Travel Through Germany on a Harley-Davidson

By Peter & Kay Forwood

Germany on a Harley (30/7/11 - 4/8/11)

Distance 1639 km (594680 km to 596319 km)

This is part of the seventeenth section of our around the world trip.
Complete Trip Overview & Map

Coming from Poland or read our previous visit to Germany

30/7/11 350km's later and we were in the small village of Nerchau, near Leipzig, East Germany. Arriving wet, saturated, boots squelchy, rain gear having leaked in the mostly wet ride, particularly heavy nearing the end. Carsten and Brigitta had internet invited us to their home over a year before but it wasn't along our route till now. Harley riders, two bikes, they live in a renovated railway station next to the disused train line, now a bicycle track, alongside the river. A lovely building, having left the feel of the old station with its original tiled floor, spacious rooms, platform and upstairs two floors of bedrooms, office, workroom, of which we had use of the top floor during our stay, overlooking the public gardens, with hardly a neighbour in sight. Carsten and Brigitta had organised a BBQ with a keg of beer with Harley riders from their local chapter, the First Sachsen Chapter, and presented us with a couple of commemorative beer steins, commemorating the chapter's 15 years, believed to be the first East European Harley chapter. There were Checking out the motorcycle at Carsten and Brigitta's BBQ

Checking out the motorcycle at Carsten and Brigitta's BBQ

near 30 guests, some coming from another nearby chapter. It was a great evening of food, conversation and drinking leading into a late evening.

1/8/11 The loosely planned ride to see Dresden was thwarted by more rain today. Not much fun walking city streets in the rain. Instead we sat, our boots still drying, in front of the log fire in their lounge, a wet mid summers day and 16 degrees. With rain still falling at lunch time we car-ed it to a lovely nearby restaurant for Sunday lunch, along with Alex, their daughter. Traditional foods on the menu, often served outside in better weather. An easy afternoon, more time in front of the fire, chatting and catching up on emails. We were assured that it doesn't always rain in Nerchau, and is often quite warm in summer, but circumstances are as they are, and indeed we most likely had a nicer time relaxing with a lovely family than seeing another city.

2/8/11 Another relaxed breakfast but it was Monday and Carsten, a lawyer, and us left together, he heading towards his law practice in Leipzig, and us Breakfast in the restored railway staion

Breakfast in the restored railway staion

on a 500km freeway ride south past Munich, starting in foggy drizzle and ending in magnificent sunshine as we reached Doris Wiedemann's place in a small rural village. We have known Doris now for more than 13 years, having stayed with her at the same address 13 years ago. At the time she was already an accomplished international motorcycle traveller, and in the meantime has published three books on her travels and has had many magazine articles. Her last adventure was to ride to the top of Alaska, Prudhoe Bay, in the middle of winter on a BMW motorcycle, with studded tyres, in temperatures about as cold as man and motorcycle can withstand. Her book on the trip, unfortunately only in German at this stage, is called "Winterreise nach Alaska" and is reported to be a great read from what I hear. Doris took us to the town of Landsberg, along the Romantic Route, for an evening ride and dinner at a famous historical restaurant. Landsberg prison was where Adolf Hitler was imprisoned for nine months in 1924, and where he dictated Mein Kampf to his fellow inmate Rudolph Hess. The prison was also used after the war to hold German war criminals, and where 150 were executed.

3/8/11 Travellers The beer garder with Doris and her father

The beer garder with Doris and her father

catch up jobs. Always washing, these days internet, an oil change on the motorcycle, interspersed with sitting outside in sunshine over a coffee, tea, pretzels, soul bread, and great catch up conversation. Doris's father joined us in the afternoon, making his famous Bavarian salad which we took to a nearby beer garden in the evening to eat with breadsticks and locally brewed beer. Too much beer. By the time we were driven back to Doris's we were more than a little relaxed and continued on Doris's back porch till tomorrow, on a balmy summer evening.

4/8/11 The visit was, as often is the case with friends, over all too quickly, and Doris left for an interview with a magazine editor over an article she had written and was negotiating publication. We left a little later, saying goodbye to her father, and headed for an overnight hotel at Frankfurt, 400km's, on a dry day at least till after we arrived when the heavens opened with a thunderstorm. Whilst it is always a joy to visit people it is more exhausting than being on our own and we grabbed a night of quiet rest.

5/8/11 Another smooth 350km's along the German autobahn's before crossing the border into the Netherlands.

Move with us to the Netherlands or go to our next visit to Germany

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