Brake - From the North Sea to the Adriatic - CycleBlaze

August 19, 2010

Brake

We set out at about eight. The countryside we passed through on our way to Grassenkneten was even prettier than that of yesterday. It was somewhat undulating passing through wooded patches and as usual there was not a thing out of place nor a speck of rubbish to be seen, Cycle touring in this part of Northern Germany is what you imagine cycle touring to be and seldom is. There are no hills of note, cycle paths the whole way, attractive countryside and plenty of coffee stops along the way.

From Grossenkneten it was easy to find our way to the Sage Commonwealth War Cemetery. It is quite a small war cemetery with 970 graves, Thirtyfour of these are New Zealanders and many of them llke my uncle were airmen. Andy was only twenty five when his plane was shot down. It is terrible to think when you look at this beautifully kept tranquil place that it represents the loss of the potential of a 970 young men and the heart break it caused so many families.

One of my main tasks for today was to remedy the problem I had created by leaving our electrical adaptor behind in the Hamburg hotel. It was obvious that getting a new one would be almost impossible but the charming man in the little electrical shop solved my problem by finding me a German cord to fit both the camera and computer and pointing me in the direction of a Vodaphone shop in Oldenburg where I was able to buy a charger for my phone. We can now use the computer and the phone, charge the ebook and iPod, take photos and what is more I am considerably more popular than when the loss was discovered yeaterday,

It started to rain again as we got to the Weser and as we are basically whimphotel here in Brake instead of camping.

Distance today 79km

The peace of the Sage Commonwealth War Graves - I am beside Andy's grave
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Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 145 km (90 miles)

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