up in my mind from pasta), Quark (soft cheese), Sauerkraut (pickled cabbage).

Paul taking a siesta while Flynn organises accommodation

She even made us breakfast to get us on our way

Rostock, last stop in Germany

Another day, another bike malfunction - Paul in action.

The fantastic weather breaks just as we enter Rostock, with tropical storm rain lasting over an hour. We stay with a priest once again, and are glad that we can take a shower after being soaked through.
Once again pasta for dinner. The lack of fresh vegetables is getting to me and the guys agree to salad and lentil soup as a change from the very pasta and dairy orientated diet thus far.
An early morning start next morning, means that we visit our beds a little earlier than usual tonight.

Güstrow, a chance to meet the locals

Our first puncture of the journey befalls us as we exit the campsite. Despite my boastful assurances that my tyres yield seldom to such inconveniences, I am the victim of poetic irony. Thankfully today's stretch is all of 21km, with good cycle paths speeding our journey to arrive in Güstrow before lunchtime.

What an amazing backdrop

Friday night is JuGu (church group) night

Yet again we will be hosted by an evangelical church. This time a more impressive and striking building in the centre of the city. Emma shows us around the grounds and invites us to join her in a youth church meeting that is held every Friday evening. The promise of food and games makes an easy decision.
The meeting is hosted by the parish deacon and consists of a meal, singing practice and an interesting psychological discussion on how people best demonstrate and receive affection for each other. There are broadly speaking five "languages" or ways that people do this, and the language you best express your affection is not necessarily how you best receive it. The interactive discussion does provoke some interesting questions among the primarily teenage group. The only criticism I can level is the religious context, but maybe that's just me. The sing-along Christian rock songs and prayers do seem disconsonnent in this otherwise informative and lively Friday event.  It all strikes me as being a hip new way to ingratiate floundering religious ideas into the next generation. In defense of this event and the teenage-focussed religious teachings, I can offer no alternative situation where teenagers can openly pose the more existential and psychological questions they may have as they approach adulthood. The central tenant that God "has your back" during these troubling and confusing times, is less convincing.
Lasse is collected by his father in order to attend his confirmation at the weekend. The group looses a member for the next two days until we meet up for the ferry in Rostock.
We decide to spend another day here on church grounds as Rostock is only 45km away and we have plenty of time to get to our ferry. After a lazy morning, we take in some culture at the castle. There we have been invited by some of the teenagers, we meet last night, to spectate at a classical music recital. Although it costs us 5€ per person, we decide that it is something worthwhile. The recital room is unusually decorated, at least to my eyes; sculpted deer, with real antlers, provide the ceiling boarder - imagine an ornate hunting lodge.
The recital has some highlights, with young people of all ages, playing a myriad of classical instruments and dancing ballet.
After playing some boardgames (El Grande, in could play again) and supping on Greice (never a dinner in my opinion), we went to the nearby lake. There we meet with some of the girls from the previous night and had a swim as the sun was setting.Our first puncture of the journey befalls us as we exit the campsite. Despite my boastful assurances that my tyres yield seldom to such inconveniences, I am the victim of poetic irony. Thankfully today's stretch is all of 21km, with good cycle paths speeding our journey to arrive in Güstrow before lunchtime.
Yet again we will be hosted by an evangelical church. This time a more impressive and striking building in the centre of the city. Emma shows us around the grounds and invites us to join her in a youth church meeting that is held every Friday evening. The promise of food and games makes an easy decision.
The meeting is hosted by the parish deacon and consists of a meal, singing practice and an interesting psychological discussion on how people best demonstrate and receive affection for each other. There are broadly speaking five "languages" or ways that people do this, and the language you best express your affection is not necessarily how you best receive it. The interactive discussion does provoke some interesting questions among the primarily teenage group. The only criticism I can level is the religious context, but maybe that's just me. The sing-along Christian rock songs and prayers do seem disconsonnent in this otherwise informative and lively Friday event.  It all strikes me as being a hip new way to ingratiate floundering religious ideas into the next generation. In defense of this event and the teenage-focussed religious teachings, I can offer no alternative situation where teenagers can openly pose the more existential and psychological questions they may have as they approach adulthood. The central tenant that God "has your back" during these troubling and confusing times, is less convincing.
Lasse is collected by his father in order to attend his confirmation at the weekend. The group looses a member for the next two days until we meet up for the ferry in Rostock.
We decide to spend another day here on church grounds as Rostock is only 45km away and we have plenty of time to get to our ferry. After a lazy morning, we take in some culture at the castle. There we have been invited by some of the teenagers, we meet last night, to spectate at a classical music recital. Although it costs us 5€ per person, we decide that it is something worthwhile. The recital room is unusually decorated, at least to my eyes; sculpted deer, with real antlers, provide the ceiling boarder - imagine an ornate hunting lodge.
The recital has some highlights, with young people of all ages, playing a myriad of classical instruments and dancing ballet.
After playing some boardgames (El Grande, in could play again) and supping on Greice (never a dinner in my opinion), we went to the nearby lake. There we meet with some of the girls from the previous night and had a swim as the sun was setting.

 

Delightful student production

Yes, real antlers, creepy.

That cathedral from another angle

To wild camp or not to wild camp? That is the question.

Flynn is looking for a way out of this cycling routine

That decision not to wild camp - not bad after all

Waking up to a gaggle of girls surprised to find us camping out in their normal changing room, we shortly departed the football grounds bound for Krakow am See. Tackling the sunny midday sun for the past few days has given nor than one of the crew sunburn, despite frequent and liberal use of sunscreen.

20C+, baloney!

The big decision on the day is whether we "camp wild" or camp in a prearranged camping site. Going wild means saving the group an estimated 6,50€ (a significantly reduced nightly rate) and some communal time with nature, whilst keeping it tame means showers and an abundance of drinking water to make dinner. In the end the campsite manager decides to reduce the fee even further to a meagre 1,50€ and the guys are even more satisfied with their decision to save the wilderness for a future date. A dip in the allegedly 20C+ water, has us ready for dinner - rice and butter vegetables.

The guys get a growth spurt en route