Berlin to Prague, the journey continues

It's been almost a week since our last update. Here's what we have been through during this time.

After leaving Berlin on June 13th, we headed south in the direction of Dresden. We took the train out to the outer part of Berlin to avoid the traffic and make it simple for our navigation. The first day took us from Blankenfelde to Grüwalder Lauch. That's over 120 km.

Between Lichterfeld and Lauch Hammer we observed a devastated land of old mining site.

Agrandir le plan

The classic navigation.

A huge coal mining machine in Germany

Camping site view

The next day, June 14th, we headed into Dresden, which took us more time than we thought. On the map it looked not very far, but as we rode through the country roads, it seemed to continue forever! We got to Dresden late in the afternoon and took a train to Pirna. It was almost 7 pm so we decided to end the day, camping at a site near the town. 

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Our way into Dresden

From Pirna, at first we thought about taking a seemingly shortest road to Decin, in Czech republic. A quick check with the people at the camping site confirmed our concern, for that road would take us through very hilly terrain. Instead, the bike path along the Elbe would be easier ride and beautiful. And that was the road we used from Pirna through Decin to Litomerice on June 15th.

Oh and since people seemed quite impressed that we were riding all that distance, we decided to make it more obvious on what we were wearing...

Sweden to Serbia!

Along the Elbe

Bastei

Konigstein

Into Czech republic - Day 10, country Number 4

Dodgy looking night clubs close to the border...

Waiting for rain to pass - biscuit time

Nice view over the Elbe in Litomerice

From Litomerice, we couldn't take the bike path further as it was under construction. Instead we followed a road to Roudnice. There we met another new experience. While consulting our map in the town centre, a old man approached us. He introduced himself as a cyclist knowing the way around the region, then offered to ride with us to the next town. We hesitated at first but after he enthusiastically insisted, we followed him home to get his bike. There we met his wife who sat us at a table and gave us soup and bread! At this point we were not even properly introduced! When finally asking his name, he went to get a business card: Jan is the name, retired engineer, and Eve his wife. After that he lead us on a path along the river again. Within barely 30 minutes of riding, he stopped and proclaimed "and now my friends you will have a beer with me"!!! Loveable guy obviously! We drank and talked about Czech history and culture for a bit, then he seemed properly fuelled because we had a hard time keeping up with him. He lost the way at some point, we went to a factory where he asked a friend directions, and overall he rode with us for over 50 km until we reached Kralupy. We had photo together before we parted. What a nice experience! 

We took the last 25 km into Prague on road 608. The sun was burning, the temperature was over 30 degree celcius and we had some hills to climb but we reached Prague safely. 

Our speedy guide

Prague finally

Karneval der Kulturen!

Yesterday we had a chance to see "Karneval der Kulturen" in Berlin, pretty much a day full of people gathering on the street to enjoy the parade of culture and nice weather. It was amazing to see how many different cultures are mixed together in this city. The number of parade group is over 100 and it ran from mid day to 9.30 pm.

Also we had a chance to meet with a friend of Xav, Maggy and her friends, who are studying master degree in environmental technologies. We introduced the sustainability programs we have in BTH and had some interesting conversation about our trip and sustainability.

Today, we left Berlin in the morning. We decided to use the train instead of fighting our own way out of the busy city. On the train we met a Serbian guy who noticed the Sweden to Serbia writing on our bikes. It turned out that he used to do some long distance biking trip too. He kindly expressed concern by asking "how are your asses?"! A strange and funny question in normal situation, but very common for people who have done such a trip.We separated and he wished us luck for the rest of our trip.

After many questions about how do we keep our butt from pain, we seriously considered writing a blog post on how do we do it!



A lot of people came to the event by bicycle!

Deutschland!

Alright folks! We got to Berlin today via Szczecin, Gryfino, Schwedt, Angermünde, Eberswalde, and Bernau.



Sunset in Stettin (Szczecin ) Wednesday 8th - end of day 4

Leaving Szczecin yesterday (Thursday) took time! Crazy traffic forced us to stay on the sketchy pavements (some bits were good) for a while. We wondered first whether to keep going south in Poland, but decided small german roads might be better.

Heading to Gryfino, on the very bad bike path.

Bye bye Poland!

We crossed the border with no controls at Gryfino, onto some much clearer roads in Germany indeed - far from big highway traffic! After a quick stop in Schwedt, we camped near Angemünde which was b-eauti-full of lakes, wheet fields and flowers: quite stunning.

The average german doesn't seem to speak good English, even at the tourist offices in Schwedt and Angemünde! We asked a resident watering his garden if we could sleep nearby his house and the lake, but he made us undertand with hand gestures that drunk people might come asking for trouble later at night! LOL!! Maybe he didn`t want us there, but we camped further anyway!

Shop in Angemünde

Ahh the country side!

Our camp site

Day 6: It is by a lake, very pretty morning view



Today we punched out a few kms till Bernau, where we caught a train to inner Berlin. We'll be here until monday morning - fill you in soon!!


Größere Kartenansicht

Yeah!! wind power

Berlin!!!!

The duo reached Poland!

Here we are back again!

After our last post yesterday we visited Ystad a bit, then boarded the ferry at around 9:30pm under rain and thunderstorm. Getting onto the ramp could have cost us the bikes, and we can thank the ferry poeple for yelling "stop!! Danger!" about the big grid our wheels could have got stuck into! So we broke (brakes, not break) and slipped and walked our bikes into the car deck, while being harassed to show our tickets! Phew! Anyhow we got to sleep in comfortable bunk beds and had a polish food apetiser! Oh and we made a drunken polish friend earlier: Mark, a judo fighter recommending us to keep smiling, OK!

Day 4: Swinoujscie to Szczecin

We did over 120 km today, including a couple of wrong turns. Started in gray sky, light drizzle and tail wind, to finish with sun and head wind. We found a camping site then rode into Szczecin - bicycle hell!! Unfinished new pavements, old pavements that seem untouched since the 50s, crazy traffic (half of which is trucks) and little indications. That said, it was fun!

A good night sleep and next stop, Germany!

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Ystad! First stage cleared

Finally we made it to Ystad, ready to board a ferry to Świnoujście, Poland. Unfortunately we are in a library in Ystad right now and the computer doesn't let us do much!! Photos will come shortly - here are a few for now.

The first few days went really well, and riding through the countyside gives an amazing feeling of freedom - except when trucks pass you by and you squeeze yourself to the edge of the road! Here's a brief count of the travel so far:

Day 1: Karlskrona to Bromölla
After a kickoff that we will remember, saying goodbye to friends and with some following thanks to everyone who came!!), we travelled through Ronneby, Karlshamn, Solvesborg, etc.. we stopped to camp. A big thunderstorm put us to sleep, we got a little water in the tent, but otherwise all good!


Visa större karta

Day 2: Bromölla to Eljaröd
Yesterday we had quite a trip with a detour to Kristianstad. This is where we bought the bikes, and one needed some gear adjustments - those things are not always built with the best accuracy apparently... As recommended by Johanes, our personal repairman, we went to Åhus and found a beauuutiful beach and icecream :D. That was highway 118, then onto highway 19 we met headwind and a few hills to challenge our legs, but we were rewarded by views, forests and some downhill as well - these highways are not big, but with speed and a bit of traffic, we decided to wear our high-visibility vests. At around 7:00pm we decided to stop, having covered about 90 km and still 36km away from Ystad, we stretched and camped in a big garden by the Eljaröd village pool.


Visa större karta

Day 3: to Ystad!
Covered 36km in 1h30, sweet! Wondered around town, got the ferry booking, internet in this library (found the funniest internet cafe but it was closed, photo coming soon), and we're off the Poland tonight at 10:30.
Butts are not too sore yet, but feeling the muscles work for sure!


Visa större karta

Stay tune!

D-Day! Ideas on Tour, the kick off!

Finally the day has come!

In less than 10 hours from now, we'll be setting off on a journey through Europe on our bikes. It is by no coincident that we selected June 6th, a day when 58 years earlier the liberation of Europe began. It is also flag day of Sweden. This year we'll bring with us sustainability and student mobility.

First stop Kristianstad!

Cheers



Yeah! We covered more than 100 km on the first day, stopping in Bromölla within 20 km from Kristianstad. Special thanks to Christopher and Jonas, our pathfinders.

Preparation! bits and pieces are falling together.

 One of our first activities in this trip to promote sustainability was a meeting with Karlskrona Dialogues - Building Bridges, Crossing Boundaries. We had a chance to present the people there our plan to actually bring sustainability across borders!

This trip would not be possible without our sponsors, supporters and friends.
Today we received supporting equipments, including tent, tools, and first aid kits from BTH. A big thank has to go to Ulrika Wilke from our university.