Grömitz to marzipan capital Lübeck

The last day of the weddding festivities started with breakfast at Cismar monastery.

After breakfast I left Grömitz the way I had come, heading towards Lübeck. On the way into Lübeck I passed Bad Schwartau which is known throughout Germany for its jam production company of the same name.

Lübeck in turn is famous for its marzipan, so my obvious first stop was the Lübecker Marzipan Speicher located in a beautiful red-brick storehouse on the river Trave.

It was extremely windy in Lübeck as can be seen from the fountains in this picture.

Lübeck boasts some impressive architecture in its island-like old town, including a large number of wood frame houses still intact even after two world wars.

Another well-known building is Lübecks' Holsten Tor just outside the old city wall.

Eventually I caught the train back to Berlin with one change in Bad Kleinen.

Berlin to Grömitz day three

Today's last etape lead via Travemünde to my destination at Grömitz. I left the camp site at 9 o'clock heading north.

After about 100 minutes I reached Grevesmühlen from the south-east, taking me past the station on my way to the centre. I was quite shocked when I saw the state of some of the buildings and roads. The area could most accurately be described as a slum. It was a cruel reminder of how run-down many parts of East Germany had become in 40 years of Communism that these wounds were still gaping even 25 years later.

Once I reached the old town of Grevesmühlen all of this was immediately forgotten as the area around the central square had been nicely renovated and looked quite touristy. I had an excellent, sumptuous breakfast at Café Flair by the market square opposite the town hall.

On the way I came across an old railway crossing. Even though there were no traces of the railway line, the boom gates had not been removed which looked rather odd.

A little later I had a quick stop for some lunch near Dassow.

At exactly 1 o'clock I reached Priwall, a suburb of Travemünde at the coast of the Baltic sea. I crossed the river Trave by ferry – the city's name translates literally as »mouth of the Trave«.

From now on my route would lead me parallel to the Baltic shore in a large arch towards Grömitz, a very touristy region. On the upside, this meant that there was an almost uninterrupted car-free cycle way, however it was so frequented by families and other holiday-makers that using the road was actually quicker.

In Sierksdorf the cycle path ended and I was back on the road. I arrived in Grömitz just after 3 o'clock, taking advantage of the fact that the local authorities had gone to the trouble of setting up a sign to point out the ideal location from which to view the Bay of Lübeck.

Today's ride had been 95km, taking my total up to 340km, slightly less that the distance given on an old milestone alongside Berlin's heraldry.

Berlin to Grömitz day two

I left my camp just after 9 o'clock heading towards Plau am See, a pretty little town with a market where I stocked up on food.

Two of its attractive features are a distinctive draw bridge and a red-brick castle.

I had a quick 15 minute breakfast just west of Plau am See where there was another stork in the field next to me.

I continued along the cycle path to Lübz, known for the Lübzer beer. The cycle path consisted of a rather inhospitable separate cycle way by the side of a very busy road.

In Lübz I spotted a sign to Parchim painted on the side of a building in Cyrillic – a spooky reminder of the area's recent history.

I spent about 30 minutes in Lübz for a lunchtime snack and left on a quieter road leading north-west.

Just outside Lübz I overtook a motorised lawnmower.

An old windmill next to the road near Crivitz looked in very good condition.

In Crivitz, I had another little snack in a very nice park next to a stream.

By the time I reached the Schweriner lakes I was very tired and happy to put up camp by the lakeside in Seehof. Today's ride had been 120km exactly.

Berlin to Grömitz day one

Two of my friends were celebrating their wedding in a holiday resort at Germany's Baltic coast, Grömitz. I decided to take the opportunity to experience some places I didn't know yet by bike, as for example Mecklenburg's lake district.

I left at just before 10 in the morning taking a slightly clumsy route to Spandau via Tegel, leaving Berlin to the north-west. I passed through Schönwalde-Siedlung and Schönwalde-Dorf, a familiar route part of the Havelland cycle way. I stopped for breakfast in the appropriately named town of Pausin.

I also stocked up on some snacks in the corner store opposite.

At Paaren im Glien I left the Havelland cycle way and continued on towards Neuruppin.

I cycled along a tree-lined avenue that had been awarded »avenue of the year« by BUND, a large German environmental organisation.

I was also very impressed by the steel structure of a near-disused bridge near Linumhorst.

On the way into Neuruppin I noticed a repetitive rubbing noise from the direction of my front wheel. Upon inspection I found out that my front rim had torn and needed to be replaced.

Luckily a bike shop was ideally located next to my route, so I bought a new front wheel (including hub dyno) and fitted it.

After an hour's break I was on my way again with my shiny new front wheel.

I passed by two impressive palaces in Neuruppin.

A little bit outside Neuruppin I stopped for 30 minutes to have lunch.

The landscape was undulating and quite pretty. In the late afternoon I spotted some storks between cows on a paddock near Buschhof.

By 6 o'clock I reached the border between Brandenburg and Mecklenburg after a little over 120km of cycling. I camped near the village of Sewekow surrounded by lakes, heralding my arrival in the lake district.

Easter Monday on Usedom

We started Easter Monday with an extensive breakfast to use up all our leftover food.

After breakfast we cycled across the border and enjoyed the scent of Polish forest (Sylvia's favourite). For the rest of the morning we entertained ourselves on the beach of Świnoujście (Cati's favourite) by having a bath (Joachim and Sandra) and watching the Atlanta being pulled into Świnoujście harbour by no fewer than three tugboats (Philipp's favourite).

© Sylvie

Easter Sunday on Usedom

On Easter Sunday, Sylvia organised an egg-hunt for the rest of us using the eggs she had been carrying all the way. One of them was so well hidden it was never found…

2 photos © Sylvie

We cycled along the beach past Heringsdorf and Bansin to Forsthaus Bansin and discovered an abandoned Communist holiday camp hidden in the forest.

The favourite activities of Easter Sunday consisted of a stop at ice-café »Pinguin« (Cati), having wheat beer there (Joachim), leaving the water (Philipp) and lying on the beach after swimming (Sandra), and shooting a paper aeroplane back and forth over said wheat beer (Sylvia).

© Sylvie

In the evening, Cati prepared an excellent tortilla for us and Joachim learned that it was too difficult for him to turn over without completely destroying it…