trip up north (19.-23.08.2009)

Katja is having a fantastic life you may say as the only thing she seems to be doing is traveling or not doing much at all. Point taken. But opportunities to travel should be taken when they arise.

For 4 days I went up north to the Baltic Sea with my family for some sightseeing and to visit friends that live there. Wednesday morning we headed off in the most beautiful weather and it accompanied us throughout the day. In the afternoon we reached our destination, the seaside resort Nienhagen and our comfortable accommodation, the 'Inn Philipp'. To savour the sun we went to see the busy beach at Warnemuende and its famous lighthouse and in the evening we've been quite active too by going for a stroll through the so called ghost forest and along the beach. We were rewarded with a most spectactular sunset and with the absence of any annoying insects, mozzies etc.

In the upcoming days we had a lot on the agenda, and especially my camera was busy as hell to keep up with me. Molli, an old steam train is quite an institution in the northern seaside resorts and so we paid homage to the old Molli with a trip from Bad Doberan to Kuehlungsborn and back again with a stopover in Heiligendamm. Since it was the hottest day of the year, we did the only reasonable thing in Kuehlungsborn and went to the beach -together with I don't know how many other thousands of sunbathers. We bore the heat only for a certain time and to be honest, the ice scream we had later was more refreshing and the ride back on the Molli as well - yes air flow is something wonderful!

Approximately one hour away from Nienhagen lies Marlow and a bird sanctuary is located there. Actually, the park should be renamed, because in addition to birds of all shapes and size, there are also other animals to admire, from lively squirrel monkeys, three golden sweet otter siblings, kangaroos, alpacas, sheep and many more. Also Kea, New Zealand parrots, are represented in the park, but I felt sorry for the birds. To me they looked rather bored and listless, and I know from personal experience how lively and alert these little thieves can be. I had the feeling that this is not the best place for them to be.

Especially interesting and entertaining for children are the bird of prey show and the shows with close contact to various birds and animals. For a passionate photographer this presents a perfect opportunity to get close to them as well. The amount of pictures I have taken in the wildlife park is enormous but so was the discard. My praise to digital photography! My photo blog is the best bet so see some of the most beautiful pictures.

Our last day we devoted to the exploration of Rostock and we've been lucky again with the weather even though it was quite windy at the port. We have seen some of the many churches in Rostock (Nikolai Church, St. Peter's Church), admired the beautiful city hall, the market that is surrounded by historic houses and simply enjoyed the city's flair. Hunger drove us down to the harbor, where we ate fish before heading back to Nienhagen.

Sunday came quickly and that meant we had to go back home. We got stuck in quite a few traffic jams due to the ending of the holidays in some areas of Germany (we do have 16 federal states in Germany and not all of them are on holiday at the same time).