August 14, 2012
Riding along the German Baltic on a sunny day
The day started very well, we folded up our now dry tent and returned the room to its formed elegance. Breakfast was no less elegant with starched white table linen and a great array of delicious food, I don’t know whether any of the other guests planned on as much activity as we did, they looked as if a gentle stroll might be in order but like us they would be well fed.
The radweg started off the way it was to continue all day, well signed and with plenty of variety and an excellent surface. From Bad Doberan to the coast it followed the rail line through mainly oak trees. This is a very special railway as it has narrow gauge and a steam train. I counted 11 carriages and the blurb tells me that this is not just a tourist train but local residents use it to commute to work. It goes quite a way up the coast as far as Kuhlungsborn which is a very developed beach, perfectly manicured, the town in some ways reminds me of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The beach however is entirely different there are no pounding waves or surfers. Instead there is the gentle Baltic with the wicker sun loungers spread out for people to soak up the sun. One of the main activities however is cycling and there are bike hire shops along the way doing a roaring trade. It is still school holidays so there were lots of family groups, what surprised me were the very small children confidently riding, many of them could not have been more than 3. Ken had broken my bike stand when he knocked the bike over so I was very pleased to get a new one fitted at one of the shops.
The radweg we have been following today is the Osteseekusten Radwig and this eventually lead us to Wismar, which is our second Hanseatic Port. It is another town with a square around it and has a lovely old centre. When we come to a town like this rather than camping way out of town we have decided to get a hotel right in the centre so here we are at the Stadhotel Stern. After a shower and our ‘wecome’ drink we explored and were delighted when we were in the huge old(started 1300s) church of St Nicholie to come across a group of really very young children practicing in a small wind group. A very nice noise they made too. The church bells are ringing and soon we will go out to eat in the Market Square, it just depends how long it takes the photos to load!
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 408 km (253 miles)
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