From Gudow to end 2016

Gudow is near the ICT but not on it.  We could have got on to it, but to do this we started on a main road, to Buchen, where there is more border "stuff" and somehow continued on it, rather than divert to the ICT - which also goes to Buchen.  The road was not busy, and was well graded.  The wind was light and some more rapid (note:- more, no suggestion of athleticism) cycling was quite welcome.  The border "stuff" is actually in Buchen Dorf, a village a bit before the town of Buchen, and is a museum in a former priest's house.  It was shut.  It is outwardly an interesting building

From near Buchen, there is a broad canal going from the Elbe river to Lubeck.  This is little used now.  It was on or close to the border, it may have been within East Germany, and this may account for it having been so little used, which could have continued.  But is has a wide very cyclable track by it and the ICT route goes along it, and we went along it.  By doing this, we did not go into Buchen.  Cycling by the canal was wonderful.  No significant wind.  Sun.  Good surface.  No motor traffic.  This lasted maybe 8 km, then the route turned into some woodland, emerged into a quiet village and on a quiet road ended up on the main road between Lauenberg and Boizenburg.We were now close to the Elbe, though not yet in sight of it, and thnis road runs parallel to the river.  The guide had something about the oldest sluice gates or lock gates in Europe, but we could not find them!  

All was not lost in terms of peace and quiet.  Although this road was busy, the cycle track was quite separated.  After a bit we had to go uphill, which was a bit of a strain after so much cycling on the level and I ended up pushing.  There were occasional glipmses of the Elbe.

The road took us to the outskirts of Boizenburg, and to the site of a former concentration camp for women. The museum was closed, but we both had an excellent bowl of solyanka in the next door pub.  

Then into Boizenburg, steeply downhill at first, which was fun, and into a town that is charming survival of a certuries-old place with, in the town centre, hardly any new building.  We now made a mistake; we did not visit the tile musuem, which looks good on its description, and we carried on. We got to the edges of the Elbe.  This bit of the river was the border, ands there had been installations, fences etc to deny access to the river bank, on the north bank; we were on the north bank.  Now these have gone, except for a watch tower.

The river is nowadays lined by extensive dykes, many built or enlarged after floods in the 21st century.  Our route now went along the top of one of these, going upstream on a good concrete track on the dyke.  Eventually, we got to where a ferry crosses to the town of Bleckede.  We now crossed from former East to West Germany.  Somehow, comparing Boizenburg with Bleckede, one could see this.  Here is picture of the river from the ferry.

In Bleckede, we went to the castle, which is now a museum and arrived a bit before closing time.  Saw an aquarium of river fish, some of them huge.  Did not see a beaver in an enclosure (we looked!), and went up to tower for a wide view of the river and the surroundings. Finally  bit of time in a very good environmental exhibition.  Then to a supermarket, not Lidl and doing much better wine, and on in search of a campsite a few km on.  The campsite, at a place called Alt Garge, was a large well organised one with modern facilities.  Met an interesting couple, on bikes on the way to Berlin with young children.  They had a few hints on how to manage travel with bikes on German railways.  

The next day was our last one on the ICT this year.  It was over quite a short distance, to Hitzacker for a train to Luneburg.  We started off on a glorious down hill (following a trying uphill the previous evening) to get back to the ICT.  Then along by an old railway and on to a stretch near the river through delightful woods and not on a motor road. Soon after, in the village of Neu Darchau, to a ferry to cross to north side of the river.  Just before the ferry was quite a posh cafe with excellent cakes ot go with your coffee.  Then over on the ferry, and once more along the dykes, sometime on the top, sometimes not but always on excellent tarmac or concrete cycle tracks.  There was another border watch tower

The land was quite open

The wind was quite strong and behind us.  It was some of the best cycling in the whole trip!  

We came to another ferry, this time to Hitzacker, which we saw across the river

I am afraid I did not tke photos in the town, which is qjuite pretty place.  We had lunch in the form of excellent fish soup in a riverside cafe which we have decided will be the start point for continuing next year - hopefully!

Then to the station.  Train to Luneburg, cycle to a pre-booked hotel, which turned out to be linked to a small sports complex resulting is us getting a free sauna.

The next day, trains.  Because we were mainly on local trains (see previous blog) , it was 6 trains to get to Hook of Holland, where were a day early for our boat, on account of the previous problems with train booking with bikes.  We had decided not to change the ferry reservation to this earlier day, and had an extra day in the Hook area, which was rewarding and eased our return to normal life. Thye have speed bumps there, just like our district in London.

Lubeck to Gudov

The next day, we were due to leave Lubeck, but not till the afternoon. So we went into town for a bit more urban tourism.  We started with the medieval Hospital of the Holy Spirit, mentioned in the last instalment.  The main hall, that had been the chapel, was an inmpressive Gothic interior.  One could not see much more of the rest, but there was a good model in the main hall, showing it had been a pretty well self-contained entity in the middle ages.

We then moved on to St Jackobi's church (St James in English). Here, there was a touching memorial to both World Wars, in the this rather poor photo

We then went on to St Mary's Church, the big one in the city centre.  It was badly damaged in a British air raid in WW II, in this photo on display shows

but has been totally restored.

They have left the bells where they came crashing down.

It has several other points of interest.  Not least, the fact that Buxtehude was the organist and was visited by JS Bach, who had permission for a short visit but actually stayed several months and got into trouble in consequence,  There is some work by Bernt Nokte, and a bit about his Dance of Death.  Outside, something about how the devil helped build the church.

Lunch. We then got going on our bikes again.  Due South, on the main road from near our hotel, then turn left to get to the East side of Lake Ratzeburger to Kalkhutte, where we camped for the night. 

Next day, to Schlagsdorf, quite near the camp-site, though we still lost the way getting there.  Schlagsdorf has a special museum about the German-German border, the Iron Curtain in Germany.  There is quite a bit of stuff inside the musuem house about the border, its impact on the neighborhood and individual accounts about the few people who manged to get through it, while there is also an outside area where they have reconstructed a section of the border fence

We had lunch in the garden of the museum cafe.  There was an art exhibition.  This picture matched some of my prejudices:-

This museum was the first time that the Iron Curtain and its impact had hit us quite so much. The border had cut a swath up to 1 km broad across Germany, and beyond, for hundreds of kilometres.  There was a series of photos showing a tract of it, immediately after it came down, then about 15 years later and now.  It started as a a scar of bare earth, then some vegetation, and now full trees growing.  Almost of it all has been left to return to nature, and it is now a green swathe across the country.  

Then it was time to go. The border next ran along the length of a largish lake, the Lassahner See, and the installations to stop people crossing it would have been on the east bank.  The ICT route went this way, though there are no border installations to see there now.  We took a bit of time to get on to this bit of the route.  It was nothing special; ordinary roads weith no sign of any border, that took us to Zarrentin at the south end of the lake.  Stopped for shopping, and then it was not much further to Gudow, where there is a camp-site by another lake and where we stayed the night.

In Lubeck

We took a day off in Lubeck, and stayed in a hotel rather then a camp-site.  The hotel booking included breakfast and this was most welcome, even if we were paying for it!

Lubeck was important in the Middle Ages and later.  There is quite outstanding religious art; what we saw in the Cathedral was some of it.  There are other grand churches.  Parts of the city are wonderful old streets to wander down, but much of it is now quite modern because there was much destruction in WW II.  Air raids by the British caused much of the this and I was aware of this, having recently read a history of the war by Anthony Beevor which questions this aspect of Allied policy in the war.  I think the debate about this, centering more on what happened to Dresden, has been going on for some time.

After our first hotel breakfast, we set off on foot and went to the cathedral.  A wonderfully well proportioned building of considerable size, romanesque and gothic.  One is immediately struck by the very large wood-carved crucifix with mourners, above the crossing.

It was by Bernt Notke, who lived in the 1400's. He is famous also for the "dance of death" painting, of which there  is a fragment in Tallinn and I think we commented on it earlier in this blog.

Here are two other items of medieval art in the cathedral

We had noted a cafe in the cathedral cloisters but could not get to it.  Then we found we could through the natural history musuem, which backs on the the cathedral cloisters.  Stopped for a pleasant snack lunch, in the cloister courtyard.

We then went to the railway station to book our return journey; this had not been possible online with bikes.  But the train we wanted to be on, into the Netherlands, had no bike reservations left, and neither did any other on that route that day or the day before.  Calamity, but not entirely.  After some talk between ourselves, and then going back to the booking clerk (another one, but both were extremely helpful) we changed our plans enough to get bike reservations on a series of local trains, one day early.  This meant going home from Hitzacker rather than Wittenberge, when the time came.  In the event, this turned out fine and we would not have seen and enjoyed Hitzacker on the original plan.  It also saved maybe as much as 80 euros because the travel day was now a Sunday and there was a special offer on that day.

We met a man from tthe Netherlands later, who told us that he routinely travelled with a bike on German railways and had observed bike reservations were often not available when actually there was loads of room (German trains these days, except for "ICE's" have very generous space for bikes).  He had taken to not getting a bike ticket, just putting his bike on and locking it and going to sit elsewhere! He reckoned a lot of people with bike reservations do not turn up.

This all left us rather later than planned. We went to "I" to ask what to do in the last bit of the day.  They suggested the Hanseatic musuem, as closing an hour later than other museums.  This was about a 15 minute walk away. Well, we did this and got there about 5.10 pm.  Took a ticket for only part of the museum, the old Dominican priory and part of the exhibitoon about the Hanseatic towns.  The museum was partlky i n the priory, which is interesting.  I did not take any photos here. We also saw a bit about the Hansa, but not very much.  We then walked back into the town centre.  To start with we were going aslong much older streets and it was indeed a charming place.  Unexpectedly, we came across an old building that turned out to be an old hospital

Then to a bookshop to buy maps for next year's stage, and then to a restaurant by a river, with a view of an old merchant's building (I mean the building; I have no notion of the merchant's age).

Then we walked back further along the river, passing quite delightful rows of houses, and came back to our hotel after a delightful walk round a lake with a view of the cathedral.

The next day, we left in the afternoon, so had a bit more time to see things in the town.  But I will write about that in the nerxt blog, also about leaving Lubeck and continuing along the ICT.

Zierow to lubeck

It was later that we found that much of the Iron Curtain Trail (ICT) in Germany follows close to the German-German border quite rigorously.  This is sometimes something of a ritual because the border has been removed; except in a few places, all the paraphenalia, including the fences and other barriers, have gone - as they should have.  We saw a series of photographs in ther museum in Schlagsdorf (later) showing the track of the border, just after this removal, then a few years later then quite recently.  The first is a scar of bare earth through the countryside, then it has got low-level vegetation, then it has trees growing and actually would be difficult to find if one did not know what one is looking for.  The intention, I believe, is that most of it will remain a green corridor through the countryside.

Up to the edge of Lubeck (Lubeck itself was in West Germany) the border had been the sea edge.  Here there was an exclusion zone and access to the seaside was restricted in many places, but it was not quite so intrusive, so far as I can tell.

The ICT was along near the seaside until it reached the point where the border itself turned inland.  It then followed close to the old land border, with a side trip into Lubeck, but this bit twisted and turned following the border and is quite long.  We did not give importance to this inland section, and I was not up to another very long day either, so we decided to go along the coast, then cross by ferry to Warnemunde which is North of Lubeck and then either cycle into Lubeck, but more directly and not on the ICT, or go by train to Lubeck.  In the event, we went by train.

We left Zierow, going to Boltenhagen, on ordinary roads.  Boltenhagen used to have thremal baths and we anticipated going to them.  But it turned out that the baths had closed a few years ago, for financial reasons.  It is tourist area, as shown by the facilites provided.

We had a nice lunch there, and continued.  The place itself is something of a spa town, even if no actual spa anymore, and had that sort of feel about it.  Soon after we cycled on, there came a real heavy downpour.  I have not commented on the weather during this ride much.  During the earlier part of the ride, the Curonian spit, Kaliniongrad and Poland, it was sunny, not too hot and really excellent.  The it was more cloudy, but not wet - until this, which was extreme.

I am not sure if it was becuase of this rain, but we took or more inland route than the ICT itself, which goes aklong a coastal path. We probably missed some beautiful coastal scenery, but the route we did follow went through was also beautiful and went through pretty villages. About two thrids of the way from Boltenhagen, we coud divert to the coastal path and did so.

A few km after this, we came to the site of a former large farm house, or Manor house, that had got removed in thne time of the border, as it "got it the way".  This sort of thing did happen, in many places.  Here is a rather poor photo of the notice aboutnit, and a mound that mustb have been the house.

We also came to a wayside food place and plate of chips and mayonnaise was very welcome.

The coast path is well made up and through beautiful countryside, wooded and with fields, but one sees very little of the sea unless one goes specifically down a side path.  But we arrived at the point where the iron curtain itself turned South.  Here is what it is now and what it used to be (on an explanatory poster):-

Soon, we were in Priwall, the town opposite Warnemunde, and took the ferry across.  We then decided definitely to go to Lubeck by train.  We also wanted to see a 4-master sailing ship in the harbour, so there was a certain amount of cycling here and there in a somewhat confused state.

We did find a station, and a train was due in 10 minutes.  On it to Lubeck, and on arrival, on to our hotel, called the Kaiserhof.

Zingst to Zierow

For the next day of our cycle ride, my notes are strangely (or not so strangely) absent.  We rode from Zingst to Warnemunde, near Rostock.  I do recall cycling along a long straight road against strong wind.  You may say there is nothing exceptional about this; it is the lot of anyone who undertakes a longish cycle tour; we talk about the wind god and try to avoid him (her?) overhearing our planning discussions, but ......

Warnemunde is on the seaside and on the West side of the estuary that leads to Rostock, a largish town and a significant port and shipbuilding centre.  Coming from the East, we crossed by the ferry that crosses the mouth of the estuary.  As we got there, one those far-too-big cruise ships was on the point of departure, and did leave during the time we gawped at it.  I did not take a photograph; after all, if you have seen one giant cruise ship you have seen them all, and I assume my readers have seen one. 

But having got into Warnemunde, we found the camp-site we were expecting did not exist and the youth hostel next to the location was full.  The youth hostel took a euro off us for internet access and using booking.com we found very little on offer in the area, but there was another hostel half way to Rostock, so we reserved there.  We got to it partly on a local train, and when we got there it also turned out to be full and the owner had told booking.com but it had not taken this on board.  However, he said it was OK to sleep on the sofas and we did and were glad of the incorrect info from booking.com.

The next day, we continued along the coast, having fish rolls for lunch in Kuhlingsborn while it poured with rain.  The rain was over by the time we were faced with the first serious uphill fron a long time. The downhill the other side was glorious, into a village where the coffee and cakes were up to full standard.  (Coffee and cake can be a primary reason to visit Germany in the first place).  Then on towards Wismar, where again a camp-site failed to materialise.  A lovely old town; we were on the late side we viewed it for all of 20 minutes. 

On through a housing estate and a muddy seaside path to the village of Zierow, where there rerally was a camp-site, and rather an extensive one with a restaurant and other frills.

On the way to Wismar, we passed these decorated hay bales

Greifswald, Straslund and watch towers

After the ferry, ate fish and cycled to Greifswald, which with Straslund are the two larger towns in the area. A lot of places along this coast were pretty well destroyed in WW II, when the Soviet army came through and was resisted by the German army. This applies, as the biggest example, to Gdansk; yet the restoration of Gdansk means you would not knopw it just by looking around; the restorers did a superb job, not just in putting up buidlings destroyed by shelling, but in doing it so they do not look new. I suppose one could say they just “put them in aspic” but not so really; they are lived in places. Anyway, Greifswald was surrendered to the Soviet army by the mayor before any substantial damage, and indeed this is witness to the skill of the restorers; you cannot tell the difference!.

Greifswsald and Straslund were both Hanseatic towns, important trading centres a few hundred years ago, and wealthy. The buildings round the market squares and in the older parts of town reflect this. They have sumptious facades that blend together to give a strong overall impression. 

 

Really, seeing these places is about it, and did not take us too long, but was really worth it. But I should add that the churches are also well worth visiting, when you can get it.  We did go to Greifswald cathedral.  Here is the vaulted ceiling, and a modern picture, "Cain"

But we stayed in Greifswald a bit too long and did not get to Straslund, about 40km away the same day. We had also been warned that the Iron Curtain route was along a cycleway by a main road, the the cycleway was cobbled. Cobbled surfaces are anathema to our bikes, rattling along and full of vibration. So we took to minor roads that had hardly any motor traffic, went through little villages, and were lovely to go along. We got to a tiny camp-site in a wood next to a former railway converted to a cycleway. Near a supermarket for supplies including a bottle of wine. So a pleasant evening and night.

The next day, 7km remaining to Stralsund. For lunch, Backfisch in a Brotchen which was greatly disappointing and left greasy fingers for some time. Some shopping, post office, and on.

The route on was by the coast and we began to see the first evidence of the Iron Curtain. In the days of the GDR (DDR) a few people escaped to the West by swimming from this bit of coast to an island in Denmark not very far away, but far enough. Very courageous and dangerous, from exposure as well as the risk of being picked up by a patrol boat. Near the coast we saw several watch towers,presumably for surveillance of this bit of coast. These coastal installations were as nothing compared to what we saw later in the ride, but they have not been taken down and are there. 

 

This ride took us to a village on the coast, further on, called Zingst. Beyond that, next blog.

From Swinoujscie; Usedom island

Swinoujscie is the southern-most place on Usedom island, and the rest of the island is in Germany. Nowadays, the island is pretty much dedicated to tourism, both in Swinoujscie and in the rest. The Polish part has very much got Polish-style seaside activities. On the German side it seemed to us somewhat quieter. Well, I have commented on how good people in Poland are at “seaside”. Maybe no further comment on this one.

We left Swinoujscie about midday. We found a canteen-style eatery on the Polish side and had an ample lunch, notable to me for the larger amount of really well prepared potatoes. Then into Germany, across a thinly disguised frontier. After a bit of “on the wrong road” we got to Heringsdorf. This place was chosen by Kaiser Wilhelm II as his chosen seaside place, rather like George IV and Brighton in England. It is smaller and does have a feeling of class. But what we noticed as cyclists was how many people were sedately riding bikes up and down the promenade. Going along the coast the number of cyclists continued unabated until the cycle route suddenly took to the woods and to noticeable gradients. Where there were all these cyclists, there was a noticeable absence of other seaside entertainment.

Anyway, into the woods and up and down. Familiar enough from the Baltic coast in general. At one stage, we came to what seemed a continuous camp-site by the road – on and on for ages! We also came to a place where the cycle way turned into stairs, with ramps to push up you bike. With our luggage, this was not an option, but there was an alternative route next to a main road. Eventually, we got to a place called Karlshagen and a camp-site in a field next to and belonging to a gastropub, where we had a nice meal as well.

The next day, we cycled to Peenemunde, which is at the North end of Usedom and was a large research site in WW II. It is the birthplace of rocket science, since it was here that what became the V2 rocket was developed, pretty well from first principles. They also develped the V1, but there was less about that. Most of the military/research facility has gone now, but enough buildings remain for an interesting museum. The largest of these was a large power station, which was “state of the art” at the time, with things like exhaust gas scrubbers to remove sulphur in the gasses. It continued as a power station after the war. Electricity was needed on a large scale for the rocketry, for making liquid oxygen. There was also a nice bit about the large quantity of potatoes needed to make the methonal! The rest of the museum was rich on the history of the institution and a lot about the human side of it all, but surprisingly weak on the technical side of how the rockets were developed and how they work.

After the museum, we took a ferry across from the island, and the next bit is the subject of another blog, to come.

last bit in Poland

From Darlowo, it was on again.  Maybe a day-by-day account gets a bit tedious.  Would more of an overview be better?  I do not think so, really.  Cycling along ordinary roads again, but on the minor roads with very little motor traffic, was pleasant.  The excellent weather continued.  More huge wind turbines, which so impressed me - and favourably.

We cycled via a village with a famous church which was shut.

The to another seaside resort.  Have I mentioned that the Polish people really know how to "do seaside" with full amusement arcades and people enjoying the beaches?  The Balkic Sea beaches are glorious and during this time anyway, the weather was excellent.  Here are a cuple pf photos from the top of a cliff.

But for us all a bit much.  Are we snobbish?  Well, here, just foreign and not speaking the language.  And with a schedule on our bikes.

Anyway, we ended up in a place called Gaski, where we found a more chaotic camp-site, to our liking, with access to the beach.  So two of us went swimming in the evening and the third next morning.  We had supper "out" and chose something with a name I cannot remember, said to be traditioanl Polish.  We have had excellent Polish food, but this was simply dull!

From Gaski, it was on, again mainly on ordinary roads.  By this time, we were cautious about parts of the route said to be on forest paths and the like.  These could be really good, in beautiful surroundings with a good track to go along.  Well, they were alwayds in beautiful surroundings, but sometimes the surface one was cycling on needed a lot of concentration and was, quite simply, difficult.  So, anyway, we ended up at Mrzezyno and you will enjoy pronouncing that.  A rather indifferent camp-site is my principal recollecdtion.

Conscious of time and days passing.  We decided to do a long day and get to Swinoujscie, on the German border and about 90km away, in one day.  Started on good time and along an excellent cycle track next to a cobbled road.  Cars make a different sound on a cobbled road, basically much louder and intrusive.  Still, motor traffic was light.  We came to a military camp, and no further direct progress.  Eventually, found a marked diversion on good-quality dirt tracks through the forest.  This bit was fun. But it took us to the cobbled road the other side of the army camp, and this time no cycle-friendly path at the side.  A very bumpy several km, which increased our separation in terms of who could stand going faster.  But we got through and there, lo and behold, a rather classy cafe.  Coffee and cakes, or course.  Then on.  Because of the planned mileage, kept going through another resort, Pogorzelica and on through Niechorze and Pobierowo to Dziwnow.  Pronounce any of these and you are better than me even though I have been there!  From Dziwnow it was on to  Miedzywodzie across a hilly bit.  Heavenly coming down, but quite tough going up. Then finally, we eschewed the reommended path through the woods and went towards Swinoujscie on a big main road, with heavy trucks rushing by and a good smell of diesel.  But we got to the ferry for the past bit, and arrived.  Days this long were unusual but sometimes necessary.

Incidentally, Swinoujscie is spelled with an acute accent over the "s" 4 places from the end.  What this does for the pronounciation, I have no idea.  Polish place names, and ordinary words are full of this sort of thing, with accent marks all over the place.

In Swinoujsci, we had a day off.  Time to relax, cathch up a bit on email correspondence, and just not cycle somewhere.  We swam in the sea, played a Polish style arcade game, , and enjoyed it, and had a nice dinner together.

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From Hel to Izbica

Hel is located at the end of a long spit and we started by cycling the length of this, about 35km. Hel town is quite well equipped for the average seaside tripper, but once leaving it, a beautiful ride through forests. Then we started to hit the seaside provision. Actually, much more was to come but we did not know this. We got to Władysławowo, at the end of the spit. After a bit of ordinary town, the seaside industry hit one big time. They were even giving the sermon on loudspeakers (it was Sunday). But we needed a camp-site and went to the last one. The attendant gave us a pitch above the cliffs, with a lovely view over the sea. Facilities excellent.

Next day, on Westward. We got to Debki, where we had a fish lunch, then on now into forest tracks. Got lost. Plenty of other cyclists, but knowledge of which track went where seemed limited. After one longish diversion got through to a road, then onto another track that nearly defeated us with enormous puddles, but ultimately to a camp-site in place called Stilo. Next day, very slow. To start with on a forest track that we recall most for tree roots on the track, that cause immense vibration and reduce one's speed to very slow. But very beautiful surroundings. Then to the town of Leba, a total seaside place, where we had kebabs (of course). On now of a forest track with extensive stretches of sand. Finally arrived in Izbica, to an idyllic camp-site with what looked like on ongoing outdoor pub in the very large camping field. Our tents were next to the set-up of a family of parents and a little girl and a baby boy – all travelling by bike! They were certainly adventurous and also told us there was flooding on the next section of our route.

From Izbica to Darłowo

From Izbica to Utska to Darłowka

After the advice over flooding, we did not take the designated route out of Izbica. Rather, we took the one sealed road, a good one, to Glowczce. To the South. On the way there, George had a fall and it necessitated mending his back pannier, which luckily he was able to do with the aid of my bag of bits and pieces. Then we tried to rejoin the designated route, hoping we had come round far enough to avoid the flooded area. So a minor road North. But after a few km we met a German couple, going the other way, also doing long distance, who said they had gone through floods which would go over our front panniers. One the two was on an electric bike. So, back again and down a main road to Chocmirow (which I translated as miracle chocolate). Here turned North past Wierzchocino (wurst with chocolate) to Smoldino, where we did rejoin the route.

Pause at this stage. Mid afternoon, late lunch needed and a restaurant popped up. One the best meals we have had on the trip. Then on cycle paths through the woods to Rowy Another tourist attraction, though a smaller one, with plenty of seaside activities. Beyond Rowy, the designated path on tracks through the woods, but it was late and we took ordinary roads to Ustka, where we camped for the night.

Next day, went to see the bread museum, but it was all in Polish; it was all in one room and one could see there were no great revelations there, so we did not pay to go in. Coffee and cake instead. So left Ustka on the late side.

At this stage, George's hand, where he had fallen yesterday and was a bit swollen, did not seem to be getting better, so he went faster ahead of us to Darłowo where there is a hospital. Both he and later us (Tom and Katherine) followed less rapidly. Nothing particular about the journey to Darłowo. We did it on ordinary roads, which had very little traffic until the last bit on a main road. Atb on e stage, there was a hill which I (Tom) had to push up, but with a reward at the top of a fine view of the coast line.

We were struck on this stage with enormous wind turbines in large numbers. Even close to them, they were apparently soundless, and they really showed how this technology has moved on. We found them beautiful, and in countryside unspoiled by pylon lines!

In Darłowo, George has already got to the camp-site, which was delightfully laid out and half rural. The hospital had sent him off to the next town for an X-ray and he had a bus at 19.50, which he took. He told us later it went through all sorts of villages, but got there in the end!  Katherine and I had supper in the camp site.