And so we started the ride! Our hotel was near the airport and at the intersection of two busy streets but less than 1/2 mile of street riding took us off the road and onto a bike path, mostly through the wooded "Alster Park". From the beginning we had trouble with the directions-- they had clearly been translated from German into English and were not always crystal clear.
"After a further green bridge you turn left. After 200 m you change the river bank again and bear right after the bridge. 400 m after it you cross over an auburn and bear on the right path after it. After 600 m you pass rightwards over a large green bridge."
The first day was nearly four pages of single spaced instructions like these and we often stopped to determine our direction. The riding was lovely, however, and the weather pleasant. The forested and meandering Alster Park is much used by Hamburg residents-- many of whom were walking dogs. We learned that German dogs may be licensed to be off leash if they are under voice command and the behavior of the dogs along the way was truly impressive. A hand signal from the owner was enough to keep them sitting quiet and still at the side of the trail and not once were we barked at or menaced in any way.
For a few of the first miles we were on the famous Pilgrim Path to Santiago de Compostela.
But we we were not always in the woods. This is wheat of which we saw a great deal.
Our destination was Lubeck, "The City of Seven Spires". The Holsten Gate is called one of the most famous buildings in Europe. In 1863 there was a move by persons in the city council to demolish the gate-- it was in poor repair and "impeded traffic". By a single vote the building was saved and in turn has proven its worth as a tourist attraction.
Another view with Dereka and Ingrid in the foreground.
The old city side of the Holsten Gate.
We ate dinner outside at a nice restaurant on the river bank across from this charming row of old buildings.
On 28 March 1942 Lubeck became the first German city of be attacked by the RAF. Four thousand tons of bombs were dropped by 234 bombers and the devastation was immense. Three hundred people died, 780 were injured and 15,000 lost their homes. Goebbels is quoted as saying "Thank God it is a North German population which on the whole is much tougher than the Germans in the South and South east". Under wartime and postwar conditions it took until 1948 to simply clear the rubble. Following that, the city was rebuilt. As in many German cities the rebuilding continues today.
The melted bells of St. Mary's church have been left as a memorial.
Three Catholic priests and one Evengelical Lutheran Minister were arrested after the air raid, found guilty of questioning the Nazi regime and executed by guillotine on 10 November 1943. All four were beatified by the Catholic Church in 2011.
Continue to Part 4
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