We’ve left Meissen for the best day weather-wise. It’s already 16°C by the time we set out at 9.45, taking the ferry in front of Elbklause, our “bike hotel” across the Elbe, and the sky is bright blue. It’s 14 km to Meissen mainly along the river. The castle can be seen quite a long way away.
Meissen from the cycle path on the east bank of the Elbe
Marktplatz, flanked on one side by the Rathaus (town hall) and on the other by Frauenkirche church, is our first stop. We hear the porcelain bells chiming. Unfortunately the church is undergoing renovation so we can’t visit the inside.
The Town Hall (Rathaus) in Meissen with its sundialThe bell tower of Frauenkirche with its porcelain bells
We wheel our bikes up to the late Gothic Albrechtsburg Castle. We pass several historical houses on the way. On the right of the gatehouse, I see what looks like a great restaurant for lunch.
The entrance to Albrechtsburg Castle.
Built in the 15th century, the castle is considered to be Germany’s oldest castle. There is a double sundial on the façade which also has a spiral staircase with a Renaissance-like gallery that reminds me of Blois.
Castle façade with its double sundial and spiral staircase
The most striking feaures are the vaulting and the wall paintings. There is no furniture. There are not many people so our extra 2 euro per person to take photos proves to be worth it.
The main banquet roomThe smaller vaults on the right are most unusualA royal wedding for political reasons – the bride was 9 and the groom 17!One of several porcelain stoves. There are practically no fireplaces.
Meissen, of course, is famous for its 300-year old porcelain faatory. There are several showcases throughout the castle displaying a fine collection. We initially thought we’d visit the factory but after seeing the pieces displayed here, we decide not to go.
One of the porcelain showcases in the castleThe buildings on the right of Dom Platz leaving the castle with one of the sundials on the right.
By now it’s after 1.30 pm but that’s not a problem here. It seems you can get a meal any time. We locate the restaurant I saw on the way up and take a table overlooking the city and river.
The view from the Burgkeller which is also a Romantik Hotel
Although the waitress doesn’t speak any English, the menu has a translation so we order pork medallions with chanterelle mushrooms (pfifferlings – isn’t that a great word?) and potato cakes. A bit salty, but otherwise excellent. We had our usual Meissen white wine which tasted like riesling.
Sheep grazing right on the edge of the Elbe opposite Zadel
The weather is as warm as promised – 23°C. We’re soon back at our hotel, eating Schwarzwald (black forest) ice-cream sundaes on the shady terrace of the hotel restaurant. Tomorrow we’re off to Wittenberg. And to help you locate the different places we go to, I’ve added a Google Map widget on the right.
We reached our destination – Kobern Gondorf on the Moselle near Koblenz at 4 pm and by 5 pm we were on our bikes ready for our first ride along the Moselle.
First I’d like to explain how we operate. We have a very good bike stand on the back of our car that enables us to open and shut the boot even when the bikes are attached. Jean Michel’s lock system also means we can leave them anywhere without any part of them ever getting stolen.
We drive to our initial destination – we prefer a long drive the first day (we left Blois before 8.30 am and stopped a few times along the way including a picnic lunch) – where we stay 4 or 5 days to wind down and get back to our normal rhythm of 40 to 50 km a day. We fan out from our base taking the train to go further afield if necessary.
Last year we planned everything beforehand but bad weather made us change our plans a bit – there is nothing worse than cycling in pouring rain – so this year we decided to book our first accommodation and then play it by ear. We discovered last time that there are any number of gasthof and gasthaus offering very good value for money along the cycle paths in Germany.
Our present accommodation is in a recent building, is spacious and comfortable ( it even has a small dishwasher) and a large terrace with a lovely view. It has one major defect: the wifi only works on my iPad and iPhone and not on my laptop which means that I can’t touch type or use Photoshop to prepare my photos. The iPad version of WordPress is not as easy to use as the regular version so please be understanding – and don’t be surprised if I stop posting,
On intermittent fast days, we don’t have breakfast and take a picnic lunch. The other days we have breakfast at our flat or at the gasthaus, eat out at lunchtime along our cycle route then have an aperitif and easy to make dinner on our terrace whether we are staying in self-catering accommodation or a gasthaus.
Jean Michel looks after the itinerary and writes up the travel log each day while I look for accommodation, plan meals and speak English! I also look after the clothing situation. Washing can get complicated in a country that has practically no laundromats. But before we left Blois we went to Go Sport and made some great purchases – two sets each of 3/4 pants and shirts that are specially designed to dry quickly and get your body dry when you perspire.
Today we cycled a total of 20 km along the Moselle to Lof and back on another more interesting route past very steep vineyards. Being able to cycle for a couple of hours after spending most of the day travelling is a wonderful way to get right into holiday mood.
