Osnabruck to Hannover, Germany

For the vast majority of my route on this bike trip I am entrusting Google with navigating. I am well aware this is not always ideal, but it became particularly laughable this morning when I ended up on this "trail" between two farmers fields!

Still, for 139 kilometres today (and many more in days prior), Google took me where I needed to go, even if occasionally it may not have been the smoothest or most direct route. But, much of the riding is perfect, like this bike path along the highway (and in this case over the bridge).

For about the last half of my ride in the afternoon I was riding along the Hannover-Linden canal.

Largely this road was unpaved, but not bad, and certainly it was straight and very quiet and very scenic.

Once I left the canal I was in Hannover, and then it was a matter of navigating urban bike paths (which were not quiet at all) into the city centre.

I met Diana just before 18:00 at the Kaiserhof Hotel, just across from the train station.

This was our view from the room, down onto the Ernst-August-Platz and the train station behind it.

Just like we found in Almelo and Osnabruck, Hannover has lots to see, and perhaps even more so since it is much bigger than either of those two. A poster in the hotel shares some of the tourist highlights.

This, for example, is the "new" city hall!

The city hall has a large pond and park behind it. 

And this is the "old" city hall.

I am not certain what this building is . . .

. . . but this is the state opera house.

We were back in our room before the sun was entirely gone. The hotel mini bar is complimentary, so I enjoyed a beer from the fridge while looking out over the platz as the night closed in.