tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89989174410885233982024-03-22T03:39:02.992+01:00Oskar Bak's Blog6EQUJ5Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-2582946482355448762015-01-18T18:13:00.000+01:002015-01-18T18:35:39.921+01:00Hærvejen - Rødekro to Flensburg<div>
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Distance : 44 km<br />
Date : 19 january 2013.<br />
Trails trekked: <a href="http://www.haervej.dk/">Hærvejen</a>, <a href="http://www.ochsenweg.de/">Ochsenweg</a>, <a href="http://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Denmark/trails-E1">E1</a>, <a href="http://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Denmark/trails-E6">E6</a>.</div>
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In january 2013 my brother Adrian and I went for a winter walk. We took the train to Rødekro, and arrived at the station at roughly the same time that the sparse daylight hours began, roughly 8:30 in the morning.<br />
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We were to follow the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A6rvejen">Hærvejen / Ochsenweg</a> south from Rødekro and continue along it through the day. The hærvejen was the main trading route in Jutland in the medieval period. Today the route is a popular hiking and biking route, and is also part of several international footpaths (namely the E1 and the E6 from the border and southwards) and pilgrimage routes.</div>
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The weather was a bit cold (-5 degrees), and windy and especially the wind chill factor (- 25 degrees) was significant on this particular day.</div>
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The land was frozen and wintery, as we had several months with temperatures staying more or less constantly below zero. There was some snow, but not more than 25-30 centimeters on average, and although we had occasional very ligth snow showers during the day these added no more than one or two centimeters to the overall snow depths.</div>
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We had not walked more than 5 km down hærvejen before we had sufficient inner warmth being generated, for us to feel a bit hot dressed in the heavy winter jackets, and woolen caps. So we walked with the jackets unzipped and could still easily keep warm. Only on the open stretches did we have to zip our jackets as the wind chill could be felt in full strength on theses parts of the hike.</div>
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As we came to the outskirts of the village of Hjortkær we were about 7 km into the days hike and had travelled on very small backcountry roads, that were mostly covered with a thin layer of snow, and asphalt underneath that. The signs for the Hærvejen were very consistent and easy to see as no leafs or plants were covering them at this time of the year.</div>
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We followed the edge of the village southwards, never actually entering it. On the southeastern tip of the village there was a couple of benches by the road, and we stopped for a cup of coffee and a snack.</div>
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For the next kilometer we followed a county road with somewhat more traffic than the ones we had been on so far. However after this short stretch we found ourselves on a wide gravel road heading due south through the landscape, bypassing all human settlement.</div>
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From the ninth to the fourteenth kilometer the road was pretty exposed to the wind and we had a lot of 1 meter high snow dunes to traverse, with some of the taller ones being around 1,5 meters high. </div>
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We passed a shelter along this stretch and also the ancient site of Urnehoved, which lay just beside the hærvejen, and had served as a tingsted (assembly place) for the entire southern part of Jutland during the middle ages. </div>
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The tingsted is hidden in a small groove just besides the hærvejen. The site is placed on high grounds, relative to the surrounding landscape, and thus some nice views can be enjoyed.<br />
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From Urnehoved we continued southwards on the wide gravel road, and as we passed the 14 km mark for the day, we started walking alongside the western edge of Årtoft plantage, a planted forest.<br />
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As the hærvejen more or less follows the Jutlandic watershed, significantly reducing the number of streams and rivers to be crossed, a big advantage for the oxen herds that travelled along it in the past centuries.<br />
A few old stone bridges exist along the path, and around 16,5 km we crossed one of these the Povlsbro (Pauls bridge). Here we took a break after clearing the snow off a bench, and enjoyed the nice bridge and stream.<br />
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Afterwards we bypassed Tinglev, and the path turned some kilometers westward. On this stretch the path shifted several times, from gravel road to, asphalt road, to industrial roads, and the to dirt tracks.<br />
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Shortly after crossing the 24 km mark, we were traversing a frozen field, on one of the stretches where the hærvejen was nothing more than a relatively narrow dirt path. We came to a place were a big pool of water had frozen covering a large section of the field. We stood a few moments and tried to decide whether to cross the ice, or circumvent it. As the pool was quite large, and it had been freezing temperatures for some time, we decided to cross the ice.<br />
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Adrian went first, and although the ice creaked and cracked some, he came over without problems. As I started crossing the icy stretch the ice started giving in, and liquid water started emerging. Although I more or less ran over the ice, my left foot went through the ice, and was submerged in water ankle high.<br />
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The next couple of kilometers I walked with the wet shoe and sock and around the 26 km mark I changed socks as the shoe was no longer wet, but instead partly frozen because of the water.<br />
Luckily I only felt slight miscomfort on account of this incident, and was happy that it did not become an issue the rest of the hike.<br />
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A short distance after my icy footbath we reached the Bommerlund plantage forest. The first kilometer in the forest, we walked among young trees that grew in between the wrecked remains of the old plantation forest. That older forest partly annihilated by the 1999 hurricane that swept through Denmark.<br />
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Some 1,5 km into the forest we came to the county road leading to Kruså, and bearing the same name as our footpath "Hærvejen". The road and the path converged for about an kilometer, and we found an abandoned souvenir shop at the edge of the forest, where a couple of benches made a pleasant surprise for a little break.<br />
We still had some lukewarm coffee in the canteen, and some food in our bags, and spent some 15 minutes eating and checking the routes for the next part of hike.<br />
From the souvenir shop we had about 4 kilometers through the forest, with the path running parallel to the county road some a bit west of it and some times a bit east of it, but never more than a couple of hundred meters from it.<br />
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As we left Bommerlund plantage the evening slowly approaching. We had a nice view towards the bordertowns of Padborg and neighbouring Kruså.<br />
The next kilometer was a bit of boring industrial landscape, with truckstops and logistics centers. After this short section, where we also passed the jutlandic moterway (Jyske motervej) and after a couple of kilometers of hiking through low and not so dense forests we came to the hamlet of Bov.<br />
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We went through the hamlet and decended into a small and narrow valley on the southeastern outskirts of Bov.<br />
In the bottom of the valley we crossed from Denmark and into Germany, a border marked only by a small bridge and a couple of signs.<br />
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As we entered Germany all the daylight was gone, and we ascended the far side of the valley in darkness. We came to a small german hamlet and started looking for some public transportation in direction of nearby Flensburg. However we ended walking more then 5 kilometers more through the dimly lit suburbs of Flensburg before finding a bus stop from where we could take a bus to the city centre.<br />
In Flensburg we had time to eat some nice hot dinner followed by a big dessert, before departing for Odense around 22:30. A couple of trains, and some hours later we arrived in Odense about 1:00 in the night - 19 hours after leaving the same station.<br />
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Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-24295184802654152282014-10-21T21:51:00.000+02:002014-10-21T21:51:35.941+02:00Fernet Ramblers - Autumn 2014 Stage - Korsør to Sorø<b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Stage metadata</b><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Date: 5. october 2014.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Number of Ramblers: 3</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Number of km trekked: 48,1 km (my map is reconstructed and underestimates the distance, which Thorsen tracked throughout the day).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Time spent: 12 h 25 min.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Average speed (including breaks): 3,9 km/h</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Paths trekked: <a href="http://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Denmark/trails-E6">E6</a>, <a href="http://www.sjaellandsleden.dk/">Sjællandsleden</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Amount of Fernet Branca consumed: 0,7 liter</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The first round of hiking executed under the framework of Fernet Rambles took me, Carsten and Ture from Korsør on the West coast of Zealand and 48 km inland to the city of Sorø.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">We started out at the trainstation in Korsør where the E6 on Seeland starts and follows the path of the older Sjællandsleden which traverses the entire island from west to east.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The E6 is a transeuropean footpath that stretches from Greece to Finland. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">After 3 km of hiking along a path that was running parallel to the railway we came to Svenstrup. A village streching across the thin branch of land that seperates Korsør Nor from Storebælt. From Svenstrup we went towards the shore of Storebælt. Just short of the 5 km mark we found a bench, and retrieved our signature Fernet Branca from my bag. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Here we had a nice view on Storebælt. With somewhat calm sea and only a hint of wind we had plenty of opportunity to enjoy the scenery. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">From here we followed the coast for a short stretch, and being utterly consumed in conversation, we missed the unmarked path along the beach, that was the E6 (which was at large stretches of this stage appallingly badly marked). Instead we went back inland to the village of Frølunde and then went due east over backcountry roads before rejoining the E6 shortly after the 10 km mark in Forlev Marsk, where we were passed by numerous military vehicles. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">From here the backcountry roads continued and heading in a northeastern direction we reached the hamlet of Gammel Forlev and the 14 km mark. Here we had another small detour due to lacking E6 path signs. However being on alert from the first mishap, this time we only had to backtrack some 200 meters. From Gammel Forlev we left the paved surfaces and instead went along a footpath and bridge that crossed the marshes surrounding Vårby river and along the excavated/reconstructed old viking stronghold of Trelleborg. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">From Trelleborg we were back on paved surfaces and backcountry roads for several kilometers before taking a short break on top of the first plus 50 m hill of the day, among prehistoric graves and stone cairns. The view was nice, and the weather was exceptionally warm for october, so it called for a good refreshment of water and fernet. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Heading eastwards form the hill, we rambled in the direction of Slagelse while chewing some nice beef jerky, a hiking companion almost as useful as the fernet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We entered Slagelse just around the 20 km mark, and spent the next 4 km crossing the southern part of the city. On the eastern outskirts of Slagelse we had a stop at the ruins of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antvorskov">Antvorskov monastery</a>, which was once an imposing structure. Today the ruins lay as a small wedge between Slagelse and the highway that circumvents the city. Shortly after the ruin we crossed the highway and then entered the military training grounds (partially open to the public) of the Antvorskov military base. Crossing over 1 km of training ground, we came to the entrance of Nykobbel forest just as we hit the 25 km mark.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7YWO-AVnuM3xV5jwbG1tl1cQMmE5aDK40xMunqkmBYRaqZC-TVMlTnq7e_ngo0g1yxOyHWeVxRGL0kzxJSTUV5jCvQ3ch-Q9eUbtbo_Fm4vgvwLnHNBjIqYiCDbFwj3rbT_PEEUhazU/s1600/blog3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7YWO-AVnuM3xV5jwbG1tl1cQMmE5aDK40xMunqkmBYRaqZC-TVMlTnq7e_ngo0g1yxOyHWeVxRGL0kzxJSTUV5jCvQ3ch-Q9eUbtbo_Fm4vgvwLnHNBjIqYiCDbFwj3rbT_PEEUhazU/s1600/blog3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11nMDNUQCZfGO1mqlDZXBVHwJNE3Uq1munUZdbdKPUNDHO-7tdz4Qm4N4i1nENc5l1eEQN4e-5Jm0xN6NadA3AgWJ53pTTBTzZd_IKshkz-JIphAyHAZJsCc2ZeQVAJlQfleWb77QmCU/s1600/blog4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11nMDNUQCZfGO1mqlDZXBVHwJNE3Uq1munUZdbdKPUNDHO-7tdz4Qm4N4i1nENc5l1eEQN4e-5Jm0xN6NadA3AgWJ53pTTBTzZd_IKshkz-JIphAyHAZJsCc2ZeQVAJlQfleWb77QmCU/s1600/blog4.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">From here the next 11 km were through unbroken forest, although different parts of the forest had differing names. The landscape was beautiful with the forest in autumn colors, and a shot of fernet to keep us warm. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This part of the route E6 also had somewhat more signs, and although some critical junctions were still missing signs, we managed to get through the entire forest without any backtracking, sidetracking or any other kind of inappropriate tracking whatsoever. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Emerging from the forest at the edge of the village of Lynge Eskilstrup, we already had 36 km in the bag, but energy levels were still high all in all three of us. Carsten and Ture kept advocating for extending the trip to 50 or even 60 km but as the clock was nearing in on 17, we had only an hour and a half of sunlight left. Around the same time we got our first view of lake Tystrup in the distance.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In Lynge Eskilstrup we found a couple of benches where we could enjoy some of the evening sun while savouring some beef jerky and sipping a nice cup of Fernet. Afterwards we went the last 500 meters down to the lakeshore of the beautiful lake Tystrup. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Arriving at the shore we were somewhat pleasantly surprised to see that the lakeshore was an actual beach, and with the wind making some moderate waves on the lake, it felt more like a seashore than an inland lake shore. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The landscape along the lake was very scenic and we followed the shore for about 1 km, before heading steeply uphill, and northwards towards Carstens hometown of Sorø.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">On top of the hill we passed the 39 km mark for the day, and had a panoramic view of lake Tystrup and the surrounding area. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuMd1XveMmIJQGezd6NB_7UTJ63niluGfFPbG4HS6ryADxdckv6QSA7-3JaauivUo_7sa1lvp0FhyphenhyphenNKNyhHxrI5ucl2l6QCryMEehB81NUowjcw9ykVU8-RPJCDADshT1nEiPgAjLaDA/s1600/blog+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuMd1XveMmIJQGezd6NB_7UTJ63niluGfFPbG4HS6ryADxdckv6QSA7-3JaauivUo_7sa1lvp0FhyphenhyphenNKNyhHxrI5ucl2l6QCryMEehB81NUowjcw9ykVU8-RPJCDADshT1nEiPgAjLaDA/s1600/blog+7.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The final 5 km to the trainstation in Sorø we followed a main road, with some trafic and delighted in the fact that we would reach Sorø as the evening light was turning to night darkness.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In Sorø we took one last sip of the Fernet, which was by this time almost empty.</span></span><br />
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-39849016335677250442010-07-04T21:01:00.003+02:002010-07-06T09:10:38.258+02:00Garmish-Partenkirchen - MutkopfHaving spent the night in Garmish-Partenkirchen, and consumed a good size breakfast at the hostel, we took the train to Innsbruck. Unfortunately this time we ran out of good DB offers, and ended up paying full price for the section.<br />
From Innsbruck we were to take a train to Roppen from where we would begin hiking. Before we boarded the next train in Innsbruck, we did however have time to buy supplementary food for the following days - including mandatory Red Bulls for immediate consumption.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioreBu3kuSEQJ93zJlTwpscccmllOAClqJImZXepapmMYOeJ-BnTg0Tk21RKsFtksS7ojNaUPInT65sKTPY6KmqY3pFqlIPpHFBOBjTglGBYkfQm28NxIzFmQq-QTX7XfvF2l0AUiPgKQ/s1600/img_0325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioreBu3kuSEQJ93zJlTwpscccmllOAClqJImZXepapmMYOeJ-BnTg0Tk21RKsFtksS7ojNaUPInT65sKTPY6KmqY3pFqlIPpHFBOBjTglGBYkfQm28NxIzFmQq-QTX7XfvF2l0AUiPgKQ/s320/img_0325.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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When we got of at <a href="http://www.roppen.at/">Roppen</a> (780 meters above sea surface) we were met with a humid wall of warm air with a temperature about 32 degrees celsius. We drank some water, repacked our rucksacks and fastend all the stuff that hung more or less loose on the bags. It was now around 14:00 in the afternoon and we were ready to set out on the first hike of our trip.<br />
From the trainstation we had about 100 meters to the start of the Forchheimer Weg trail, which marked the beginning of our ascent of the Mutzeiger (2275 m).<br />
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The first hour the weather was cloudy, with small rainstorms passing nearby (although only one passed above us). We entered the forest almost right away, but there was no refuge from the warmth in the shade, as the high humidity kept us constantly overheated.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7YdEbTC5rmP2rCC8kWIXQFkIoLSAb3m475mBldVq9HFkNjSNs6UeoAZTWvMxNjJAG5uir_8ajKkdClY00pqBisoMeDd6zgRV8u5nHHAfZ5V5NuE-9l-uNkfKzbfQAM0jz9Aq3iSanW4/s1600/img_0333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7YdEbTC5rmP2rCC8kWIXQFkIoLSAb3m475mBldVq9HFkNjSNs6UeoAZTWvMxNjJAG5uir_8ajKkdClY00pqBisoMeDd6zgRV8u5nHHAfZ5V5NuE-9l-uNkfKzbfQAM0jz9Aq3iSanW4/s320/img_0333.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The first stretch up hill went easily with high spirits and all, but pretty fast the moderate but unforgiving incline was melting us down. During this initial ascent we saw a couple of motorcross motorcyclists, which were more the last people we would meet in the next 24 hours.<br />
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It took us about 3,5 hours to get to the Maisalm hut (1660 m) where we made dinner (freezedried chill con carne) on the primus and enjoyed the spectacular views.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>From Maisalm we had a rather nasty incline for 1,5-2 km up to the Mutkopf (1990 m). This section took us quite some time to get through, as we were a getting bit tired. However we finally made it, with 1 hour of daylight still left, to pitch up our telt and explore the surroundings.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKY_g-JWplCfvyQF6R6Qm_D_farVunTzKK-iGzgb_aRMwD06So2r_ZJNvS9JcfWP4FhQUWR6lGscuoiXxXi0Qj8Y5eVXD_GsoB7KsMD4j25vFFTD7YePELq_O9exOKUEgfHS3IlQjQCM/s1600/img_3841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKY_g-JWplCfvyQF6R6Qm_D_farVunTzKK-iGzgb_aRMwD06So2r_ZJNvS9JcfWP4FhQUWR6lGscuoiXxXi0Qj8Y5eVXD_GsoB7KsMD4j25vFFTD7YePELq_O9exOKUEgfHS3IlQjQCM/s320/img_3841.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT63I_46EPio4eJQ68JRk7HnekFPt_C7TQWcryRTrYq1KItYMql-0UUDers9K9U3495gU5Pge0vrRF53vUJ335yGAB47MxG1MB4UShhIcNQbvpf_0fdEs0N6GSV4PYETMAzk9p0zGv4_Y/s1600/img_3842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT63I_46EPio4eJQ68JRk7HnekFPt_C7TQWcryRTrYq1KItYMql-0UUDers9K9U3495gU5Pge0vrRF53vUJ335yGAB47MxG1MB4UShhIcNQbvpf_0fdEs0N6GSV4PYETMAzk9p0zGv4_Y/s320/img_3842.jpg" /></a></div>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-48405849364722857882009-10-24T10:36:00.002+02:002009-10-24T10:54:06.389+02:00Berlin to Garmish-PartenkirchenThe second day of our expedition started out as Adrian and I woke up simultaniously at 6:55 - 5 minutes before our alarms were to go off. <br />
<div>Ten minutes later we were standing at the reception with everything packed and our bedsheets in our hands. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLMXmknFkCfmkxGzJ34gH5k9hnjJmamtuqzidJGqnybFALrLQ49Tm2IQM86guvGj05Rbs0kiANiPLMqdycc5rfF-zp1YX4HZodphrxwbdgoOMilA3RU-YEdPK8ZWsLo8iRBK3WBYW7qA/s1600-h/img_3812.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372777122300131618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLMXmknFkCfmkxGzJ34gH5k9hnjJmamtuqzidJGqnybFALrLQ49Tm2IQM86guvGj05Rbs0kiANiPLMqdycc5rfF-zp1YX4HZodphrxwbdgoOMilA3RU-YEdPK8ZWsLo8iRBK3WBYW7qA/s320/img_3812.jpg" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
</div><div>As we got our deposit back and went towards the U-bahn station we congratulated ourselfs on the military-like efficiency with which we had begun the day. Approximately half an hour later we were back on Berlin Hbf. where we got some breakfast, and coffee which were to be consumed on the way.<br />
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<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NK69n4Tx1vHY6AYHtqWosZffy4QJ9AEuM900sSH-F7EZzqHr-rctH8f9muewj3qZZA8mBezoqwZ0U3duvk0gWN1cE4UKBHMZ1db0CNuXAO-jRWtutK3fb8lJ2UOp44yDJ_dBekWXuRg/s1600-h/img_0267.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372771068123598194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NK69n4Tx1vHY6AYHtqWosZffy4QJ9AEuM900sSH-F7EZzqHr-rctH8f9muewj3qZZA8mBezoqwZ0U3duvk0gWN1cE4UKBHMZ1db0CNuXAO-jRWtutK3fb8lJ2UOp44yDJ_dBekWXuRg/s320/img_0267.jpg" style="float: left; height: 214px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
</div>The day was to be spent inside the warm and secure bowel of a number of benign DB trains - using the übercool "Schönes Wochende" ticket which allowed the both of us to get from Berlin to Garmish-Partenkirchen for the sum of €35 equalling €17.5 pro capite (the price would have been the same if we were 5 people making it a whopping €7 pro capite).<br />
</div><br />
<div></div>Our first connection was to be Berlin Hbf.-Falkenberg am Elster a pleasent ride with a nearly empty train where we had time to wake up and eat our breakfast.<br />
<div>One of the passengers also decided to bless when he was getting off at his station, adding to the pleasant anticipatory feeling of seeing the Alps that lay ahead.<br />
<br />
In Falkenberg we had 10 minutes before our next train arrived, this one nearly filled with travellers of who many seemed to be using the "Schönes Wochende" offer.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">A couple of hours later we had arrived in Leipzig. We had about half an our before our next connection towards Gera, this time was spent on walking around the trainstation and resulted in the purchase of a couple of Currywursts which were devoured in the train towards Gera were we had a quick shift to the next train, which was to take up to Hof (in Bavaria).<br />
</div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXy-uANitmRZ5LKP_bdbsCrLIR9ET91p59L_acxLSdOSZiZcPwWJyOvXxQoKe9bnl2J5O16klhgbi6ro4z1Gvkf4QV-L875xzCNBLvuaxzIcMZ5muwQz5nVfCsXOk83wEUrxzEspICQSc/s1600-h/img_0260.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372771050719218354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXy-uANitmRZ5LKP_bdbsCrLIR9ET91p59L_acxLSdOSZiZcPwWJyOvXxQoKe9bnl2J5O16klhgbi6ro4z1Gvkf4QV-L875xzCNBLvuaxzIcMZ5muwQz5nVfCsXOk83wEUrxzEspICQSc/s320/img_0260.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>From Hof we were travelling along the German/Chech border.<br />
A bit further southwards as the border was still further to the east of our location, we were instead following the western outskirts of the dense Bavarian Forest all the way to Regensburg.<br />
<br />
In Regensburg we had the next connection taking us to München where we had time to get some Red Bull before entering the last train of the day, which was to take us to Garmish-Partenkirchen.<br />
As we sat down in this train, and drank our Red Bulls, the taurin and coffein uplifted our spirits, which had been dulled quite a bit by spending the entire day sitting in warm trains.<br />
As the train set out from München Hbf. we were already plastered to one window each, scouting for a first glimpse of the majestic alps.<br />
<br />
As we passed Starnberg and traveled alongside the lakeshore of Starnberger See there was a clear view and we could already see the Alps towering up in the background still some 40-50 km away.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PW4NBhszhcuhyphenhyphenTjPksR3K7Q6wEe_B7In1SxWowu3o7xvrXfcJDnc3qb98i1IxZIyckxqCD0OVRMXXGYDDhd3oW8IBAx2jbSXNxJu7fHBHX9WOKjwQ4-vHCj_o5enX_dZeWzTGGkTjHI/s1600-h/img_0294.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372777115377285122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PW4NBhszhcuhyphenhyphenTjPksR3K7Q6wEe_B7In1SxWowu3o7xvrXfcJDnc3qb98i1IxZIyckxqCD0OVRMXXGYDDhd3oW8IBAx2jbSXNxJu7fHBHX9WOKjwQ4-vHCj_o5enX_dZeWzTGGkTjHI/s320/img_0294.jpg" style="display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
</div>Half an hour later out train mellowly rode into Garmish-Partenkirchen trainstation with a little delay.<br />
<br />
Our hostel (<a href="http://hostel2962.com/">Hostel 2962</a>) was located only 100 meters from the trainstation, and as we were checking in we found out that some mix-up had occured.<br />
<br />
We ended up getting our own room with a bathroom put only paid the price for a dorm room, as this was what we had ordered via <a href="http://hostels.com/">hostels.com</a> when making reservations.<br />
<br />
By now it was early evening and we had to get some dinner. After going around town, we ended up at a Burger King on the train station, and by 22:00 we were back "home" in our hostel room planning the hike of the following day before taking a bath and going to sleep.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz81WzOa4IGtdJPLFktWabi9FdaYDpBS2pRLcthiBrvOH_joc8rQIE_9FYA0I9FyBrelrjFuJtqFVJ-47fl4GCKGMFwIlkGa0c1luWXH6luBaH8D-Zxh_vcRcgopsRfhm2T7QmJNXa1pY/s1600-h/img_0288.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372777099656267410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz81WzOa4IGtdJPLFktWabi9FdaYDpBS2pRLcthiBrvOH_joc8rQIE_9FYA0I9FyBrelrjFuJtqFVJ-47fl4GCKGMFwIlkGa0c1luWXH6luBaH8D-Zxh_vcRcgopsRfhm2T7QmJNXa1pY/s320/img_0288.jpg" style="display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllxqurtcR9DCSLhbxevbhde7aA8hcQ9Q6ijs7jWrc5niWO5za2J05wyXSdfqcnfOquM0XUXC3psPdpeXMejdkcLQjseHQF5sGl0d1Pk60swXNyr-hw5_n_AQUyrmyQxQa45oQVCzc31U/s1600-h/img_0292.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372777104391852178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllxqurtcR9DCSLhbxevbhde7aA8hcQ9Q6ijs7jWrc5niWO5za2J05wyXSdfqcnfOquM0XUXC3psPdpeXMejdkcLQjseHQF5sGl0d1Pk60swXNyr-hw5_n_AQUyrmyQxQa45oQVCzc31U/s320/img_0292.jpg" style="display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
</div><div></div>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-62669687507651754762009-08-27T11:31:00.017+02:002010-05-07T09:37:29.726+02:00List of travelled distances<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only travel related distances entered - business related excluded.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Autos</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Hitchhiking - 14,250 km</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2002 - 2,700 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Paris (return) [Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium] - 11 days (11 days travel)</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2003 - 3,900 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Vrsar (return) [Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia] - 10 days (4 days travel)</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2004 - 4,900 km </strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Berlin (return) [Denmark, Germany] - 7 days (2 days travel) - 1300 km</span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Paris-Berlin (return) [Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland] - 14 days (5 days travel)</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2005 - 1,350 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">January</span></li>
</ul><ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Berlin (return) [Denmark, Germany] - 5 days (2 days travel) - 1350 km</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">August</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Flensburg - Vejle [Denmark] - 100 km</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2006 - 1,300 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Piotrków Trybunalski - Odense [Poland, Germany, Denmark] - 5 days (1 day travel).</span></li>
</ul></ul><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bicycle - 1697 km</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2010 - 600 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">March-April</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Harderwijk [Denmark, Germany, Netherlands]</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2008 - 712 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">May</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense-Frøbjerg (return) [Denmark] - 1 day - 55 km.</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">July</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hamburg-Rudolstadt [Germany] - 6 days - 550 km.</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">October</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Roundtrip Ringkøbing Fjord [Denmark] - 1 day - 107 km</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2007 - 385 km</span></strong></li>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense-Büsum [Denmark, Germany] - 2 days - 265 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Büsum-Ejdersperwerk (two-way)[Germany] - 1 day - 40 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Büsum-Brunsbüttel-St. Michaelsberg [Germany] - 1 day - 80 k</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></ul><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hiking/Wandering - 311 km</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2009 - 171 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">November</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sönderåsen National Park [Sweden] - 1 day - 15 km.</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">May</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Öetztal Alps [Austria] - 5 days - 95 km </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">March</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense-Aarup [Denmark] - 1 day - 34 km </span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">January</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Faaborg-Ballen [Denmark] - 1 day - 27 km</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2002 - 70 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense-Middelfart [Denmark] - 2 days - 70 km </span></li>
</ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2001 - 70 km</span></strong></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense-Æbelø [Denmark] - 2 days (55 km on first day) - 70 km</span></li>
</ul></ul><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Sailing in total 288 nautical miles</strong></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>By sail - 207 nautical miles</strong></span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2008 - 183 nautical miles</span></strong></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Nyborg-Nakskov-Aabenraa-Middelfart-Bogense (5 days on board "Fulton").</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2007 - 24 nautical miles</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Bogense - Æbelø (2 times)</span></li>
</ul></ul><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>By engine - 81 nautical miles</strong></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul><li><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2009 - 3 nautical miles</span></strong></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">November</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Helsingborg [Sweden] - Helsingør [Denmark] - 3 nm</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2007 - 78 nautical miles</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">July</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Bøjden - Fynshav [Denmark] - 8 nm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Büsum - Helgoland [Germany] (return) - 70 nm</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Trains - 10184 km</span></strong></span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span id="goog_1255605022750"></span><span id="goog_1255605022751"><span id="goog_1255605022752"></span><span id="goog_1255605022753">2010 - 1180 km</span></span></strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">March</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Bremen-Oldenburg-Cloppenburg [Germany] - 80 km</span></li>
</ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">April</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Harderwijk - Amsterdam [Netherlands] - 70 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Amsterdam - Odense [Netherlands, Germany, Denmark] - 1030 km</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2009 - 3195 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">November</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Helsingør - Odense - 210 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Klippan - Helsingborg [Sweden] - 37 km </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense - Stehag [Sweden] (3 hours) - 243 km</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">May </span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense - Berlin (1 day) - 620 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Berlin - Garmish-Partenkirchen (1 day) - 750 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Garmish-Partenkirchen - Innsbruck - Roppen (1 day) - 120 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lermoos - Garmish-Partenkirchen (20 min) - 25 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Garmish-Partenkirchen - München (1,5 h) - 90 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">München - Odense (13 h) - 1100 km.</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">March</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Aarup - Odense (20 min) - 22 km</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">January</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Svendborg - Odense (45 min) - 44 km</span> </li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2008 - 1200 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">July</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rudolstadt - Odense (14 h) - 780 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Rudolstadt - Saalfeld (return 1h) - 20 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Odense - Hamburg (4 h) - 300 km</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2007 - 1843 km</strong></span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">July</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Esbjerg - Odense - 140 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Stansted - Croydon (return) [UK]- 170 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Piotrków Trybunalski - Czestochowa (return) [Poland] - 160 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Piotrków Trybunalski - Warszawa (return) [Poland] - 270 km </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Berlin - Piotrków Trybunalski (13 h) - 620 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Rostock - Berlin [Germany] (3 h) - 230 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense-Gedser - 230 km</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">St. Michaelsdon - Büsum [Germany] (1 h) - 23 km</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>2006 - </strong></span></li>
</ul><br />
<ul><li><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2005 - 2700 km</span></strong></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">August</span></li>
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Odense - Zagreb [Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia] - (34 h) - 1750 km.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Munich - Flensburg [Germany] (16 h) - 950 km.</span></li>
</ul></ul></ul><br />
<ul><ul></ul><blockquote dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px;"></blockquote></ul><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div></div>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-51758495202989878012009-08-02T12:46:00.017+02:002009-08-06T14:02:49.124+02:00Berlin May 2009Setting of on an Alpine Hike (Öetztal Alps) with my brother Adrian Bak in late May 2009 we started out with a day in Berlin.<br /><br />I started out my day around 6 am, getting up to pack the last things into my backpack and making some breakfast for my daughter, my girlfriend and me. Around 7 am i delivered my little girl in the daycare center and then met up with my brother around 7:30, time enough to get to the train-station where our train for Fredericia departed a little past eight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZey6lZ9t2P20ogHUNyROeTIxhpUiaU4UlU2IRGeCdP8noNm2zrwBrxd4qEPubnw1lLOGiNg4G_YFGRh3kj4VgnEjhCTX9_gU75RKnvF4xYEDljHp3-Xd-1S3oSlgTQlQzd0RkeMKN6U/s1600-h/img_3804.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366188790160673218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZey6lZ9t2P20ogHUNyROeTIxhpUiaU4UlU2IRGeCdP8noNm2zrwBrxd4qEPubnw1lLOGiNg4G_YFGRh3kj4VgnEjhCTX9_gU75RKnvF4xYEDljHp3-Xd-1S3oSlgTQlQzd0RkeMKN6U/s320/img_3804.jpg" border="0" /></a>We had gotten a pretty good deal on our train tickets paying around € 50 per person traveling with DSB in Denmark and DB in Germany. We had another shift in Hamburg where we shifted from to an Intercity-express (ICE) high speed train.<br />The 300 km from Hamburg to Berlin took around 1½ hour with speeds being around 260 km/h. Normally the speed is about 280 km/h and DB staff came around with complimentary sandwiches, juice, water and chocolate as a apology for the 20 km/h speed reduction.<br /><br />So as usual I can only highly recommend traveling with DB, for they are truly wizards of transportation.<br /><br />We arrived in Berlin a little after 2 pm at Berlin Hbf. and quickly took the S-bahn to our downtown hostel (<a href="http://www.baxpax.de/">Baxpax</a>) where we were going to sleep in a 48 person dorm.<br /><br />From here on it was time for getting supplies for our mountain hike, so we set of to the Backpacker grand cathedral also know as the <a href="http://www.globetrotter.de/">Globetrotter store</a>.<br />At the store I got a jacket and we supplied ourself with rope, canteens, dried food, compass, carbines (just to get that mountaineer feeling), maps and much, much more.<br /><br />After visiting the Globetrotter store we were a whole lot of equipment heavier and a whole lot of money lighter. However we were now only missing some sunglasses (Swiss army glacier goggles) which we were to buy at an army store by Schönhauser Allé.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclrkAb_RbfpRZtwaxwcqks9O5ck5PcDxTdNrR1JO6bx34jn0OZ3gPSTP6LvLxNeG0npV2LYwmc7W_86gN2o2K6KGhcoKJq2NMAtFomt2LZ3m7lfPSnlsVw4OfefCQvtnLMeCWRNUODQ8/s1600-h/sch%C3%B6nhauser+alle.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366184232682666898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclrkAb_RbfpRZtwaxwcqks9O5ck5PcDxTdNrR1JO6bx34jn0OZ3gPSTP6LvLxNeG0npV2LYwmc7W_86gN2o2K6KGhcoKJq2NMAtFomt2LZ3m7lfPSnlsVw4OfefCQvtnLMeCWRNUODQ8/s320/sch%C3%B6nhauser+alle.jpg" border="0" /></a>After buying some sunglasses to (in a really cool army store called 'Trash Clothing') we went back to our hostel with our stuff, locked it up and went out on a little sightseeing.<br /><br />Having been to Berlin numerous times in the past decade I had some favorite places I wanted to show my brother. So we wallowed down southwards from our hostel and just wandered through the city and took some pictures.<br /><br />Before long we had wandered to Checkpoint Charlie and from there we passed into my favorite Berlin borough Kreuzberg.<br />Here we wandered up Oranienstrasse toward the lively area around Kottbusser Tor or Am Kotti as the locals call it.<br />When we got there night had fallen upon the city and the area was bursting with the relaxed and rebellous atmosphere.<br /><br />It was this atmosphere that made me fall in love with this part of Berlin back in 2003 when I came around a couple of times to visit my stepsister Stine who was studying at the Humboldt university and lived in a WG (wohngemeinshaft) with some nice and relaxed young Germans in Kreuzberg.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMz8SaANYB0w2Di5fRViPNPF3aOUIVcl7I7DigKiNeLHUinopAUMtnbhS7zLHspCgcht3Bc-GA16Y5OPfQTTRFWlXWWYJekmavEn0wgA8G1RWXRCv4XJaTgitOVOtrGYiQ2NpA5B_yFMc/s1600-h/charlie+berlin.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366184212902802642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMz8SaANYB0w2Di5fRViPNPF3aOUIVcl7I7DigKiNeLHUinopAUMtnbhS7zLHspCgcht3Bc-GA16Y5OPfQTTRFWlXWWYJekmavEn0wgA8G1RWXRCv4XJaTgitOVOtrGYiQ2NpA5B_yFMc/s320/charlie+berlin.jpg" border="0" /></a>Ever since my first Berlin exploration in 2003 I seem to be driven compulsively to the city, and being there again with my brother, even though just for one night, renewed the strength of the invisible strings that draw me this way every time I set out on a southbound trip.<br /><br /><br /><br />After getting a Döner and a drink in Kreuzberg we took the U-bahn from Kottbusser Tor to Kurfürstendamm (Ku-damm) and then further on to Alexander Platz (Am Alex). By then the clock was ticking towards 2 am, and as we had to get up by 7 am we went back to our hostel and hit our bunk-beds just around 2 am.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmF-nqWf341vCd1tVJ4nO5XVZ4ZsGn2x-XXMQtCPIUcBX8fUv_ghFLwvxBqRRS7OqbXQlHsgU11jbwBprjwuWC_L9ld6tqL_BwIud0aMc0XnBPPeh3Xj7P24f4d3lf10HbhhmFgt0ahvQ/s1600-h/potsdamm+platz+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366184220548321058" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmF-nqWf341vCd1tVJ4nO5XVZ4ZsGn2x-XXMQtCPIUcBX8fUv_ghFLwvxBqRRS7OqbXQlHsgU11jbwBprjwuWC_L9ld6tqL_BwIud0aMc0XnBPPeh3Xj7P24f4d3lf10HbhhmFgt0ahvQ/s320/potsdamm+platz+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-66115950183969515012009-01-27T20:59:00.018+01:002009-04-29T14:31:43.259+02:00Hiking in the Fionic Alps<span style="font-family:verdana;">As we crossed into 2009 I thought it would be nice to take a winter day trip exploring the southern parts of my home island. I asked my brother if he would join me on this little expedition and luckily he was ready to team up against the cold and wet</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> elements of nature. As we were only on a one day trip there was no need f</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">or heavy backpacking and we ended up with all necessities in just one </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">half-filled bag.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We took the bus from our hometown of Odense and after one hour we were on location in the hills of Svanninge (Sv</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">anninge Bakker). It was 10 in the early noon </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">(definately late to start hiking, but it was the first bus this sunday). The sky was covered with a thick white blanket which extended all the way to the ground leaving the visibility round 200 meters.<br />We started out by visiting the observation tower, but did not get any good view because of the foggy conditions</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0yZcByijewxViVfoQQJF1zXr3_koVMJY2zzkgHOgFly77baEzhyF1dADJGmeFiNRCTYAn9npUR9ZwvFZfTaJkfpWsO7PdvtIDY-MMh6A0kIgywUN3-bRt1RUOjQA3pN04a4S7FOUElU/s1600-h/hilltop.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296072170158799938" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0yZcByijewxViVfoQQJF1zXr3_koVMJY2zzkgHOgFly77baEzhyF1dADJGmeFiNRCTYAn9npUR9ZwvFZfTaJkfpWsO7PdvtIDY-MMh6A0kIgywUN3-bRt1RUOjQA3pN04a4S7FOUElU/s320/hilltop.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As we went down from the observation</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> to</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">wer w</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">e began our hike by following the marked hiking path "Sydhavsstien" which runs along the southern coas</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">t and hills of Funen, Tåsinge and Langeland for a total of 220 km. We quickly ascended one of the highest hills in the area Lerbjerg (126 meters) and with the fog slowly lifting we got a little bit of a view of the newly reinstated heath. From the hilltop we walked downwards for some kilometers through the back country with forests, field and farms before passing through the village of Diernæs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">After Diernæs we went by a</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">n old church ruin and round one of the numerous </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">mansions that lay scattered round Funen, before turning south towards the sea.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpP9Vqu3WGqepue1otieyXBxWDkcBrtYfHDbRub53mHRBzKBixOs4VDCWmYDIGPmv9QMWrN1akXp7Mc3cijrdJ_kajxcgenyTsuJfmegLdVI45oxFM-NFEsE4h-8uJzRir4PdMJ9uDPA8/s1600-h/on+the+tracks.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302574965942654578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpP9Vqu3WGqepue1otieyXBxWDkcBrtYfHDbRub53mHRBzKBixOs4VDCWmYDIGPmv9QMWrN1akXp7Mc3cijrdJ_kajxcgenyTsuJfmegLdVI45oxFM-NFEsE4h-8uJzRir4PdMJ9uDPA8/s320/on+the+tracks.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">On the way to the souther</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">n shores we passed some old rail tracks, now only being used for veteran trains. This provided a good opportunity for a classic </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">picture for which my brother volunteered.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">From there we had a couple of kilometers of farmland to cross (including the nice smells of manure) before reaching the village of Åstrup where we had a little lunch.<br /><br /><br />After Åstrup the Øhavsstien hiking trail that we were following went from following tractor-trails to just a narrow patch following the wateredge of the Nakkebølle lake, which is a wetland area restored in 2003 (<a href="http://gammel.jordforsk.no/fagnat/njf-seminar-tiltak-diffuse-forurensninger-ny-filer/carl-c-hoffmann.pdf">read more</a>).<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEdg8dCS63BWvPT-I1F_SYk1EkarXsY3ieTKDbmeGBnWjHdS4_qRPHHAxn6c5h2A8bTs2663rbinbrEQ0_qH0wtowtCmyMnPv_mc_ay7Z0sAsPt2wMVxj_lrP57oX8TUHNDxtuvQsuBQ/s1600-h/%C3%B8havsstien.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302608454554906338" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEdg8dCS63BWvPT-I1F_SYk1EkarXsY3ieTKDbmeGBnWjHdS4_qRPHHAxn6c5h2A8bTs2663rbinbrEQ0_qH0wtowtCmyMnPv_mc_ay7Z0sAsPt2wMVxj_lrP57oX8TUHNDxtuvQsuBQ/s320/%C3%B8havsstien.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">A couple of kilometers down the coast we reached the Fjællebro marina, where we found a bench to rest on while we boiled some hot chocolate before continuing down the coast. At this point we had </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">hiked some 15 km following the Øhavstien.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />The next 7 km were a bit more wet than the first part as we were walking along the beach, crossing large patches of marsh and small creeks. Some parts of the trail were upgraded with wooden plancks to avoid mud and water but we still manag</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">ed to get our shoes a bit wet here and there.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnucqRlxKMyGHGZGOZEjZOZPCQRDaqXgqliB7KTZc6sbGI-UQud2wNzMb5bDDDvjcuH7Dnm9_xSigQeWcGsAGkzY6WvUV8noajExRtXeI-eaxFx65Bz3hPdekUoV4FLEW9NABBjAzwj4/s1600-h/shore.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302613412099323362" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnucqRlxKMyGHGZGOZEjZOZPCQRDaqXgqliB7KTZc6sbGI-UQud2wNzMb5bDDDvjcuH7Dnm9_xSigQeWcGsAGkzY6WvUV8noajExRtXeI-eaxFx65Bz3hPdekUoV4FLEW9NABBjAzwj4/s320/shore.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />The </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">last part of our hike was intended to bri</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">ng us up through the Syltemade Å </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">valley. However the valley was flooded </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">with som 20 cm water so we ha</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">d to turn around an just follow the paved road to Vester Skerninge from where we took a</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> bus to Svendborg and then a train to Odense.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">All in all it was a nice start on the hiking season all in all 27 km with a vertical climb of about 140 m. Including breaks we walked for som</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">e 7 hours, so it was a nice and easy tempo.<br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzE8kgwTqhu6V_5-e18H0Ix_4RTV2f35ufqi6TCBVsNvT3aTDw-Rx2oPKP2AgH8WiaOyQ7z1riUSmDfxMnT45LiQddgymdyPXSi0LYp-wJkLMM8BB8ckhE_DTb2YdD2SVyqts6K77EoNA/s1600-h/IMG_3699.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302614672183788642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzE8kgwTqhu6V_5-e18H0Ix_4RTV2f35ufqi6TCBVsNvT3aTDw-Rx2oPKP2AgH8WiaOyQ7z1riUSmDfxMnT45LiQddgymdyPXSi0LYp-wJkLMM8BB8ckhE_DTb2YdD2SVyqts6K77EoNA/s320/IMG_3699.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzECYp2DcaEQ1lj3-zGRy2HGxo995BtcFkr-yL6Fq7wkwL2dpbq65EZ8G4VxjcXMjwsjGGwpZLDLsJKuwaleRdTHtzP4HGxnb0OgFHVLWHYWHHZqRM2zgkJuQTcuylts8dFz0F2Jzjgo/s1600-h/IMG_3706.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302614674987223922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzECYp2DcaEQ1lj3-zGRy2HGxo995BtcFkr-yL6Fq7wkwL2dpbq65EZ8G4VxjcXMjwsjGGwpZLDLsJKuwaleRdTHtzP4HGxnb0OgFHVLWHYWHHZqRM2zgkJuQTcuylts8dFz0F2Jzjgo/s320/IMG_3706.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><br /><br /><div style="BORDER-RIGHT: rgb(109,180,102) 2px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: rgb(109,180,102) 2px solid; MARGIN-TOP: 2px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 9px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 2px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px! important; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(109,180,102) 2px solid; WIDTH: 600px; COLOR: rgb(83,83,83); PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(109,180,102) 2px solid; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-ALIGN: right"><iframe border="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="http://www.wandermap.net/route/115993/widget?width=600&height=400&maptype=0&extended=true" frameborder="0" width="600" scrolling="no" height="515"></iframe><br />Hike route <a style="COLOR: rgb(109,180,102); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.wandermap.net/route/115993">115993</a> - powered by <a style="COLOR: rgb(109,180,102); TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.wandermap.net/">Wandermap</a> </div>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-37725909562858039522008-11-29T17:33:00.007+01:002010-02-06T12:46:09.397+01:00Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 6-8)<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Apolda-Rudolstadt</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 100%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">On</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">sixth</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">day</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ended</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">up</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">spending</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">entire</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">morning</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">noon</span> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Schlachthof</span> Pension <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">before</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">we</span> had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">rounded</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">up</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">enough</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">energy</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">get</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">up</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">running.</span> My <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">bikes</span> gears <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">were</span> still <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">dysfunctional</span> and as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">strolled</span> out <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">the</span> pension <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">round</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">noon</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">went</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">down</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">town</span> to find a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">cycle mechanic</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">mechanic</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">were</span> told to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">return</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">a</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">fter</span> an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">hour</span> and in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">meantime</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">went</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">strolling</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">about</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">historic</span> centre <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">A</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">polda.</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_56">We</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_57">found</span> a cafe to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_58">get</span> a cup <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_59">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_60">coffee</span> and a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_61">glass</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_62">of</span> cola and sat <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_63">near</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_64">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_65">town</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_66">square</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_67">enjoying</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_68">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_69">nice</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_70">weather</span>. As we returned to the bike-sho</span></span><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_-EwfW_7-hpQ/RTU-7VntABI/AAAAAAAABf0/_ULvxJdW6wQ/s640/DSCF1109.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_-EwfW_7-hpQ/RTU-7VntABI/AAAAAAAABf0/_ULvxJdW6wQ/s640/DSCF1109.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 250px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 335px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">p we were met by an head shaking mechanic who explained that he had fixed </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">the gear, but that there were internal damage inside the gea</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">r-shift.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">He could fix the problem by inserting an entirely new back-wheel for € 130. As the bike was functional with the temporary repairs already made, we decided </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">to ride on without further repairs and delays. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">After the usual out-of-town climb (most towns in this part of Germany are located in the valleys) we<span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span>rode some 10 km and the started de</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">cending into the Saale river valley into </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jena the home of Carl Zeiss and the best optics in the world. We had some very light late lunch by the river in the city and the continued down the Saale-river bicycle route towards the city of Rudolstadt.<br />
The afternoon was very pleasant as following the river meant a steady but mild incline. This was in stark contrast to the grinding down and uphill carrousel that we had been on the last two preceding days as we had cut our way </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">south crossing valley after valley. As the clock passed 8 in the evening we reached Rudolstadt, and decided to stay there for a couple of days. We found a nice pension on top af a small mountain with great view on the Saale valley and the Rudolstadt-Saalfeld area. </span><a href="http://static2.bareka.com/photos/medium/12911957.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://static2.bareka.com/photos/medium/12911957.jpg" style="float: right; height: 224px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 338px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">A couple of days later we packed our bicycles on a train at 9 in the morning and after some transfers we were in back in Odense at half past ten in the </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">late evening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">As we went from Hamburg towards the danish border we crossed the Kieler-channel (or the Nord-ostsee-kanal) at Rendsburg. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;">I had passed the canal numerous times before, but this time I got my camera out and recorded a bit as the train circled the city to gain elevation enough to pass the canal. </span><br />
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</span>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-3328908162904449722008-09-07T19:45:00.013+02:002008-09-22T11:03:07.178+02:00Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 5-7)<div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Day 5<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:verdana;"><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;" >Artern - Apolda</span><br /></div><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/63889.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/63889.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Data</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Distance: 60</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> km </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Average: 13,7 km/h</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maximum: 50,5 km/h</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time on bike (effective): 4 hours 25 min.</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As we woke up on the fifth day of our journey the weather was pretty dull, and an old German guy was fishing besides us. We started packing our stuff and made a cup of coffee to get started. I offered a cup of black power to the fisher but he declined and instead offered me a piece of advice on rain moving in during the day.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">There were some clouds in the sky, but also patches of blue sorrow less summer sky, so we concluded that the prospect of rain probably was not imminent. The first objective of that quiet morning was to find some breakfast and 5 km downstream (following the river Unstrut) we found something slightly resembling a store, although lights were of and the interior bore heavy indications of the shop being set up right after the reunification and not changing a bit in the following 18 years or so.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We left the hamlet of Schönewerda, and continued down stream following the marked Unstrut route.</span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fGTmCLkUHspj1fEqW264n5h3b1z6y4r3Fm56WcYcxLkeOumVJp6kEUO_2Fe49mHurtUe7xNVruLfZbRd3yV60ju1acXMThFsurlLRB78XtGOXk3R-yBuLqc6nzbDFNoWIa7sHrGcCN4/s1600-h/IMG_3103.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fGTmCLkUHspj1fEqW264n5h3b1z6y4r3Fm56WcYcxLkeOumVJp6kEUO_2Fe49mHurtUe7xNVruLfZbRd3yV60ju1acXMThFsurlLRB78XtGOXk3R-yBuLqc6nzbDFNoWIa7sHrGcCN4/s320/IMG_3103.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243343175616419042" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As we were following a marked route we only had to go a couple of kilometers before finding a spot where there were benches and tables we could use. Breakfast went down pretty fast and as we did not have to sit on a pavement or grass while eating spirits were high.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We followed the river for some kilometers more and the turn southwards towards Wiehe. The five kilometer stretch from Rossleben to Wiehe (pop. 2000) proved more irritating than we had expected as the road was made up of noumerous materials including asphalt, gravel, bricks, stones sometimes one at a time and some times mixed together into some kind of pavement.</span><br /><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeSH1WA5qz0TONRvz09WNxmEYoHuJ87h1brFHu1qhetXHBAx9ScvRe6vfEMfyeAen0TKx_Yx_wFl7khYUlfBDmj1pHURiK3I9gRXpB8w3h2ZL5R7hHJ64Ik6O1RMrSbPYFUfxbzExstU/s1600-h/IMG_3104.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMeSH1WA5qz0TONRvz09WNxmEYoHuJ87h1brFHu1qhetXHBAx9ScvRe6vfEMfyeAen0TKx_Yx_wFl7khYUlfBDmj1pHURiK3I9gRXpB8w3h2ZL5R7hHJ64Ik6O1RMrSbPYFUfxbzExstU/s320/IMG_3104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243345050676498018" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">From Wiehe it was uphill in zig-zag turns as we left the painless security of the Unstrut valley and embarked on the conquest of new hills and mountains.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The sky was stille looming with dark clouds as we went southwards constantly going up or downhill.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We were aiming for Apolda as our next target and got there about four o clock in the afternoon. In Apolda we refueled on water (clean water not the appleinfested variant that was the only option we had earlier that day), food, and energy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As we were going up one more hill and leaving Apolda behind us it started raining. Initially we found shelter under some trees, lit a cigarette and thought it would pass. However this turned out not to be the case, and instead the rain intensified, and the trees offered no real shelter.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In frantic flight we rode down into the forest in search of more reliable shelter as the rain hammered down with increasing intensity. We got to the bottom of the valley and found the small creek there overflooding a good part of the road. At this point we were soaking wet and any shelter could do, so we dragged ourselves under some infosigns where we could just fit.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiev21lzetMOkcwdX5xLps2gKtoiY-OK44TmQ2rDg-NgIO3KBVoRE5t_5ctOm0GsMJq_SZktGgR4udim662-L1IP3016N_feG1B7Len0wOEv24AX8ty9ejsw-mRbZiCYniPHTFk-DgdytY/s1600-h/IMG_3119.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiev21lzetMOkcwdX5xLps2gKtoiY-OK44TmQ2rDg-NgIO3KBVoRE5t_5ctOm0GsMJq_SZktGgR4udim662-L1IP3016N_feG1B7Len0wOEv24AX8ty9ejsw-mRbZiCYniPHTFk-DgdytY/s320/IMG_3119.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243350581322355266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Standing there we were laughing because of the whole situation, and because we could only see to clearly how idiotic we would look to anybody passing by, as we clung to the sign with one hand and to our bikes with the other.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">After half an hour under the sign we decided to go back to </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolda">Apolda</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> (pop. 24.500) to find shelter for the night and get dry. As we went back into the rain i could see that my gears had malfunctioned and that my bike was stuck in the lowest gear. However that was not the primary concern at the time, because getting out of the rain was. A kilometer down the road we found a garage where we could sit an hour or so until the rain passed and we could limp (in first gear) back to Apolda where we found much needed shelter for the night in the Schlachthof Pension.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04-j5IsJPjZ-3NTCI2kmK02IW3DdLn71cL2uKNhzmjwj0Otq1ItqpFUQGlTX3cy_lkiuYVVpOXUVkYeYaJ5QrQGN66NlUv4ni2MTvi6NDQxcZS79f5IfTkBRDt8Z2wZVynnfp4jh9pcA/s1600-h/IMG_3109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04-j5IsJPjZ-3NTCI2kmK02IW3DdLn71cL2uKNhzmjwj0Otq1ItqpFUQGlTX3cy_lkiuYVVpOXUVkYeYaJ5QrQGN66NlUv4ni2MTvi6NDQxcZS79f5IfTkBRDt8Z2wZVynnfp4jh9pcA/s320/IMG_3109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243353972420229842" border="0" /></a><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2RD3vYAA4iNLw9o2RJKsOknIc7mbfLShyhDa_YUsk8skWbKwJf_bDhyCpsebAO2h2cgXZQOzQhqZQkcRTVMJQ1QRJX5YQIUTyvy-PXpG0T7C8sfAAP84bG5GLjBifCyAYnLbOig2MWc/s1600-h/IMG_3110.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2RD3vYAA4iNLw9o2RJKsOknIc7mbfLShyhDa_YUsk8skWbKwJf_bDhyCpsebAO2h2cgXZQOzQhqZQkcRTVMJQ1QRJX5YQIUTyvy-PXpG0T7C8sfAAP84bG5GLjBifCyAYnLbOig2MWc/s320/IMG_3110.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243353982067920386" border="0" /></a>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-1242593180052430242008-08-21T18:02:00.014+02:002009-05-06T09:48:40.701+02:00Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 4 and 5)<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Bad Suderode-Artern</span><br /></div><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/63884.gif"></a> </p><p> </p><p><br /><div style="margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:2px;width:600px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9px;color:#535353;background-color:#ffffff;border:2px solid #2a88ac;font-style:normal;text-align:right;padding:0px;padding-bottom:3px !important;"><iframe src="http://www.bikemap.net/route/63884/widget?width=600&height=400&maptype=0&extended=true&unit=km&redirect=no" width="600" height="515" border="0" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br />Bike route <a style="color:#2a88ac; text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/63884">63884</a> - powered by <a style="color:#2a88ac; text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.bikemap.net">Bikemap</a> </div><br />Distance: 72 km<br />Average speed: 13,1 km/h<br />Max: 58,4 km/h<br />time on bike: 5 hours 23 min<br /><br />As I woke in my hotel room on the fourth day of our trip I already had the imminent mountain climb on my mind. I went out on the balcony and looked at the mountain we had to conquer with a mixed feeling of anticipation and unpleasantness.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWse23XBThmxsAEcrynhrSMjIS6spI7DS-T43SlcpilGLEvtxUFVOvB8cJPo6sYXX9b2ugyVfbJM-yyQyo915NpiT96wcUgfoUoKSg1_-weBmigrjwWwCQMgxBNjJOJ16wWcgRpmrIPJY/s1600-h/d4p1.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241510720722953762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWse23XBThmxsAEcrynhrSMjIS6spI7DS-T43SlcpilGLEvtxUFVOvB8cJPo6sYXX9b2ugyVfbJM-yyQyo915NpiT96wcUgfoUoKSg1_-weBmigrjwWwCQMgxBNjJOJ16wWcgRpmrIPJY/s320/d4p1.JPG" border="0" /></a>After we had eaten our breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we had to get to it. Not more than 1 or 2 kilometers into the day we started getting seriously acquainted with the Harz. Somehow the climb in all its sadistic steepness did not eat at my spirit the same way it had the day before because i was mentally prepared for the mountain and because i knew that one way or the other i would get to the top, and that this mountain to would come to an end.<br />Going down the southern slope we had a good road, no traffic and speeds on the fast side of 55 km/h hitting 58,4 km/h as the highest. The downhill ride took us to Magdesprung and then further on a scenic path to Alexisbad from were we rode Harzgerode. In Harzgerode the days first Red Bulls went into our systems and as usual our moods were lifted as we rode with the wind eastwards towards Wippra, where we ate lunch.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89_t264EI3WLMRZR6uwa4R1tyadef5ilsEH8T1y9tAFR_d_DNZBMYEr7ONyLqazYlgs5IJBEQlxHAjUMBAatbvCFxBAcn-UeoniW-neRAcKOfON5e3kEGWZAoz_6KRegwpkj1MVr3Thw/s1600-h/d4+2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241510727263977282" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89_t264EI3WLMRZR6uwa4R1tyadef5ilsEH8T1y9tAFR_d_DNZBMYEr7ONyLqazYlgs5IJBEQlxHAjUMBAatbvCFxBAcn-UeoniW-neRAcKOfON5e3kEGWZAoz_6KRegwpkj1MVr3Thw/s320/d4+2.JPG" border="0" /></a>On the way out of the city we passed by a small theme park, and decided to have some fun by taking a slide down a hillside. By this time the sun was coming and exhibiting quite some strength - one of the few times we actually experienced a stretch of warm weather.<br />After spending perhaps half an hour on the slides we went uphill once more to the highest elevation of the day a good bit over 400 meter above sea-level.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mKhlQ8gMrGkk8hcudMp2ktuPTzOdt6jhFw6PskrABCxhiQQ08x9WgXSmnaE0wY0oJBl6yaITuhg8TyDU-xVaytlfV1IEXbDtBXkFJj5XR2jROAzxw9xhtHYsCHOevZdwjyYqW4iQM8Q/s1600-h/d4+3.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241512148212067474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mKhlQ8gMrGkk8hcudMp2ktuPTzOdt6jhFw6PskrABCxhiQQ08x9WgXSmnaE0wY0oJBl6yaITuhg8TyDU-xVaytlfV1IEXbDtBXkFJj5XR2jROAzxw9xhtHYsCHOevZdwjyYqW4iQM8Q/s320/d4+3.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />From there followed a nice downhill ride to the city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangerhausen">Sangerhausen</a> (31.500 inhabitants). After taking a wrong turn in the city and having to backtrack a bit we rode southwards towards Artern.<br /><br />Not many kilometers out of Sangerhausen my tire went flat, and we had to make an involuntary break as I tried to fix the problem. As we were sitting in the sun and boiling while trying to fix the tire the result became a halfhearted job.<br />The last 10 km to Artern became a blood boiling odyssey with endless pumping of my front tire, and exponentially increasing levels of anger and hunger. In the end however we got to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artern">Artern</a> (6.100 inhabitants) were we found the only kebab vendor in town and had a well deserved kebab-feast. The evening was progressing and we had to find a place to sleep, and we decided that somewhere along the river Unstrut.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMO05stFR3e93y5FZwXNXVGEtRukiYmorcxp7eKRba8et6u0sqkXjTzwai5hLF8oyXlOB8g8QcJke7XMtPh5a0FRHJZdGO3jaE1fZ96-ig3JkSu8lyd2A_4w0oGwri9nwT6YYCa8Wn7I/s1600-h/d4+4.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241512159007034466" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMO05stFR3e93y5FZwXNXVGEtRukiYmorcxp7eKRba8et6u0sqkXjTzwai5hLF8oyXlOB8g8QcJke7XMtPh5a0FRHJZdGO3jaE1fZ96-ig3JkSu8lyd2A_4w0oGwri9nwT6YYCa8Wn7I/s320/d4+4.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We followed a regional bicycle path along the river but initially we found it filled with evil flying ants and ended running downsteam with ants all over shouting "get them off, get them off!".<br />A couple of kilometers down stream however we found a good patch of insect free patch of grass by a river lock, where we settled for the night. </p>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-17135423528144599892008-08-05T18:20:00.014+02:002008-08-08T14:02:24.418+02:00Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 3)<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Calberlah-Bad Suderode<br /><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/62174.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/62174.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Data:<br />Distance : 114 km<br />Average : 17,7 km/h<br />Maximum : 55,1 km/h<br />Time on bike : 6h 25 min<br /></span><br />As we woke on the third day of our journey the neigh-on magic feeling of the previous evening had vaporised together with our water, which we ha</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">d </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">used most of the previous ev</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">ening to make tea and coffee. As we gathered our things from the grass and drank the last half liter of water a cloudy and quiet morning was unfolding.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We had to backtrack approximately 1 km to get to a supermarket in Calberlah, where we could get breakfast and other supplies for the day.<br />As we were pretty hungry and thirsty we choose to eat our breakfast in the parking lot in front of the store, not exactly the most idyllic of places but we got our stomachs filled and spirits lifted.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhy6-wOU54V2Ru0q_RQRSRFhuIoJ3gTVl9SDrgStOxDoQ-iIXpmIljUxK88ooRdD0sqVcbJuBMVOKWXcICUx1DHAcQ2tUdwVYyMZmkc6rn5MxEsMVfWbuRpeDl6_iZu4g3vy4ma8Yhy4/s1600-h/elm+hills.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhy6-wOU54V2Ru0q_RQRSRFhuIoJ3gTVl9SDrgStOxDoQ-iIXpmIljUxK88ooRdD0sqVcbJuBMVOKWXcICUx1DHAcQ2tUdwVYyMZmkc6rn5MxEsMVfWbuRpeDl6_iZu4g3vy4ma8Yhy4/s320/elm+hills.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232099739667961922" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As we wanted to avoid going through Braunschweig and Wolfsburg we headed in the direction of the old market town <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigslutter_am_Elm">Königslutter am Elm</a> (16,500 inhabitants).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Almost 20 km away from Königslutter we</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> could already spot the Elm hills south of the city.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">After a quick red bull in Königslutter we set</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> out to get up our fir</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">st 8 km climb up to the top of the Elm hills. The first 5 km were </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">manageable but at that point I was starting to melt down. Mathias was strolling alongsid</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">e nearly 40 kilos lighter</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> than me and with no real effort. In the end however I got up to the summit.<br />Although the hill was covered with forest and we did not get a view it felt pretty good to get up there and still be able to go on (after a break or two).<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">On the way down from the hills we got our first misty view of the Harz mountains which were about 50 km further south.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizeWh6M905vp-9B04842PGzY9eaePHsiIId0GRuyiCQBcBUhq-KQRy9jh8Hh_pRN5dFYuFWpxuyr-T64zO58uozYT2TQQF16DJ3i7UD2Mjz8mNED8mZqeBEaHp4D1cVZpdbAgZqkXdtzw/s1600-h/harz.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizeWh6M905vp-9B04842PGzY9eaePHsiIId0GRuyiCQBcBUhq-KQRy9jh8Hh_pRN5dFYuFWpxuyr-T64zO58uozYT2TQQF16DJ3i7UD2Mjz8mNED8mZqeBEaHp4D1cVZpdbAgZqkXdtzw/s320/harz.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232101161762243074" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />After passing some lower rolling hills we got to the old BDR/DDR border at </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">the river Grosser Graben. After we had passed the border the villages we passed through changed character and became more closely knit.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The buildings were more worn out with a closed workshop or two in many of the villages.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Not more than some 7 km after crossing the old border we began the next climb up the Huy hills. We had 14 km on the way up, the first 10 relative</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">ly low degree and the last 3 km was a sick 10 degree and in places even 12+ degree steep climb were I had to give up for a minute or three. Dragging my bike up the hill trying to get some badly needed oxygen into my lungs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Going down from the hilltop we turned more east which was perfect as the wind</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> was coming in from the west. The next 12-15 km into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halberstadt">Halberstadt</a> (39,500 inhabitants) were a pure joy ride: downhill with the wind pushing us on 32-35 km/h all the way. After Halberstadt we turned south once more towards the next destination which was the historic town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quedlinburg">Quedlinburg</a> - a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site">UNESCO World heritage site</a>.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDeBF8tebistqwpFPXRzaGnqz0EuyENuAv9F1SlqSGSzBo9Ye7j9jUJJ49LL9M_ag1mQqsCPAEovqk9FI3W-ld-wWX7Kqz3JF0d_0XzD9Rva6RGxwlZ7ZxM-35W-_EHPnvjjIgKqXwD8/s1600-h/q-burg.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDeBF8tebistqwpFPXRzaGnqz0EuyENuAv9F1SlqSGSzBo9Ye7j9jUJJ49LL9M_ag1mQqsCPAEovqk9FI3W-ld-wWX7Kqz3JF0d_0XzD9Rva6RGxwlZ7ZxM-35W-_EHPnvjjIgKqXwD8/s320/q-burg.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232102316457351234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Harz mountains, which had been</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> periodically visible for us since we rode down the Elm hills, were now closing in on us, although we had bypassed the High Harz as we rode eastwards. From Quedlinburg we had some 8 km to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Suderode">Bad</a></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Suderode"> Suderode</a> (1,900 inhabitants).<br /><br />On the way the sun, mountains and clouds were creating a really nice scene as we rode the last stretch of the day.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In Bad Suderode we found a pretty cheap hotel (€30 pr. person incl. breakfast), and had a couple of hours to go around town and the watch the Tour de France on television. The city, a thermal spa resort, was a peculiar mix of abandoned hotels and buildings side by side with still runnin</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">g hotels and pensions that seemed to be doing OK.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVtsdLbZYGJxuZGH2FpK5GLF2AtZLbuTJBuofh5-VWNppm2toyyc4meJLL5UkeQQ4A7IsWBLYBY-Dxgx7O_Z24JWtTENBnIFCduVTQ0wGvkE3SDvXy4mTU9KxDLeWmDDowukrpHCGNp-8/s1600-h/IMG_3068.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVtsdLbZYGJxuZGH2FpK5GLF2AtZLbuTJBuofh5-VWNppm2toyyc4meJLL5UkeQQ4A7IsWBLYBY-Dxgx7O_Z24JWtTENBnIFCduVTQ0wGvkE3SDvXy4mTU9KxDLeWmDDowukrpHCGNp-8/s320/IMG_3068.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232103504099620562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">The impression made by Bad Suderode fitted well with the descriptions of similar spa towns in "Lonely Planet - Germany". The book mentioning that these spa towns of the Harz had a rough start in 1990 as the unification opened the world to the inhabitants of the DDR who, given the choice, preferred the sunny beaches of Southern Europe.<br /><br />However this development was in many places slowly turned, and growing numbers were apparently visiting the Harz once more, although the Eastern Harz (where we were) still was quiet and relatively undisturbed.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/63884#lt=51.50361&ln=11.22665&z=10&t=0&rat=undefined">See the route on bikemap.net</a><br /><br /><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdoR62W4UlvPV8QTazSo452nIvQ88sdBT4dVsbmAJJns6rSxeIXcWqTG1aH12ap40COquttXTC1-zj-vMwy9XCeUFk2wstB75gIKmmeng3KEMeOip-FtYSwnYwRy2sHKKxnAPxisd1Xl4/s1600-h/IMG_3046.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdoR62W4UlvPV8QTazSo452nIvQ88sdBT4dVsbmAJJns6rSxeIXcWqTG1aH12ap40COquttXTC1-zj-vMwy9XCeUFk2wstB75gIKmmeng3KEMeOip-FtYSwnYwRy2sHKKxnAPxisd1Xl4/s320/IMG_3046.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232104416043517618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirozLqokddb936q0xiagsXWuG958vecMARBz75xY9v2ciSCtmlr7blINjKyuqmhUEnXhUscHjpPhGkR2WjDaufxPGythlfn4c0pAA7QF-5ka4Mm5EVB-a1Pd_qfkmDgaesxeCe198HFA/s1600-h/IMG_3055.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiirozLqokddb936q0xiagsXWuG958vecMARBz75xY9v2ciSCtmlr7blINjKyuqmhUEnXhUscHjpPhGkR2WjDaufxPGythlfn4c0pAA7QF-5ka4Mm5EVB-a1Pd_qfkmDgaesxeCe198HFA/s320/IMG_3055.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232104846000961474" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-53691925977902691582008-07-30T20:41:00.020+02:002008-08-01T18:00:04.322+02:00Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 2)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/58677.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/58677.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;" >Day 2: Bispingen- Calberiah (Gifhorn)</span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Data:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Distance: 117 km</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Average 17,8 km/h</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Max speed: 39,6 km/h</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Time on bike: 6 hours 25 min.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">On the second day we set out from Bispingen with a good breakfast and w</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ell rested legs. As we traveled southwards to Munster the weather was pretty good with sunshine and some n</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">on-threatening white clouds.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/5595278.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 216px;" src="http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/5595278.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></span><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Morning and noon</span></span><br /><br />When we came to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munster%2C_Lower_Saxony">Munster</a> an hour before noon we tried</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> to</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">find a shop or grocer to get some supplies</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> for the rest of the day.</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> However it being Sunday the only th</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ing open was a gas station, and again our primary source of energy was Red B</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ull.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">While in the vicinity of Munster we noticed several military facilities, military museums, and bars inviting soldiers inside on their door signs.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">As we moved southwards out</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> of the city we rode for approx 30 k</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">m with military fences decorated with barb wire on one, and some times both sides of the road.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">On this stretch we also went though a patch of heath, as we w</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ent through the <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturpark_S%C3%BCdheide">Naturpark Südheide.</a><br />But all in all the first half of our second day on the bikes was mostly shaped by the fact that we were driving through some of the biggest military traning grounds in Germany.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqdSzdwmt6ZnV54fp90MTGUK5FYesnnDaCxoQsmNKgPUDW8NnRfpRk0gp2ZEWLvEHGs7glfLl5fDNwHt_kPNBUy-uWhWEG2GnfJlqUedLpuvzdC87rGFNZ1Pkj2hqXQLdMnYTXflHc3E/s1600-h/hede.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZqdSzdwmt6ZnV54fp90MTGUK5FYesnnDaCxoQsmNKgPUDW8NnRfpRk0gp2ZEWLvEHGs7glfLl5fDNwHt_kPNBUy-uWhWEG2GnfJlqUedLpuvzdC87rGFNZ1Pkj2hqXQLdMnYTXflHc3E/s320/hede.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229475560326859474" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Afternoon</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />After passing the small city of Unterluss (pop. 4000) in the early afternoon we turned more eastwards and quickly felt the whole benifit of the western winds blowing. The next 25 km were taken in a fast</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">er pace (round 25 km/h on average) and without stops.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">As the afternoon progressed we drove out of the dense forests and drove southwards towards the city of Gifhorn with big wheat and maize fields dominating the flat landscape interrupted by smaller patches of forest, and small villages.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">We were following marked bicycle paths whi</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ch </span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">meant that we were avoiding traffic. The lack of noise and the freedom from having to have constant attention on the road made the experience more harmonic and on several occasions I lost myself in the scenary and the grinding rhythm of the bike as we glided through this peaceful agrarian landscape with a few clouds in the sky and a manageable wind crossing in from the side.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BtdSaRecK-NAC1obTpnFmwR4NBPdUkYW_JU8GJHjcgksRUdEWzTtWf908dHkW-F7i37w-qacv4Y03tb4_Jo-QRpliZs5iA5W1mpBXlqz-t6NdDdks5Q6tQoKDqEBH1b7nmPRKNGppOU/s1600-h/gifhorn.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BtdSaRecK-NAC1obTpnFmwR4NBPdUkYW_JU8GJHjcgksRUdEWzTtWf908dHkW-F7i37w-qacv4Y03tb4_Jo-QRpliZs5iA5W1mpBXlqz-t6NdDdks5Q6tQoKDqEBH1b7nmPRKNGppOU/s320/gifhorn.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229473439470572914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">When we</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> re</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ached the outskirts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifhorn">Gifhorn</a> (pop.</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> 42.000) we finally found a place where we could get a döner, which was needed as we were running a bit low on energy. Afterwards we drove into the inner city and took a walk though th</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">e pedestrian area</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> before heading further south and finding a nice place to sleep a little south of the sleepy town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calberlah">Calberlah</a> (pop. 5000).<br />We made camp at the spot where the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittellandkanal">Mittelland canal</a> meets the Elbe-seiten canal.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Evening</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Ending the day with a cup of coffee and a beautif</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ul sunset eve</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">rything seemed to be at peace.<br />I found myself quietly embracing the beauty of the landscape in front of us.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">It was not because there was anything "special" about the scene in the sense that I could have easily seen the same landscape and sunset</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> at home.<br /><br />The beauty of the scene came form the con flux of the feeling of being on the road, and the</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> immediate joy of just being at that spot at that time, with all the daily thoughts having been left somewhere along the road.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWVOZ6hwGFke4B7s-6zRzBpy5oBfjLsBNhez75gmxUQ6rHhS2DFhVjMVlMFtihLMpdwNBI3FcxZ2bqz76dbhznsyzsc1EnDJ99jsj81WppAYHur-pOEcReDB_SNzptH3F23Ihk9aY4NE/s1600-h/IMG_3041.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWVOZ6hwGFke4B7s-6zRzBpy5oBfjLsBNhez75gmxUQ6rHhS2DFhVjMVlMFtihLMpdwNBI3FcxZ2bqz76dbhznsyzsc1EnDJ99jsj81WppAYHur-pOEcReDB_SNzptH3F23Ihk9aY4NE/s320/IMG_3041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229478715908693970" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">That evening was exactly what i had hope</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">d the</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> b</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">icycle trip would be all about, the joy of being exactly where we were, and the feeling of being strong in the sense that you can look at a map at some place that is, at that point still nothing more than an abstraction on a map, and then just move your legs, and get where you want to go by the power of ones will alone [helped along with some Red Bull of course ;-)].<br />Added up over a whole day this had become 117 km. The 117 km were of course in it self an abstraction, but thinking about the places we had seen along the day<br />Mathias and I agreed that it was amazing just how many of the views and experiences we had during a day on the road that stayed clear in the mind.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">As the evening turned into night I looked up at the stars and airplanes, thoughts passing though my mind without any of them getting a hold of my conscience mind for more than a split of a second.<br />My mind and body were at peace, and everything seemed to be in its right place.<br />As I closed my eyes, it was therefore with the joy of being in the "traveling mind set".<br /></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/58677">See the route for the second day on bikemap.net</a></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmLJ6tfiMBL9OcjIuzPX8dRA_MR1kJHjyj3yp4aV4Wkvn1__qxgMQvVFgM3bi6dfAnyNMrTmvgdbN-KfsisJ-wIH-9jLUhIUWUM6ZOdRFlq1rCWwLUL2wTb8kXqe_b-YO0F89H6qcRGc/s1600-h/IMG_3043.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmLJ6tfiMBL9OcjIuzPX8dRA_MR1kJHjyj3yp4aV4Wkvn1__qxgMQvVFgM3bi6dfAnyNMrTmvgdbN-KfsisJ-wIH-9jLUhIUWUM6ZOdRFlq1rCWwLUL2wTb8kXqe_b-YO0F89H6qcRGc/s320/IMG_3043.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229479932557577538" border="0" /></a>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-59125080624144346232008-07-29T19:55:00.008+02:002008-07-29T21:35:04.309+02:00Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 1)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/58353.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.bikemap.net/static_1_0/elevation/route/58353.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span id="wl_3" style="font-family:verdana;"><span id="wl_30" style="font-size:130%;"><span id="wl_31" style="font-weight: bold;">Day 1: Hamburg - Bispingen<br /><br /></span></span></span><span id="wl_34" style="font-family:verdana;"><span id="wl_35" style="font-weight: bold;"><span id="wl_36" style="font-size:85%;">Distance : 72 km</span></span></span><br /><span id="wl_34" style="font-family:verdana;"><span id="wl_35" style="font-weight: bold;"><span id="wl_36" style="font-size:85%;">Average : 16,2 km/h<br />Time on bike : 3 hours 56 min</span></span></span><br /><span id="wl_34" style="font-family:verdana;"><span id="wl_35" style="font-weight: bold;"><span id="wl_36" style="font-size:85%;">Max speed : 53,6 km/h </span></span></span> <div id="wl_311" style="text-align: right;"> </div><span id="wl_314" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br /></span>For a week in July one of my friends (Mathias Kvolsgaard) and I took a week on the German roads. We took a couple of trains from Odense to Hamburg and than set out from the southern part of the harbor and crossed the Südelbe and left the Jutland Peninsula.<br />On the Southern shore of the Südelbe we rode through the city (or Hamburg's suburb) of Harburg where we found some fuel for our legs in the form of grilled chicken and a can of Red Bull. Fresh on the red power we drove up hill to Seevetal and southwards towards the outskirts of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCneburg_Heath">Lüneburg Heath</a>.<br /><br />On the way there was a heavy rain shower, but we were lucky enough to find quick shelter at a bus stop and could sit and enjoy the rain knowing that we had just had the good luck of finding instant shelter.<br />As the day progressed the<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPERMUzMUaEZ_jdAT7VzNlZFywu8G5uI3LrjpoUMWTqb-ghkha4cQrqgUekQMdgWOqBvUMAu3Vkqar8ijq_nEw8Kb27xtooFzF93YRnqAI35tfhJJfycHL8PJO2Cqhx3h0V-KLnjlShsQ/s1600-h/d1+rain+.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPERMUzMUaEZ_jdAT7VzNlZFywu8G5uI3LrjpoUMWTqb-ghkha4cQrqgUekQMdgWOqBvUMAu3Vkqar8ijq_nEw8Kb27xtooFzF93YRnqAI35tfhJJfycHL8PJO2Cqhx3h0V-KLnjlShsQ/s320/d1+rain+.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228499121588716850" border="0" /></a> weather improved and the sun came out, however the temperature was on the cold side round 15-20 degrees.<br /><br />We had started around 14:00 from Hamburg, and we arrived in the hamlet of Bispingen (90 meters above sea level) around 20:15 with a healthy appetite and tired legs. Before we looked for a place to sleep we got ourselves a good solid meal, and left the restaurant with slight nausea from overeating.<br /><br />Finding a place to sleep in the little town proved to be no problem as we were in the middel of the Lüneburg Heath. Conveniently enough there where numerous hotels, pensions and even a hostel. We settled in a private pension and got a room for € 20 per person including a good breakfast with an old couple who had made parts of their house into a pension.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/58353#lt=53.31447&ln=9.95361&z=10&t=3&rat=undefined">See the route on bikenet.</a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><br /><a id="wl_343" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORkX1AWIAXCcZY4kTBnunctEkhn6gBqinY0aiUShDnQ2LAvYlOSRweAEZUhsSx1Uah7YHH56x7abL7rEhu2sYzdLTUtZxlYbb4tEie2NK6s8jQDHYjZ7Rv0J9hIO5tuT6T8ALLEe2QJA/s1600-h/d1+3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORkX1AWIAXCcZY4kTBnunctEkhn6gBqinY0aiUShDnQ2LAvYlOSRweAEZUhsSx1Uah7YHH56x7abL7rEhu2sYzdLTUtZxlYbb4tEie2NK6s8jQDHYjZ7Rv0J9hIO5tuT6T8ALLEe2QJA/s320/d1+3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228403363440929746" border="0" /></a></span> <span id="wl_346" style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a id="wl_349" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDmG8_NsmhLGzbaz3gx_pS2zWbON4Dq4PHQURPV_40MZhUHx4c5mPYPgOhWDeIL_kATan8SZVZK2Im4UzwGqglyt-N5rJEvFj2xXBQjweHj8H8oQL_JDStUTibenWpuWAkfjdIs8GaRWM/s1600-h/d1+2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDmG8_NsmhLGzbaz3gx_pS2zWbON4Dq4PHQURPV_40MZhUHx4c5mPYPgOhWDeIL_kATan8SZVZK2Im4UzwGqglyt-N5rJEvFj2xXBQjweHj8H8oQL_JDStUTibenWpuWAkfjdIs8GaRWM/s320/d1+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228403353486826738" border="0" /></a></span>Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-46365533008515678582008-07-01T12:56:00.001+02:002008-08-01T18:01:30.485+02:00Measuring Poverty<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>The Greek philosopher <span style="font-weight: bold;">Protagoras</span> is known for the saying that "<span style="font-style: italic;">Man is the measure of all things".<br /><br /></span>When it comes to the issue of poverty, and especially hunger, this saying seems to have some truth to it. Although its questionable whether well being is connected with be economically well of, it is more apparent that poverty seems to hinder well being.<br /><br />Poverty is usually defined in relative or absolute terms.<br /><br />An example of absolute poverty is measuring how many people live (or try to) for under $1 of purchasing power per day. In measuring absolute poverty the correlation between being poverty and well being is apparent. In the sense that being able to live your everyday life without feeling hungry gives a feeling of well being.<br /><br />Relative poverty is more dependant on the society that a given individual is living in. For example in Denmark <a href="http://www.berlingske.dk/article/20080616/danmark/80616014/">recent surveys</a> show that relative (or local) poverty can be not having a cell phone or a personal computer.<br /><br />The thing that puzzles me is that in this sense a person who can consistently eat and have access to clean drinking water, while living in an area with widespread absolute poverty will probably fell better of than average.<br /><br />At the same time a person living in Denmark, who can not afford a computer will be inclined to feel deprived in comparison with others.<br /><br />The everyday surroundings of man seem a stronger measure of personal well being than an absolute measure.<br />This means that a relatively poor person living in Denmark has access to: clean water, has a home with central heating and electricity, access to free health care and free education (even guaranteed state sponsorship every month).<br />All these goods besides that person may still feel more deprived than a person who perhaps only has one of these but lives in a society where many have access to none of the above mentioned goods.<br /><br />So beyond the obvious benefits of eliminating hunger and securing basic educational and health care services, is poverty reduction the best measure of human well being?<br /><br />Is it even possible to meaningfully compare relative poverty across borders and even across social settings and age groups?<br />Even though the before mentioned survey in Denmark does not mention age i could imagine that older citizens would have a higher threshold for what constitutes poverty, and would perhaps not see the lack of a computer being a sign of poverty.<br /><br />In the end its difficult operating with absolute terms and humans in relation to each other as each of us seems to have personal measuring units when it comes to well being and deprivation.Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998917441088523398.post-31979888831625898362008-06-30T21:26:00.001+02:002008-08-08T13:26:05.539+02:00My first entrySo here I am writing my first entry. Laying in bed yesterday night I decided to start writing a blog about one theme that seems to reenter my conscious mind on a daily basis: well being.<br />Questions relating to well being appear in numerous ways in my day to day life. Needless to say well being - or welfare - is a central theme throughout historic political theory and contemporary political discussions as well. Although the theme of well being can seem to be omnipresent in politics in a certain sense it has been lost in modern politics.<br />Looking at the contemporary political discussions in Denmark (my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">home country</span>) there seems to be widespread agreement that the best tools to measure aggregated well being are economic.<br />This is nothing new as the Scandinavian welfare state historically was centered on economic redistribution as a primary tool for increased average well being.<br /><br />Today however fundamental redistributive discussions are rare and instead welfare is being redefined to freedom of choice in choosing public goods and the freedom from excessive taxation. But are these economic indicators the best way to measure well being? Can well being even be aggregated at all, or is it an personal experience that cannot be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">measured</span>?<br />The concept of well being can be used in many ways and have several meanings, in the following posts some of these will be explored, related and compared to each other.Oskar Bakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11149212179441537948noreply@blogger.com0