I took this photo three years ago, on a sunny August day in 2014. The moment is etched in my memory: I was on a ferry, crossing to one of the islands in the North Sea for a mini vacation, when I noticed this sticker on a fellow traveler’s suitcase. I had never owned or… Read more Day of German Unity
Hello dear readers, you might already have guessed it! I’ve been involved in another detour that is not leaving me much time to write. It’s been an excellent and also relevant detour involving one of my other favorite East German cities (Leipzig) and I do plan to fill you in about it very soon. For… Read more An article about moi!
I’ve been off my bike (actually my father’s) for a bit now, but I haven’t been far from the border. In fact, I crossed it by bus just a little over a week ago, together with ten of the best travel companions you could imagine – a group of New Hampshire PBS members traveling in… Read more Small detour: Crossing paths with Bach and Luther
The weather forecast had said something about temperatures in the 30’s – Celsius, of course, which translates to high 80s and 90s in Fahrenheit. I know I have some good hills coming up, so I make sure both my water bottles are filled, and buy a bottle of Apfelschorle (apple spritz) at a small store.… Read more Phantom borders, phantom villages
I like traveling along rivers. During the first leg of my expedition farther north, I had spent two days along the river Elbe, some 60 miles of which served as the “inner-German border” during the time of the German division. Now I’ve arrived at the banks of the Werra, a river I had heard about… Read more Salt mountains, and a river in recovery
In case you’ve been wondering… I’ve been back on the road/trail/ border for about ten days now and I am going to need a MAJOR writing retreat to tell you about all I have seen and heard, and (especially) about the incredible people I have met – including two mayors of small towns along the… Read more Lifesign from the Green Belt and a video from the Berlin Wall
The former border crossing Duderstadt-Worbis (where the suitcase protest took place in January 1990) is now the site of the borderland museum Eichsfeld. Someone who doesn’t know this could easily cruise by on the smooth B-247 federal highway and have no idea that there was ever a crossing or a border here. I can’t say… Read more First time in the “other” Germany
Duderstadt: A small town just west of the former border. There is much to see here, especially the well-preserved and maintained timber-framed houses with an impressive variety of artistic detail. I look for and find the “reunification fountain,” a bronze sculpture by the artist Karl Henning Seemann. The sculpture shows a male and a female… Read more A border kaleidoscope, and stories of spunky citizen action
Sorry about the gap in postings – I am learning that blogging while biking is quite a challenge! I am now taking a week or so to catch up and process the experiences and encounters of the last couple of weeks, so you should be seeing more updates in the days to come. Thanks for… Read more More on monks and ponds, and a virtual tour of the border strip
Greetings from the the borderland! – with a few days’ delay because of intermittent internet access. I started the current leg of my expedition in the small town of Ellrich, in the southern foothills of the Harz Mountains – right in the center of Germany. Ellrich sits just east of the former border, which means… Read more Heaven, earth, and hell
