Blogs from Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, Europe

Our day in Warnemunde and Rostock is a rainy one. Most of our fellow travelers are headed to Berlin for the day. We plan to spend a week in Berlin after our cruise so we stay in Warnemunde. Rostock is a nearby town so the first thing we do is head to the train station. We buy a ticket from a machine and the train arrives in five minutes. Six stops later we are in Rostock. We take tram 6 from the lower level of the train station platform A and get off after five stops at Kropeline Strasse. Then we walk up the steps to the right of the Radisson Hotel and go through the gates to the old town. We check out a church St Marys which started construction in 1230. We walk through ... read more

I've been in Rostock now for 7 months! The time really seems to be flying by now and I'm already starting to fear returning to work in 5 months time. After a year of relaxing and sleeping in its going to be a real shock to enter the rat race again. I'm continuing to eat away at my expenses buying outrageously expensive camera equipment to feed my addiction. I can see no end in sight and I fear without some type of intervention I might be seen living on the street, unable to feed myself but capturing some extremely sharp images of the cardboard box I'll call home. My newest lens is the Canon 70-300 L. I no longer have any excuses for the quality of my photographs and have started to understand that now I ... read more

Hello and welcome to the first in a series of blogs about Rostock. I will keep these blogs short and sweet, as to not bore everyone to death. Rostock is the hometown of my girlfriend, who in order to maintain anonymity I will call Schnecke and her sister who I will call Turtle. Turtle and Schnecke were both born and bred here in Rostock. They live here with their family, studying and working. Me and my best mate Fox met Schnecke and Turtle when they were backpacking around Australia, and in the most unlikely of places, the remote cattle town of Richmond in outback Queensland. What unfolded became one of the best time of my life, two best mates falling for two backpackers which would ultimately see the two of us travelling across the world far ... read more

So this blog is dedicated to a fan who contacted me via FB and wanted a update on my situation here in Rostock. I will call this dedicated fan Number1. But let’s keep it friendly I don't have time for stalkers okay? I woke up today to the coldest temperature I have experienced yet in Rostock or the whole of Mecklenburg Vorpommern! My trusty weather station Wally was showing 2.8 degrees BELOW zero. To some that might not be very cold but to a Aussie who grew up in the Northern Territory it's extreme. Grabbing the Cannon 60D I took the opportunity to record some of the condition that were present in the back yard. Since being in Rostock I have only seen real snow once so it's a shame there isn't any at the moment ... read more

This morning with Andres, our Guide, we stroll down the pedestrian street, Kropeliner Strabe, and do some shopping there for post cards and misc impromptu buys. Then we stop at Rostock University, the oldest university in northern Europe, to learn about the educational system in Germany. Next we explored the town of Rostock, town square, City Hall, shopping street and St. Mary's Church. St. Mary's Church is a large brick gothic church constructed in the 13th century. Over the many years it has been reconstructed into the Basilica it is today. John & I went inside and viewed the massive organ, the gothic pulpit and large stained glass windows. Very impressive. On to lunch at a local restaurant, where we all enjoyed "dark beer soup". After lunch we toured around Rostock and Warnemunde . Andres lives ... read more