Chur (Switzerland)

I have been looking forward to today's ride as it takes me from Germany, across Austria, Lichtenstein and into Switzerland. Don't think I'll ever stop getting a thrill from crossing an international border by bike. There is a feeling of accomplishment and adventure, especially if that country you venture into had not yet been cycled.
I cross briefly into Austria, along the edge of the elegant Bodinsee lake, and swiftly on through Bregenz. Not a new country to my cycling experience, so the border crossing is not so momentous.
Boldly going where I have not been before, I pass into Lichtenstein, barely realising that I have crossed the border. I had thought that this wealthy principality (not country), would show a striking difference the moment I rolled in. It is the second wealthiest "country" in the world, but actually I see nothing on my 20km trek through it to make me pause. Maybe the ordinariness is how they stop riff-raff from staying too long. The capital, Vaduz, reminds me of Luxembourg city. Since most of the wealth here comes from banking and as a tax haven, the two cities share some of their financial origins. Big cars and flashy shops do not a welcoming atmosphere make.
Maybe it's my bias, but Switzerland is much more beautiful. What might contribute to my bias is that it has an excellent bicycle infrastructure. It really is the prettiest place I have bikes through, at least on the German side. More about that later.
Chur is a very modern-looking city. So modern in fact, that there are apartment complexes in every building stage. Heinz is my host for the evening and what a spectacular view from his penthouse. Not only that but dinner is a delicious homemade pizza.
I get a chance to explore the old part of the city the next day, after we have a leisurely breakfast. The surrounding mountains cast shadows on the apartment, adding an extra breathtaking aspect to an unforgettable stay. Coffee was good too.

Lindau (Austrian border)

On checking the wind forecast the next day, I double check that the units I am reading are correct. It forecasts head winds on average of 32km/hr with gusts up to 65km/hr. What looked like an easy first day ride may be a little more strenuous. I procrastinate all morning to start the ride and start in the early afternoon. After all, why not put myself under time pressure as well.
Thankfully the roads are pretty flat and well surfaced, but I do find myself at times nearly being blown to a complete standstill. It's the gusts that frighten me the most, as they can blow you into the middle of the road at a whim. I see very few cyclists out today, despite it being Sunday. I guess they decided that conditions were not favourable enough. 

Lindau slowly creeps up on me and I meet my next couchsurfing host, David. David is originally from France, a city planner and shares a lot of my worldviews. After I am suitably feed and watered, we talk until the early hours and, after a brief pause to recharge, the next day until lunchtime.

Memmingen to Milan

Alan invites me to join him for a weekend in Lugano (Switzerland). I free up my otherwise free schedule to make the trip. Then I wonder how to make getting there more of an adventure than just taking an 18 hour bus journey.  Naturally my mind wanders to my two-wheeled friend, aching to burn some rubber on those alpine slopes. Two questions spring immediately forth following this initial wave of bike fervor: just how intense are those Alps and will the weather be prohibitive at the end of September?
My faithful sidekicks (Windguru and Maps.me) are consulted and inform me that the weather should be ok for the week and that the highest pass is 2100m. If I am suitably equipped and don't exceed 80km average a day, then it looks like I'm golden.
Checking for accommodation to make sure that I have something to look forward to reach evening, I find that I'll only have to spend one night under the stars.
To cut out the less interesting part of the journey (but who ever really knows?), I buy a bus ticket to the south of Germany and decide to start from there.
After an 11 hour bus journey, I arrive in Memmingen and introduce myself to Ramona, my couchsurfing host. She is a serial hostess and expected four couchsurfers at her place this Saturday evening. All this in spite of having a young child for which to care... the CS spirit is very alive in Ramona. After dropping her daughter off to her parents, she begins intensely interested in what makes a "Jager-bomb" and also showing us all a great night out. We drag ourselves out of the nightclub about 2am - the perfect preparation for the next day's cycle to Bodensee. 

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.