Monday    8.9.2025
582km Total: 8707km  5h 46m Total: 114h 01m
  6.68km Total: 329.99km

Ok, so the Autobahn is not particularly inspiring riding, but as effective transport it simply can't be beat.
Autobahn speeds and German petrol prices turned out to not be a very winning combination though.
The first time filling up the tank at a German petrol station was like being slapped in the face.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I put 14.5 liters in the tank and the pump showed €31. More than €2 a liter!
Damn, I'm glad I'm just going straight through, vacationing here would have been like a tsunami in the travel budget.

Once in Magdeburg it turns out that the reason the hotel was so budget friendly (€63) despite being somewhat classy and having a garage was that it wasn't particularly central.
Not at all actually.
I can live with the fact that there will be no touristy excursions, but I do need something to eat.
After a brisk walk of 2.5kms I sit down at a place called Ari Grill and order a chicken kebab.
Like Hagia Sophia, someone could easily have told me that the hand of God was involved in the creation of that kebab because it was a near-religious experience, as much junk food as it was, it was a culinary masterpiece in that genre.
Somewhat unexpectedly, I crossed the whole of Turkey in two different directions and ended up eating the best kebab (by far) of the trip in Magdeburg, Germany.

Tuesday    9.9.2025
383km Total: 9090km  3h 38m Total: 117h 39m
  441km Total: 2181km  3.77km Total: 333.76km

German infrastructure really is a marvel of efficiency, so even though it hurt my wallet somewhat in terms of petrol, I arrived at Citti Markt in Kiel just after lunch and started with just that.
Since I don't have to be down at the quay for a while, I wander around the mall, have a coffee and buy some "healing potions" inside Citti before finally going down to the quay and even though I thought I did what I could to waste time, I'm still there well over an hour before check-in opens.
However, there was both a drinks machine for non-healing potions and a sofa in the terminal building, so it was a relaxed wait.

Once on the ferry, it was a nice change that we actually departed on time, it has been a while since I've been on a boat that actually sails according to schedule.

Wednesday    10.9.2025
270km Total: 9360km  3h 13m Total: 120h 52m
  2.01km Total: 335.77km

Ok, so it's a bit cloudy and it's just below twenty degrees (68ºF) but I was still pleasantly surprised as Swedish fall can get a lot worse.
I fully expected to be freezing my ass off.
The E20 isn't much more entertaining than I remember it but it's ticking along well and I have an uninspiring lunch at McD in Mariestad.
I do a quick stop at the cemetery in Visnum where my mother lies just to assure her that no, I didn't manage to get myself killed this time either.