July 29 - To Zehdenick and New Friends

Wednesday - Wesenburg to Zehdenick
Looks a little more organized in the morning.

The receptionist was there as promised and breakfast was ready and waiting. A lot of the other people there were dressed for cycling as well.

Just a little bike art to start off the day.

We stopped at a NETTO market to get some sandwiches for later. This strawberry stand was outside. Too bad they don't travel well in panniers.

Lots of people shop by bike in this part of Europe.

Checking out today's route in the bigger context.

We all stopped to get a sunflower picture and noticed they were speaking English but it didn't sound British. Darcy, Marty Wiley and Jane are from Vancouver BC, fellow Northwesterners. The couple are on the tandem because she broke her collar bone just before the start of their trip. Ouch!

We aren't sure what the significance is of these forest product displays but we saw several of them in different villages today.

Ours weren't the only bike tracks in the dirt on the edge of the cobble sections. The cobble sections seemed randomly placed but probably aren't.

This is better!

A preschool in Furstenberg/Havel.

World War I memorial, also in Furstenberg/Havel.

We were having breakfast #2 on the main square in town, always a good place for people watching.....

.... and big churches.

Finally, a break in the traffic so they could cross the road.

They are just getting started on a little tour so the girls are very excited and Mom and Dad have all the load.

We are just outside of town and this area just had a feeling about it.

Just a little farther we came upon an interpretive sign that was in German and English. This was a WWII concentration camp for girls and young women that were social misfits, weren't feminine enough, had alcoholic parents, etc. In 1945 it became an extermination camp and over 5000 women were killed between January and April 1945. 

Not much after that sobering stop, it started raining just as we approached this guided group of pre-teens headed the opposite direction. They were fun to watch as they donned their raingear.....or....not in the case of some of the boys. It lifted our spirits. 

We hid out under the trees together for about 15 minutes until the really hard rain had passed. The wetness did not dampen their enthusiasm for their day's adventure one bit. 

We have the smoother path.

The locks connect 2 lakes in a string of lakes.

Long logs more like we are used to seeing in Oregon. These are the first ones we've seen here and we've seen a lot of logs in the last week.

This convenient shelter showed up just when we wanted to eat our sandwiches. About 5 minutes later Udo and Claudia from Wolfsberg stopped just as it started raining again. They had also stayed at the Radelhus last night and recognized us from breakfast. The first thing he asked Doug was "When did you fall in love with the bike?" The answer.....5 years old. We chatted about bike tours until the rain stopped.

The Church of Cycling and Hiking

This one needs some work but most places we've seen look like they have a recent coat of paint.

Zehdenick main intersection. That is a mural on the tallest building. Notice the reallllllly dark clouds on the horizon.

Our refuge for the night. It poured again just after we arrived. We are so so so glad we aren't camping tonight!!

Our hosts, Bokart and Marie-Luise. They treated us like celebrities and answered a bunch of questions we had for them.

Ivo and Katie from Berlin were also at Radelhus last night and we leap-frogged them all day with a smile and a nod.  Ivo helped interpret our menu and then Bokart told them of our journey. They joined us for dinner and we spent the next hour chatting and  getting recommendations for our stay in Berlin. Thank you SOOOO much!

Bokart had told us to leave the window closed or we would have wet pillows. It did downpour a couple more time over night