Our room at the Park Inn was beautiful. It was a three star Hotel, but the room was as modern and nice as any we have been in. We avoided the expensive breakfast, but couldn't avoid the small charge for internet use. Mostly everywhere it is free. However, we had a few hundred metres down a straight road to ride to the Elbe River, where we met our companion, the Elbe Cycleway, turning right and headed for the small river town of Belgern. We followed the right bank for most of the day.
As soon as we turned on to the cycleway, the beautiful vision of the old town across the river, with the magnificently restored dome of the Frauenkircke (Church of our Lady) filled our vision. It was a mighty sight, eventhough we had fully explored it all yesterday and the story of its complete restoration following the 1945 bombing by the Allies. I had to stop and take it all in again, it was such a magnificent sight. I wonder if the original architect George Bahr (1666-1738) (who was incidentally the municipal Master Carpenter for Dresden at the time) was inspired by Martin Luther's great hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God, a Bulwark Never Failing" when he designed the Frauenkircke with its magnificent 12,000 ton sandstone dome and bell tower. I will never forget the haunting tones of the 'Belle Russian' Cossack with his booming baritone voice and piano accordian filling the old town square with his singing of the Hymn in Russian "Rock of ages Cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee"?
It was very sad to leave, but I got back on the bike, rolled under the great 'Augustusbrucke' for the final time and headed out of town along the river with Julie now in the far distance.
It seemed to take longer to clear the outskirts of Dresden than it did on arrival. However, we never had that 'big city' feel. This was a very lovely place to visit, equipped with lovely parks and open spaces. We never got sick of the sight of the autumn trees with their golden carpets of leaves which we have been cycling through now for some seven weeks of autumn.
After Dresden we found ourselves in typically rural countryside. Gone were the high cliffs of the ride between Prague and Dresden. This was farmland with cows and sheep and vast fileds of crops and many newly ploughed fields waiting for winter. Everything was a delight, and for most of today the great River Elbe rolled lazily to our left. Julie was rolling very well and rythmically on her loaded bike, although for a few days now she has been weighed down by a very heavy head cold. She battled on regardless, not wanting to miss any of the great experiences offered by today's ride.
We passed a number of small ferries today. The bike path was on both sides of the river for most of today, so if you wanted to, you could jump from side to side by using these tiny, and very cute, ferry crossings. The sights of small hamlets and villages throughout the day were delightful.
We also passed through lovely sections of forest with those walls of golden brown, making photos irresistable. We had to be careful though because the build-up of leaves on the cycleway were very wet with the conditions, making the surface potentially very slippery. We enjoyed mostly bitumen surfaces today, however we had many short sections (annoying) sections of very harsh cobblestones which sometimes stretched for hundreds of metres but which just about shook all our bones loose, not to mention the stress on the loaded bikes. We love looking at cobblestones, but to ride over them was no fun. Often, we got off and walked, the surface of large exposed rocks made it too easy for the wheels to slip and go down.
Saxony is also famous for its wines. We rode past many kilometres today of beautiful vineyards which seemed to be planted anywhere where the land was not flat.
Coming in to the town of Meiben, the sights were glorious. We thought this was pretty, looking across the river at the ancient German houses and their pretty colours, until we turned the bend in the river and saw the magnificent Albrechsburg Palace and and the great Dom Cathedral of Meiben, perched high above the river.
Wasn't it nice of the captain of the Elbe River cruiser to come past to enhance our photo of the day!
We were never short of delightful scenes like this all along the river. Germany is just beautiful with so much history and delghtfully attractive houses and churches, especially here in Saxony. We passed through Meiben which was at the 25k mark, now heading for Muhlberg but with a lot of smaller towns and villages in between. We loved the cows which were much more frequent today. Julie and I debated as to whose photo was best, so we included both!
The day started cold and a little wet with very light rain, but the further we went today the better the weather became. It didn't any warmer though, being less than 10 degrees all day, and quite cool when not cycling. As the weather cheered up and the sky cleared a little, it created a great reflection effect on the water of the Elbe. Photos like this are irresistable! This one was taken on my $100 Nikon pocket camera!
Julie was out in front most of the day, and about now we were looking for a picnic table somewhere by the river to enjoy lunch and homemade coffee on milk!
We shouldn't complain, but here again were these dreaded large cobble-stoned sections, basically impossible to ride safely with a heavily loaded touring bike. We were caught by surprise twice today with not just the heavy cobble stones, but several sets of very steep stone stairs down which we had to manouvre the loaded bikes, not without some difficulty. Anyway, it was worth it to stay close to the river and enjoy the constant scenery.
After riding through a small village where they had just dug up all the streets in order to replace the street surfaces (not a small project) which was all mud and slush, we found this dedicated 'Fahrad rest spot'. The town had been kind enough to think of us touring cyclists, and created a wonderful picnic table and rest area where we had lunch, made the coffee and enjoyed the life on the river next to us.
The historic town of Muhlberg came at about the 75k mark. It was Sunday, and admittedly it was cool, but Muhlberg (and many villages today) were completely devoid of people. Muhlberg was the site of the great battle in 1547 during the Schmalkaldic Wars where Johann Friedrich I was defeated by Emperor CharlesV. The town is almost a museum in itself. We loved the main (empty) square with its pink Rathaus (Town Hall) and Lutheran Church that dominated the centre of this small town. As we left by the river we passed the ancient Muhlberg Castle, but couldn't photograph it because it was almost covered in scaffolding. We were now 10k from our destination of Belgern, requiring to cross the river to the left side as the weather started to get very cold.
We arrived at the edge of Belgern with its beautiful little ferry port. We went to the town square looking for the only Hotel in town which, when we found it, was deserted for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it was closed due to Sunday, or maybe closed for the winter season. However, we needed somewhere to stay so we wandered the cobbled streets of this very ornate historic little river town looking for a 'Pension' or 'zimmer'. We had some directions all in German from a passing lady, none of which we understood. Why do they persist in giving detailed directiosn when you have already explained in your best German that we 'no sprachen ze deutsche'? Anyway, we found a lovely 'Pension' (basically a B&B) owned by a wonderful elderly couple. We caught them by surprise, but they received us with all grace. He moved his car so we could get our bikes through his garage. He insisted that we dont take off our shoes as he took us to our private room with our own private facilities. In German he offered us dinner, which we decline, but they set up late afternoon tea for us in their little guest sitting room. They were such gracious people. All for the princely sum of 40 Euro, which includes a hearty breakfast! It cost us normally about 20 Euro to camp at the camping grounds in Germany. This was a home away from home.
Julie is not feeling well at all, so was sound asleep in bed by 5:30pm. It had been a great day on the road today, with many wonderful sights and unforgettable experiences. We are now one day's ride from the great city of Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, the city of Wittenburg.
Since leaving Dresden this morning with the sight of the great dome of the Frauenkircke, and the haunting sound of the Russian Cossack standing out the front of the church singing in his booming baritone voice "Rock of Ages Cleft for me", a great hymn of the church. It reminds me of the great truth written by St Paul to the little church at Rome when he says with great confidence that nothing can separate us from the love of God (not even a hail of bombs such as on Dresden). He says "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution....?" He goes on to say "I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principlalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8: 38:39).
As we rest tonight in a wonderful upstairs room at the beautiful 'pension' in the riverside town of Belgern, we rest knowing that there is nothing that separates any of us from the love of God.
From the edge of the great river Elbe at Belgern, we send our love.
Kelvin and Julie
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