Guten Tag Meine Freunde!

Who knew watching the Bourne Supremacy for the umpteenth time could be so much fun? It’s 11pm on the Baltic Sea, and the sky is beautiful – in the East it’s light grey with white fluffy clouds on the horizon, and in the West there is a sunset that has been in progress for about 2 hours. We are in the “White Nights” season, meaning that this far north there is very little dark sky at night. It is a bit surreal to see the sky like this – here on the Lido deck we can see in all directions including straight up, thanks to the glass retractable roof (thankfully now closed) – and to know that it’s actually pretty late. But we had a gorgeous lazy day at sea, and we feel no need to go to bed early. So instead we are watching tonight’s movie on the Big Screen.

So where did I leave off last time… I think it was the eve before our German adventure. I was sitting on the very chilly Lido deck aft, and was hoping for nice weather for the next day. Well, we got a half a nice day, which is better than none, I suppose.

The day started pretty early. Many people on the ship were headed in to Berlin, and so they had to be up and out as early as 6:45. This meant that we didn’t sleep much past that time either – the departure activities are never particularly quiet, and some people are either so asleep or so excited, that they forget some people are still asleep!!! Sigh. Our group didn’t have to leave until 8:45, so we met for breakfast and then disembarked to a gloomy and chilly morning in Warnemunde. We had one of those big coaches with picture windows to transport us into the countryside, and we set off for the town of Wismar, about a 90 minute ride south. Our guide was very good and very efficient – not a lot of personality, but she made up for it in content. Our only complaint was that she had this lilt to her voice, probably due to her German accent which over-rounded vowels and put extra emphasis on syllables. This caused every one of us to fall asleep within minutes. Well, the kids fell asleep within minutes, and the adults lasted at least a half an hour.

The countryside was gorgeous – heavily forested, fields and meadows, cattle, old farmhouses with thatched roofs, and new post-unification apartment blocks. It was interesting to know that we were passing through land which was once part of East Germany – and not too long ago either. Of course it was also apparently part of Sweden, but that was quite a while ago. (1648)

We arrived in the town of Wismar in a downpour. We toured the area both on foot and by coach, and learned that Wismar is a Hanseatic town, part of the Hanseatic League which was formed in the thirteenth century to defend against Baltic sea pirates! The centre of town in the historic Market Place, the largest in Germany, surrounded by buildings up to 700 years old. We toured the town a bit, visited a few churches, and had time for an excellent Streusel pastry – I even got to try out my German, and was miffed when I pronounced it “stroosill” and was corrected with “stroysill”. Hummmph.

The rain let up as we boarded our coach to nearby Schwerin. This was to be the highlight of the day – castles and lakes and fountains and ghosts and Grand Dukes and of course, lunch. The sun was out in full force by now, and the day grew warmer – probably up to 16 or so – and much more pleasant. We had lunch at a little restaurant that used to be a washing house – they had restored the building, just as they are doing to many of the old city buildings. Our lunch was potato soup, boiled potatoes, sauerkraut, ham, and a fruit compote with cream. It was quite delicious, although pretty heavy! Luckily we were headed out on a walk so we didn’t have time to fall asleep. We toured the city and I just fell in love with it. Colourful buildings, old cobblestones, beautiful store fronts, old carts carrying fresh produce, and of course, the great big honkin’ Schwerin Castle.

The castle today is a far cry from what it looked like in the twelfth century – now it has a gold dome and bridges and gardens and extra wings. Back then it was dark and brooding and forbidding. But in both times it is undoubtedly impressive. The beautification of the castle started in the 16th century, and by the 17th century, it looked much like it does today. One of the paintings inside depicts in great detail the death of Prince Nicolet who refused Christianity. Our guide said quite matter-of-factly, “and of course he had to die”. I think the painting is intimidating and lovely at the same time, just like the castle itself. I do wish we had a bit more time there so we could wander the gardens, but by the time we finished the tour it was close to 5 and time to get back on the coach.

Surprisingly, we were all tired and our feet were sore – I can only attribute that to the cobblestones, which were really hard to walk on. Our ride home was with more soporific commentary, and we all fell asleep again. Except Marjie. I bet her 5 Euros that she couldn’t stay awake all the way back to the ship, and she managed to do it (witnessed by a boy sitting behind her).

Last night was a very casual dinner, as most of the passengers will still en route back from Berlin. We had a small dinner in the buffet area, and then gathered will all the peeps in the piano lounge. Alex, Kayla, Jenn & Marjie all played cards while Hazel and Cheryl and I chatted. Perhaps one of the most exciting things was the fireworks display that was set off as we departed – the port had a real sendoff to recognize the ship’s first ever visit to Warnemunde – it was just amazing and we all ran outside to watch it.

Today was, as I said, a sea day. Cheryl and I were up early for pedicure appointments (stupidly, I didn’t realize we lost another hour overnight, so we were practically asleep in our spa chairs), and then went down to get Jenn and go have breakfast. We spent the rest of the day on the sun deck and on the Lido deck, in full on, blue sky, brilliant sunshine. Cheryl and I even donned our bikinis and have lovely tans to show for it. What a great day. Marjie slept until noon, as did many others in the group. People ate when they wanted, played Rook, did some mini-putt, shopped, watched movies, and then primped in preparation for our first Formal Night.

We were all lovely, I must say, and we did the usual thing with all the photographers on board. I can’t wait to see how some of the pictures turn out – we even got Cheryl to pose together with Hazel and me! Dinner was excellent (stuffed mushrooms and prime rib), the waiters did their usual dance for us, and Aries did another magic trick which blew me away. He always uses me as his “straight man”, perhaps as I’m pretty gullible!

And so now here we are on the Lido deck again, the main hub of social activity. It’s now 11:45 and the sunset is still not over. The East is fairly dark, but even so I will be thankful for the blackout curtains in my room!

Tomorrow is Helsinki. We plan to take the ship’s shuttle into town and head to the tourist information centre to sign up for bus tour of the city. The captain promised us 20 and mostly sunny, so let’s cross our fingers.

And so goodnight everyone. Susse traume.