Germany

We travelled to Hamburg from Budapest like Flixbus pros, confident this time that they would actually take our bikes.

We had one day in the city and visited a great museum full of miniature models. I hadn’t realized how powerful models could be at sharing information and  capturing history. One set of models showed the same part of Germany as it developed over time, and many showed cities around the world. 

After eating a hamburger in Hamburg and riding one of Europe’s longest escalators, we cycled north with our sights set on Legoland.

This was an interesting part of our cycle- touring experience because we weren’t on a well travelled route. Our first night outside of the city we camped at a family campground with pitches on the beach. At our picnic dinner we had the world’s best cookie, the ‘white chocolate enrobed Oreo’. Yum!

The following day, we contacted a family through Warmshowers and stayed in their garden. They had a child Clara’s age and offered us breakfast on their sunny patio. They told us about their experiences hosting cyclists over the past few years and pointed us to great ice cream 20km north.

Next, we took a train full of other cyclists to the north of Germany. That night, we were stumped outside a closed laundrette and a friendly German woman suggested a fantastic campsite nearby. Sunny, clean, great washing machines, and a shop with fresh strawberries right next door. This was our last night in Germany before crossing the border into Denmark. You could feel that it was a different country right away- skinny flags, quiet clean streets, and a faint smell of LEGO and danishes in the air…