Lauenburg to Hamburg - August 1

We made it to Hamburg, the end of our long ride. My bike computer tells me we have ridden just over 3700 kilometres since we landed in Rome nearly three months ago.
This morning after a very good breakfast at our hotel in Lauenburg we set off with the sun shining and a gentle breeze at our back.

It was a fairly uneventful ride of about 65km. After Rod's experience riding this section on the Elbe route, and also on the advice of our waitress at dinner last night, we crossed the river first thing this morning and rode along the south bank as far as we could, crossing back by ferry at Hoopte.

Looking back at Lauenberg from the bridge over the Elbe.

Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Our last ferry crossing.

The bike path approaching Hamburg - not as good as we expected.

We rode right into the centre of Hamburg and to our hotel without any trouble. There appear to be bike paths along all the major roads in the city. Mostly they are in the form of a red paver path running along the footpath.

Hamburg bike path on the way to our hotel.

We are in the Pacific Hotel which is fairly central and quite comfortable. Rod stayed here earlier and booked a room for us.

The view from our hotel room in Hamburg.

August 1 Schwarzenbek Hamburg
Rod’s solo tour
After a good night’s dining and sleep I decided the place was OK and that another night in situ might be the way to go. Unfortunately not only was the place fully booked I could not get anything else in town.
Back down the main street I decided that I would check out the place with the cut up firearms in the window. Inside I met a very affable Michael Brandt, who I guess could be described as a master gunsmith. Had a long chat with Michael about the cut up weapons, it seems they are his protest at the way the Germany government treats gun ownership. Leaving that aside he took time to show me quite a number of collectable weapons and his own handmade rifles. Beautiful examples of the gunsmith’s craft. Ended up buying a German police/rescue knife for my son, Joe, after Michael offered me a good deal on it. It is a folding knife that features one-handed operation. An excellent gift for a climbing instructor/guide. This was a bit of luck as I had purchased presents for all my daughters but until then had not found the ideal present for Joe.
That afternoon I headed into Hamburg and back to the hotel I had previously stayed at and where I had booked rooms for Tracey and Pat. They were in the foyer when I arrived (I kept running into these guys). Short story was they were full I so stayed down the road at a much more expensive venue until rooms I had booked for next day were available.