We’re not sure what happened but we ended up booking breakfast with our room rate so while we relax and eat Paul and the others are off to find some breakfast for themselves.

As checkout isn’t until 12:00 we decide to have a walk around the town before leaving. Wandering aimlessly we manage to come across the town castle where we see a group of children in national costume.

We then caught up with Paul, Pam and Katherine in the local shopping mall, this is a complete waste of time for us as we can’t really carry any more stuff on our bikes even if we were inclined to go shopping.

We headed back to the hotel and checked out. Jo doesn’t trust the Garmin’s directions so we head off in the opposite direction. Eventually we find our way onto the port road going the wrong way. We continue on until we find a safe place to cross. If only we had trusted the Garmin we could have reached the train station at least 15 minutes earlier.

Our next problem is buying the tickets. The machine refuses to accept the Polish money Jo drew out yesterday and we have to resort to using the credit cards. Tickets in hand we now have to find the correct platform… Perhaps we should have learnt some Polish instead of Spanish. We end up having to use a lift to get us to the correct level then exit the station, traverse a road and then carry our bikes down a flight of stairs. Only to arrive on the correct platform 10 minutes after the train has left.

Although the train has space for bikes getting them on board is not the easiest task as they have to be lifted up 3 steep steps onto the train, and also 3 steep steps to get them off. After a 40 minute ride we are back in Gryfino. 3 1/2 hours in 40 minutes out…. sounding a bit like our taste of Spain a couple of years ago.

Now all we have to do is cycle the short distance back to the car. All is well until the final 100 mtrs an uphill to our destination. Jo changes down to low gearing and bang the chain set catches on the spokes of her wheel and is pulled apart, pins and gear wheels flying all over the place. Luckily she managed to get across the traffic before this happened. We will have to make some phone calls while in Amsterdam to get it repaired.

After loading the bikes onto the back of the car we head off towards Amsterdam our first stop Rostock.

Up early to load the car up ready for the trip to Poland and Dave and Kashia’s wedding.
John had to pick up a rental car and followed us out of Berlin. The trip was uneventful until we reach Gryfino where the lady in the tomtom decided to go to the wrong place.  John was more successful with Mr Google.  So we followed him to the hotel.
Weddings in Poland are different than back home.
We were taken by coach to Kasia’s parents where both David and Kasia received a blessing.
Then it was back on the couch to the church.  Poland being a Catholic nation meant that not only was it a full catholic service it was also all in polish. No matter. The service and hymns were very moving and although Paul won’t admit it he was brought to tears.
After the wedding it was back on the coach for the trip to the reception. However before the bridal car had travelled very far they were hijacked by a balaclava wearing terrorist on a motorcycle. He block the road and demanded his dues of a vodka. Realizing the beauty of the bride he thought she was worth more than one bottle and demanded a second. Satisfied with his haul he then left.
I’m not sure what to say about the reception except besides vodka the polish do enjoy their food,  especially meat.
After a 3 course meal with lots of meats and salads every hour there was more fiod brought out and every time a vodka bottle was emptied it was replaced by a new bottle.
The reception went on until 4:00 a.m. and very many vodkas were consumed. Along with music there were several silly games spread throughout the evening and Jo and I apparently won one receiving a  bottle of vodka each.

Today we are going to do the tourist trail to see the sights of Berlin.

First stop will be the memorial  of the Holocaust.

We arrived far too early so wandered around part of the Tiergarten

before returning to the museum just before 10:00. We are first in the queue, the attendants prepare to open when a man appears besides us and speaks to one of the officials. After a few words he becomes a large group of students over. We are then informed that the group had a booking and would be going in first. Unusual for the efficient Germans these students were 15 minutes late. As we had already arranged to meet up with the others at 10:30 we didn’t have enough time to wait around. So a quick visit to Lidl for some lunch before our walking tour arranged by Jenny.

We met up at the requisite time and headed off to the Brandenburg Gate

where we we sucked into taking a guided tour. This turned out to be better than expected, covering all the places Jenny had already picked for us to see along with a history lesson.

Here is the squiggle of the walk.

Then it was back to the apartment for lunch.

As this afternoons visit to Check Point Charlie has already been done, we now have a free period where we can write blogs and look at the photos taken this morning.

Day 2 started with a walk around Ghent Looking at the old town and taking pictures. Jo was getting into lines both parallel and converging. Whatever floats your boat.

On our walk about we managed to find a nice coffee shop and had the best ever coffee for some time along with a pain au chocolate

.

Then back to the hotel to check out and be on our way again.

Having exited the car park the tomtom decided to go on a go slow and unsure of the directions to get out of town I somehow managed to end up at the hotel car park again. Going around the block again I eventually managed to find the correct route and we were soon back on the motorway again.

Both Jo and I find motorway driving boring at least to break up the monotony I can change lanes. This manoeuvre entails the following. Check my mirror, oops wrong side. Try again. Check the passenger mirror to ensure the lane is clear. Indicate to pull out. Close my eyes and change lanes. Hoping that some idiot doing the speed limit hasn’t already caught us in the meantime. I am still on NZ speed of 100 kpm whereas the speed limit on some parts of the motorways has been 130 kpm.

Having managed several lane changes and still being bored we decided to turn off the motorway and navigate to Munster on more minor roads. This had the desired effect and I wasn’t bored again for the rest of the afternoon. The bonus for going through towns instead of bypassing them is we have managed to get our Green sticker ready for Berlin.

Again today’s route.

By following the car in front of me I managed to drive off the ferry and negotiate the way out of the port. Not only that but I also managed to stay on the correct side of the road.
After a couple of hours we decided to by pass Bruges and carry on to Ghent. A good decision in the end.
We managed to get a room with a view in the center of town.

After a short break it was off out sightseeing and then dinner.
We managed to find a table next to a couple from Wimborne. So no matter where you are you are never far from home.  On the other side of us was a Germany and a local woman who was fluent in 4 languages. She spoke English with a BBC English accent and German with an Austrian accent.

Here is the route taken to get us from Bournemouth to Ghent.

Having arrived at Dover we left the car in the loading lane and went in search of a coffee.
After a short walk we found the costa shop and ordered our skinny flay whites.
Not being satisfied with one we ordered a second. Relaxed now the time soon pased. We heard and felt the ferry arrive but kept on drinking.
With 30 minutes left we decided to return to the car only to find all the surrounding vehicles had boarded leaving ours isolated. 
We rushed back and raced down the lane to join the queue on the ramp.
The bikes sticking up above the roof didn’t cause any problems and we were on board without any further incidents.

Having rested for a week to get over jet lag and welcome my new granddaughter Jessica into the world we are off to Berlin. This is a meet up stop before going to Poland for Dave’s wedding.
The plan is for the Millington clan to meet up before invading Gryfino en mass.
The apartment is booked . Now all I have to do is find my way there. Hopefully the lady in my tomtom will help.