Monday, July 30, 2007
At half past three in the morning I woke up because some noisy guest were returning
to there rooms after a party but after twenty minutes it was quiet again.
Breakfast was very good. I was at a table and got some nice breadrolls, a coffee as
much as I liked, a glass orange juice an egg and even the (German) morning newspaper.
When I left the sun was shining but soon it started to get cloudy again and not
long after that, it started to rain. Time to get the rain overall again. I needed
it for the rest of the day.
And then the dark clouds were coming again.....
In the rain I rode to the Wischenhofen-Gluckstadt ferry and crossed the river Elbe.
The Elbe is the river that big cargo ships use to go to Hamburg so there were some really
big ships passing by while we were crossing the river.
On the ferry to Gluckstadt
Like in the Netherlands, in Germany they use a lot of wind energy too. Near Gluckstadt
they were just building another big windmill.
Building of a big windmill
After a short ride, it was time for the next ferry, a small one this time. There were
big containerships passing through this river. A interesting view.
Big container ship
The small ferryboat
After crossing the Elbe, I saw that the style of the houses is changed. You can see
a lot of houses (farm houses ?) with a very wide facade.
Typical houses
German windmill
Small city street
The weather is not getting any better. It is raining most of the time and the wind from the West
is very hard now. I have to lean against the wind when I'm driving North (most of the time now)
and is is exciting to have a truck or bus passing me from the opposite direction.......
Hard wind in Germany
With all that rain, the bike is not feeling happy. There may leak some water where it should
not, because in heavy rain showers, it sometimes misses one cylinder. Not so bad I have to
stop and as soon as the rain is a little less, it is running fine again.
I do like my Tomtom GPS very much. I get on some really nice road that I never would
have found without a GPS. The bluetooth headset is also fine. It works good at any speed
and it is very easy to navigate now. One disadvantage is that because I don't use the map
all the time, I do not always exactly know where I am when I take a picture but I can live
with that :-)
I cross the Danish border at Tonder at half past one so the rest of the week I'll be in Denmark.
Border crossing
Near Skaerbaek I fill my tank again and went to a bank to change some Euro's for Danish Kronen.
Nice church in Skaerbaek
With Danish money in my pocket I drove on to the North until I came past Ribe. It looked like
an interesting town so I decide to do some siteseing. Well, it was worth it. A very nice
old town, worth coming back to one day.
While walking around in Ribe, I found a small snackbar in a nice old building. I ordered
a "submarine burger" with tunafish on it and a coffee that I enjoyed on my table in the corner.
Square with a fountain in Ribe
Lunch in Ribe
In Ribe I saw some bikes parked. One of them was an Nimbus, a Danish made bike. I have
only seen them in Denmark but even the very old types are still used daily by some riders.
It must be a reliable bike.
Nimbus in Ribe
One of the churches in Ribe has two very different towers. I don't know the story behind
it but it looks intersting.
The churchtowers of Ribe
Some nice buildings in Ribe
From Ribe I drove to Esbjerg. I drove to the center of Esbjerg, near the train station and
let my Tomtom show me the nearest hotels. The "Cabin"hotel was only a few hundred meters
away so that is where I went.
The Cabinn Palads Hotel in Esbjerg
I could park the bike in the garage under the hotel and then I took my luggage to my room.
It was a nice room at the attic of the hotel with a view on the sea. For the 75 euro's
I also had breakfast included..
After a shower and clean clothes, I left the hotel to see something of Esbjerg.
Unfortunately at half past five, most shops are closed but I had a nice walk anyway.
First I walked to the harbour. I like to see the ships, and then I went into town.
View at the harbour in Esbjerg
A tower near the harbour of Esbjerg
From the harbour I walkek into town, looked at nice buildings and had a cheesburger at
the MacDonalds. Fortunately they don't close at half past five.
The MacDonalds is not far from the hotel and soon I'm back in the hotel.
Back at the hotel I use the Internet computer in the lobby (an Apple Mac) and get a
cappuccino and then I go to my room.
The view from my room
I watch TV for a while and then I go to sleep.
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