Friday, October 22, 2010

What now, John Chapman?

On Sunday I took a much-anticipated bicycle foray into the "Old Country," an area outside of Hamburg with the distinction of being central Europe's largest continuous fruit-growing region.

And fruity it is. Specifically, apple orchards upon apple orchards. But I had quite the journey to get there.

First, I hitched a ride on the ferry:



Then I rode down a seemingly endless path along the river:


And proceeded to pass by some awfully cute houses,:


A quaint windmill,:


And a bus stop identified simply with the street number of the nearest house:


Before finally reaching the glorious Eden of the apple country:



And, I must say, I did indeed feel a bit like Eve as I rode by (and through the middle of) countless orchards, with the magnificent-looking forbidden fruit practically begging me to pick it from the tree. 
The temptation was bearable, however, because almost every orchard had stands (or entire barns) with the express purpose of selling me some delicious, locally grown apple-goodness.

I discovered that when a website tells you a bike route is marked, they are actually just messing with you, and thus, I spent considerable time taking wrong turns, riding in circles, and general being lost-ness.
Still, it was a sunny fall day and I had a chance to escape the city, and so the evening found me pedaling home with tired legs, 3 kilos of apples, and much contentment.

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