Three mornings ago I said farewell to Jeannine, Sebastian, Levi and Anna and left Leipzig – the lovely presents the kids gave me safely in a tin in one of my panniers.
It was a beautiful morning but cold – it looked as if it would warm up but the forecast said otherwise and the forecast was right – it got overcast and there was a chilly wind and I was pretty cold for most of the day. I was cycling towards Colditz and all I could think about was cold t**s and fingers!
I stopped and a quick wander round Trebsen – famous for its bold red bricks.
Next stop was Grimma – a lovely town – with lots of lovely shops (which were mostly closed which was probably just as well). Amongst other places Grimma had been badly affected by the flooding in August 2002
Last stop was the castle at Colditz – most well known as a POW camp – wish I could have spent more time exploring this but combination of cold and still had a bit to go to get to nearest campsite I didn’t stay long.
As per most of my route through Germany I’ve been mostly on cycle paths or very quiet roads – occasionally these have turned out to be farm tracks or walking paths but mostly they have been fine. This day though I had a short section where the route almost disappeared – road turned to track which turned to path which then narrowed to almost nothing – there was the remains of an old stone bridge – one parapet – nothing else – if you were sure footed you could have walked across it – I’m not and there was no way you could have pushed a laden bike across it. So I followed the wee detour – only a few meters but involved a very steep dip down and back up again – off came the panniers and tent and carried Bertie Bike across – laden up again it didn’t long till we were on our way and arrived at the Mary Celeste of campsites – no other tents which I’m used to – lost of hobbit huts with nobody home and lots of small holiday home / huts, again with nobody home and a very closed up reception – toilets were open though – I pitched up and had a free night – a cold free night. Lake where I was camped looked beautiful and I imagine lake and campsite will be very busy a little later in the year.
Beautiful but cold start today. Went down a 25° hill and passed this castle – was a little bit worried that I might have a 25° hill to go back up but largely on the flat all day.
Found a nice cafe to get warm and had a late breakfast.
Quick wander round another nice town that I can’t remember the name of.
I was on my way to Dresden. Kai had helped again and put me in touch with Claudia and I had the offer of a bed for the night.
Largely following the River Elbe – love these river routes – as a rule you don’t need to think about navigation, not many hills – just pedal and enjoy the ride. Had looked at the map to see if there was anywhere interesting I should stop and nothing had caught my eye – so had a big wow moment when I came round a corner and saw this – Meissen – incredible old town with a lot of history – once upon a time Meissen was the capital of Saxony – and in 1988 the agreement on mutual recognition between the German Evangelical Church (East & West) and the Church of England was signed in the town – for me though I was just enjoying exploring round and up the narrow cobbled streets and enjoying the views.
Bertie was quickly abandoned and I had a good wander around the old town. Not a lot of photos to show as battery on phone was getting flat. My phone is working fine, my spare power pack and cable is fine but especially when I’m on cobbles they don’t make a happy combination and I’m trying to only charge my phone up when I’m not on the move.
Now for the final push to Dresden. When I left Meissen I initially followed the north bank of the river. Just over the bridge the cycle signs took you to a steep set of stairs to join the cycle path – there was a ramp on the stairs so that bikes could be pushed up or down – after watching 2 ladies struggle to push their bikes up I decided it was accident waiting to happen if I tried to get a laden Bertie down the ramp and opted to join the cycle path a little further along the river and easy cycling after that. Close to Bresden I crossed to the south side of the river and carried on about another 15k east of the city to Claudia’s House and met her and her 2 gorgeous cats – saw lots of interesting buildings on the way past and looking forward to a wee bit of sightseeing tomorrow.
Had a delicious pasta and tomato sauce that Claudia made – next time I make this I must remember to add grated carrot – it was fab.
Next morning, armed with tips from Claudia and a one day walking guide to Dresden, I saw much of the city as I could. Whenever I visit a city I always like to go up the highest dome or tower, etc that you can for the views. Domes that I particularly remember are St Paul’s in London and the painting of Dante’s Inferno in the cathedral in Florence but think I have a new favourite – the dome on the Fraunkirche (Church of our Lady) in Dresden – there is something very peaceful and beautiful about it – I loved it – think my photos of inside the dome make it look like a wee doll’s house though.
Dresden was largely destroyed in World War 2 – after the Berlin Wall was brought down it has gradually been restored again. Fragments of painted segments of the dome were found in the rubble and it has been repainted as closely to the original as they can. There are loads of stunning buildings and one day in Dresden is too short to take it all in.
The new town on the other side of The Elbe is worth a look as well and I climbed the tower of Dreikönigskirche so that I could look back over the river to the old town.
Next day it was on towards The Swiss Saxony – Karen had suggested stopping here and my first thought was they were in the the wrong direction but quick Google showed that they were nowhere near Switzerland but on the German / Czech – they had been recommended by folks I’d met on my travels as well and the pictures of them looked amazing. First stop though was a quick bike ride and a ferry crossing from Claudia’s house to see the gardens at Pillnitz Castle and they were definitely worth a visit – the sort of place you could keep going to a different times of the year, if you lived to locally, to see the different flowers.
Claudia had suggested coming back on the ferry and following the south bank of The Elbe. Lady cyclist on the ferry said both sides were good but to cross back to the south bank at Wehlen to get good views of the start of the start of the Swiss Saxony area and this is what I did.8
A wee while later and crossing my 3rd ferry – this time leaving Bertie behind – I went across to Rathen and walked up to Basteibruke – another place that had been recommended, although Claudia advised that it was too touristy and busy – Claudia was right but it was still worth seeing and I loved it and I suspect it was much quieter than normal being out of season and a somewhat grey drizzly day.
Back on the ferry again and a short bike ride to the campsite for the night – nice wee campsite outside a hostel. Big barn to shelter in, which wasn’t terribly warm but lots of fleecy rugs and later on the lads that ran the hostel got the big log burner going.
Pumpkin roll for breakfast that I’d ordered the night before – delicious – they make fantastic bread and rolls in Germany and I wish I’d ordered 2 and this was the best bit about yesterday.
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