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Published: August 19th 2012
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Sunny day, perfect weather. We follow the
Elbe-Müritz trailfrom Lenzen to Parchim and then from Parchim to Plau am See as much as possible, cutting out loops when the route wasn't found or to save time. We pass rolling hills of wheat and corn, the road lined with lovely poppies and other wildflowers. Most towns are quaint, beautiful, old, and a little bit broken. While I find the old dilapidation charming and full of character, my German companions find no beauty in this. There seems to be an endless network of these tiny ten-building towns of -itz's and -hof's- and -dorf's and -ow's. We would pass through the towns in a blink and then have to check which town a few kilometers away was our next target. Many had beautiful old timber-framed (fachwerk) stables and houses still in use. Several towns had recently celebrated their 700th birthday. The roads between the towns are often alternately lined with chestnut trees or oaks or beeches, often massive, such that the way is like a beautiful winding cathedral.
After the town of Karstädt hunger struck and we simply held a picnic on the side of the road, with only one car that passed by.
My companions are experts at making sandwiches on the road. Originally, the pinnacle of the road sandwich was simply mustard and cheese, but in addition we have a tube of tomato sauce, various German flavored yeast spreads and pestos.
Heading towards Parchim from the south we dive into a forest, and see for the first time the magic of the beech forests. Monoculture forests seem to all have this same special magical quality, of time standing still, of naturally occuring order. I've seen now the redwoods in California, and gum trees in Australia, and now the beeches in Germany. In all of these forests, there is a tall canopy the filters light through, sometimes with a rainbow of greens, rows and rows of tall elegant columns, and a soft gentle low ground cover, also often just one type of plant, like clover, or ferns. Here we roll up and down and around the cool forest.
We arrive in Parchim just in time to check into our bed and breakfast, which is a beautiful timber-framed building. She lets us park our bikes in the locked bike shed, and we have just enough time to enjoy dinner and beer before
they close at 9 pm. Inside they've decorated the dining room with a small tree trunk that extends from the floor with the branches seeming growing into the ceiling.
Next day we have a comparatively easy cycle to Plau am See. We stop for lunch at Lübz where we buy delicious local tomatoes, and luckily a bakery is still open. I'm told by my companions that the croissants are uncommonly good here, for a region known for not doing them well. Myself, I have a delicious blueberry yogurt topped cake. We sit in a cute park next to a tower, where there are unexpectedly math puzzles on signs. The benches we sit on are also interestingly geometric. We pass beautiful trees and fields.
In Karow T leaves us (from a dead dilapidated train station) and we set up our tents for the first time in a campground on the lake near Leisten. I'd been forewarned that the camping culture in Germany is very popular and forms a large subculture that is interesting to observe, but not necessarily participate. My companions insist that locals themselves in this area are very friendly, it is often the tourists who are less
Red corn silk
Is this the inspiration for Germans' favorite hair dye? so. Our campground must be fairly touristy. I also discover to what extent Germans love their bread. They love their bread so much that campgrounds provide a service to be able to order breadrolls the night before so that one can have fresh bread for breadfast.
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