So today was wet. Very wet. It could have been miserable but strangely not so.
We made good time before lunch into Lutherstadt Wittenberg, where in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Protestant treatise – known as (cue schoolboy sniggers) the Diet of Worms – to the Cathedral door. Said door was the only visible bit of cathedral, the rest being shrouded in scaffold and cladding. And when we poked our heads in the door, a work man yelled what we took to be German for “can’t you read the f-ing signs, no entry!” Nein danke.
Lunch at an Indian restaurant in Wittenberg, we dried out and warmed up a bit.
Progress after lunch was painfully slow, as we peeled off the Elbe cycle way, which has provided great surfaces, and picked up cycle way R3, with frequent stretches of sludgy gravel. Impatient with this, we clicked the “take us to the next hotel by road” button on the GPS. Progress quickly improved and we rolled into Borkheide sodden but cheerful. Best of all, we were greeted by a charming young man who spoke beautiful English and showed us to the cycle garage.
Just as last year’s Danube trip, our visit has coincided with the annual Asparagus (in German, Spargel) season, which is a National obsession. At the Hotel Fleigerheim, they are having a Spargel festival. “Would you like some dinner? Maybe some Spargel? We have ham and Spargel, fish and Spargel, or just Spargel.” I chose a Spargel Ragout, and Caroline chose Zander fillet and Spargel. Guess what was the complimentary starter, yes, Spargel salad!
Tomorrow Potsdam and Berlin.