A dash across Europe

With time counting down I decided I needed to up my pace - so in the space of the last  fortnight I've been in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany again, France and now I've arrived in Spain.

Poland was my first stop after Germany - only a flying visit and only staying overnight in one town - but enough to know its worth coming back.  Looks like an interesting halfway house between Europe and Russia in its attitudes and some of its developments.  In many places it looks like what I think Germany around East Berlin might have looked like 10-15 years ago.

[caption id="attachment_697" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Wrocklow Poland - a gorgeous city square - the finest completely intact one I've seen."][/caption]

Riding around was fun quiet but interesting roads and lots of small villages

[caption id="attachment_700" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Typical village scene"][/caption]

- and many with a huge church or castle or something interesting.

[caption id="attachment_698" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A small village somewhere in southern  Poland - with a massive castle on a hill top (looked more impressive in reality than the photo seems)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_699" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Poland does however win the prize for the country with the most sign posts - the roads were massively lined with them -most of course telling you the obvious and of course with the critical direction one usually missing."][/caption]

From Poland it was on to the Czech Republic and Prague.

[caption id="attachment_701" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="All day it looked like this and struggled to get to 2 degrees."][/caption]

 

The main reason to visit Prague was to get a taste of the changes that happened there since 1983 when I hitch hiked there as part of my trip that eventually finished in Australia.  I remember Prague as a beautiful, uncrowded city.  Well its still beautiful but the uncrowded has gone - even in what is the low season you could hardly move in the old city (and some of the beauty is now well hidden under the selling of universal tourist tat).  A worthwhile experience but after a few days I was ready to move on.

[caption id="attachment_702" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Night, the old Townhall - and crowds"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_703" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="There were still some quiet spots - if you got there early enough in the day."][/caption]

 

Near Prague is Kutna Hora what is now a smallish town but 500 years ago apparently outshone Prague.  Because of that it has more than its fair share of huge churches and the like.

[caption id="attachment_704" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Pretty and quiet - much more relaxing if less dramatic than Prague"][/caption]

But what draws people there are not the cathederals - but a bone ossurary (place where the bones which are removed from graves when they are re-cycled are stored).  Ossuraries are apparently reasonably common in Europe - but what is special about Kutna Hora's is the way its bones have been used to decorate the crypt of a small church:

[caption id="attachment_705" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A general view"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_706" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The church's sponsors coat of arms - and a very large pile of bones behind (one of 6 pyramids of them)"][/caption]

And if you think the above looks familiar - yes this place featured in the "Long way round" video.

After several weeks of being cold I decided it was now time to get warm - so decided to go to Spain.  Eighteen hundred kilometres in 3 days and that was achieved.  The first part of the trip was German motorways very efficient, straight and boring and lots of fog then onto the French equivalent which were lots more scenic (and enlivened by sometimes being beside the TGV train track - and when comes past at 250km hour its worth seeing).

The only flaw in the plan is almost as I reached the Spanish border I kept seeing electronic warning signs saying something I couldn't  - but was obviously to do with the weather - I found out as I was enveloped in a massive thunderstorm - thunder and lightning crashing around, rain at the "where's the road" level etc..

[caption id="attachment_707" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Fortunately a hotel appeared out of the murk - so bike and I hid there for a night."][/caption]

And then next day it was on to sunshine and Spain - but that will be my next post.

Onward - Sweden, Denmark (briefly) and now Germany.

After leaving Norway headed south for about 500 km straight down the west coast of Sweden before turning west into Denmark.  On the first day all the run was on motorway type road and I ended up thinking what a boring looking country Sweden was.  But I wasn't really doing it justice because the next day when, in frustration, I turned off the highway onto the minor roads I found lovely gentle rolling roads passing through neat and tidy farming communities - all of which I then forgot to photograph.  The only one I have is the one below which does tend to more support my initial view - a seriously over-tidy village without a leaf out of place.

 

One of the joys of Europe is the bits of history just lying around the place, almost unnoticed and unloved.  Here on a back road with no warning or marking of any kind I came across this marker.  No idea of its significance - but a lot must of passed it by since its erection in 1666.



Just before the border with denmark was the little city of Lund.  In many ways it is nothing particularly special now, just a university and rural town of quite small size - but in the 1200's it was a bit more important; the largest "Bishopric" in Europe with a cathedral to match.  Now the cathedral, whilst impressive enough, doesn't have the size and majesty to compare with some of the later ones in Europe but it was still worth a side trip to see.

[caption id="attachment_674" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Lund Cathedral"][/caption]

 

As I mentioned earlier Lund is now primarily a university city and the buzz of students everywhere combined with a lot of old buildings and streets gave it a lovely feel.  Definitely my favourite Swedish town (albeit out of a very small sample).

[caption id="attachment_673" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Bikes everywhere - what strikes you throughout Scandinavia (and also now here in Germany) is how much the bike is used and how well the road systems are set up to allow this the occur safely.  There's a lot we could do well to copy."][/caption]

 

A minor repair to the bike was required just before i left Sweden.

[caption id="attachment_694" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Coming down the motorway I felt vibration which I traced to a failing rear wheel bearing.  This fortunately was one of the few spares I'm carrying so an hours work at the roadside had it changed and on our way again."][/caption]

From Sweden, after a nights camping near the border it was a quick run through Denmark to get to Germany.  in fact the run was so quick it was a case of breakfast in Sweden, lunch in Denmark and afternoon tea in Germany.  The ride wasn't without interest though - for a start the crossing between the two countries is a 16 km long bridge (with a $30 toll - ouch), then continuing the theme there was a 23 km bridge (with a similar toll) between the first part of Denmark and the next.

[caption id="attachment_676" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Part of the second bridge.  This was scary riding crossing it as there was a howling gale blowing in from the side."][/caption]

So on into Germany where my first target was Berlin, about 500 km from the border.  Why Berlin? Well really because it and East Germany were one of two European communist country I didn't get to when I hitch-hiked towards Australia in '83.  Also because it is so wrapped up with the Soviet communist era history that I've been intrigued by over the last few months.

First stop on the way into Berlin was the town of Oranienburg, not that noteworthy in its own right but just outside it was located one of the first of the Nazi concentration camps - in fact their one which became the model for all future camps.  I walked around it for a few hours and there's not much I can say other than as I read the text on some of the museum pieces and looked at the photographs I was as near to be physically sick as I've been in a long time.  The ability of man to murder, torture and exterminate fellow man and justify it by demonising groups is truly frightening.  Germany is at least facing this part of its history in a way I think future other nations have attempted.

[caption id="attachment_677" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Two barrack huts at Sachenhausen Concentration Camp - looking innocuous until you read the stories of the horrors that went on inside the camp."][/caption]

 

When I got to Be.rlin I also went to the Holocaust memorial and the Jewish Museum which obviously both deal with the same issues and tell similar stories.  Both are impressive pieces of modern architecture; but for me I worry they are too clever for their content, overwhelming it with their feeling of being an event in their own right and from both I went away from them with more memory of the building rather than the events they are meant to be illuminating.

[caption id="attachment_678" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Inside of the Jewish Museum - all sloping corridors at odd angles, dead ends, slit windows - designed to destabilise and disorientate you."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_679" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Holocaust Memorial - for me more successful but still feeling like it is more about itself than the event it is supposed to remember ."][/caption]

 

Among the other places I wanted to visit in Berlin was obviously part of the infamous wall itself - although now only a few short sections remain of the 161km structure.

[caption id="attachment_680" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The largest remaining section of the wall is about 1 km long.  the "West" side was always used for graffiti and this has been preserved."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_681" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Immediately after the wall came down parts left standing  was used for art works commenting on the wall and its effect. The ones on this section have recently been re-painted by the original artists and many were poignant, a few just plain strange and this was my favourite"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_687" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="A foot in East and West Berlin.  Where the wall is gone its place is now often marked by a  double row of bricks on the ground."][/caption]

The other must visit for me was "Checkpoint Charlie" - the crossing between West and East Berlin in the American sector.  If you've ever read any John LeCarre novels its a place that seeps into your memory.  Its now a cheesily commercial re-enactment of the immediate post war crossing point but it good fun - and for a small fee they even use the original tools to stamp your passport.  i also quite like the fact that McDonalds have taken the prime East Berlin real estate just behind the post.

 

 

One interesting fact thats apparent around Berlin is there is a degree of nostalgia for the artefacts of the East.  This is known as "Ostalgia" as East Germans were "Ossies" (Ost = East) and the hostel i'm staying in plays on this theme;

[caption id="attachment_688" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Original communist era housing block - although not the original colour scheme."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_689" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Room furnished with communist era furniture."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_690" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A "Trabbi" (more correctly a Trabant). Zero to 1ookmh in 21 seconds ( and 110 kmh - never).  I actually saw, and smelt one (for they were two strokes) still out on the road as I was driving to Berlin"][/caption]

Well that is probably enough about Berlin.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Tomorrow I'm off to ?.  Actually I haven't quite decided. I'd like to go briefly in to Poland but the weather forecasts suggest this might not be a wise idea since they are predicting a high of 2 degrees for the next few days  so you'll have to wait and find out whether I brave this or turn west again.

 

PS - Its late and I'm feeling too tired to proof read this - so you are getting it as written.  Please excuse spelling and grammer mistakes etc.

More on Norway

Norway is an incredibly beautiful country - it has to be the most scenically "dense" of my whole trip.  It's also the most expensive, succeeding in making Sweden look cheap(ish) - but $ per view it would still be a winner.  Here are a few shots to whet the appetite:

[caption id="attachment_646" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Somewhere towards the western coast."][/caption]

 



 

[caption id="attachment_648" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Yes that's ice starting to form on the surface"][/caption]



 

Since hotels seem to cost $200 a night to keep expenses under control, and also because I like and enjoy the freedom of it, I camped all the remaining nights in Norway (plus those in Sweden when I got back there).  All my sites have been attractive, in a forest or by a lake, but the one below was the pick of them all:

[caption id="attachment_650" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The foot of a glacier - I camped in the trees just to the right of the bike.  Absolutely no one else around."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_651" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A view from further back in the glacier valley - as well as the glacier in front I had snow capped ridges on each side.  And that night was also clear and with a full moon - a spectacular site."][/caption]

Mixed with the scenery though are the roads; which when they are dry are a bikers heaven.

[caption id="attachment_652" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The roads are superb but I'm not so sure about the viewing platform sticking out over the valley - glass front and floor; it tested my nerve."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_653" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Launchpad for the road in the shot above."][/caption]

The roads aren't always dry though;

[caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Maybe November isn't the best month. (I took this photo mainly for the stick marker behind.  Throughout Scandanavia they mark the edges of the road  every 100-200m with sticks, usually a metre tall, so you or the snow ploughs can find it after a snow fall - here, which was the top of a pass, they were obviously expecting some more significant snow.)"][/caption]

Whilst I really enjoyed the roads they were harder work for some:

[caption id="attachment_661" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Two lorry drivers I met near the top of one very steep and very winding and tunnel laden pass - thats their truck behind.  The one on the right had just driven up it for the first time and when I asked him how he felt he said in perfect English "I was shitting myself"."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_662" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="And this is the truck he was driving - which may help to explain his comment! His more experienced co-driver does the road fully loaded."][/caption]

You do also sometimes see sobering images though to remind you to take care:

[caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="XJR Jaguar - other than the two doors on this side I don't think much remained to be re-used."][/caption]

 

Part of the fun of the roads is they are interspersed in many places with ferry trips across the fjiords which add to the variety:

[caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Typical little village at the head of a ferry route."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Obligatory bike picture"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A truck driver on one of the ferries (whose name I never got) - who insisted on paying my fare.  There are marvelous people everywhere."][/caption]

The other way of connecting places are tunnels.  These vary from tiddlers only a few 100 metres long to this one:

[caption id="attachment_659" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Yes 24.5km - the longest road tunnel in the world."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_660" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Time for a rest break half way through!"][/caption]

This tunnel was fun to drive - wide and well lit.  Some of the other older ones weren't so good; dark, bumpy, wet two lane roads that wound there way through the mountains with unexpected turns and dips.  A surprise in another was finding a roundabout half way through it and having to instantly work out what exit "road" I needed.  Also some of the tunnels high in the mountains had doors at each end (to prevent ice forming in the tunnels)- you drove up to this oversize garage door and waited whilst it slowley opened and then as soon as it entered it closed behind you.  A slightly eery feeling being shut in and not helped in one case where I got to the far end and the sensor failed to detect the bike so the exit door didn't open!  (Fortunately inspection revealed a manual operation button for just such occasions so I was able to let myself out).

I really enjoyed myself in Norway but aware of the time of year and the fact that it was supposed to be snow covered already I started to head South before the weather did change.  And I'm glad I did - I found that even in the few days I had been over near the west coast the temperatures in the centre had dropped a few more degrees and ice on the road was becoming a problem.  One particularly long unexpected slide on a road in mid-afternoon told me it was time to leave!

 

[caption id="attachment_663" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="My last camp site in Norway.  Buying a decent sleeping bag for this trip was a wise investment."][/caption]

And a final shot:

[caption id="attachment_665" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Lunch at a fjord-side.  No I haven't put on that much weight - it's a lot of clothes I'm wearing.(Top - thermal vest, T shirt, fleece pullover, down waistcoat, bike jacket thermal lining, bike jacket and finally windproof top jacket. Bottom - thermal pants, normal trousers, bike trouser thermal and rain linings and finally heavy bike over trousers.  At least my luggage bags are emptier now.)  They work well too, other than my toes I don't feel the cold."][/caption]

 

If anyone is interested my rough route in Norway is now marked on the google map linked to the site. If you wonder why this is not always up to date it is because it needs a really good internet connection to do the changes so often its just not possible.

OK that it for now - updates on Sweden, Denmark and my first few days in Germany coming soon.

Lovely Crinkly Bits (thank you Slartibartfast)

The ferry trip Tallinn - Stockholm was (fortunately) uneventful.

[caption id="attachment_624" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="What was impressive was the way the ferry wended its way between islands with only a ships length either side. It was lovely to see by daylight but at night in bad weather it must be nightmarish."][/caption]

 

After Moscow, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Riga I really didn't want to spend much time in  another big city for awhile - but I did give Stockholm one day as I wanted to go and see the Vasa museum.  The Vasa was the pride of the Swedish fleet when built in the 1620's, their first warship with two gundecks; unfortunately she lasted less than an hour on her maiden voyage when in gentle breezes she heeled over and sank in Stockholm harbour.  She was raised in a remarkably preserved condition in the early1960's and now sits conserved in a museum here.

[caption id="attachment_625" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="If you want a decent picture you'll need to go to the web.  The museum is in half light to help preserve the ship and my camera couldn't cope.  The claim is 98% of what you see here is original timber."][/caption]

I was looking for a cheap room for the night in Stockholm and ended up in a jail.

[caption id="attachment_626" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Fortunately a redundant one that had been converted to a hostel."][/caption]

I was uncertain whether to turn north or south from Stockholm but chats with the locals assured me they were having the mildest autumn on record so I decided to head north with a vague plan to head up to the ski centres in the middle of Sweden and then to cross over to Norway and try and see some fjord scenery.  This was going to be mostly camping as Scandanavian prices are as high as you have heard ($12 for the one and only beer I have bought here, nearly $3 litre for petrol, hotels start at $150 a night etc).

 

[caption id="attachment_627" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The villages north of Stockholm were postcard pretty."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_629" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="View from my first campsite - a lakeside 100km north of stockholm. Wild camping on unused land is perfectly legal here."][/caption]

 

As I got further north and reached the ski-ing areas around the Swedish - Norwegian borders you could sense how late the snows are arriving this year.  All the towns are set up ready for the ski-ing, some of the pre-booked holiday makers are obviously there and there is zero snow at the resorts.

[caption id="attachment_630" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Ski jumps look a bit ridiculous when not surrounded by snow."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_631" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Skidoos are obviously big business - typical price for a new one seems to be about $20,000."][/caption]

After I crossed into Norway and headed to the west I started to get higher and did start to see some snow on distant peaks.

[caption id="attachment_632" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="More desolate feeling as you head west."][/caption]

And the buildings changed quite a bit.  The Swedes had been very neat and tidy with very little variation in the buildings; the Norwegians somehow seem to throw a lot more character into theirs.

[caption id="attachment_633" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Lots of farms have their own private church(?) next to the house. This was the most colourful I saw - but all were similar size and style."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_634" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Also lots of turf roofed houses - both in towns and in the countryside."][/caption]

 

After a day the snow on the peaks got closer:

[caption id="attachment_635" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Very pretty and dramatic at this range - but the road was still climbing."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_636" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Then it got like this."][/caption]

I ended up finding myself driving through packed slushy snow with drifts one or two feet deep on either side of the road and minimal visibility.  I hoped that this was just the top of the pass and I'd be quickly through it - but after 5k it was getting no better so I took the cowards way and (very gingerly) turned around and rode back down the hill.  A couple of hikers I met just after I got back below the snowline told me there was about 20km of snow in total and it got no worse than I had seen, in fact they seemed to think it was hardly worthy of note; but I did note their car had snow tyres (which have steel studs on them) and of course it was a car not a bike.  They did however tell me of some other roads slightly further north I could use with no problems.

[caption id="attachment_637" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="On the hikers recommended "other route".  Fortunately it got no worse than this."][/caption]

The recommended route led down to the head of a fjord.  Just after the above photo was taken I found the turn off and a pair of signs, one that said 1:10 hill for 14 km(!), and the other that it was a narrow winding road.

[caption id="attachment_638" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Look carefully you'll see the road hairpinning its way down - the full 14 kms was like this. Bikers heaven."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_639" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The view when part way down."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_640" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Geiranger Fjord at the bottom.   Just visible in this photo is the matching road that winds up out of it on the other side."][/caption]

 

I've stayed one night at a hotel here at the fjord (at a price I don't want to dwell on) to do my washing, have a shower, buy one beer and do this blogging- but later today I tackle that road out the other side.

 

More on Scandinavia soon.

 

PS:  If you don't understand the title of this post you obviously haven't read "Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy' by Douglas Adams.  Just ask the nearest teenager to explain.