Day 17: Leer - Weener (20 km)

Today we got up slowly because our walk will take about half the time of yesterday and check-in is only possible from 3:00 pm. So after showering, we will first have a coffee in the city.

We have chosen the local bakery. The saleswoman is a bit stressed due to the many customers, but we get a good coffee and a nice sandwich with it.

Afterwards, a short visit to Leer and then back to our room.

We pack everything, tie it back to our wagon, and then we're on our way.

The first half of the journey is urban walking through the city and over a big bridge over the Ems along a busy road towards Weener.

Fortunately, after about two kilometers, we can turn onto a quieter path parallel to the main road and so another beautiful walk begins.

The path runs along the dike again. Once again, the surroundings look completely different, and we are going from village to village, while yesterday we didn't encounter a single village.

The weather is good to us today, lots of sunshine and occasional clouds.

Along the way, we encounter, as usual, many groups of cyclists. Sometimes we overhear funny conversations when they disagree on how to continue... "we have to go leeeeeft, I told you! To the leeeeeft!!" Hahaha. Fortunately, we know that we just have to go straight ahead. 👍

At the halfway point, we take a short break on the dike. They even set up a bench for us! They just haven't had time to screw it in, so be careful when leaning. But other than that, it's a great spot with a view of the Ems where we can enjoy our sandwich and have some water.

Afterwards, the journey continues along the dike, and an hour later we arrive in Weener. The arrival is beautiful! We immediately enter the old harbor of Weener, and because we are way too early, we stop at the restaurant/café Hafen 55.

Here we have a drink and eat an ice cream. It's a very nice terrace with all different types of chairs and tables, for example in a beach basket or in a rowing boat, etc. We immediately feel comfortable here.

When it's almost 3:00 pm, we head towards our room to check in and walk to the end of the harbor. Here we see a house with Art on the harbor across the street and decide to take a look inside.

Fortunately, we did that because we quickly start talking to Katja, a lively and colorful transgender person from the Netherlands who is a singer and used to have a bar in Weener but turned it into a second-hand shop after Corona.

She plays us her music, we listen to some Trio from Hell music, and we chat a bit before we continue to our room.

Today we also have a self-check-in room, but what a difference!! This is really quite rundown! Nothing is really clean, everything is the cheapest of the cheapest, and the bath and toilet are in the hallway! After this small shock, we quickly regain control and go for a shower and into town.

We go to the train station to see if we can leave here tomorrow, and it looks good. Then we wander through the city towards the harbor where we want to have dinner.

On the way, we encounter Katja again, we chat a bit more and get to know her friend, very nice encounters!

In the restaurant, we first order a beer and later have some soup and Zackenbarsch! Everything is very tasty, and it's a very cozy place to be.

When we arrive at our room, we discover that it has no curtains... pfft, hopefully we still manage to fall asleep...

Tomorrow we will leave Germany and go to Winschoten, it will be the first time staying with people through 'Friends on the Bike'!

See you tomorrow!

___

Today we got up slowly because our walk will take about half the time of yesterday and check-in is only possible from 3:00 pm. So after showering, we will first have a coffee in the city.

We have chosen the local bakery. The saleswoman is a bit stressed due to the many customers, but we get a good coffee and a nice sandwich with it.

Afterwards, a short visit to Leer and then back to our room.

We pack everything, tie it back to our wagon, and then we're on our way.

The first half of the journey is urban walking through the city and over a big bridge over the Ems along a busy road towards Weener.

Fortunately, after about two kilometers, we can turn onto a quieter path parallel to the main road and so another beautiful walk begins.

The path runs along the dike again. Once again, the surroundings look completely different, and we are going from village to village, while yesterday we didn't encounter a single village.

The weather is good to us today, lots of sunshine and occasional clouds.

Along the way, we encounter, as usual, many groups of cyclists. Sometimes we overhear funny conversations when they disagree on how to continue... "we have to go leeeeeft, I told you! To the leeeeeft!!" Hahaha. Fortunately, we know that we just have to go straight ahead. 👍

At the halfway point, we take a short break on the dike. They even set up a bench for us! They just haven't had time to screw it in, so be careful when leaning. But other than that, it's a great spot with a view of the Ems where we can enjoy our sandwich and have some water.

Afterwards, the journey continues along the dike, and an hour later we arrive in Weener. The arrival is beautiful! We immediately enter the old harbor of Weener, and because we are way too early, we stop at the restaurant/café Hafen 55.

Here we have a drink and eat an ice cream. It's a very nice terrace with all different types of chairs and tables, for example in a beach basket or in a rowing boat, etc. We immediately feel comfortable here.

When it's almost 3:00 pm, we head towards our room to check in and walk to the end of the harbor. Here we see a house with Art on the harbor across the street and decide to take a look inside.

Fortunately, we did that because we quickly start talking to Katja, a lively and colorful transgender person from the Netherlands who is a singer and used to have a bar in Weener but turned it into a second-hand shop after Corona.

She plays us her music, we listen to some Trio from Hell music, and we chat a bit before we continue to our room.

Today we also have a self-check-in room, but what a difference!! This is really quite rundown! Nothing is really clean, everything is the cheapest of the cheapest, and the bath and toilet are in the hallway! After this small shock, we quickly regain control and go for a shower and into town.

We go to the train station to see if we can leave here tomorrow, and it looks good. Then we wander through the city towards the harbor where we want to have dinner.

On the way, we encounter Katja again, we chat a bit more and get to know her friend, very nice encounters!

In the restaurant, we first order a beer and later have some soup and Zackenbarsch! Everything is very tasty, and it's a very cozy place to be.

When we arrive at our room, we discover that it has no curtains... pfft, hopefully we still manage to fall asleep...

Tomorrow we will leave Germany and go to Winschoten, it will be the first time staying with people through 'Friends on the Bike'!

See you tomorrow!