Postings from Germany

My "Birthday Trip" 2006 - - -

- - - the most recent of the many memorable birthday trips we've taken. Last year - Paris - will likely never be excelled - but every year is fun and special in its own way.

We started from home on Thursday morning. It seems that regardless of the time we have to prepare, there's always the last minute rush, things that don't get done exactly as we'd like - Where's the camera? Did you pack the Nivea? Did you lock the door? Who got the garbage ? Where are the TICKETS ?? Oh, no tickets yet. But we get away on time. It was cool, about 15°C (62°F) and clear.

TO THE TRAIN! We boarded in Vegesack, changed in Verden, got off again in Minden and then took a short ride to Porta Westfalica - the natural break in the Weser "Mountains" (the Weserbergland) that runs more or less east and west and the beginning of our bike tour. We got ALMOST there last summer when we did the first part of the tour along the Weser, from the source of the river in Hannoverschmünden. But this was the logical place to pick up the trail again.

And here it is - the Porta Westfalica with the monument of Kaiser Wilhelm. The train station is old and IMPOSSIBLE if you are handicapped. I'm standing at the top of two flights of stairs from the platform where we got off. After we got off and looked around, we asked another passenger coming down if there was another way. He smiled - rather sympathetically I thought - and just shook his head. So we unloaded stuff from the bikes, Werner hauled them up the stairs, then we repacked them.

The fall colors here aren't as intense as in the northeast, or even the mountains in North Georgia, but it was pretty nonetheless and as you can see, we had some wonderful blue skies.
We did about 15 kilometers south of Porta Westfalica on both sides of the Weser. It looks calm here, and usually is. Because of the break in the mountains, it's a natural traffic center - Autobahns, federal highways, trains of all sizes and sorts - and for the first time, we biked on the Autobahn!

Not really, of course -we shared the same asphalt and there was a guard rail between us and all the trucks, but it was really really loud and they drove really really fast and looked menacing to say the least.

Heading up to Minden, there were multiple views of the river and the landscape to take in, chocolate to eat, little pauses to make, pictures to take, maps to consult. We put in between 50 - 70 kilometers a day, but we rarely actually stay ON the bikes for more than 10 at a time. Here we are for instance NOT on the bikes! This might be my favorite picture from the trip.


Just into Minden we passed a "Schiffermühle" - literally a ship mill - but what it is, is a mill that floats like a ship, not mills ships. It's moored to the bank and uses the natural flow of the river to power the paddle wheel. Or did; it's just a museum piece now.

Minden has several churches; this the the main cathedral. The main church in the town is always called the cathedral, a hangover from before the reformation, I suppose.

The downtown pedestrian zone has all the requisite shops of course, but just around the corner is the old town with its crookedy half-timbered buildings and narrow lanes with charming views.

There's lots of old stuff, but there's new stuff too. This is just amazing - outside Minden is the intersection of the Weser and the "Mittlellandkanal" that connects, by artificial waterways, the natural rivers. In this picture you see the "water bridge" that carries the canal OVER the Weser. It is AMAZING and weird to the max.

This picture shows Werner WAAAYY down at the bottom there on the grass. The Weser is well behind him; to the left is the new water bridge (about 1993), and the older one (about 1911) from the picture above on the right. Lots of traffic - they need a divided waterway! The canal flows left and right over his head - or in the picture below - over mine. Truly an engineering wonder.

To Petershagen to spend the night. There's a little castle where you can spend the night, but the prices took the romance right out us ...



... so we stayed in a more modest place (peeling paint, toilet down the hall, shower in the room) but it was clean and the pub food was pub food - simple and good. It was fun watching and listening to the regulars at the bar while we ate.

Besides, the view from the terrace of the castle included this NUKULAR power plant across the river.

Next day we stopped at the open air market for provisions and then headed to Windheim where they were having their annual fall festival. It is a village, but there were hundreds of cars parked along the little roads leading to the town - from Hanover, Hamburg, other places some ways away. There was a flea market and commercial stands, the ubiquitous Bratwurst und Bier. I found a cute little mocha cup and saucer, English ironstone, that Werner said we couldn't possibly transport, but of course we did (it was, after all, my birthday!) and now it's in the living room as a souvenir.Then to the little ferry over the river - the last weekend of the year it would operate. It only takes people and bikes - no motorized things - and is another working "museum" - the men who work it do it for fun.

.............. on the road again.

This is my second most favorite picture, the little church in Windheim from the other side of the Weser. Doesn't it look like a peaceful place?

End of Part 1 ..................