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).
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…
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).
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…
We left Wilsickow at 9.30 and crossed the border into Mecklenburg 20 minutes later just before crossing A20 autobahn.
Our immigration to Mecklenburg and our crossing it quickly were Sandra's favourite events of the day.
At 11.20 we reached Torgelow where we stopped for one hour.
Attracted by the name we went through Torgelow-Holländerei in honour of our Dutch travel companion Sylvia, but found precisely nothing Dutch except for a couple of garden windmills. Very German was the large number of extremist right-wing election posters that were plastered all over rural Brandenburg and Mecklenburg.
With considerable headwind we arrived at the harbour in Ueckermünde just before 2 o'clock after 42km. We had some fish sandwiches while waiting for our 2.50 ferry across the to the island of Usedom.
Ueckermünde's harbour is linked with a canal which was Philipp's favourite part of today's ride. Cati's favourite event of the day was sleeping on the ferry crossing, while Joachim liked the wind on the ferry best.
At 4.15 we arrived at Kamminke and attacked the last part of our ride, crossing the surprisingly hilly island from Kamminke in the south to the town of Ahlbeck in the north where we were going to spend the remaining two days of Easter.
We arrived after 70 minutes and 14km, bringing our total up to 56km for today.
Once in Ahlbeck, we did some shopping and then spent about 50 minutes looking for a holiday home that was still available, could accomodate all five of us, and cheap enough.
The one we finally settled on even featured a Satanic satellite dish.
We had dinner at »Fischer's Fritz« and went looking for an Easter bonfire, but found out it will only happen tomorrow. Instead three of us joined some people having a small fire on the beach while Cati and Sylvie went home.
In the morning, I had a photo taken of me and my statue in Joachimsthal.
We left Joachimsthal at 9.45 and passed through Parlow and Glambeck before the cycle path turned unpaved and sandy between Luisenthal and Steinhöfel. This was Sylvia's favourite part of today's route, according to her… I'm really amazed frequently at the kind of roads that are marked as cyclepaths in this area.
In Steinhöfel we arrived at a designated rest area for cyclists at 11.15, just when a light rain started. There was a stall selling sausages, so we stopped for an hour for a snack.
The rain stopped again just after we got back on our bikes at 12.15. About an hour later we posted the postcard we had written at the rest area in Flieth-Stegelitz.
Continuing north, we enjoyed the great views of Prenzlau's cathedral from a distance while passing Ober- and Unteruckersee.
This part of the route lead us through the heart of Uckermark, a beautiful, slightly hilly area featuring a mix of lakes, fields and forest. Sylvia pronounced it »unexpectedly nice« and was very happy to see some cranes on a field. Cati's favourite were the pheasants we spotted, and Sandra liked the smell of the fields of rape best. Joachim's first favourite of today was cycling past a woodpecker (without seeing it).
We arrived in Prenzlau at 2 o'clock and stopped for 2 hours for some ice-cream while having a rest at the shore of the lake, Joachim's second favourite for today.
We spent another 30 minutes looking at the cathedral, Philipp's favourite experience of the day.
Afterwards, we were lucky to find a small shop that was open on Good Friday where we bought ingredients for tonight's dinner.
At 4.45 we left Prenzlau for some more Uckermark scenery on the last section of today.
We passed through Schönwerder and some towns with very typical names for the region like Bandelow, Trebenow and Werbelow before arriving in Wilsickow at 6.20 after 75km of cycling.
Our guest house in Wilsickow was a converted former Communist (youth?) holiday camp. It was very nicely done and it definitely had a special kind of charm.
The guest house is located next to Gutshof Wilsickow, a large homestead that is beautifully renovated.
We cooked our own dinner at Gästehaus Wilsickow and had great fun playing »Penguins« and »Who wants to be a millionaire.«
In the morning, I cycled to Berlin Buch and had breakfast in a bakery near the station. We had picked this as the meeting point for economic reasons as it is the last station in Berlin's B tariff zone.
One by one, I was joined by Antonella, Cati, Fredi, Philipp, Sandra and Sylvia.
At a quarter to eleven we set off on the traffic-free cycle path towards Bernau that follows the Panke river. I really like this section since it takes you out of Berlin very quickly and fairly quietly and you suddenly find yourself between horse paddocks in Panketal.
We arrived in Bernau at 11.30 where we were joined by an eighth rider, Claudia. We also stocked up on some food and snacks at the supermarket behind the station.
After going through Biesenthal we passed by a building whose rear half had been converted into a modern residential building while the front façade still showed its historic heritage.
After an hour's riding we stopped for a 45 minute lunch at Rastplatz Pöhlitzbrück.
We crossed the A11 autobahn twice and passed »Landhaus Germania« next to a former Russian bakery.
We reached Eberswalde via Finowfurt and Finow, following along Finowkanal. The view of the abandoned buildings across the canal were Joachim's and Philipp's favourite part of today's ride.
At 3.15 we reached the Medieval Market being held at Chorin monastery. We spent a little over 2 hours watching craftsmen and jesters and sampling the medieval treats on offer.
After the market we continued to Chorin station where Antonella and Claudia caught a train back to Berlin. Fredi went straight home to Angermünde from the market.
At 5.50 the five of us that remained were on our way to Joachimsthal where we were going to spend the first night. This part was Cati's favourite of today's route. We arrived at Hotel Wenzelhof just after 7 o'clock having cycled 74km.
Sandra's favourite part of today's ride was the final shower and we finished the day with some food and beer at the hotel.
