June 28, 2011
Ragow - Altdobern: Longest day, hottest day
As every morning, we started the day with a nice breakfast of coffee, crispy rolls, cheese, cold cuts, butter and jam. This is standard fare. Sometimes a soft-boiled egg is included, or tea if you prefer. While we ate, Janos and the owner of the hotel recalled the old days in the socialist era. Socialist Hungary from Janos's experience and the socialism of the German Democratic Republic had many similarities.
East Germany was economically better off than most of the countries of the East Block, although by West European standards it was a life full of deprivation. Tropical fruit, bananas and pineapple for example, was rare and therefore a delicacy. However, it was possible to buy canned pineapple and tangerines. Today you can buy anything in the former east German states but these fruits haven't lost their status and you frequently find dishes on the menu with pineapple or tangerines. Curried chicken with canned tangerines is an East German classic.
Today was extremely hot. We were in Niederlausitz, a biosphere reserve and popular recreational area that is known for its numerous little canals and lakes. We passed many hotels and private rooms for rent. We had many perfect new bike paths through the woods which followed the main roads, but at a distance that made the roads inocuous. The newly developed infrastructure in this part of east Germany is well planned and much is being done to promote a sustainable form of tourism in nature parks.
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It was only towards the end of the day, some 30 km south of Niederlausitz, that we seemed to have left the recreational part of the Spreewald. We were on roads with more traffic and then poorly paved roads through fields, no more hotels or "Zimmer frei" signs - sort of a miles-from-nowhere feeling. On the map we could see lakes - where were the tourist facilities? These lakes were the result of surface mining we found out later. We headed for the largest town on the map, Altdöbern, and hoped to find some kind of accomodation.
We found a hotel that from the outside looked deserted. But when we knocked, the hotel owner opened the gate and assured us we could have a room (55 € including breakfast) and that she would also be able to prepare us a meal in the restaurant. We were the only guests in the little garden restaurant and the owner-cook joined us for an interesting conversation after our meal.
Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 2,012 km (1,249 miles)
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