A Tale of Two…Receptionists!

Friday 20th September 2024. 4pm Finish Day.

Magdeburg to Braunschweig – 92km.

I intended that my hotel departure this morning would avoid the hotel staff. I went down to get my bike from the locked cellar but….again, I couldn’t get the door code to work. The code box stopped working completely. Thankfully the same receptionist didn’t work this morning and the morning lady realised the battery in the code box had failed. She replaced the batteries and I was off.

My batteries were replaced by a Nutella croissant at a coffee shop before I left Magdeburg.

I guessed that todays route would be a similar distance to yesterday and I was right….exactly.

Today was a pleasure. The sun shone from the outset and I felt a breeze at my back. I had some towns to travel through and I managed to keep my coffee quota up to normal.

Who’s the handsome shadow? It’s the best I get.

I had a bit of everything on the route. Long roads, forest paths and small towns. I was looking for the border between East and West Germany. I didn’t expect a sign or anything but I wondered if I might notice a difference.

This seemed to be a likely place with a fence on one side and a high wall on the other. I was near an autobahn and when I checked later I was right. The autobahn was the main crossing into East Germany because it was the most direct route to West Berlin.

My next town was Helmstedt. It was a pretty place and it had its own university and I thought its own Brandenburg Gate…

It was actually a restored gate to an old monastery.

The Rathaus was in good order but the magnificent University was sadly covered in scaffolding.

Next stop was in Konigslautter. A group of four young lads noticed my Union Jacks on my panniers. They asked in English if I had cycled from England. I told my story briefly and one asked me for my ‘YouTube’ because he wanted to ‘follow’ me. I was flattered he was interested in an old man cycling….but he was disappointed when I told him I ‘blogged’. Young lads don’t want to read stuff nowadays!

Konislautter Platz.

I didn’t wait till 4pm to finish my ride. I was in Braunschweig by 2pm. When I arrived at my accommodation today I was pleased to have a wonderful reception from the lady in charge. She tried to help me with my bags, gave me a city map and recommendations for places to eat. Couldn’t have been more helpful. By 4pm I had looked around the city and sat having a bier.

Braunschweig is known in English as Brunswick. It actually sounds quite similar in both languages. Not surprisingly it was a mini capital of its own state within Germany, with its own Dukes. Duke Henry the Lion is still revered, he married Matilda of England (sister of Richard the Lionheart), a distant relative of mine! The Vernon’s are royal after all.

Here is the Lion statue in the centre.

The city centre was compact and had an amazing array of interesting buildings and churches. Many had been damaged in the war and rebuilt. The churches especially were quite plain inside despite being faithfully restored on the outside.

The Cathedral with Henry and Matilda buried inside. I paid tribute to my Very Great Grandmother Matilda!

The Palace. It’s difficult to know from this photo but it is a modern shopping centre on the inside!

St Antony’s church with a lovely timber framed building in front. There were lots of old timber buildings. It seems silly to say that it felt very German but that’s what it is!