East of Berlin

The day started with a 40km stretch of a road with medium traffic - but it was not the traffic that was interesting, but the signs to the side of the road. Every 50 meters or so was a warning sign not to leave the road, as it is not only prohibited, but also life-threatening. You see, it was the marching grounds of the Soviet army - and they left the ground littered with unexploded bombs and shells. So I followed the advice and in no time I was made it to the next town, Beeskow, which was moderately pretty. I don't think I've ever seen as many sunflowers to the side of the road as here - it was a real sea of those yellow flowers; Van Gogh would have been happy there.

I found some tiny arterial roads taking me through small villages; one of these, called Madlitz-Wilmersdorf had a hip of a guy who transformed an old farm to some sort of a colorful sculpture park, something quite different then the rest of the peaceful, but somewhat boring countryside. Still, it was a good biking area, nice weather, not much to complain about.

In the afternoon came Seelow, a somewhat boring town, but has its place in the history books, known for the huge battle that took place during the last weeks of World War II. It is close to Berlin and was the last place to defend the Berlin from the advancing Red Army. The town fell after it was bombarded to the ground.

In the evening, I reached Bad Freienwalde, where I slept in my tent on the lawn of a student's hostel. The town itself was pretty, and as the name implies, is a spa.