Stage 2: Hamburg - Rotenburg, 73km.

My virtual bicycle tour to Girona continues. Today I cycled from Hamburg to Rotenburg. The weather was quite OK with temperature of 12C, light breeze from West (crosswinds again) and some rain showers. 

After waking up in my favourite Hamburg hotel, the Fürst Bismarck, I had a hearty breakfast with porridge, eggs, some local bread and cheese, fruits and lots of tea. I still do not drink coffee, only tea and hot chocolate. 

Breakfast

Some sightseeing before hitting the road. I cycled past the famous Elbphilharmonie, the superbly expensive new concert hall. It is really impressive from the outside, with shiny the concert hall on top an old harbour warehouse. A pity that it was not open for visitors before 8am. Maybe next time. 

Elbphilharmonie

The city of Hamburg sits on the northern bank of the river Elbe. As I was heading south, I had to cross the river. Luckily, there is a tunnel fro cyclists and pedestrian underneath the Elbe. The tunnel was build in 1911 for dock workers. The official page tells us

In 1911, the Old Elbe Tunnel was built to provide a more direct route for dock workers over to the southern banks of the Elbe river from the Landungsbrücken piers in St. Pauli. A technical innovation at the time of its construction, the tunnel became a tourist attraction when the 'new' Elbtunnel and several bridges were built in the 1970s. Now pedestrians and bicyclists wishing to cross below the river can ride a free lift into the deep, and cars can use hydraulically driven cages for a small fee.

The tunnel

The lifts

Finally, I was ready to start cycling towards Roterburg, some 70 kilometers away. I followed the the road 75, which luckily has decent bike paths. It was an easy ride, almost flat, nothing challenging, no problems. I had a light mid-ride snack in Tostedt, a small town with long history all the way from 1105. German small towns have very definite boundaries, which makes them compact and thus allows for all kinds of cafes etc to flourish.

Todtedt, © By Tostedt at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

While drinking tea, I reserved a room in the Hotel am Pferdemarkt, which turned out to be a very charming, family run guest house on the middle of Rotenburg, with a decent Restaurant Harmonie next to it. After checking in the hotel, I had a late lunch in the restaurant (Putensteak überzogen mit Spargel à la Crème, serviert mit Petersilienkartoffeln).

Restaurant Harmonie

My room 

Now, rest and the later a walk around Rotenburg, with a visit to some local Kneipe. In Germany, one must not skip one's daily beer. 

Facgwerkhäuser in Rotenburg © 

Today's virtual route

Stage 2: Hamburg - Rotenburg

The real ride in Helsinki: three times this small loop plus some extra kilometers.

A small loop in Helsinki

See all stages and all blog posts about my tour.

Statistics:

total virtual distance: 158km

total real distance (ridden in Finland): 162km

riding time: 8h

accomondation costs: 142 euros

food costs: 50 euros

beer costs: 30 euros