Wismar 23rd & 24th July

Thursday
We spent a lazy morning having a nice brekky and catching up on housekeeping.
At lunch-time, we rode into town (pretty good cycle paths but the centre of town is heavily cobbled - note to self-always stand up on badly cobbled streets), visited Tourist Info, did some shoppping, grabbed a bratwurst and walked down to the harbour in time to catch the 2pm boat trip around Wismar's harbour and nearby islands. It was a nice, relaxing trip. Wismar has an extremely busy harbour with really, really big sheds - the biggest roller-door you've ever seen, and an authentic historical maritime feel. Wismar was one of the original 'hanseatic' cities.
Back on land, we toured the extraordinary old Dom. It was really impressive - the brickwork and original frescoes and carved altar, dating back to the 13th Century, conveyed the sophistication of art and life at that time. It was totally different to most of the grandly decorated doms and basilicas.
The town square is lively and the whole town is bustling with holiday-makers. It is school holidays in many parts of Germany at present.
Coffee and cake at Guhlick's Cafe - a new cafe hidden away in the back streets and busy with local custom.
We continued investigating the town centre until a sudden storm forced us to retreat into a nearby restaurant. After a beer (pilsener and alster - alster is German for a shandy), we opted for an early dinner and a quick ride home in the light aftermath of the storm.

Friday
We spent a couple of hours blogging and researching our planned diversion to Denmark and Sweden. We had lunch at Guhlick's again and our waitress was a lovely girl, named Anna, who was very plaesed to have run into a couple of Aussies. She has had 2 trips to Oz so far and plans more. Hi Anna!
For the last couple of days I've noticed my bike seems to wobble ever so slightly when I'm wheeling it. No broken spokes and the wheels weren't buckled. Finally, Pat tried wheeling it and twigged immediately that the ball-bearings in the handlebar stem were worn out. Again, we were lucky, the nearby bike shop could do an immediate repair (E40 for new bearings fitted). Maybe this could be the bike-shop tour of Europe.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is a bit dire, so we're planning a very early start (for us).

23rd and 24th Hamburg
Rod's solo tour
From what you hear you would be forgiven for thinking that Hamburg is just a large industrial city when in fact it is an extremely vibrant and livable city with it's own culture.
Booked into a couple of hostels (two because the city was too busy to get more than one night in once place) in St. Pauli, home of the squatter movement. I spent a couple of days visiting the sights. The city has an amazing waterfront, lots of waterfront infrastructure stretching into the distance but it manages to remain an attractive precinct with lots to see. Went aboard the restored square rigger the Rickmer Rickmers, a great look at seafaring in the days when sailors were sailors. Visited the extensive finger wharves, some of the longest in the world, but most were destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt.