Mega Mecklenburg

Before this cruise, I had never been to north Germany - actually, nowhere much further north than Frankfurt.  Thursday, we docked in the port of Warnemunde and I took a tour with Friends of Dave called The Mega Mecklenburg Tour.  This company is, in fact, a company with just two guys – Dave, the guy who founded and manages it and a guy named Christian, a Warnemunde native, who was our guide for the day.  This tour lived up to both its 5-star rating and the high recommendation given by Rick Steves.  It was fabulous.  The ship promoted an excursion to Berlin but that is about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive each way from the port.  So, I opted to see Mecklenburg instead. I love Berlin but wasn’t interested in spending such a long day without more return for that amount of time.

Warnemunde is at the mouth of the Warne River.  We started the tour in that town, walking through its charming streets and to its lovely beach.  Many of the little houses were former fisherman cottages which now sell for up to €1.2 million.  Christian told us how the houses are gradually being bought up by richer people and then rented out for a lot of the year.  This seems to be a pattern in a lot of places, Victoria included.  Our walk here included a visit to the beach and seeing what are called ‘beach buckets’, little covered chairs with storage and seating for two.  They were everywhere not just on the beach, including in cafes.  There is a picturesque lighthouse here as well.

A "Beach Bucket"

  

Then, we boarded a bus for the trip to Wismar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  One of the reasons for the designation is its gothic brick churches, one of which was bombed in the war.  We arrived in the town square on market day and there is no question this is a pretty little town.  We saw one street called “Tit Grabber Street” (yes, really!) which was named that because it was there where the prostitutes waited for the men when they came back from being at sea.  Hmmm!
  

The aforementioned street sign!

We continued on seeing both the churches which were built in the 14^th century with an estimated 4 million bricks each.  While the main part of one church (Marienkirche) was destroyed, St. Georges was damaged (lost its roof) but has now been be restored.  While both were similar to the stone gothic churches you see in other countries – Notre Dame, Salisbury Cathedral, for example – the fact they were made of bricks made them very unique.  The other thing we noticed was that the town had  a connection with Sweden.  Apparently, the town was part of Sweden at one point but later Sweden just gave it back. 

After we wandered around there, it was time for lunch at a local brewery called Brauhaus am Lohberg zu Wismar.  Our tour included lunch and a drink.  I ordered a Radler, which was about as close to a beer as I wanted.  For lunch, I had pork schnitzel with “beer sauce” which was actually onion beef gravy.  The portions were huge and served with roasted potatoes and a wonderful selection of vegetables.  It was delicious but way too big!  Of note, the food was of a much better quality than the usual fare you get when you are on a group tour.  The brewery also makes a whisky called Baltach Wismarian Single Malt Whiskey.

A building near our lunch stop

Inside the brewery restaurant

After lunch, we boarded the bus for our next destination, a town called Schwerin.  While not a designated UNESCO site, it is the capital of the Mecklenberg state and is located on a very large and pretty lake.  The town certainly has a unique charm.  We toured the old town much of which had been designed and built by someone named Demmler in various architectural styles – Italian Renaissance, Gothic, etc.  In the main square we learned about Leonis, a king, I think, who thought of himself as the Lion.  There is a three-sided statue of him in the square which was interesting to examine.  On one side, it showed the residents of the town “mooning” Leonis because he wasn’t as well liked or respected as he liked to think he was.  

The lake at Schwerin

The Leonis Statue

 There were also the standard German stores here such as Edeka and Euro Shop.  We had about 45 minutes to look around; however, because the town had free WiFi, many of us decided to visit a café in the main square and take advantage of that.  I had a “Viertal” of wine which was only €4.50.  When we regrouped, we walked through the Jewish quarter where we learned the synagogue was built in 1773, damaged in 1938 during Kristallnacht (although the plaque called in “pogromnacht”) and then rebuilt and reopened in 2008.  There were also some Stolpersteine embedded in the cobblestones.  They were yet more grim reminders of that part of Germany’s history.

We continued on and came upon the beautiful Mecklenburg castle which, while not new (built about 160 years ago) is very impressive and set in a very lovely location at the edge of the lake.  Designed by Demmler, the castle seems to have a different style of architecture on each side.  It is currently used as the legislative offices for the state.  Christian mused that putting politicians in a castle probably isn’t the best idea!  We walked around it seeing the orangerie as well as its grotto.  After that, we went for “Kaffee und Kuchen” at a nearby café before getting back on the bus for the 1 hour drive back to Warnemunde and our ship.  It was a fabulous tour and Christian was a wonderful guide.

The ship notes for this port of call were the following:

Located on the northeast coast of the Baltic Sea in Germany, the city of Warnemunde is a quaint resort town lying on a vast white-sand beach, which measures as the largest on the German Baltic Sea coast.  Like many seaside towns, Warnemunde started as a quiet fishing village in the 13^th century but is now a substantial city with more than 8,000 full-time residents.  The main industry shifted in the 19^th century to tourism, which now drives the city’s economy.  Serving as a bustling centre for boat traffic, Warnemunde of course has a fully functional lighthouse. 

Built in 1897, the tower measure 121 feet from the top, which provides a good viewing opportunity of the Baltic Sea for visitors.  After your descent, check out the intricate scale model of the solar system as you walk westward along the coastal trail.   For another panoramic view of the surroundings, take an elevator to the top of Hotel Neptun.  Grab a drink at the bar or just snap some photos. 

Spend some time at the beach simply relaxing or grab a kite and try your hand at this popular activity.  Make a stop at the Teepot, which displays unique 1960s East German architecture and houses multiple restaurants and a sea voyage exhibition.  Visit the der Alte Strom (Old Channel) portion of the canal for a walk along the promenade or to simply enjoy the sites.  Grab a bite at one of the many restaurants, sip a beverage at a pub, or grab some local delicacies at the fish market.