Checked in to the Easy Berlin. Smallest hotel room ever! 7’x14’ including bathroom. So small bathroom door doubles as shower door. No table or chairs.

A view from the Reichstag Building

Another view from Reichstag Building

View from Reichstag Building.

Another view.

The Reichstag Building.

The Reichstag, an historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik is the seat of the German Bundestag. It is also the meeting place of the Federal Convention, which elects the President of Germany. The Neo-Renaissance building was built between 1884 and 1894 in the Tiergarten district on the left bank of the River Spree to plans by the architect Paul Wallot.

Brandenburg Gate.

The Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William I after restoring the Orangist power by suppressing the Dutch popular unrest. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was built on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to the town of Brandenburg an der Havel.

French Cathedral

Equestrian Statue of Frederick the Great.

Statue of Mother with her dead son.

1989

The Berlin Wall fell on the evening of 9 November 1989 - this picture was taken on the next day. People are standing on the dividing line built in 1961 to separate East and West Berlin and are gleefully celebrating the opening of the border.

Earlier in the autumn of 1989 mass demonstrations had taken place in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) against the dictatorship of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The demonstrators demanded reforms and democratic liberties. On 9 November 1989, the GDR government reacted by easing the travel restrictions.

Thousands of East Berliners immediately rushed to the Berlin border crossings. In the face of the growing pressure from the crowd, the East German border guards began opening the barriers. For the first time in more than forty years, the division of Germany had been overcome.

Less than a year later, on 3 October 1990, the two German states were reunified.

Berlin Cathedral

The Berlin Cathedral, also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental German Protestant church and dvnastic tomb on Museum Island.

It was originally a castle chapel for the Berlin Palace,

Platz der Luftbrücke

Platz der Luftbrücke is a landmarked square and transport node in Berlin. \240The name of the square commemorates the Berlin airlift of 1948/49.

A different view of Berlin Cathedral

Marx- Engels statue

Statue of Martin Luther.

St Mary’s Church

Multi-part sculpture by Ingeborg Hunzinger commemorating the Rosenstrasse protest by women of rounding up the Jews.

Enjoyed our first full day of siteseeing in Berlin. Walked 17 kms. Topped off the day with dinner of Pizza & salad. Yum!

Stopped for cappuccino

Bratwurst

East German vehicle.

Visit to Checkpoint Charlie. Brought back memories of 1971 when we went thru the checkpoint to East Berlin.

I vividly remember in 1971 having to empty the contents of my bag on this table. Every item was scrutinized. Pretty unsettling!

A visit to the East Side Gallery.

Mural on the East Side Gallery:

Brezhnev, General Secretary of Soviet Union and Honecker, General Secretary of Socialist Unity Party. Painting above is a depiction of this actual greeting in 1979 (known as a ‘Brunderkiss’)

Some other murals from the East Side Gallery:

Back to our hotel after another wonderful day visiting the sites of Berlin. We took some transit, underground & S Ban, but mostly walked. Another \24017 kms today. Perfect temperature, low 20’s and partly cloudy.

Brandenburg Gate. Cycling in the city is so easy here. Bike lanes are everywhere and are well marked.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin. It is located on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz. The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943.

The Victory Column

Designed by Heinrich Strack after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Second Schleswig War, by the time it was inaugurated on 2 September 1873, Prussia had also defeated Austria and its German allies in the Austro-Prussian War and France in the Franco-Prussian War, giving the statue a new purpose.

We are excited to start cycling in the morning!

It was tricky manouvering our way out of the city.

Lovely views along the way.

Rode by an area with cute, tiny cottages.

Much of the day we rode beside the Havel River.

This was our picnic lunch spot.

Bike paths were clearly marked and in good condition.

An old guard tower on the East German border from the Soviet era.

View from the back of Hotel on the Havel, our accommodation for the night.

Walked into the town for a cappuccino.

Just relaxing, waiting for ‘happy hour!’

Happy hour by the River.

Our room is so much bigger than Easy Hotel in Berlin!

Dinner in the hotel bar. Flamkuchen & salad.

A great first day of riding. 53 kms, sunny 25C.

Not many views of the Havel today.

Sunflowers are finished.

VIDEO:

Off road through the forest.

Past farms, corn fields, grain fields.

Picnic lunch.

Cappuccino time!

Rode into the town of Neustrelitz, our destination for the day. 47 kms, 28C.

This is our Slube for the night.

Sitting area on the \240left, bathroom on the right (spray everywhere shower).

Beside sitting area is a little cupboard with coffee maker, cups & glasses.

Stairs to the bed.

Bed, TV & window upstairs.

Walkabout.

Stopped for an ice cream & cappuccino.

Bratwurst down by the water.

Lots of off road on forest trails. Hills along the way. Liking the shade as it gets warmer.

Also, lots of riding on local country roads with very little traffic.

Salt Road

(old trading and transportation road)

Picnic lunch. It’s getting hot, 27C.

Stopped for a cappuccino. Lots of cyclists on this route. Some touring cyclists, in both directions, and many people out for day rides. Rich counted 22 bicycles here and our two were the only ones that weren’t ebikes.

Getting into Waren, our destination for the day.

Looking for route to our hotel.

Checking in.

Our room is in this building. Big storage shed in the back for bikes.

Walked into town square for dinner. Another great cycling day, 70 kms.

Loading panniers on the bikes. 17C.

Nice ride out of town.

Navigating our way.

Beautiful cycling through the forest on dirt track. Undulating ride.

Back on paved bike trail.

Checking our directions. Back on dirt bike trail. Lots of hills today.

Picnic lunch.

Krakow am See for cappuccino and Rich’s first Apple Strudel of the trip. Yummy!

Thatched roof boat shed.

Back on dirt track.

Cute towns along the way.

Arrived at Jagdschloss-Bellin, our castle accommodation for the night. This place is huge! 73 kms today, 988m climbing, \24029C.

Our room. We even have a kitchen that we won’t use because there are no stores nearby to buy groceries.

Enjoyed a beer near the pond.

Back of the castle. Built in 1912. It was in the East German sector during the Communist era and original family bought it back after reunification. Presently run by the great granddaughter.

Enjoyed dinner in the castle.

Lots of lakes in this area.

Every town has bicycle lanes.

Most towns have cobblestone streets in the center, but here we were happy that the bike lane was on a brick surface.

Loving the bike trails.

Heading back into forested area out of the direct sun.

It is always a bit tricky working your way through the towns.

Sundial

Houses on stilts along the river.

Rode along lots of areas like this with two concrete tracks and gravel in the middle. Took some concentration!

Picnic lunch. It’s hot and picnic table was in the sun so found the only shady spot to sit.

Looking forward to the forested area ahead to get out of the sun. Appreciating the wonderful bike paths here.

Nice little town for cappuccino and plum platz!

Riding into Rostock on our way to our accommodation for tonight.

Arrived at our hotel for the night. 72 kms, 28C. 932 m climbing. Tomorrow we catch the ferry to Denmark.

Arrived in lots of time. Tickets were 15€ each including bike. It is really foggy. 13 kms from our hotel.

Counted 18 bikes on the ferry. Crossing will take 2 hours.

Started riding in Denmark!

We will follow the #9 Cycling Route to Copenhagen.

Nearing Nykøbing, our destination for the day.

Arrived at our apartment. Total of 41 kms today. 25C and mostly cloudy. Our hosts greeted us and when we asked about a cash machine he offered to drive Rich into the city to a bank. They do not use Euros in Denmark. He gave Rich a bit of a city tour on the way.

Fully equipped kitchen.

We chose this bedroom of the 3 choices.

Salad.

Enjoyed our meal in the apartment.

Rode through very small villages.

Signage is good.

Massive fields of chard. Lots of gravel trail today.

Some forested areas.

Pavement!

Along the Baltic Sea.

Narrow gravel trail.

Sea views.

Short ferry ride from Stubbekobing to Bogo.

Picnic lunch at Bogo.

Rode about 3 kms along a causeway to Mon Island.

Indulating ride.

Arrived in Stege. Checked in to our 300 yr old B & B. Went for a walkabout. 70 kms today. 21C.

Happy hour at the B & B’s private beach.

Pizza for dinner.

Ride past gate at the edge of Stege on our way out of town.

Good cycling route with lots of hills.

Dirt trail through forested area.

Arrived at Møns Klint. Huge attraction here is limestone cliffs. We hike to view the cliffs.

It is a cloudy day and views aren’t perfect, but still impressive.

There is a huge Geocentre here. Lots of school groups.

Happy that it hasn’t rained we enjoyed our picnic lunch.

Sticker shock! Rich paid $10 each for a latte in a paper cup!

On our way back to Stege. As mentioned—hilly ride!

Grateful that we haven’t had the forecasted rain,

Back in Stege. 21C, 44 kms.. Interesting monument.

Been eating lots of pizza! \240Tonight it is salad pizza.

A bottle of Chardonnay from our gracious hosts!

White knuckles riding over this long bridge with heavy rain & crosswinds!

Rain is easing. Still windy.

We are finding ourselves a bit off course but see a way to meet up with our Route 9.

Picnic lunch spot. 44 kms so far.

Getting brighter.

Back at the sea.

Coffee break. Jackets off.

Arrived at our apartment in Store Hedding. No stores nearby so packed all our food, wine & beer from Stege. 78.5 kms. 18C.

Full disclosure—we picked chard from one of the massive fields on the way. (It was delicious!)

Leaving our apartment. Chilly, sunny and windy 14C.

Following our route.

Noisy chain. No chain lube. No problem—vaseline gets the job done!

Picnic lunch at the beach.

Cappuccino!

Beautiful ride into the city along the water.

Navigating our way.

Camino!

Arrived at the Wake Up Hotel. 74 kms. 18C.

Total of 720 kms. Berlin to Copenhagen.

Room is tiny but fine for us.

Walked fown the street and picked up a famous Danish hot dog— Røde Pølse! Yummy!

Looking forward to our three nights here in Copenhagen before flying to Stockholm.

City hall.

Me and Hans Christian Andersen

Inside Copenhagen University

Inside Cathedral of Our Lady

City’s first community telephone center

Fountain of Charity.

Lego blocks originated in Denmark. Ole Kirk Christiansen began making wooden toys in 1932. Later named his company LEGO after the Danish phrase leg godt (‘play well’)

Nyhavn (new harbor) from the 1670’s.

Havnegade promonade

Stunning buildings in the city!

Christiansborg Palace. Former residence of the King, now Parliament building.

King Frederik VII

Twisted dragon tail spire above the stock exchange.

On the promenade.

Beautiful buildings everywhere.

Along the promenade

Nyhavn (New Harbor) from the 1670’s

What???

Nyhavn area is truly stunning

The King’s New Square

Went out again after lunch. This time on our bikes. My tour guide checking his notes!

The Marble Church.

Side view of the Marble Church.

The Gefion Fountain

The Little Mermaid

Great day seeing the sites. 14-19C. Looking forward to another fun day in Copenhagen tomorrow!

Rosenborg Castle was originally built in 1606-1607 as a summerhouse by order of Christian IV.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the inside of the castle. Wifi was free and you could connect to a website with a guided tour and explanations of the exhibits. Very well done!

This is the Queen’s royal lathe with candleholders for lighting and pedals to spin it hidden away in the room below.

Christian IV’s coronation crown from 1596. Seven pounds of gold and precious stones. Considered to be the finest renaissance crown in Europe,

Modern crowns (from 1670!) Just gold and diamonds—King’s crown is only four pounds and the Queen’s just two pounds.

The King’s modern crown.

The Life Guards guard the entire Danish treasury, which for 400 years has taken care of Danish kings and queens’ most precious treasures.

Church of Our Savior with a unique outdoor staircase winding to the top—398 stairs. We were not able to get tickets for this and church interior was closed to the public for \240a private event.

Christiania. In 1971 squatters’ rights were established in an abandoned military barracks. ‘Free City’ of hippies, idealists, potheads, and lots of happy children live here. Actually, it’s the second-most-visited sight for tourists in the city behind Trivoli Gardens.

Tonight we will visit Trivoli Gardens.

Inner Harbor Bridge, also called ‘The Kissing Bridge’ because when it retracts to let ships \240pass, and then connects again in a horizontal, sliding move, it’s like a kiss.

It slides open where Rich is stepping. The bridge is only for cyclists and pedestrians.

In addition to marvelous old architecture, Copenhagen has some futuristic buildings as well.

Tonight we went to Tivoli. Not far from our hotel. It’s the most popular attraction here in Copenhagen. Not really our thing but we walked around in the daylight, watched some entertainment, had something to eat, and walked around again when the lights came on after dark.

Tomorrow we will get up early and take the train to the airport for a 1 hr, 10 min flight to Stockholm. We left our bikes with hotel staff where they were gratefully received.

This room in city hall is where the Nobel prizes are presented. Recipients walk down this staircase to receive their award. Dinner is served in this massive space,

It is cooler here than in Copenhagen, 15C. We plan a big day tomorrow as rain is expected the day after.

Royal Swedish Opera

Nörrstrom, one of the shortest rivers in Europe, is in central Stockholm. It connects Lake Mälaren with the Baltic Sea.

Stockholm is built on a string of 14 islands connected by bridges along the Baltic Sea.

Parliament House of Sweden.

Church of Saint Nicholas. Oldest church in Stockholm. 13th century.

Old Town

Saint George and the Dragon replica.

Walking through Old Town.

Nobel Prize Museum.

German Church

Saint James’s Church

Norrbro Stone Arch Bridge, 1643.

Stockholm is beautiful!

After dinner walked down to take a look at the Glass Tower lit up. One more day in Stockholm.

Originally opened in 1891 to show the way of life in different parts of Sweden before the industrial era.

Recycling is very well done in Sweden, as it was in Denmark.

Nordic Museum

Walking back along the waterfront.

Beautiful hotels in view.

Stopped for a cappuccino before returning to our hotel to try and complete our check-ins for tomorrow’s flights.

Feeling pretty smug that we didn’t get the rain that was forecasted.

Had a lovely dinner to celebrate our last night in Stockholm and the end of another amazing \240‘Bucket List’ adventure.

Rich enjoyed the Swedish Meatballs! Up early tomorrow. Train to airport, flight to London, then Calgary and Abbotsford.