Hamburg-Germany 15,
July 21, 2023
Hi Everyone,
I had a quick breakfast and hit the road for Hamburg. I spent 2 hours last evening trying to bluetooth my i-pad to my Tom-Tom Rider GPS with no success. I then read a forum that stated that you can not bluetooth the 2 devices yet as the soft ware has not been written and you must past through an i-phone. Eventually, I just re-adjusted my Tom-Tom for secondary roads. My GPS lady had already forgiven me for the trouble that I caused her yesterday and gave me excellent instructions today.
I stayed on secondary roads today which were still 2 lane roads passing through the country side but each lane was much wider and safer. I still didn’t find a single cafe to stop in to have a coffee in 3 hours. I was later explained that there are grocery stores in the villages if I had looked for them. However, most of the retail stores have closed due to internet purchasing by consumers. People will also go to the big city to shop for clothes. I was sunny for while but then rained for 1 hour. I don’t like riding in the rain but I had no choice as I had no idea how long it would last. I used the ‘rain’ mode which probably changes the gear ratio to prevent the tires from spinning out.
I am staying in the centre of Hanover in a 4* old fashioned hotel. I walked for 4 hours around Hanover. The city has 500,000 residents which is considered big in Germany. Most of the city was destroyed by allied bombing during WW2. The old section was rebuilt exactly how it was before the war but the streets were turned into pedestrian walkways. The newer section of the downtown was built up with 1950-1960s architecture and has little character. However, there are pedestrian walkways everywhere. Bars, cafes and restaurants line the walkways. There in no traffic at all. The subway leads right to the centre of town. The cafes are all full. People seem to take the time to live properly.
There are clothing stores everywhere, some original and some chains similar to the ones we have in Canada. The prices are the same. When I packed my motorcycle stuff, I somehow forgot to include a change of underwear. I purchased 4 pairs of high quality German underwear, blue, grey and black with very good ‘support’. I had to break Rule 3 (I think that I mentioned 2 other ones) never buy clothes in a foreign country. You will never wear them when you come home as the styles and the colours just don’t fit in with our tastes in Quebec. Of course you can always return them the next time you are in Europe in a town that you can’t remember from a store you’ve long forgotten. Any ways, they were on sale. I learned that lesson when I bought 3 Jerusalem shirts, ‘hand-made and hand-embroidered’ for a very ‘cheap’ price in the Arab market. I kept them for 4 years, never wore them in Reims, and eventually embarrassingly enough, threw them away.
I am still fascinated with the fact of how fast soaking wet Gore-tex can take to dry as well as how soaking wet Gore-tex still keeps you warm and dry inside. At the same time, heavy leather motorcycle boots seem to stay wet forever. I have gone through 3 pairs of dry socks today in my boots and my feet are still damp. Remember, I lost 1 sandal and threw the other 1 away.
Love, Brian
gobriantravel 