IF ANYONE GOT A DOUBLE POST OF THE HAMBURG TRIP REPORT – SORRY! OPERATOR ERROR.
Sorry for all the photos. I save them for myself for the most part. Enjoy if you like.
Mecklenburg is a historical region in what is now northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Gustrow. It is very flat with lots of marshes which serve as habitat form many migrating birds.
The war was not kind to northern Germany. All of the towns we visited were bombed into oblivion in 1944 when the war was pretty much over. The Allies wanted revenge. They had a checklist and they managed to bomb every city on it. Very sad for those of us now who will never see what these places were like. It must have been very hard for them to recover.
After WWII it was under communist rule. A particularly brutal era. Much of the communist era architecture still remains. They have tried to brighten up the buildings and soften the harsh edges, but you can still see the bones.
Nowadays there is something called Oststalgia. Or nostalgia for the former GDR, east Germany. It has been 36 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Many of those who wish to go back to those bad old days weren’t alive then. They have no idea. Those who CAN remember, remember selectively. I visited East Germany in 1990 before reunification. It was not pretty.
Saturday 17 October
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We rose and packed up. Had a good breakfast as always. We checked out and taxied to the Hauptbahnhof where we were supposed to pick up our rental car from Sixt. Our Taxi driver was a weirdo. But sort of entertaining. He did tell us that it was the beginning of the two week autumn school vacation.
We found Sixt. The agent, named Nadir was slimy. I had reserved a VW Golf or similar. He said he wanted to upgrade us to a Peugeot C3. I said no I wanted the VW. He then said it was the only car they had. So we said ok. Then he tried to upsell us everywhere. Finally he looked to get the key, called someone and then said the Peugeot had malfunctioning windowshield wipers. Magically another car was available 🙄. An Audi A3. We said fine. He then began emphasizing the necessity (to him) for us to give him five stars as a rating when we got the survey. He seemed terrified that we wouldn’t give him the maximum amount. We got the contract and had to walk with another person to a car park to get the car. About 6 minute walk. He brought the Audi out and it was a very nice car. Shiny black and very comfortable with every possible bell and whistle.
We were off to Warnemunde on the Baltic Sea. About a two hour and fifteen minute drive. About two hours into the drive Luther’s phone started ringing. He ignored it. They called right back. So I knew whoever it was they wanted us to answer. The number was a German number. Luther answered and it was Sixt. They were demanding we bring back the car(!!) They said they had given us the wrong car, that we were uninsured, all manner of lies, I am sure. I do think he made a mistake, and was desperately trying to get himself out of trouble. We told him he could come and get it if he wanted it. We also threatened to take away some of his stars! 😬 We later checked the contract they had emailed. The car we had matched the one on the contract. It was not the wrong car. Maybe he shouldn’t have rented it to us, but that’s not our fault. About half an hour later he called back. Claimed it wasn’t him who had called. It was a “trainee”. Yeah, right. And that they had remedied the problem, that there was no issue anymore. That we really, really need to give him five ⭐️s. I feel bad that these people are so terrified of this customer rating system. But this man is the biggest liar since “you know who”. I really would have given him a good rating even though he didn’t deserve it, but after all these other shenanigans I can’t give him five. We will probably decline to rate at all. We don’t want to participate in this.
We arrived in Warnemunde with no problem and we were hungry. With some difficulty we found a place to eat. Backstube Broilers. We had chuckled at the reviews we read. Apparently the specialty is rotisserie chicken with an array of sauces sourced from around the Baltic and the former GDR — East Germany. The reviews were mostly that the chicken was too small. So we steered away from that. Luther got a schnitzel and I got chicken cutlet cordon bleu. Luther got one of the Baltic sauces, he loved it even though he said it looked like someone had thrown up on his plate. 😉 The food was pretty tasty.
Warnemunde was very crowded. A lot of families with kids had come to the popular resort for the school holidays. We went to a REWE supermarket and bought a bit of ham and cheese and brotchen for sandwiches, and some wine. We found our hotel — the Kurpark hotel. It is a couple blocks from the sea. By now it was very windy, quite cold and spitting rain. Not at all pleasant, so we decided to stay in. I think tomorrow should be a nicer day. I hope so anyway!
The hotel is an old, perhaps early 20th century building with just nineteen rooms. It gets 4 stars in the German rating system, but I don’t think it should. It does have a sauna and a spa. It also claims to have an elevator but I think that is a real stretch. There is a central staircase that goes up maybe ten steps to a landing and then ten more steps to the first floor of rooms, and so on up to floor three. Thing is. The elevator is on each landing. Let that sink in. You cannot get upstairs, or down, in the elevator without climbing a flight of stairs. And there are ten stairs from the parking lot to the front door. I hate stairs so that’s an important thing for me. I picked this hotel because it had an elevator. I can do the stairs, but it is hard on my knees. Oh well.
Sunday 18 October
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We decided to explore Warnemunde on Sunday because it wasn’t the best weather and we figured everything would be closed in the big cities. It turned out to be a good decision,
We headed for the sea which was about two blocks. I spied a shop with some nice things for sale, among which were hats. I decided I needed a stocking cap to keep warm. I bought a nice teal one to go with my jacket. I was wearing jeans, a camisole, a turtleneck knit shirt, a light down vest and rainproof jacket with hood. I was quite warm inside. We walked to the big promenade along the sea. I took some pictures along the walk. As we approached the harbor, I saw one of the objects of our tour, the lighthouse. And just next to it, the Teepott, a communist era building with a restaurant among other things. It is a modern (for the time) building with a butterfly shaped roof. The communists were trying to show the world how modern they were.
We turned when we reached the very active harbor. There was a big cruise ship here when we arrived. There are also a lot of ferries that traverse the Baltic to other countries. Finally we found an indoor place to eat a light lunch. There were plenty of places to eat a big, heavy lunch inside, or there were stands where you could get a sandwich and eat outside, but we wanted light and indoors. Hard to find! We had reservations at a super nice place that evening so we didn’t want to eat too much.
We continued our walk as we headed back in the direction of our hotel. There were a lot of small streets with many shops along the way. One street in particular had little tiny houses with tall peaked roofs. Looked very fairytale like.
We later went to Zum Stromer for dinner. It is a very sweet looking place with maybe twelve tables. On one side a raised bar. There was a small fireplace that looked to have been used. We had the most marvelous waiter. She was an aspiring actor who was studying acting in Berlin during the week and spending weekends in Warnemunde at the Zum Stromer. She had a great personality and easy way about her. She will make a great actor I am sure.
Our meal was good. We had a very nice Sauvignon blanc wine. This was essentially a fish restaurant. We started with matjes herring three ways. Luther had tried herring once before and never again tried it. He decided to give it another try. It was quite good. I had a couple tastes. Then we had three types of fish on a beet purée, with lots of other cooked vegetables. Also a very nice dish. I loved the puréed beets.
We bade our new actor friend farewell and best of luck in her future. It was a dark walk back.
Monday 19 October
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We decided to visit Rostock this day. It was about a 30 minute drive. We found the parking garage and exited into the city. Spotting what looked like a shopping street we walked in that direction. It was indeed a pedestrian street. We walked to the near end and came to the main platz. The Rathaus/city hall was very odd looking. It had what looked like a wall with watch towers on top. We wandered the shopping street. So much fast food! We were not looking for fast food but it was a Monday and so many places are on their rest day on Monday.
We walked down to the Warnov River. I’m sure in summer it would be a happening spot. Not now so much. There were industries right along the promenade. But we did come to a row of restaurants. Only two were open. We chose the German place. It was nice. They had lots of fresh fish. I had cod Luther had Zander. We had a nice view of the river.
We returned to Warnemunde and bought stuff for a picnic in our room. It was a nice day.
Tuesday 20 October
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We checked out of the Kurpark hotel. Since our next town is not far at all from here, we decided to visit Stralsund which is farther east. It is on the Baltic and a river which separates it from Rugen – a large island. Stralsund turned out to be a nice city, it was my favorite. We could see the two giant domes of the two big churches from miles out. All of the cities up on this coast use tons of bricks in the construction. Many are older places that survived the bombings. Stralsund has a brick wall all the way around it. And there are houses built into the wall. They look charming.
We entered through a tor. A gate. Of brick of course. And walked to the Alter Markt. It was a pretty, big square with the Rathaus, the remains of the Nikolai Kirche, and lots of shops and cafes.
It was cold so no sitting outside. We picked a place right nearby for lunch — Wulflam Stuben . Right on the square. At first it was a little off putting. Everyone was silent. No talking. Just like automatons eating. But eventually more people came and it was better. I had the best stuffed cabbage I’ve ever eaten. My mouth waters even now. So good.
After lunch we walked a bit around the town and then decided it was time to drive to our next destination. It was called Bad Doberan. Also near the sea. The hotel is a bit quirky but that’s ok. The room is nice and comfortable. Better than Kurpark hotel,
Wednesday 21 October
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We had breakfast, which was the least of them all, but good enough. We planned a trip to Wismar this day. It is just about 50 minutes away. It is cold, high of 12C and rainy. We soldiered on. The ride was pretty and bucolic. We saw the spires of Wismar from afar.
We found parking within an easy walk to the town square. We were right next to Sankt Marien Kirche. Or what was once that church. The bombs came and after the smoke cleared there was just the front left with its bell tower. From the pictures you can see where the nave and all the vaults used to be. They have put markers where each column used to be and marked the walls. It was sad. So much up here was lost.
We walked into the town in drizzle. I’m dressed in layers and was quite comfortable. We saw some of the ubiquitous brick buildings. They had some amazing bricklayers. They are beautifully ornate. The square is the biggest in Germany. It has some nice buildings typical of the region. We wandered the shopping streets. A nice city.
We went to Restsurant Schwedenwache. It was lovely. Cozy. Old fashioned. Full of carved wood. The waitresses wear dirndl dresses. We have found so many wonderful German restaurants up here. Something that we noticed have disappeared in the West German areas. The former East hasn’t changed as much and I liked that about it. I had a delicious steak dish on tagliatelle. It was called — Rinderstrifen vom deutschen bio-rind, medium gebraten alf italianische taglietelle, picant gewurst mit cherry-tomaten, cashew kernen und gran biraghi. A real mouthful!
I told my Italian teacher about this dish today in my class. She was appalled. You never, ever have a meat dish with pasta. In italy pasta is always a separate course. It can have ragu of meat, but that is all. No spaghetti and meatballs in italia!
I bought another hat. I had seen it when walking about and decided I needed to have it 😁 so we returned to the shop and I got it. A souvenir.
Thursday 22 October
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Last day for touristing. I was thrilled when the sun came out. First sun we have seen since being on the north coast. Today we rode on the Mecklinburg Coastal Railway Molli. It is a narrow gauge, coal burning steam train. The oldest in Europe. It travels 15 kilometers in 40 minutes. It goes down the narrow streets of Bad Doberan, then on to towns by the sea through some very old forests and gigantic fields. Really pretty!
Here is some of the scenery along the way.
We ate dinner in our hotel and it was ok. Not as good as our last two days of lunches, but we got fed. Tomorrow we leave here about eight and drive to Hamburg airport, drop off the car and fly from Hamburg to Munich, and then to Bologna. We pick up the car and drove home. It will be a long day.
Best and worst
Best Hotel – St. Nickolai in Hamburg. Worst hotel – Kurpark Hotel Warnemunde.
Best Lunch – Stralsund. Worst Lunch – First lunch in Hamburg
Best dinner – Wohlers, Hamburg. Worst dinner – Hotel Pension Bellvue, Bad Doberan
Best flight – Austrian air. Great hot shrimp lunch provided. Nice wines. Worst fight, Lufthansa.
Observations
They seem to be pillow challenged up in north Germany. They were nearly all flat, not plump. Even the nice Hamburg hotel. Luther enjoyed the nice Audi A3 on the sparsely trafficked autobahns with no speed limits. Thanks SIXT (NOT!)! I was sorry I didn’t get to see the tens of thousands of migratory cranes which pass through the wetlands. I was surprised the mature forests survived the war and communism. There were Adirondack chairs in Munich airport. Austria air wins the flights competition…and the women attendants wear red tights.