Day 6: We Got Your Goat, Meissen Porcelain and the Germans' Love of White Asparagus 

(And Why the Adventure's First Raindrops Don't Dampen Spirits)

Day 6, From Moritz to a Two-Night Stay in Dresden

Sue Walker and Nancy Embree weren't about to let anyone get their goat on the Elbe Bike Path.  

   
   A little-known fact: Germans are absolutely crazy about white asparagus, known in the country as "Spargel." In my hometown of Grinnell, Iowa, we eat green asparagus. Same with France, Italy and, probably, Timbuktu. But in Germany, it's white asparagus or nothing. More white asparagus is eaten in Germany than anywhere else in the world, except Switzerland.

    Dirk Broeren, our Group Leader, stopped us along an asparagus field and pulled a stalk out of the 

Bettina Caffrey and Nan Ottenritter pedal past an asparagus field.

ground. Yes, the top part of the stalk was green, but the bottom of it was white. Some varieties of asparagus are grown underground under mounds of dirt called "hillings." This way, the production of chlorophyll is inhibited and the spears don't turn green. The asparagus season in Germany is short, running from mid-April to June 24.

Group Leader Dirk Broeren explains that unlike green asparagus, white asparagus is peeled before it is cooked. 

A Meissen artisan paints delicate designs.

With the newly absorbed knowledge of Germans'  love for asparagus tucked under our bicycle helmets, we continued on to a city more than 1,000 years old, Meissen, and its 15th-century Albrechtsburg, Germany's oldest castle.  And we were about to be introduced to what the town has became famous for the world over: Meissen porcelain. The exquisite porcelain's signature is the mark of the blue-crossed swords. Before we explored the Meissen building and watched its craftspersons mold, assemble and hand-paint delicate pieces, six men in  our group assembled for a photo (below) showing off their own delicate, umm ... pates. Visible above them are the spires of the Meissen Albrechtsburg, Germany's first castle complex that gave up its fortifying character and became a place of residence.

Hair! Hair! Elliot,  Dirk, Logan, Carl, John and Jay mug for the camera.

   We had an hour to explore Meissen on our own. Treasures? I know Kate Kaufman found a delicious bratwurst (I had yet to try one). I think we all agreed: This was a lovely town of 30,000 to which some of us would one day return.

(L to R): Charlotte Sutton, Kay Lazar, Nan Ottenritter and Sylvia Mabe were picture perfect.

Leah Hayes and Sylvia Mabe wait out the rain.

    Mother Nature has been extremely kind to us in our first days in Germany. We pedaled that morning under bright sunshine along the Saxon Wine road, looking off to our left at the beautiful cliffsides with verdant vineyards lining the slopes. During the late morning and during lunchtime in Meiseen, the sun kept shining, too. But by early afternoon the skies clouded up and we all pulled on rain gear as we felt the first drops of our adventure (except for our arrival at Berlin Tegel Airport). As usual, our Group Leader, Dirk, managed to help us turn our frowns upside down. As the rain began to fall heavier, he found us shelter at an outdoor cafe 20 feet off the Elbe River Bike Path. And so we sat and talked. As we waited out the rain while sitting at picnic tables, a German man walked into our midst and began to do what we believed was his version of an anti-rain dance. Whatever it was, it worked, and soon we were on our way again. For a while, the rain was only an off-and-on mist. But by the end of the ride, the group was soaked and eager for a hot shower and two nights in Dresden.

Whoever this German man was, and whatever he hoped to do with those brooms, it worked ... at least for a while.

So what if the skies were a little gray, this troupe of adventurers rode merrily along through the lush countryside.

We weren't lacking for water, but Kate Kaufman's and Jay Schneider's "friend" delivered more.

Paul and Sue Walker found the gray afternoon on the Elbe River Bike Path suited them just fine.

The skyline of Dresden was a welcome sight to the adventurers, because the rain never let up.

Pausing for a quick panorama before crossing the Elbe River into downtown Dresden, it was only 20 more minutes on the bikes as the group pedaled to the Hotel Elbflorenz. (Left to right), Sylvia Mabe, Kay Lazar, Nan Ottenritter, Sue Walker, Elliot Kaufman, Kate Kaufman, Bettina Caffrey and Nancy Embree were still all smiles.

Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 34 miles.