Lovely ride towards Lübeck, approaching along the Lübeck- Elbe canal, when the path abruptly stopped for some construction work. Pausing to check my map I was greeted by Jan, a local architecture student and all round cool guy, who offered me his spare room. Lubeck itself is an old city crammed onto an island in between rivers, with seven church spires famously rising above the skyline and visible for miles around. Really is a nice place and quite the antidote to Hamburg, as also surprisingly not smothered in too many tourists.
So had a nice evening chatting about travel and converting Mercedes camper buses with Jan and his girlfriend Renée, followed by a delightful ride over rolling hills, through woods and a region of lakes to reach the city of Kiel, where I had been passed on to their friends Jelle and Valeria for another night of hospitality in another cool apartment, interesting conversation and being embarrassed about how well everyone in Europe speaks English.
Thanks to all!
Kiel is a strategic port and as such was completely flattened in ww2. It has managed to rebuild itself pretty nicely though, and in a few days its annual regatta begins, Kiel Woche, the biggest sailing event in the world. Judging by the amount of marquees, food vendors and stages being prepared, the place is going to be buzzing. Already lots of watercraft about, from dragon boats to tall ships, racing dinghies to cruise liners.
Setting off at a leisurely hour today I then met Damien, a French pirate cyclist with two years on the road behind him, busking for some lunch money. He absolutely loves the lifestyle and his enthusiasm is infectious!
www.loupvagabond.blogspot.com
Thereafter a pleasant ride around the coast, past beaches and harbours to the woody glade I've camped in tonight....
Doing the maths I think I'm riding 50% further each day than I estimated, although not entirely surprising given the wiggly scenic routes I'm taking vs the crow flies. Still this means I must not tarry too long in one place if I want to cover all the ground in the original plan - or I could change the plan... But I want to see everything! So on to tomorrow...
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