Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover - Saturday July 17, 2010

Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover - Saturday July 17, 2010

Our destination today was Sylt, Germany’s most northerly island in the North Sea. It is accessible only by rail transportation across a narrow causeway. We had decided to take only our bicycles to navigate around the island so we left at 6:45 a.m. to ride to the bahnhof in Niebull. It is about a 30 minute ride from where we are staying. It was bright and sunny when we left. We got our tickets and boarded the train, bikes and all at 8:01 and the train left right on the dot. The ride north and across the causeway was what we had expected since we had seen some of the landscape yesterday. Upon arrival at the bahnhof in Westerland, we began to realize that what we had researched on the web and seen in books was not total reality. We had seen peaceful paths along the North Sea passing through small villages as it would it’s way from one end of the island to the other - a distance of some 35 km. We knew there would be cars and delivery trucks and a few busses maybe but what we saw was a major city train and bus terminal linked together - with hoards of people going in every direction. We had no idea where to start so we just began by riding down through the car free main street 7-8 blocks to the end - the North Sea. And what we saw here was another surprise. Admission to the beach was 3.50 Euro per person and it was already crowded at 8:30 a.m. Those now familiar and rentable wicker cabanas with large black numbers on the back were already scattered across the beach as far as we could see. It soon became clear that we were not on a quiet, peaceful little island - the first clue should have been the 13 rail lines leading into the station when we got off. The 2 outside rail lines were reserved for the trains carrying busses, trucks and lots of cars , the one side for unloading and the opposite side for loading. I counted 144 cars on the double decker rail cars as the occupants drove their vehicles off down the ramp. As soon as those rail cars were unloaded the train moved over to the other side for those loading/leaving the island. The schedule was trains arriving and leaving every 25 minutes all day long until 11 p.m. The middle 9 rail lines were for passanger trains coming and leaving from all over northern germany and Denmark.
It was often difficult to navigate around the island with so many vehicles, walkers and bicycles.
Most of the homes are upperclass but with thatched roofs - a lot of them are Zimmers and a lot in the towns are fashion stores or combinations of each.
From the end of the street at the North Sea we simply decided to ride paths as close to the shoreline but after seeing high sand dunes and too many little white admission shacks to the beach, we turned across to the other side of the island where we were told by a local that it was much quieter. For a few km we found a dirt path very close to the North Sea - not sure if we were to be on it with bikes but no one told us to get off. It was quieter at the other side but whenever we had to ride through towns it was - fight with the “traffic” again. By about 2 p.m. we had seen all of the island we wanted to see so headed back to the bahnhof. By then it was starting to rain so we found shelter at the train station and waited for the 3:52 train back to the mainland. It was still raining when we got off the train in Niebull so we donned the rain coats and road home the last 30 min. in the rain. We were glad we went and have no regrets but now we know not to totally trust what we see in fancy tourist information.

Lost out in the field - Friday July 16, 2010

Lost out in the field - Friday July 16, 2010


This morning we wanted to head to the closest town with internet connection since we do not have it here. We had driven into the town of Niebull last evening and found a library with internet at a reasonable price so planned to bike into the library this morning and send a few messages home. On a map that we had picked up there at Information in Zentrum last evening it showed a road - a shortcut through the fields over to Niebull from out stay here in Klixbull. Annika our contact person here had said it was only 20 minutes to the library by bicycle so we headed out. Found a road that showed on the map off the main highway here in the general direction of Niebull but it seemed to go away from the town - thought maybe it would curve around back. Now I must tell you that the grasses along the fence rows are very tall and it is difficult to see landmarks. Also it did seem that the road was getting closer to town - we had a tower in town Zentrum to guide us. Only trouble was when we biked closer to town, the big trees blocked the tower and we kept going further than we wanted. When we finally found the right trail, we had circled the town and entered from the south side - our stay is on the north side. About an hour later we arrived at the library.
Thought we would have learned from out mistakes when we returned home but seems they forgot to put the name of our town, Klixbull, on the signs so after 2 “rotaries” we were lost again. Finally after retracing out tracks for several km we got on the right road. Come to find out on our way home there are 2 other paths that head toward where we had wanted to go - think we will try those tomorrow but maybe should take TomTom with us - d’ya think? Another hour of peddeling and this time it was into the wind.

In the afternoon we took to the car to explore the northern shore of Germany. It is an interesting sight to see trains carrying cars, campers, large trucks with supplies, ambulances, fully loaded busses and bicycles, across a narrow causway to the island of Sylt - all these vehicles with the people still sitting in them, some vehicles facing forward and some backward but most with windows down and folks snapping pictures. We plan to hop that train tomorrow to experience the island ourselves. As we drove close to the shoreline of the North Sea, we drove through one dyke with an opening just the size for a vehicle - grooves in the walls of this “gate” indicate that the sea could be blocked if necessary by lowering huge beams down into these grooves. On the other side of the gate was a wide expanse of wheat fields with the odd farm and house in a clump of trees visible off in the distance - very much as we remembered our crossing of the Canadian praires some years ago - wheat fields as far as the eye could see. After driving across this expanse, we came to a dead end with a high dyke in front of us. Another car was parked there so we decided to climb the dyke and see the ocean on the other side. Surprise - from the top was visible another wide expanse of low grasses but even more surprising were the thousands of sheep grazing on these grasses some part way up the dyke, some sheep walking along the top.

Near the North Sea - Thursday July 15, 2010

Near the North Sea - Thursday July 15, 2010

After a good night’s sleep in Kiel, along the Baltic Sea, we stopped this morning just a few kms in the town of Molfsee to visit a Pioneer Village called Schleswig-Holsteinisches Freilicht museum. They have collected probably 50 older thatched roof buildings and re-assembled them with furniture and implements as they were 100 - 200 or more years ago. Most of them were house/barn combinations and it was good to see inside how the layout and arrangement of the interior was set up. Usually the house was across one end and occupied less than a ¼ of the entire interior space. In nearly all the structures we saw, a large fireplace was included in the dividing wall between the house and barn. The fireplace was accessed on the barn side but provided heat for both house and barn. The cow stalls and horse stalls were located along the sides of the barn and the middle was left open for implements. Hay storage was above all this including the house providing insulation for both house and barn. Quite clever they were and still are at sharing and using space to best advantage under this large thatched roofs. As we traveled today we saw several loads of bundled reed grasses on transport trucks probably headed to a new thatched structure or to repair some older ones. The thatch is about 1 foot thick and at that thickness would provide good insulation in itself. It was obvious that the village had been there for many years evidenced by the size of the large lemon trees that lined the walkways.
We arrived at out last “stay” here in Klixbull around 3 p.m. Annika and her family were outside to welcome us. She is the daughter - speaks good English and introduced us to her father, her 1 year old daughter and her grand-parents who own the home. Annika does all the bookings and grandma and grandpa provide the space. They have 2 apartments on the 2nd level, complete with kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room - one apartment at each end of the house with a common stairway on both levels between. After showing us around, they left for swimming and we settled in. About 5 p.m. we headed out to find some groceries. No stores here in Klixbull but found lots of stores in Niebull about 10 min away. Lots of towns nearby end in ...bull - must find out what that means. We are about 5 kn from the Denmark border and about 7 km from the North Sea on the west. Nice cool breeze here right now for which we are thankful.

Perfect Vacation Spot - Wednesday July 14, 2010

Perfect Vacation Spot - Wednesday July 14, 2010

Well GPS #3 got us safely to Kiel here on the Baltic Sea. Before leaving Wismar this a.m. I stopped at the local mall and bought some clear tape to wrap up #2 GPS and send her back. There is a 2 year warranty on it so hopefully I can get my money back. It would have been simple to credit my Credit Card but they only accepted cash. At a Post Office here in a little town along the way today, I stopped and mailed it at the Poste in the village of Gressow - no sign out front - had to stop 2 x and ask - actually it went DHL - they are all over the place here too.
There are many little coves along the north shoreline - sometimes we followed the shore and most times we were inland a few km. We are starting to see more and more homes and barns with thatched roofs. At one point today we saw in the distance a large windmill - the old style house and with wooden blades so we stopped and checked it out. It appeared to be a museum now but was well preserved. A plaque out front had a date of 1750 on it but am not sure if that is the original one.
Further along we started to see many cars and people walking along the road obviously on the way to the beach. Turns out it is a resort town - Timmendorfer Strand - very much like Myrtle Beach complete with major hotels and beach grasses and brick boardwalk and a pier. We parked and walked out to the beach and could hardly believe our eyes - crowds of people in every direction - some in the water - some in little thatched/woven huts for shade, some in brightly coloured canvas huts and others just walking or biking along the boardwalk. A perfect spot for your next vacation at a cool 70 - 80 degrees F.
Our hunt for a motel was not quite as easy as we have had. There were no Zimmers advertized along the roads close to Kiel so we opted to check out a few motels. We ended back at the Best Western in downtown Kiel - I know we do not normally do downtowns but this one is in a good location and fairly new. We were shown a room right behind the reception counter and another for 10 E more on the 4th floor - a 3 room suite. Guess which one we took?
Right across the street is a Pizza shop so will probably head there soon.

Cooler In The Baltic - Tuesday July 13, 2010

Cooler In The Baltic - Tuesday July 13, 2010.

After a heavy rain storm, the temperature has dropped here considerably. It was 70 degrees on the car thermometer when last checked. More GPS woes however made the temperature hotter - at least in my mind. That new TomTom GPS we bought 2 days ago in Lubbeneau 300+ km south east of here decided to freeze on the main button "Plan New Trip". Other than the fact that it was real hot the day we bought it, cannot figure what happened. Even so we were in the car all day travelling and it seemed to work fine but when we fired it up yesterday it would not co-operate. A store clerk here had a look at it and in my limited German, he said something about a software problem. It was a shelf model, the only left and the box of coarse had been opened before. We tried today to survive without one but it was very frustrating. By about noon we had decided to send the other one back to where we bought it and purchase another one. They are about 1/2 the price here as in Canada but we just feel we need one for the remainder of the trip. Hopefully I will get money back from the store where it was returned or from TomTom.
This afternoon we drove out onto INSEL POEL an island out in the Baltic Sea just north of Wismar, Germany. There are numerous villages scattered around the fringes of the island so we parked and road our bikes on the trails connecting 4 or 5 of these villages. Most paths followed the road but most all villages are connected "through the back door" so to speak via dirt paths right up to paved/cemented paths through farmers fields. We biked for probably 16 km before heading back to the car. The villages are all connected to the beach culture be it sun bathers or beach walkers or campers enjoying the water. Except for the large farms of grain, beans or hay, the main activity in the communities centered around the beach - food stands - Zimmers for rent - bars and restaurants. The homes are mostly all Brick construction with tile roofs and lots of roses around the houses and along the streets. Some homes have thatched roofs and we saw one new home under construction with a roof 1/2 completed - it was interesting to stop and look at how they are building the 12" thick thatched roof. Our only comment was "hope they do not have a fire up there" but maybe they treat it somehow to prevent that. The weather for riding was very pleasant for a change and we enjoyed the paths through town and country.
Several stops on the way home - one to McDonalds for a salad and chicken fingers and another for tomorrow's groceries.

From lush and mountainous green to flat parched and dry - Monday, July 12, 2010

From lush and mountainous green to flat parched and dry - Monday, July 12, 2010

The last 2 days we have seen major changes both in terrain as well as land color. Today we drove into northern Germany - just hit the autobahn and tried to keep up with the traffic. The trucks are governed to go maximum 80 km per hour - translated is 48 mph. That seems great and it is except you feel like you are always passing a truck or 3 or 4 in a row. They are allowed to pass only if the truck in front is going less than 80. Cars here pass with great speed and immediately move over to the far right to let other speeders go by - in that way they are quite courteous. Just make sure you get over ASAP if passing a truck or another car.
It was a nerve wracking day today. It started off with me dropping the GPS on the brick road beside out Zimmer. Two-thirds of the screen at the top was scrambled when I plugged it in and no matter what I did would correct the screen - so it was off to find another one. Fortunately there was an Electronic store in the same town - much like our Radio Shack stores. I had to wait until 9 am for it to open but they had a Tom-Tom (the only brand they carried) so I had the salesman set it to English and we were on the road again. I cannot understand how we ever survived without a GPS on the previous trips - guess we just bought more detailed maps. Especially today we were routed right through the centre of Berlin on our way north - fortunately she took us safely through and out the other side to flat dry farmland.
We are now in a Best Western hotel along the Baltic Sea near a little town of Wismar. What a switch though - when we arrived it was 98 F but as we were in a local mall for groceries a major storm went through. The winds were so fierce that the TV news showed trees down and roads closed all around. The police and fire sirens were going in all different directions. For about an hour it just teemed down with strong winds and now would you believe it is actually quite pleasant - probably in the low 70’s F. We just may stay here a couple days - cooler - free internet - air conditioned room and some attractions nearby. We are not scheduled to be at our new Zimmer in Klixbull near Denmark border until Thursday noon.

Talk about HOT - Sunday July 11, 2010

Talk about HOT - Sunday July 11, 2010

We left the FICHTELGEBIRGSHOF Hotel shortly after 7 am - not sure why so early except they starrted serving breakfast at 6 am and we were there shortly after that. The autobahn was not busy at all since it was Sunday morning so we made good time stopping only a couple times to stretch the legs. We had decided to head to the town of Lubbenau just south of Berlin. This is supposedly an area of car free water canals for transportation. By 10 am it was already 30 degrees C (=90 F). In the air conditioned car it was OK but once outside for any length of time it was stiffling.
We passed many large cash crop farms much like back home. They are desperately in need of rain here though. The corn is looking very sick .
After arriving in town we parked close to Zentrum and walked to Information to see about boat tours. A couple of blocks away was the tour headquarters so we walked over there and enquired about tours in the morning. Yes there were tours as soon as he made up a boat load of 10 people. They were not running any more today - supposedly because most people were in the shade somewhere. We then drove around to find a Zimmer for the night and found one south of town several km. It was cooler in there so we stayed put a while. Tried Internet and found none so we decided to check out the McDonald”s in the next town. It was cooler in there but no internet without signing up for one of their plans. After a milkshake we headed out to hijack an internet somewhere but these people are too smart - none found. Back at the Zimmer it was getting hotter inside but we stayed as long as we could stand it and then decided to go back to McD’s where we knew it was cooler. On the way there the car said the outside temperature reading was 39 degrees C which converted is 108 F - we could not believe it. Stayed at McD’s until after 7 pm - a SLOW meal - seems lots of other folks had the same idea - it was full and lined up ½ way back to the door. Fortunately they had a large covered outdoor area - must have been hot here before. Saw the first farmer today who had combined his wheat - hope he survived.
It cooled off to only 37 degrees C after supper and when there was more shade we decided to ride bikes around town. Actually it was good - we got to see a lot of the canals and boats and a lot of the villages around. It was good for another reason - the sewer smell of the water in the canals was very strong in places. We decided we had seen enough - boat tour or no boat tour. We will stay the night and leave after breakfast.