Blogs from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, Europe

On Thursday the forecast held rain for the afternoon. We race hopefully before the rainclouds east along the coast from Prerow to Zingst along a popular and elevated path with beach access. From there we turn south towards Barth. The next day J and D will leave from Stralsund, so we aim for a little place not far from Stralsund in Duvendiek. After Barth, a soft rain finally started and we were able to find shelter along the way to kit up. It was still pleasantly cool, and with my waterproofs I felt armored against the mosquitoes, who had been slowly but consistently finding our bare patches. We returned to the small towns, agricultural land, and winding avenues lined with cathedral-like trees. We did not stop to admire the fields, we did not take photographs, but ... read more

This is our final stretch towards the sea. The theme of the day is lost and found. We enter the tentacles of Rostock, where we refuel. We wander through to the sprawling city towards the coast, including a detour west taking us past an IKEA (hotdog break for D) and a local produce market where we grab delicious apples, plums, and blackberries. My companions tell a story of Rostock and neo-Nazis. We finally make our way to Warnemunde, eventually find the ferry which will take us to the east side of the channel, and eventually find the campground, which is a sprawling campervan park. We are given a small plot of land next to the toilets. By now I have been stared at a lot (Germans are known for not being self conscious about staring), and ... read more

Sunny day, perfect weather. We follow the Elbe-Müritz trailfrom Lenzen to Parchim and then from Parchim to Plau am See as much as possible, cutting out loops when the route wasn't found or to save time. We pass rolling hills of wheat and corn, the road lined with lovely poppies and other wildflowers. Most towns are quaint, beautiful, old, and a little bit broken. While I find the old dilapidation charming and full of character, my German companions find no beauty in this. There seems to be an endless network of these tiny ten-building towns of -itz's and -hof's- and -dorf's and -ow's. We would pass through the towns in a blink and then have to check which town a few kilometers away was our next target. Many had beautiful old timber-framed (fachwerk) stables and houses ... read more

The fact that its Friday the 13th could explain why I encountered some strange happenings today. The day started with the familiar routine, waking up, getting coffee, north korean missile test, facebook. Something seemed different this day. Ah....friday the 13th..oowww....better stay in and hide my head told me, dont take any risk the voices said. Fortunately I tend to ignore them, so I set out once more into the wild yonder of Mecklenburg Vorpommern! I'm brave but not stupid so I only ventured close to Rostock and Güstrow seemed like a fair challenge. There would be more than enough time for a final destination scenario to unfold between leaving the front door and returning. I would have to walk...outside, ride on public transport multiple times and navigate through unfamiliar city streets to take photos of objects ... read more

One more small Blog to finish of the Karl's Strawberry Land. Over a period of 2 months Karls had an ice sculpture exhibition which drew crowds into a -10 degree building with a large number of perfectly sculptured pieces based on the theme of a circus. This was the first time I had seen any ice sculptures so I was pretty impressed. The cold got to me in the end, after leaving it look some time before I could feel my fingers again. One of the highlights was drinking some shots at the ice bar, Strawberry liquor of course! All served in ice shot glasses which were eaten afterwards. After getting sloshed at the ice bar you could have a go at the ice slide, we worked out quickly that denim jeans don't slide very well ... read more