A Seaside Vacation
Post date: Nov 01, 2016 4:20:38 PM
Between moving, and buying furniture, and not feeling well... I haven't been doing much this fall besides finally settling in. But I have a new amazing flat, my kitchen if fully assembled (German apartments don't come with kitchens. Long story) and I was itching to explore.
In addition, this past weekend was a three day weekend! So I decided it was time to get out of town and try somewhere new. I jumped on Google Flights, and it said it was cheap to go to the the Baltic Sea. I tossed the idea around my head for a few days, should I go, should I focus on somewhere closer, should I go to a big city... and then I booked a train ticket and a hotel and took off!
My destination: Wismar. It's a tiny little town on the Baltic Sea, and relatively untouched by the war. That's one of the things that keeps tripping me up, in East Germany, if something was crushed by World War II it often wasn't repaired by the communist government. So although the war was literally a lifetime ago, the impacts are still very much felt today.
Since I had two days, and Wismar really is a small town, I spent the first day in search of the beach! Yes, I know it's almost Nov., but the water is just as beautiful in the winter as it is during the summer. I hopped on a historic train, which is the only way to get to the seaside town of Kühlungsborn. It was a bit like being a celebrity, as people kept stopping to take photos of the train as it was going by...
One of the odd things about East Germany is that the effect of the communist rule is still felt all over the place. The most notable things are rundown or abandoned buildings. This one made me a little sad, because it was so lovely! It was right on the water, and clearly would have been an excellent summer retreat/resort.
And then I found it. The Baltic Sea. I think it might have been better in the summer, but I have a thing for the water in any season.
Stopped to enjoy a lovely hot chocolate with amaretto. It helped warm me up.
The following day I stayed in Wismar. Let me tell you about German breakfast. This is breakfast for one. It has two rolls, pesto, marmalade (which was delicious, I bought some), four types of cheese and salad. Germans do not fuck around with breakfast (please note: Germans do not brunch. They don't really do breakfast cocktails like mimosas or bloody marys).
I spent the morning walking around looking at the buildings. They were largely undisturbed by the war, so they are still stunning. The Marktplatz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! Coupled with cute canals and a really nice water front and I was entertained for hours.
Although not as fancy as Catholic Churches. They converted one of the rooms into a book bazarre. I love Lutherans.
I took a quick boat tour around the harbour. Apparently, Wismar used to be part of Sweden, and these heads have some sort of significance. I am still not sure what. I even read the guide book.
Gorgeous water front! Reminded me of Boston.
There are two "churches" in town. The first is a gorgeous tower, but it was kind of confusing. It's just the tower. I couldn't figure out why all the windows were boarded up. And there was this bizarre park next to the tower.
With all these sort of structures. It only occurred to me after wandering around that these small sort of structures, were the foundation of the church. The rest of it had been blown away during World War II (still refered to simply as "The War").
Those "boarded-up" windows? They had been part of the church, but had been covered as an easy fix. This is what I'm saying about things destroyed in The War that are still not returned to their former glory.
The other church was completely intact.