Travemunde to Lauenburg - July 31

Early this morning we arrived in Travemunde on the ferry from Malmo, Sweden. The ferry ride was very good. The ship left Malmo at about 10pm. By the time we watched the departure from up on deck, then had a few very pleasant drinks in the bar, we had a fairly late night. The cabin was surprisingly spacious and very comfortable. We had a very good night's sleep, if a bit short with an early start this morning.

Arriving at Travemunde on the ferry.

Tracey and I rode to Lauenburg, back on the Elbe River. Rod has been here before so he rode with us until lunch at Ratzburg then went his own way.

In the first section of the ride, as we were finding our way from the ferry terminal to Lubeck, we had stopped at an intersection to work out which way to go. As has happened many times on our travels, a local rider stopped to offer assistance. He advised us which path to take, and told us there was a free shuttle bus to take us through the tunnel under the river.

On the shuttlebus.

Over coffee in a sunny spot in Lubeck we got the map out to plan our route for the day. We decided to ride to the north end of the Ratzburg See and catch a ferry along the lake to Ratzburg.

Lubeck

When we got to the lake we couldn't find the ferry terminal so started riding along the lake shore. This turned out to be the best part of the day's ride, a good gravel track through forest along the lake for about 15km.

The path around Ratzberg See.

Tracey at the top of a steep hill.

Part of our hotel in Lauenburg.

One highlight of the day was our second puncture for the whole trip. The Schwalbe tyres have performed outstandingly.
It was a sunny, cool day, and not too windy.
89km today.
Tomorrow we complete our journey to Hamburg.

July 31 Travemunde to Schwarzenbek
Rod’s solo tour
After a good nights kip on the ferry we arrived in Travemunde at first light and headed generally in the direction of Hamburg. In my case I wanted breakfast which proved not such an easy thing to find at that hour. Unsuccessful with a breakfast venue we headed for Ratzberg through winding dirt forest paths along the Ratzberg See, not a quick ride but worth it for the scenery.
On the approaches to Ratzberg we came across a very large Celtic renactment/display/market site but Tracey and Pat were not keen so we kept pushing on.
Separated from Tracey and Pat after they decided to head for Lauenberg where I had already been. I headed for Hamburg via Schwarzenbek. After about 20 kms I found that roadworks had closed the highway and that a considerable backtrack would be needed. Fortunately though the guys manning the barricades let me through so that I had an entire highway to myself, great riding.
In Schwarzenbek I found a really nice hotel (not super cheap) which served up one of the nicest meals I had in Europe.
An after dinner stroll turned up a shop in the main street with an interesting array of cut up rifles and shotguns in the window. I resolved to investigate in the morning.