Теперь это то, что я называю музыкой пять

Dont worry....we are not in Russia, it just feels like it as we continue through the former East Germany.  Some banging tunes for you:

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Through extensive study I thought  I had worked out the breakfast rules for hotels in Germany:

2*/basic hotel - coffee, juice, cereal, bread, cheese, cold meats.

3*/mid range - as above plus scrambled eggs and maybe some anemic frankfurter-style sausages

4*/fancy - as above plus some other random hot items.

Plus, of course, cucumber but don't get me started on that!

On Wednesday we stayed in quite a fancy hotel just south of Potsdam and my hopes were high for breakfast.  Food becomes such a preoccupation on trips like this that I had spent virtually every waking moment from check-in anticipating the breakfast feast.  Huh!!!! It seems that even breakfast is sub-standard in the East.

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos

Thursday morning started with a 30 mile ride into Berlin where, it seems, the population of Seoul has moved from the Charles Bridge to the Brandenberg gate.  For us it was a quick photo stop because we were men on a mission.

As well as the whole 'cobbles' thing  (I may not have mentioned it but there are a lot of cobbles here) another problem with East Germany is a general lack of places and, specifically, places big enough to offer accommodation options.  So we had to get to Havelburg, a feat requiring a 100 mile ride.  We were magnificent!!!

We stayed in a rented apartment with masses of space and facilities that allowed us to dine in.

The Safety Dance

I am rather pleased with this one - you need the band name for the connection.

In Berlin it isn't easy to tell whether you are in the East or the West.  Apparently a reasonably reliable indicator is the pedestrian crossing lights.  In the east the little red and green men wear hats while in the West they don't.  Simples.

Long Way Round

For the same reason that we had to do 100 yesterday we were only due to do 40 today.  We set off down a 2 mile road to the ferry (cobbled naturally.....my favourite) only to find that the ferry was geshlossen.  By the time we backtracked and took a sizeable detour to the next river crossing we were 12 miles down.  Bugger.

Never the less we were all done by 2:30 and had time to give the bikes a thorough clean.  We have an even more magnificent apartment for just £45 and sufficient lasagne for 6 is simmering in the oven.  We are not expecting any leftovers!

Papa's Got a Brad New Bag

I noticed that the latest terrorist attackers made use of a LIDL bag to haul a bucket of fertilizer bomb onto a tube train.   Having just purchased such a bag to haul home 2 large lasagne and some (ok, quite a LOT) of beer I can tell you they made the right choice.  Having seen how strong they are I reckon the bomb went off properly but the bag contained the explosion!