Ascending on Kiel (closed for Ascension!)

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So far on this trip, the weather had been kind to us ranging from the 'white cloud' scenario to ‘sun lounging' weather whilst we were in Helsinki.

We tend not to let the weather spoil the moment and although I concede that there are more pleasant environmental climates than ‘pissing down', it would be nice to get off the ship and explore the capital city of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein known as Kiel.

The most famous events in the history of Kiel (apart from the opening of the canal!) OK, the second most famous event in the history of Kiel was the soldiers' mutiny which sparked the German Revolution in late 1918. Just before the end of World War I, the German fleet stationed at Kiel was ordered to be sent out on a last great battle with the British Royal Navy. The soldiers, who thought of this as a suicide mission which would have no effect on the outcome of the war, decided they had nothing to lose and refused to leave the safety of the port. Apart from this it was pissing down with rain (a bit like today!!) and they thought it was not worth getting their uniforms sodden and perhaps come down with a bout of flu. They were happy to reamin in the comfort of their barrack playing cards and other indoor games The soldiers' actions and the lack of response of the government to them, fuelled by an increasingly critical view of the Kaiser, sparked a revolution which caused the abolition of the monarchy and the creation of the Weimar Republic.

It is also where we get the expression: ‘Sod this for a game of soldiers'!!!'

As today is a public holiday we were advised that not many places would be open in Kiel so as Hamburg is only 50 odd miles south, the trains take 1hr 15 mins AND we have 9 hours in port, a trip to this historic city shouldn't be too much of a concern… …when the bank holiday doesn't happen to be Ascension Day!!

We only realised this when we arrived at the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) to enquire about tickets. On public holidays (of which Ascension Day is one!!), the trains seem to take over twice as long to get anywhere and don't run as frequent. The bottom line is that as we didn't leave the ship until 11:30 (we docked at 10am) and each way was about 3 hours, we'd be pushing it to get back in time if we wanted to have a proper look at Hamburg.

As that WAS plan B, it was time to revert back to plan A…

We obtained a map of the centre of Kiel from the Information Centre and headed for one of Kiel's pedestrian zones. This one was known as Hostenstraße. We could have been the last people on earth as the place was less than deserted. I felt like Charton Heston in the Omega Man although as the rain was still hitting us hard, Charton Heston parting the red sea in the Ten Commandments would have been more useful!! The comforting fact was to know that the UK isn't the only country in the world that has a habit of providing miserable weather on public holidays!!

We took refuge under some shop canopies by a series of escalators whilst the rain continued to pour. The surroundings looked like a shopping quarter, new by all accounts. I must admit that I misread the name of the mall. After having my photo taken several times by this sign, to Roisin's amusement, she assured me that it actually read: ‘Quer Passage!!' And after me saying in my best Wigan accent, ‘Eee, there's nowt as quer a folk!!!'

The rain had started to ease off so we continued along Hostenstraße until we arrived at Berlinerplatz. So this is where everyone was!!. The street opened up to reveal mobile stalls around a small triangular body of water. There was an array of food, craft and candy stalls. A speciality seemed to be large decorated gingerbreads with icing messages such as ‘ich ‘heart' dich!! Not to be outdone, there was also the customary beer tent (or three!!). Some roadies were putting the finishing touches to the sound stage. ‘Ein, zwei…ein,zwei'

I read that Kiel is the host to the world's largest sailing event, the Kieler Woche. Besides the sailings, and lets face it, everyone loves a sailor (!), Kieler Woche is one of Germany's largest festivals where the entire centre of the town is transformed into an international food and craft fair. And every festival wouldn't be complete without loud music thrashed out every night.

As Kiel Woche is held in the middle of June, and we had arrived on 21st May, all this can't be in preparation for Kieler Woche. The question was, ‘is this all in aid of one of Germany's world famous beer festivals or one of their equally world famous music festivals?'

There are 2 things you need to know about Germany's world famous beer or music festivals…

…1. They both involve copious amounts of beer and (b) they both involve plenty of music so, with that added knowledge, how they hell does one know if you're at a beer or music festival? The answer is: who cares? Most people are too bladdered to ‘give a toss'!! As long as the alcohol keeps flowing you could be at a ‘Friends of Pythagoras' convention for all you know!!!

After slowing down to browse at some of the craft stalls and stopping to buy an ‘ich liebe Kiel' gingerbread, we crossed over Eggerstedstraße and headed toward the oldest preserved building in Kiel, Nikolaikirche in Alte Markt. The church dates back to 13th century.

That's funny. According to MY guidebook, this church was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in the 1950s. I've seen 13th century castles and churches in the UK and they aren't in half as good nick as St. Nikolaikirche. I've seen Wimpy homes older than this building!!

As the rain had subsided for now we decided to plough on and after a further few minutes arrived at a small lake called Kleiner Kiel (little Kiel). The lake is next to the business district. Quite handy if you've had a bad day at the office. Somewhere to go to drown your sorrows…literally!!!

We strolled around the lake passing through the outer lying edge of Hiroshima Park. Really, why call a park this when there are plenty of German names to pick from? The park was extremely well kept. Neat and tidy. I wonder if anyone has ever had the audacity to suggest that the upkeep to this park must cost a bomb!!!??

After circumnavigating the lake (it has a small fountain of note!!) we decided that food was calling and as nowhere was open except the stalls near the harbour, we decided to head back to the ship for lunch.

At this point, we hadn't taken any photos of our travelling mascot ‘Pooh' (Winnie the). Cutting back down Holstienstraße, we came upon a couple of likely looking photo opportunities. The first one looked like a paper delivery boy. Blimey, it doesn't take much to be immortalised in bronze in this part of the world. A few yards further on sat the statue of a fine upstanding gentleman. This was Kieler Bürgermeisters Asmus Bremer. He lived betrween the late 17th and early 18th centuries. A major of Kiel, he was seen as particularly close to the people. The bench he sits on was allegedly his favourite place. Eine Plastik am nach ihm benannten Asmus-Bremer-Platz in der Kieler Holstenstraße erinnert an ihn. Unfortunately it was also where the paper lad used to deliver the Sunday News so takes a bit of the shine off this distinguished honour bestowed him!!

Kiel is officially twinned with Coventry, a city in the midlands of England. The link between Coventry and Kiel was officially formed when Mr Williams, a British service man from Coventry based in Kiel to help the rebuilding process after the Second World War, made contact with the City Authority in Kiel.

During in the Second World War, Coventry was heavily targeted by German bomber, due to the large concentration of munitions factories based in the area. In 1947, the Friends of Coventry Society was founded, which later became the German British society. In the same year a delegation from Coventry, presented a cross of nails to Kiel, made out of nails from the destroyed Coventry Cathedral. Talk about rubbing salt in to the wound!! It's like someone deliberately running over your cat, then you forgiving them before presenting them with the cats collar as a keepsake!!

‘Tiddles would have wanted it. Lest we forget. Yer bastard!!!'

On arriving back at the MSC Opera, there was a lot of activity. Of course, all the Germans on board will be set free and a new batch will be embarking for the Opera's next voyage...to the Norwegian fjords.

This was our penultimate day on board. Tomorrow we dock once more in Copenhagen. Although it is the end of the cruise, it is not the end of the blog. We still have a few days in Copenhagen before our flight back to the UK. Although this has been our first cruise; a tester, so to speak, I'm sure, no, I am certain it won't be our last.

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