26 September 2023

Yet another great day. Perfect for cycling. A plan was hatched!

But first we had some housekeeping to do. We now get a little excited about having the opportunity to wash our clothes. The weather was perfect for drying, the washing machine was available and we had a pack full of stuff that could do with some cleaning. Bingo!! Clean, dry clothes, ready for the next stage of our adventure. Thank goodness.

While the washing machine was doing its thing, we helped with tonight’s dinner preparation and played with the dogs. (I’m sure they understood my English commands from the lessons I gave them back in 2016)

I said “Guten Morgen” to the hens and later in the day, they showed their appreciation by laying one small egg.

I wandered through Sophie’s garden,checking out the last of the flowers before winter arrives. The bees and the butterflies were buzzing and flitting like crazy.

I’ve actually been amazed by the number of bees we’ve seen all though Scandinavia and Germany. Sadly the Varroa mite at home has meant that we don’t see many around at the moment. Hopefully that will improve soon.

Our washing was finally hanging on the line, and it was time to execute the plan.

Sophie and I would cycle to Celle, an absolutely gorgeous town filled with picturesque timber framed houses, about 25 kms away and Grahame and Hans Heinrich would drive there a little later, with the bike rack, meet us for a little explore and then drive us all back home. Good plan!!!

Sophie and I pedalled off towards Celle, through the woods, farmland tracks and forests, stopping only for a drink of water or to look for the little (white X in a black square) sign that marked our way. Our trail was actually a small section of the E1 European Long Distance Trail that starts at the North Cape and ends in Sicily. We were careful not to miss one, get lost and end up at the furthest point in Europe.

It took us around 2 hours from Mellendorf to Celle. But I can’t be sure because my watch went flat at the 23.29 km and 1:41:23 mark of our ride. We had about another 5 kms to go. It was an easy off road ride, but I must admit I was glad for the suspension on my off-road borrowed bicycle!

We startled a deer that first ran along side us before darting across our path and into the woods. (Once again, no pics). Other than that , and one or two people walking dogs close to villages, we had the trail pretty much to ourselves.

Boy did I enjoy that beer when we arrived in Celle.

But this brought about another “first” for our trip.

We left home almost one month ago and yesterday was the first time, and today the embarrassingly second time, that we actually required cash in the local currency! We have travelled through four countries (if you include the short stop in Dubai) and have not handled a single Krona or Euro. In Lubeck Cathedral yesterday, and at our little cafe in Celle today, waving our little red card at the cash register was met with a firm “Nein”. So our first for today was a visit to the “Geldautomat” (ATM). We now have a small amount of hard cash in our wallet for emergency situations! ( Like our “shout” at the café).

Celle is gorgeous.! We came here with Sophie and Hans Heinrich back in 2016 and I loved it then. I was so pleased to be back wandering through the cobbled streets, amongst timber framed buildings dating back to the early 1600s.

Have you seen a Muskrat? We came across one in the castle grounds. It seemed quite happy to have its photo taken before slinking slowly down into the waterway and swim away. A little further along we saw another just “ dog paddling” past us without a care in the world.

Hans Heinrich and Grahame took over the role of wheeling our bikes around the town. Apparently it was hard work! Bless them!

Dinner tonight was the meal prepared earlier today. Gulash! The German version not the Hungarian version. I went back for seconds.

It wasn’t just our dinner time. A constant check of the little bowl outside the kitchen door, revealed a family of four baby hedgehogs having their evening meal at the same time. So cute!!!

Another good day was had had by all. And the hedgehogs went back for seconds too!!