Bristol - Berlin : Update

A quick update as I'm just about to set off from Goslar and another fab hostel, perched on the edge of a hill with a bedroom looking out onto half timbered buildings and wooded hills.

The last couple of days have been good, weather staying dry and warm - I´m even sporting some tan lines although mainly on one side as I'm consistently heading east!


Arnhem - Münster
I arrived late at the hostel and thought I was lost until by chance I stumbled upon the independant StayOK! hostel. The young guy on night duty pandered to my needs bringing frequent tea and rounds of chees and ham "toasties". The closest I could get to a high carb meal at short notice!

This was the first day of getting to grips with the R1 - the "signposted" route from Calais to St Petersburg that I aim to follow until Berlin. The first few miles wandered out of Arnhem up some steep wooded areas into the sandy conifer forests east of the City. A combination of fire roads and back streets meant that there was quite alot of map reading and route checking. This ate heavily into my schedule and after a lazy coffee and cake stop in the most stunning, modern glass fronted cafe in the middle of the woods I decided to take a more direct route where possible. This became especially necessary as the clock ticked past and mile after mile of huge countryside opened up before me.

A rollercoaster day with my body complaining again at back-to-back centuries.

A highlight was definitely crossing into Germany across a quiet unmanned border control.

I donned my ipod and cranked it up for the last miles into Münster, fortunatey the road I chose had the equivalent of a bike motorway alongside it and with a tailwind i absolutely flew into Münster and signed in for the night at 9.30pm! A long day in the saddle as I started from Arnhem after an early breakfast at 8am. Thanks Amy McDonald for providing the perfect soundtrack to spin a 44t x 18t gear.

The hostel in Münster was smart and modern with a whopping all-you-can-eat breakfast. It felt like a posh 'backpacker' hostel and as the city has large numbers of students and young travellers I was suprised to be sharing breakfast almost exclusively with German families. I should have twigged as the hostel is a "Jugendherberge" and you have to have International Youth Hostel Association membership to stay there.

As is becoming the trend, everwhere I stay has first rate bike storage.