9 June
Wandering day. This town is pure middle ages. I asked at hotel if there are any other good towns on the Elbe that we should be sure to visit.
" Can't think of any".
This place has too many photo ops for this cell phone. QB has taken a number of pics and I have put them up on flickr. They will follow these pics.
Spent part of afternoon just sitting on a park bench, one in the Schloss park where the Elbe and Tanger meet, with a gray view, gentle breeze, and a few bugs to keep us company.
8 June
Back to the Elbe.
Whille riding to Havelberg QB saw a road sign to Tangermunde. We pulled out a map and headed due West. Herr Muller mentioned this small city to us and said it was worth a detour.
Herr Muller if you are reading this, once again, Danke.
Nice old town, long but not wide, all cobbles of course. Insanely cute according to QB.
There is a Ringhotel at the Schloss. Excellent place overlooking, of course, the Elbe. They have garden rooms with attached bike garages. And, best of all, a very good kitchen which seems to feed a few restaurants.
Organ concert in the Gothic church, St. Stephen. Outside it is 30 or 31 C. Inside a very nice 18 C. The concert was, however, not to be.
A Boog Story:
Today is Sunday.
Samstag is Saturday
Sonntag is Sunday.
Abend is evening
Sonnabend is Saturday in the dialect.
So, no concert but a cooling sit and visit to a good Gothic with time to look around and ponder the many arches that are still standing, as if only a diety could keep them up in a way that violates intuition.
We like this hotel and the city which is mostly closed as it is Sonntag. Decided to stay an extra day.
7 June
If it is not one thing then it is two things. Took a couple of minutes to
figure this one out. Am traveling with a mini mouse, convenient for the
eeePC as it has a multi-function trackpad. Well, seemed like the eeePC got
permanently hung. Could not left click with mouse. Could not open email or
change windows. Rebooted etc. Looks as if the left mouse button no longer
works. Scroll wheel fine as is the right mouse. Weird. If not one thing
then two things.
Back to the main point.
Last evening we stayed in a small Gasthous, 12 rooms, with a nice kitchen.
The Gasthous is run by a family as they usually are. Family Muller
http://www.hotel-stadt-nauen.de/
We had a good dinner and clearly Herr Muller prepared the dinner himself.
Frau Muller served us the several beers (QB finished a large beer on her own
to give you an idea of the thirst level of riding in the heat). Hers, BTW,
was a chicken breast on a bed of noodles with a wine reduction mushroom
sauce. Mine was a salad that contained, in addition to the usual, chicken
breast and two properly fried eggs.
We got to speak to both of them, their English is OK and my German
understanding is improving. Both seemed far too qualified, education wise,
for what they were doing. He knew of the eeePC and price immediately and
they both spoke with an educated authority and very pleasantly.
I asked them if business was terrible as we were the only ones eating
dinner. Nope, about normal. 12 rooms with 5 occupied, about normal they
both agreed. No one eating dinner? Ah, no one has any money and no one
just stops to eat from the street. Everyone has a family BBQ. "We do OK
with family dinners". Clearly satisfied with their lot but clearly not
getting rich from it.
At breakfast Frau Muller went off to the tax department where she holds a
second job as she takes care of the maintenance of the Gasthaus. Herr
Muller does the cooking and that question let to a discussion of the DDR.
I asked if things were much better since 1989 and he, immediately, said no.
One item to be very clear on is that he is not the least bitter about the
changes and could discuss the changes without rancor.
"I was born in 1948 so I always lived in the DDR. Before we did not pay
much for rent or anything for water or public services such as power.
Now, everything is expensive. Before we never locked the doors and now we
must keep them locked. Before the family was the center of the life, now
all are dispersed working in different areas." He has four now adult
children. Now there is a lot of unemployment, no jobs, all gone to China
and Japan, just like the US.
"I am a diploma Economist and worked in the party administration, as under
secretary. There were 4500 people employed. One day after the
re-unification someone came in and said you can now all go home. Today
3800 are from the West running what we ran"
The implications were clear. The Westies moved in and took over. The
schools are much worse now, his children did not get, by his estimate, a
good education. Before everyone worked so there were many teachers. Now
you can make money but all is expensive and the family has fallen apart.
"I had no job and needed to eat and feed my family. A relative offered me a
job as a cook and of course I became a cook."
He accepts his lot and thinks that his associates who hope for a return to
the old order are foolish. He is not intellectually challenged and this is
clearly a real problem. He has not traveled like his friends rather
keeping the funds to buy his house or apartment in another part of town.
Tried to discuss the concept of freedom and if the new freedom was of
value. "It was not a problem before" and so nothing has changed. For him
and his family what has changed is family life and a consumer society not
really to his liking. "I do not need all this much money".
Clearly one person's view of the DDR but, to the boogs, a very interesting
discussion.
Brought to you by Tip Top Tea, the tea that refreshes: try our seaside
blend, bit of wind and a few protein bugs but worth a few swigs.
Tscheuss
7 June
Decided on a route detour to see and stay one night in this resort area.
During breakfast had a chance to discuss the DDR to unification with the very interesting owner of the Gasthaus. Will write this up from a real computer tonight.
Certainly his views are not what we typically hear at home.
Forest, read very buggy and nice, ride to Semlin on sea. Small tourist town with a golf course and resort hotel, our abode for the night.
Expect to be able to join SMCG on Skype today.
6 June
Back on road after excellent stays and touristing in Potsdam and Berlin.
Still no rain but some wind expected, will find out once out of the city and past Charlottesberg. Suggest lookup of this three star palace on the western edge of Berlin.
In general wind comes from the West so the more expensive sections on Berlin are in the West.
Berlin is 48 km wide so it takes a bit to get out of town. Easy paygd to follow but slow because of the many intersections and map checking.
Then to Spandau a town with an ugly entry but nice center. The road finally becomes a forest road, slow due to all the tree roots on a loaded bike. Very pretty and put of the wind.
Nauen turns out to be a very small town with a number of lower priced food and clothing stores. Not much else as the rathaus closed at 1300.
Nice family running the gasthaus.
Greetings from Berlin,
Just finishing up our third day here. Excellent city for walking, biking, people watching, as well as the expected architecture viewing.
Tomorrow we do the the main sights. Reichstag, Holocost memorial, the big squares, the Dom, museums, etc. Have seen most of these by bike but a walking tour will be better for details.
Friday we leave and expect to spent Sat. Night, our time, in Wittenberge. Naturally will try to get get a place with good connectivity.
Good to hear that Dee will be out and about and doing a classic ' eleve` ' ; soon an arabesque.
Tscheus
2 June
Arrived Berlin after a lovely ride through the forests and then the
outskirts of Berlin. Got to the hotel, about a 40 km ride,on bike paths the
whole way and no map. GPS got us to the hotel, the final few kms. Good
hotel, thanks the Michelle and George.
This is the Westin Grand Hotel Berlin. Good location and suitably grand
upon entry. All went well at checkin and they explained that we could not
take the bikes to the room. Fine, then put them in the service closet (this
is a typical solution in good hotels and has worked fine all over the
continent, never had a problem). However, the bell man takes me to the
street and suggests we leave the bikes outside on a public rack for the
duration. What! Fussing, need the manager but got the concierge. "The
luggage room is full". So, I stood my ground. Why is that my concern.
This is a grand hotel I explain and not the first time we have been in good
hotels. In the Gasthaus we have to use the faradgarage but … "Yes, but
we are not a Gasthaus" My point exactly. I will be happy to take the
bikes to the room. "It will ruin the elevators". You are a grand hotel,
no? Find a solution. Then put them somewhere inside and safe. The
eventual compromise was to put them in the luggage room with a promise not
to move them from the room unless he discusses this with me.
The Grand Hotel does have some good features – a real American style king
sized bed, the first since our journey started. Pool is closed,
renovations, but we can use the Hilton two blocks over.
Walked the area and shops for a while and found a Galleries Lafayette only
150m from the hotel. Excellent gourmet shop in the underground floor so we
stocked up for dinner. Will go back there to eat frequently I suspect.
31 May,
Alert! Need Hawaii shirt, baseball cap, and white shoes, especially the latter. Have been asked if French, Aussi, and English. Apparently we do not look or speak like Americans. Send white shoes.
Pic from Dutch section. This led us to discuss current usage of the word ghetto. QB and I believe that it currently refers to poverty and non assimilation and it is not commonly used to refer only to separation independently of wealth. In the past century it meant separation alone with mixed economic inhabitants.
The dutch village started with Fredrick bringing in skilled water workers for the areas around his palace. They eventually left, did not like it here, and now it is a privatized development. Apparently it was in ruins during the East German period.
Took a chance on a Cambodian restaurant. Much to our surprise it was done well and when they did not being nuoc mam and I asked for some a proper bowl appeared.
30 May
Potsdam is, according to our Guide Michelin, a three star city. Finally as QB has said. We will stay three nights.
Before departure breakfast buffet had a new item this morning. Steak tartar, garnished, of course, with onions. Apart from the microbrial feast it seems a bit early to tackle.
Good ride except for an hour wasted looking for a road on a map. Bought a high end waterproof map, a dedicated and detailed map of the region. Road does not exist. Rode in circles. Asked local finally have up. Other repea found in just one day. Need a refund.
Dinner yes! A French crepe place. Yeah! Breton fish soup, perfect. Savory and sweet crepes. Bobby needs to practice and prepare for the arrivals. No pics as we scarfed all eats. Lobhush ride on hot day when going in circles or just back and forth.
Hotel had given us, just us? Unlimited public transportation passes for here and for Berlin.
Sanssoui, look it up, is Fredrick's response to Versaille.
Indian festival in multiple languages explaining Vedas.
Glad to hear that the QB is back on the royal saddle and hope she is not suffering too much from the previous fall.
I did not see the expected retinue (footmen, ladies in waiting,canopy over bike, etc.).
Was gibt es?
Sorry you had some rough riding, but the paved raod looked pretty good.
We'll send food photos after we get home.
Dee
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