On a cloudy, yet rather warm end of March day, our friends Margo and Denisz came with Ania and me on a bicycle trip through the Altes Land, an an area of reclaimed marshland south of Hamburg now known for being the biggest contiguous fruit-producing region in North Europe. We first reached the neighborhood of Blankenese on the western end of the city of Hamburg, right on the bank of the river Elbe. Here we intended to take the ferry over to Cranz, a village on the other side of the river. However, unfortunately, the tide was quite low and once on the ferry we were told we would not be able to head over to Cranz and instead had to do with Finkenwerder, also on the other side but further east. This meant that our bicycle ride would be much longer due to the added kilometers both on the way there and back. We left the ferry terminal and biked along the Hamburg Finkerwerder Airport, used as a manufacturing plant by Airbus. Cycling on a dike along a nice countryside we then reached the village of Borstel with its windmill Aurora and a nice main street sided by old houses and the church of St Nikolai. A little further on we then reached Jork. The town featured a small yet pretty old town with nice timber-framed houses. We also managed to visit the main church, St. Matthias, originally dating to the 13th century but refurbished in a baroque style during the 17th and 18th centuries. It featured a nice interior with a wooden ceiling dotted with stars to symbolize the dark night sky and outside a semi-detached thick wooden tower. After a quick lunch break, we got back on our bicycles and decided to start heading back this time taking a different way. We passed through the village of Estebrügge, with at its center the church of St Martini. Also refurbished in the baroque style, this too had a thick wooden tower. From there we cycled through more countryside, passing by some nice blossoming trees and here and there some timber-framed farmhouses. After some time cycling we eventually came to the airport once again and a while later to the Finkerwerde ferry where we then took a boat back to Hamburg. Once there we decided to watch the Easter Fires, which in this part of Hamburg are built all along the bank of the river. We picked one of the larger ones and sat down beside it waiting for it to be turned on. We waited quite a bit as apparently according to the firemen the wind had picked up and for safety reasons, they decided to wait for a more calm moment. Eventually, well after sunset, the many fires along the Elbe started to be set on fire, and so di the one next to us. We watched it burn for a bit and then decided it was time to head back in the city, have dinner at a burger place called Peter Pane and then head home.
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