Bike Ride May 2016 Berlin through Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland to Krakow

May 15-31, 2016

The bike ride was with a Baltimore based group with whom I had previously done a bike ride in the Czech Republic and Croatia. 

BERLIN

I came to Berlin 6 days before the start of the ride and stayed with Lynne's nephew, Jordy, his wife Tonia, and their 3 yo son, Yuri. They made me quite comfortable. Since Jordy and Tonia were involved with work, and Yuri was in daycare ($100 per month with the rest state subsidized, a service available to everyone!), I ran around to museums and had some meals by myself. One day, Jordy, Yuri, and I biked to some playgrounds, and on Sat, we went to the Zoo together.

Lots to see in Berlin. I will show a few highlights in this section and reserve some photos from the bike ride in the next section.

Pergamon Museum on Museum Island

Burial chambers from Ancient Egypt

Ishtar Gate, the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon, and so tall that only a partial height can fit in the museum.

A room from Aleppo used by a rich merchant to welcome guests.

The Mshatta Facade is the decorated part of the facade of the 8th century Umayyad residential palace of Qasr Mshatta, one of the Desert Castles of Jordan.

Interior of the Jewish Museum, all intersecting tunnels
with exhibits viewed through the windows.

Rows of concrete columns. Floor is irregular and tilted,
adding to the unsettling experience.

The columns and one side of the Jewish Museum.

   

Hamburger Bahnhof, enormous space for huge exhibits,
including many rooms of Carl Adrian installations

Skinny house, about 6' wide. All the furniture,
toilet, stove, table, was just inches wide.

Lee Miller, photographer, in Hitler's bathtub, Munich 1945.

Performance art in museum

Glass House at Botanical Garden, the 3rd largest in the world.

A mannequin overlooking traffic from the  KW Institute for Contemporary Art- Museum window

Part of 1200 concrete boxes at Memorial to the Jews

Brandenburg Gate

BBQ, German-style, at Jordy's apartment

Bike ride highlights

We left Berlin on Sunday, May 22, and have biked across the Czech Republic and Poland borders to arrive in Krakow, Poland on Sunday, May 29. 

The ride has been challenging with plenty of hills, bumpy bike paths, cobblestones, and a bit of a drizzle one day, but decent hotels, food, and nice fellow travelers, many of whom I knew from previous rides in the Czech Republic and Croatia I did with the same company. 

Our group includes 22 riders and 4 staff, including Lujic, the Czech partner of the Baltimore company we are using, and a driver and helper.

There was a sag wagon, and many used it, but I got in only once to avoid a 10% grade going up for 5 km, although I did bike down from the top. I was not the oldest. There was an 88 yo physician who barely rode as he developed a painful knee just before the ride, and a 77 yo, who is a few months older than I am. The youngest was 50. Two-thirds were couples.

Here is what a day's cue sheet looked like, along with details of one panel:

Ride start from the hotel

On the road

Part of the Zwinger, an immense museum in Dresden

At the Czech border, leaving Germany

The Czech and Polish people love ice cream and shops are everywhere

The overnight stops were: Berlin, Petkus, Senftenberg, Dresden, Olomouc, Stramberk, Tesin, Zywiec, and Krakow. Don't try to find most of the names as they are small towns, not even listed in Michelin. We rode every day, without an overnight rest day. The total mileage for the 8 days on the bike was about 340, counting the hills I walked up. The total elevation was 15,000 feet. The weather was decent, no real rain outside of one drizzly day. The hotels were decent, and the food was fine. Beer and ice cream were everywhere and inexpensive.

Field of bright yellow rapeseed to the horizon

A religious statue to ward off the black plague

I have one more out of the country bike ride planned in October for Puglia, south of Rome in the boot of Italy, and that may be my last out of the US, unless something really special comes up. I have seen a lot of the world, I want to find trips that Lynne can share, and the inconveniences of long distance travel are wearing. 

After a tour of Krakow, including a visiting to the salt mines, I arrived back in Baltimore late Tuesday, just in time to get ready for the MS bike ride starting on Friday.