Bad Bederkesa

As reported yesterday, we are on our way from the Weser (Bremerhaven) to the Elbe (Otterndorf) and from there the Kiel canal. We left Bremerhaven at 7.30 as the first lock has a height restriction at low tide: we had to be there about 2 hours before high tide or wait until 2 hours after. The lock leads on to the river Geeste, which carries on into a set of canals and on to Otterndorf. The Geeste is a sometimes very small and quite picturesque river:





By lunchtime we got to Bad Bederkesa. It would have been possible to carry on to Otterndorf, but this seemed quite a nice place and we have plenty of time. We tied up, did some shopping, had lunch and cycled to the eel smoking place, which is reputed to be the best in Germany. It's quite small too, but they have wonderful smoked eels:





We bought one, plus a smoked herring and had them as (substantial) snacks with our pre-dinner drinks ('borrel' in Dutch). That was great! After dinner we cycled around the lake in which the eels are caught.