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Sunday, July 14th - Bad Duben to Potsdam, 7347 km
Back when I was in Amsterdam, I targeted this date to arrive in Berlin. I also expected to cross 7,500 km, or approximately half of what I expect to cover on this trip, given that I might spend the winter months traveling less and staying longer in certain comfortable places. I'm happy with being so close to the mark. I am only a day or so behind.
Tonight I will be in Potsdam, the last major stop before Berlin, a place noted for the summer palaces of the disgustingly rich and powerful, and one of the places I flagged to see before I leave Germany.
My pension in Bad Duben serves up a huge breakfast. I wait until 9:30 to let it digest before hitting the road. I set off slowly heading northward on side roads that leads directly to Wittenberg-Lutherstadt, where Martin Luther began his Protestant reformation. Historians falsely recorded that he nailed these to the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg, something I believed until my guide book set me straight.
It is noon when I ride into Wittenberg. I only stop long enough to take a couple pictures. I push onto Kropstadt before I stop for lunch. I eat some of my groceries at the side of the road, as there isn't much in Kropstadt. The next 35 km into Beelitz is hampered by rough road surfaces in disrepair. I arrive here tired and a bit frustrated at my slow progress. 
In Beelitz I duck under an awning to escape a rain shower. This delay and the bad road surfaces have me concerned about my progress for the day, but the shower is brief and beyond Beelitz the road surface is smooth. I glide quickly over the last 18 km into Potsdam. 
I arrive at 5:30. I expect to see palaces and other attractions as I coast into town but as I am looking for the tourist information offices but I do not notice much out of the ordinary at first. The tourist office directs me to a private home in town for a 30DM room for the night. It is more expensive than Naumburg but I assume this
is because this is a tourist destination. The landlady, Frau Gutler, shows me my room and where to lock up my bicycle, which is now quite filthy because of the rain shower. She disappears while I am locking my bike, as though she wants nothing more to do with me. I can’t find her in the house. She has not given me keys or even explained where the washroom is so I am not able to leave the house. I eat canned groceries and cheese from my bags as there is no food out for me. I spend the rest of the evening in my room writing and reading. I finally finish “Anna Karenina”.PHOTO 1: Wurtemberg Market
PHOTO 2: Wurtemberg
PHOTO 3: Schloss Kropstadt
PHOTO 4: church in Potsdam
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