Day 359 13th July
40 miles (Dannenburg to Berlin) Average speed 11.1 mph Topspeed 21 mph
I was awake at 7.30 and showered and had a good brekkie but my stomach is still struggling to cope, which made for an interesting ride!. I followed the road and some cycle paths through woodland in the dry!! to Gartow where I stopped for an energy drink. Then through to Schnackenburg to catch the ferry which was a lovely little town. After that I took the good cycle path along the Elbe which is probably the route I should have been taking all along. On to Wittenberge where I managed to get a ticket for me and one for the bike to Berlin, but not without some tricky negotiations with Helga behind the counter who wrote down the platform and time on a scrap of paper while on her mobile phone. I rushed into the lift and found the platform, loaded the bike with about a minute to spare!
I then set about trying to book a hostel while going through tunnels etc., losing 3g connection. I should have sat back and relaxed and waited till I got there but you live and learn! On arrival in Berlin I got the elevator at the second attempt as it was too busy. Then descended to the wrong floor so had to wait again to go to the right floor to get out! I found my way to the hostel in the north west of town right next to the airport where the planes went past within spitting distance.
Not that I would have enough saliva as I was so dehydrated, and while waiting for a couple to check in I found the toilet pdq. It was such a new hostel they didn’t even have a card machine yet and everything still had labels on. I had a chance to dry out my tent and somewhere to store the bike under cover next to the train line beside the hostel. I made my bed and went to Doreedos for an XL chicken schnitzel with chips and a pint of Warsteiner all for 10€. Back to bed by 10.30 and just about climbed onto my top bunk for a good night’s sleep.
A much better day,
Premium Hostel 19€ with planes and trains passing every 30 seconds.