EuroTour 2010, Day 37, Warnemünde, Germany

We slept in this morning, and when we went to our late-risers breakfast we looked out over the town and could tell right away we were in Germany.

Warnemunde, Germany.  We have never been here before, but this cozy looking town is a welcomed sight.

Although we have an excursion planned, a steam train excursion to be exact, looking out over the town has given us the urge to do things the way we did on last year's cruise, when we would simply walk off the ship and explore on our own.

Ferris wheel at twelve o'clock.  Warnemunde is about to surprise us.  Full disclosure: I have personally said more times than I can recall, "Why are we stopping in Warnemunde?  I've never heard of Warnemunde."

Warnemunde is, and I am not exaggerating, Germany's version of Santa Monica, California.

Take Santa Monica, toss in a dash of Marina del Rey, and you have Warnemunde, Germany.  We felt instantly at home here.  It turns out that Warnemunde was founded in the 1200's and remained a small fishing village for 600 years, when it began evolving into a seaside resort.  

Barbie presents Am Strom, the lovely pedestrian street which faces the canal, filled with shops and cafes.  Am Strom?  In English that is basically, "On River."  Warnemunde sits at the estuary of the River Warnow.  In fact, Warnemunde translates to, "Mouth of the Warnow."

Some German men wear black leather, even walking on the seaside.  Now it isht time on Shprockets venn vee dance!

The lighthouse was built in 1879, making it a youngster by European standards, but it is still in use today.  The curved roof building next to it, named Teepott, is actually an example of East German architecture.  I am somewhat beside myself, confused that the DDR did not build a plain, rectangular building.  Apparently the Soviet dominated East German government appreciated the seaside.

We happen to be in Warnemunde for some sort of sailboat exhibition.  Few things in this world top a sailboat riding the wind out to sea.

When I think of Germany, this is not what I picture.  And if you followed the Waste last year, you would know that I have loved every city in Germany that I have visited.  As a Southern Californian, it was not a big deal to me to snap a picture of the beaches.  To the right of this picture, you can see the sand.  This beach is the largest in Germany, stretching 2 miles along the Baltic Sea.

This Mercedes SLS would turn heads Los Angeles, for certain.

Time to head back to the ship for lunch, and then our excursion.

A view of a sailboat from our cruise ship.  No lunch picture.  You have seen enough chicken burgers, I think.

We got on a bus for our excursion, and were soon on our way towards a genuine, "Choo Choo Train."  It turns out that our bus has taken us to the nearby town of Bad Doberan, known for its Molli Train and monastery.

The Bad Doberan Munster, or monastery.  Built in 1386, this monastery began as Catholic and became Lutheran with the Reformation.  It is called a Monastery, not a Church, because it did not serve a community.  It sat here isolated, a home for monks to pray and study.  At its peak it was home to just 60 monks.

Nearby noblemen chose to be buried inside the monastery.  I noticed this coat of arms with a cow wearing a crown and sticking out his tongue.  I asked our guide and she told me that it is a bull, and that this is the coat of arms of Mecklenburg.  Mecklenburg, if you did not know, is one of the states that comprises Germany, just like Bavaria and Saxony.  I am not sure that I knew before visiting Germany that it is a federal republic of 16 states, much like the USA is a federal republic of 50 states.  

The point is that someone in Mecklenburg had a sense of humor, because the bull with his tongue out is hilarious.

See the wooden seats on either side?  That is where the monks sat, chanting back and forth to each other.  No need for seats for the public.

A short bus ride away and we would be meeting Molli, the steam train.  Our guide explained that a dog named Molli would always run away from her owner and jump on the train, and eventually the train took on the same name.  Molli has also become an insult in the area, in that you call an unattractive woman a, "Molli."

Molli is a narrow gauge train.  Her tracks are less than three feet apart.  She began service in 1886, and is still running today.  By the way, I suspect that this part of Germany, which was briefly East Germany, looks so much more quaint and nice than other Soviet controlled areas we have seen because there was no reason to bomb these small towns outside Rostock.  It is the areas that were leveled by war that were rebuilt in that horrible, Soviet style.

Molli's engine coming to connect with our car.  See the smoke?  Molli burns coal to make steam to power herself along.


Plain and simple.  People love trains.

I have not told you, but earlier today in our cabin on the Crystal Symphony, the room mysteriously filled with diesel smoke, apparently due to some generator tests that they were running.  I began to cough, but figured I would be all right.  Now, I get to be in a train car directly behind the coal burning Molli.  This is not good.

After our ride on Molli, Barbie and I use the forward facing camera to take some shots with Molli.  Little did I know that my parents were sneaking into the frame.

Barbie demonstrates just how narrow these tracks are.  

We hopped onto our bus and took a short ride to the seaside of Kuhlungsborn.  It was on this bus ride that I began to find it difficult to breathe.  This could become an issue.  What were the odds that our Crystal Symphony cabin would fill with diesel smoke just a few hours before I am subjected to burning coal?  I spend five weeks in Europe avoiding smokers and now this?  Thank goodness we travel with a small drug store in Barbie's bags.

After the train ride we are treated to coffee and apple strudel.  Quite civilized.

The beachside of Kuhlungsborn.

This absolutely reminds me of San Diego's Hotel del Coronado.

We returned to the Crystal Symphony and found that tonight's dinner is much like yesterday's lunch, with the entire Crystal Plaza turned into a buffet.

I think this ice sculpture might be a bear.  

Instead of showing you plates of buffet food, I shall instead show you one shot from the entire meal.

My beautiful dessert, a shot glass of chocolate mousse with chocolate sauce on top.

Until tomorrow...