Day 16 – Lübeck – Schoenberg (60 km)

King’s Day today. We notice very little of it here in the rustic North of Germany, nothing of orange to be seen anywhere. What a beautiful trip it was today. A clear blue sky, little wind. So far we haven’t had any rain while cycling, how lucky we are. For the first time a gently rolling landscape with the colors of growing grains and flowering rapeseed, interspersed with canals and then completely open again with a few large detached trees. Wonderful! From Lübeck this morning the four of us drove to Schoenberg to park the bus, then back by black car to Wahlstedt where the tree bike and trailer are, still about sixty kilometers. From Wahlstedt Richard and Sanne bike with me today. Daan drives the follow car. The route goes up and down rural narrow winding roads with little traffic, interspersed with the occasional busier road. Fortunately the tree shows itself well and with the rather absurd image of a cycling tree we get many smiling people as a reaction. No “angry” motorist seen yet. Top. A new challenge begins for the tree bike and for me: slopes, both up and down! That takes some getting used to. It’s quite strenuous cycling anyway because in addition to the traffic and the route, you have to take into account the branches above the tree and the state of the pavement for the three wheels of the tree bike. There is not much life in the small villages, Saturday afternoon? We also see few amenities, too bad though. Livability is hard to read here. It does look cared for and friendly. We ride about forty kilometers until we arrive in historic Lübeck and take a short break. What a beautiful little town. It has something Swiss, like Bern, but why I can’t quite pinpoint. Leaving Lübeck right through the center, we follow the River Trave, past beautiful allotments, mini-paradises they all are. Here, too, we hand out birthday trees. For the tree bike the narrow path with low hanging branches is not easy and we cycle with the tree at 45 degrees. Then it’s another 20 km or so through a similar type of landscape, until Schoenberg. At our accommodation, Sanne cooks a delicious meal while we take care of all the logistical things. We are quite tired, but also fulfilled! We talk some more about booking accommodations for the next few weeks and then Richard and I go in search of our accommodation on the other side of town. It’s been nice for this King’s Day. Tomorrow we are going to Wismar.