Ausflug 39

Making Lemonade from Lemons

Two weeks in Northern Germany

September - October 2014


 

3 Neustadt
Luebeck 4
Index


 

Travemuende

Stretching our wings a bit, so to speak, we decided to see if we could use our ebikes to ride South along the beaches and then on top of a cliff-side path to the city of Travemuende. Travemuende sits right at the mouth of the Trave River that winds it way inland to the old Hanseatic City of Luebeck. It turned out to be a bright, sunny day, just perfect for riding along the coast. The first stretch down to Timmendorfer Strand was a repeat of our very first forays on our ebikes, but rather than stopping for a nice leisurely lunch, we pushed on around the harbor area and into new territory, whereupon we promptly lost the bike trail!

Consulting our map, we headed East over toward the beach but still did not see trail or trail markers, so we finally had to resort to asking a local person. She directed us down a trail that looked like it was simply a walkway to the beach, but at the last second it took a right angle turn and then went back up the cliff alongside a set of stairs to the top of the bluff. Even our motors couldn't cope with that grade, so we had to push our bikes up the ramp beside the stairs, but we finally made it to the top. There our trail turned into a narrow, bumpy, crowded, rocky hiker/biker path along the top of the cliff.

Although the bicycle riding was challenging, to say the least, the views out over the Gulf of Luebeck from the tops of the bluffs were truly magnificent. The trail ran right at the edge of the cliff, right beside the plowed fields to the West, and there were no guard rails or safety precautions of any kind, so we had to be quite cautious with our riding.

After many a hill and dale, the bike trail wound its way around the headland and down along the mouth of the Trave river. Ultimately the bike trail became a really big, broad, nicely paved promenade along the riverbank that led us right into the port area of Travemuende. We could see the tourist season was ending since the rental beach chairs were being packed away for the winter. However, some people were enjoying the last rays of the fall sun.

The first thing we saw in the port/marina area of Travemuende was the big, square-rigged sailing ship, the "Passat", which was moored just across the river from us. We also passed a lighthouse billed as the oldest lighthouse in Germany. Tired from the bike ride and really hungry as it was well past lunch by that time, we locked the bikes at one of the ubiquitous bike racks on the main street alongside the riverbank, and wandered off in search of food. On such a beautiful, warm day, the port's shopping area was filled with folks, but we found a nice bakery that served sandwiches and sat outside to eat lunch.

Afterwards we meandered up and down the waterfront area, sightseeing and window shopping in a desultory fashion until we found a store specializing in selling amber, which we both like. The store was having a true "end of season" sale with everything 50% off, so the prices were really quite reasonable. We ended up buying small amber earrings for our two granddaughters, a set of long, dangling amber earrings for Monika, and even a large, pointed column of amber for a necklace for Bob.

Having refueled and rested, we were ready to head home but NOT ready to re-experience the rigors of that cliff-side bike path! Instead, we followed a road that kind of cuts straight North across the headlands from Travemuende to Timmendorfer Strand. Fortunately, the road had an adjacent bike path, so we had a good riding surface and didn't have to dodge traffic, people, dogs, bicycles, or baby carriages as on our way out.

Once back in Timmendorfer Strand, we worked our way back up the beachside bicycle path to get back to Haffkrug and out little condominium, where we put our feet and aching legs up for the evening.

Copyright 2014 by Robert W. Holt and Elsbeth Monika Holt
Arrival in Hamburg Hamburg Day 2 Haffkrug Niendorf Eutin
Neustadt Luebeck Travemuende Sailing to Kappeln So Long, Scharbeutz

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