So we were up early and had a wonderful breakfast; the staff were ready early for us which was nice. Nice sunrise.
A stretch of cobbles to the station - nothing like a shake-up to start the day!
It is predicted to rain today - and it started just after we arrived at the station.
Worked out how to buy bike tickets from ticket machine at the station (bahnhof) - yay! They can be used the whole day. There is a girl travelling on the train with 2 (TWO!) dogs asleep under her seat...
Change at Lüneburg - one of the lifts not working. Had to carry bikes up the stairs when we changed trains here. Argh!!
Masses of people waiting on the platform here for train to Hamburg and I wondered how we were going to fit on with the bikes but the bike carriage was enormous; and a nice man from Scotland pointed us to it, at the front of the train.
We had a major mess-up changing at Hamburg-Harburg; we had only 7 minutes to get to the S-Bahn. Lift wouldn’t fit the bike; there was a queue in front anyway so I raced to the stairs which the MFs had already gone to; they weren’t in sight but fortunately a young man came and helped me carry the bike down. Then down an escalator and the train was there; well, I thought so because I saw Buxtehude on the overhead information board. The MFs were behind and we all just squeezed on with the doors closing tight on us and we had to push them back open using all our strength to get us all on.
Wrong train. Wrong direction.
It actually terminated at the next station so then we went BACK to Hamburg-Harburg. A young woman offered help. She had been in Australia 4 years ago visiting friends in Sydney and Melbourne and her English was very good.
She said get off at the next stop, which by now we had pretty much worked out for ourselves, and to switch platforms to the other side.
Next train to Buxtehude was only 5 minutes away when we did this and finally we were able to continue our journey. Back through Hamburg-Harburg - that made it 3 times this morning through the same station ...
Now we made a change of plan. It was still raining - in fact it seemed heavier. We decided there was no point riding in those conditions. It was freezing too - I am wearing 3 tops plus a parker.
So at Buxtehude we switch platforms (lifts not working again - what is happening in Germany with their infrastructure, usually so reliable?!) - and continue to our destination for today at Stade.
The weather is truly miserable outside and it is a shame because the riding looks pretty as we approach Stade.
The lifts are working at Stade! Hooray!! And it is an excellent station. There is a terrific cafe here so we lock the bikes and have coffee and cake and decide how to proceed from here. Our accommodation had said check-in 6 p.m.; I had indicated we would be in before that and they had replied ‘ring if it is raining’. Not particularly helpful, but hey! It is raining!
The rain has stopped; we cycle to the penzion in case someone is there and stand at the wrong door, as it turns out. We ring the number and get a recorded message. We ring again and record the message so we can work out the number in our own time. But there are not enough digits so our German understanding of numbers is obviously not ‘up to scratch’. And it is raining again! It continues like this most of the day - on and off.
I sent the MFs off to find someone who might know English enough to understand we needed them to listen to our phone message AND write down the number.
Success! They found someone. And so we ring the number. Hmmm - it is TOMORROW’s accommodation. MF1 has rung the wrong (original) number...
Much confusion all round as the poor girl at the other end insists we are booked in on 3 October and I insist it is the 2nd. I have the paperwork to prove it. Until I realise I am talking to the person at tomorrow’s accommodation at Cuxhaven. Argh! Argh! Argh!
In the meantime, we have stopped one door down from the entrance to our penzion and THE OWNERS ARE INSIDE! Argh!
She is a funny woman though. She gestures to come in but only opens the front door sufficiently wide enough to let me in but not the bike; she has disappeared and it is in fact a double door which I struggle to open. She then calls out ‘one moment’ as though irritated that I am in a hurry. I thought, well I am not hurrying you; you DID say come in!! The Germans like to do things in their own time, at their own pace I have found. Argh!
She is very precise this elderly German woman. She goes through this and that and then asks if we smoke. She is VERY pleased that we don’t. Funny, in a country where so MANY do. Dave reckons our stocks went up because she seemed so pleased that we didn’t smoke.
Anyway, we park the bikes inside and climb the stairs to quite a nice room. Have a hot shower and change into street clothes.
Stade seemed very pretty as we cycled through the centre to our accommodation; so we had our lunch and set off to explore.
The Hanseatic town of Stade is the economic and cultural centre of the ‘Altes Land’ holiday region and boasts many lovingly restored half-timbered houses.
The quaint cobble-stoned alleyways are perfect for strolling through the historical town centre. Everyone is rugged up against the bleak weather. I see that in the shops that the puffer jackets are quite expensive: 300-400 Euros! I have noticed prices seem to have gone up considerably in the past few years, and its not just the exchange rate with the Aussie dollar.
We visit one of the churches where the produce of the autumn has been beautifully displayed near the altar.
As we enter back into the main street. a group of men in uniform walk past and stop outside what I presume is the rathaus. They form a guard of honour and obviously something is going to take place. We wait, and wait... Finally the bride and groom come out and walk through the arch of raised swords. Such fun.
We walk on some more, looking at shops as we go. Lovely buildings. We climb up stairs at one place and have coffee and cake (again!) - amazing cakes in Germany. As MF2 says: often better than the coffee!
Some more wandering - we go into a Priceline-type shop. I love looking at the differences in products between Europe and Australia; for instance, back home before we left, MF1 was complaining about dry skin on his hands and with the skin splitting. You can get foot cream for this problem but not hand cream. In this shop was cream designed for hands with 5% urea - it’ll be interesting to see how it goes.
In a lovely shop back near the church I bought something nice for Kathryn for her birthday when we visit them in Barbados next year.
I had seen a wine bar near where we had coffee and cake. It was totally miserable weather. What a nice way to while away an hour - tasting German wines. David returned to the penzion no doubt relieved to have a rest and a break from us; it has certainly been an intense trip. MF1 and I enjoyed a couple of small carafes - both nice: the riesling and the red (Noir de Noir trocken) from the Nahe wine region.
Finally dinner. Lots of places closed (Tuesday night) but we find a pleasant informal cafe (Pannekoken Hus) and enjoy some pancakes (pfannkuchen) with wonderful salads.
Cycling distance: 2 kms (phew!)
Walking: 7800 steps - MF1 not sure, battery on the Garmin has died. Oh, and did I mention? I am tucked up in bed and outside I can hear the rain again!
So much for train travel and bloody lifts...you are going to come back with large biceps...cake always look good!
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