September 27, 2019
Day 9 - Gransee to Berlin
Regrets, I've Had a Few .....
.... But then again, too few to mention.
No worries, 'My Way' is not song of the day, but it's is a good set up for how Kirsten and I have always felt about Berlin.
We have been very fortunate in life and we really do have very few regrets. However, this one does get a mention.
1989 was a momentous year. We got married. We also moved to Glasgow a few months after our wedding. That didn't rock the world but is was pretty big for us.
Around the same time the Iron Curtain was in the process of being rapidly dismantled and the cold war appeared to be over. Europe was undergoing a massive change and a rewrite of the post WWII era and we were now living right on the edge of it. The Poles got the wrecking ball rolling in June, electing Solidarity. Hungary was next, opening it's boarders with Austria leading to an exodus of eastern Europeans to the west.
In October, it was the GDR's turn. Largely peaceful protests throughout the country in October lead to the opening of the Berlin wall on 9th November.
All of this was unfolding in real time on the BBC and we were literally right next door. On 9th of November I was having lunch in the company cafeteria with another Canadian expat and we were astounded by, and marveling in what was unfolding right then. Wally K looked at me and said 'This is history happening. We should get on a plane or train and go. We can be there tomorrow'.
He was right. We should have gone. But I was worried about how much vacation time I had; had a project due; had yada yada yada.... and the moment was gone.
Until now, 30 years later, and we are riding into Berlin. It won't be the same, but it's still an iconic place to children of the 60's.
So after that (melo)dramatic set up, what was the day like you ask? in a word, wet.
We left the twilight zone, aka the Gransee Louise hotel in full rain gear. Very nice riding, much like yesterday on paved paths through forests, but with a constant drizzle. We made good time to Oranienburg and things started to change from forest riding to urban riding. We were clearly getting close to Berlin now.
What was planned as a quick lunch stop at a Konditorei turned into a very nice 90 minutes sit down lunch in a very busy and very good Italian restaurant in Oranienburg. We were looking like wet rats when we arrived but were well served and very well fed.
Then it was back on the bikes for the final very interesting 30 km's into Berlin. The route we had (generated by Pocket Earth) stitched together a number of bike routes and residential roads and we soon realised that a good portion of our route was through 'no mans land' where the Berlin wall used to stand. Pretty cool! Also pretty, no make that very, wet. Yeah, the drizzle continuously intensified to a full on deluge by the time we reached our hotel near Alexanderplatz in the former East Berlin.
We've seen this movie before. Bikes were stashed in the underground parking lot and the hotel room was soon turned into a drying closet. Huge shout out to Ortlieb though. Everything inside our panniers was bone dry. These bags are 10 years old and have over 20,000 km's on them and they are still bomb proof! However, everything on our bodies was more or less a wet rag!
When we were checking in we saw all sorts of skinny sporty looking people around the hotel. Turns out the Berlin Marathon is on Sunday and goes right past our hotel. Obviously lots of marathon participants are staying here too! We will probably check it out as we are taking Saturday and Sunday off from work.
After getting warmed and cleaned up, we strolled around through the area and found a lively and good Tapas place for dinner. The lack of life and stimulation we had last night was more than made up for tonight! This is a fun place!
Song of the Day, Have a Cigar , covered by Elephant Revival at Red Rocks.
As we were cycling away from the zombie like Louise hotel this morning, we were laughing about the extremely odd dining experience we had last night. I commented that the 'industrial soundtrack' we had was very much like some of the parts of Pink Floyd's classic 'Wish You Were Here' album. That made me think of this song, and the extremely unique cover and video by Elephant Revival. We were leaving a staid (stultifying?) Prussian manor house and heading to bohemian Berlin. This song seems like a good segue for that... at least for me
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5 years ago
5 years ago
Today's ride: 88 km (55 miles)
Total: 516 km (320 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 11 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
Visiting Clair and Marie in Roblin and we were catching up on your journey. Clair was very confused about the Berlin wall stuff, but thats Clair.
Hope things continue to go well, and that you don't get too much rain.
Bill
5 years ago
It’s taken a while to get back to Folks when they comment. As you know, and contrary to what a lot of people think, there’s not a lot of free time on a bike trip! We do really appreciate the comments and encouragement that we get from folks though . As for Clair being confused, maybe we can have nightly history lessons at Amiskwi!
5 years ago
And I'd never heard that version of Have a Cigar- it's great. Thanks for not choosing My Way.
5 years ago
Glad to see that you’re enjoying sotd. I can’t guarantee that everyone will like every day, but they all mean something to Kirsten and me.
Regards
5 years ago