Navigating through Berlin

August 29, 2018

We revisit Nauen

We had been feeling that riding into Berlin and finding our hotel would be a challenge so we made sure we gave ourselves a very manageable day as regards distance. It was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature in the low twenties when we set off after our usual good German breakfast. At first it was very rural and it was through an area with lots of horses and horse activities. Then along the beautiful forest tracks we have been so enjoying. Riding along them I can't help thinking of Hitlers youth matching through these very forests singing as they went. Now the small towns had more services and we were able to get coffees

There will be fun in this little town on the second of September

Then we came to this sign but it really is like seeing the Auckland sign you see at Bombay or Warkworth there was a way to go

Spandau had a nice pedestrian area and we wandered around for a while. It was after this we realised that we must have taken the wrong road. However we set the GPS on our hotel and it really was little problem. Berlin is the most fantastic city to cycle in - there are cycle routes every where and hundreds of cyclists - many more than motorists, it suited us

Now we were getting into parts of Berlin we recognised from pictures. We rode past the University then came to the Teirgarten

It is better cycling through the Brandenburg gates then going in a bus

We checked in. Got our bikes up to the 6th floor. Then..... Ken went to charge my battery. He emptied one pannier then the other. Where was the charger. All our processions littered the floor but there was no charger. Panic ! I rang the hotel from last night. Yes she had it safely in reception. What to do? Buy a new one -probably hard to get the right one. Ride back - no that would cost us 2 days. Get a taxi back - a 120km taxi ride would cost a fortune. How about a train. I fired up the ap on my phone - yes trains went from the Hbf to Nauen. With no further ado we called a taxi and were off to the station and two and a half hours later my battery was being charged in our room

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 418 km (260 miles)

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david alstonTricia and Ken,

Good to see you on the road again. And what a perfect solution to the ebike situation. We will be following your ride very closely to see how it works out.

Once again I think we have stayed in the same hotel. Last summer we stayed in the Ibis right next to the Wittenberg U Bahn station but on a previous trip we were in Mitte, all very nice. We, too, love Berlin, we'll enjoy it with you through your journal. Gute Reise!

David and Maun
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5 years ago

Tricia GrahamGreat minds think alike! As regards the ebike the one we have bought is just perfect for me. It has a Bosch Active motor with 4 levels of assist. I am yet to use any level except Eco which is the lowest level. This was even on the day when we had a stiff headwind all day. At this I have no problem at all keeping up with Ken. At the end of the day I feel I could ride another 20 km. It has 400wH, we had wanted 500wH, but this is absolutely adequate eg at the end of the day yesterday after 57km the display said I could still ride 98km at the present level. has 7 chain gears which we wanted they are easily used - we wanted chain gears because it makes changing back tyres so much easier. Price was reasonable 1999E
Just hope we can find some place to store it when we get to Munich
Regards
Tricia
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5 years ago