We left Copenhagen on a night train to Berlin. It was M’s first time on an overnight train. I still remember a post-college night train from Italy to Switzerland, where they took all our blankets and pillows when we reached the Italian border, despite it being around 4 am. This time we had the compartment to ourselves and they didn’t want the bedding until Berlin, so it was far more pleasant…and more expensive, of course!
From Berlin we took a train north to the island of Rügen, then a bus to our final destination, Göhren. We were surprised how flat most of the land was and enjoyed a lot of great cloud formations that looked very painterly.
You’re probably wondering where the heck Rügen is…
It’s on the Baltic, pretty close to Poland, in the former East Germany. There are several towns here that have been seashore resort towns for decades, including the one we stayed in. The wind blew every day we were there and presumably blows most of the time, because the beaches are all lined with little shelters you can rent.
The Baltic is known for being warm, but only if you’re a hardy northern European. The water was a balmy 17C (64F). I might have been able to tolerate it if the air and sand were warmer, but I only got my feet wet…
Everywhere we went, things felt like they hadn’t changed in decades. Not that the buildings weren’t in good shape – they definitely were. Everything just has an old-timey vibe, accentuated by the visitors, pretty much all of whom were gray-haired. This was particularly evident when we took a boat ride to see the white cliffs along the coast north of us. The boat was packed with the elderly; the whole experience felt like it could have been in the 80s, or maybe the 50s. Well, except that back then this was all under communist rule… Who went to these resorts then? What shape were they in?
More to our liking was a day spent riding bikes. The only problem was finding a place for lunch. The wind was quite cool, but when we found a sheltered spot I was totally swarmed by mosquitoes. There were so many, a few even went after M! That explained the window screens at the rental, which are not common here. (We travel with mosquito netting…it’s tough to be a mosquito magnet in Europe.)
If only cormorants ate mosquitoes- we’ve never seen as many cormorants as we have here. And we saw the largest gathering of swans either of us had ever seen. I’d never heard a swan taking off before – they’re amazingly loud!
Seeing thatched-roof houses everywhere was a pleasant surprise – not something I associate with Germany
After two weeks of hotels in big cities, we were totally ready for some peace and quiet. Göhren, and expecially our rental, totally delivered. The only thing I missed was the hotel breakfast buffets, which were all way better than ones in the US.
I never expected to enjoy cooked veggies at breakfast, but I started eating them everyday because it’s often hard to get enough while eating out all the time. I really came to enjoy them. M, on the other hand, is more into eggs and bacon. He just can’t wrap his mind around veggies as breakfast.
We didn’t eat out in a restaurant even once on Rügen, but we did enjoy some excellent pastries from the local bakery. I finally tried a Bienenstich (bee sting), and it was love at first bite!
Beyond Our French Adventure 