Start: Heiligenhafen
Finish: Puttgarden
Distance: 17
Total: 1828
Today I reached another major milestone. I completed my walk across Germany by reaching the Baltic coastal town of Puttgarden. It was 642 miles across Germany and it took 42 days to walk it, with 4 of those days being days off. Tomorrow I take a short, 45 minute ferry ride across the Baltic Sea to Rodyhavn, Denmark, where I’ll start walking across my 5th European country.
Today was a picture-perfect day to walk; partly cloudy skies and mid-60s temperatures. I walked along bike paths most of the day, and had a big bridge to cross from the German mainland onto Fehmarn Island at about the 7 mile mark. I followed a very narrow walking path along the traffic lanes of the bridge and shared the lane with bikers and walkers going in both directions on the bridge. Once I reached the far end of the bridge, there was a noticeable increase in the number of hikers, bikers, campers, and other vacation activities. Fehmarn Island is about 10 miles wide and is predominately farmland, but there is also a significant number of vacationers too.
At lunch, I stopped in the town of Landkirchen, where I shared a picnic table with Hanelite and Will Hannore, a delightful German couple who were out riding two of those bicycles I mentioned yesterday that are assisted by an electric motor when the rider is peddling. I asked Hanelite about hers. She told me they’re called E-bikes. Specifically, I wanted to know how much one costs. She thought for a second, and then said 3,500 Euros. I thought she misunderstood the question, or I misunderstood the answer. 3,500 Euros is $3,900 U.S.. I checked online when I finished the day and sure enough, they start at around $2,500 and go up from there. We talked for a while, even though Will spoke no English. Then they went peddling away on their two $3,900 E-bikes.
After lunch, my route took me winding through farmland on some back roads. When I got about 30 minutes from my hotel, I saw a combine working it’s way through a wheat field and it looked like it would get very close to me just as I walked by the wheat field. I’d been hoping for this ever since I started seeing this year’s crop being harvested. I pulled out my iPhone and took a video. You can see it by clicking on the video tab at the top of this page. My friend Brad Johnson will be particularly happy that I made this video.
Tonight’s hotel is right next to the ferry port. Tomorrow morning I’ll have a five minute walk to the terminal. The ferries run twice per hour. After I get to the Danish port, I need to convert some money from Euros to Danish Krone. In fact, all three of my remaining countries; Denmark, Sweden, and Norway; use their own currencies. That will take some effort to keep straight. Then I’ve got a 17 mile walk to the town of Sakskobing, Denmark to spend the night.
I think that about wraps up Day 121. Germany was great. I loved the scenery, food, climate, and especially the walking/bike trails. Now I’m looking forward to the last 30 days of this adventure. Thanks for reading. JB.
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