Tuesday July 30th – Warnemunde and Lubeck

We docked at Warnemunde in the early hours of the morning after a day at sea that has given us all a chance to recoup and we are eager to see Lubeck today. I did note that even though we arrived around 6am there were quite a large number of people around to see us dock. The docking maneuver was complex as we had to enter the river and proceed about a mile downstream before we could turn around and then return to the dock at Warnemunde.

Phil, Lynne, Alan, Kate, Jill and I boarded our tour bus for the 90 minute ride from Warnemunde to the Hanseatic city of Lubeck. Warnemunde was until 23 years ago in the GDR and on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain. After the reunification of Germany the east now looks very prosperous. We passed by the location of the Iron Curtain and what was called the Death Zone. Our tour guide Martin explained to us how residents of the west could visit their eastern relatives, but not vice versa, but also how onerous the regulations governing the visits were.

Our arrival at Lubeck was quite impressive as we entered through the one of the gates to the city and the tour bus only just fit! Lubeck was an Hanseatic city and is also on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, our 3^rd one on this trip after St. Petersburg and Tallinn. Here's the wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübeck. The old city is set on an island and was well protected from its enemies. We visited Alms Houses set up by wealthy businessmen for the widows of ship captains and other merchants, nothing for the poor!

Heiligen-Geist Hospital

The major feature of Lubeck is St. Mary's Church which was substantially destroyed during WWII and has been restored to its former glory. Of particular note were the original church bells which have been left where they fell during the war and the vault that spans the nave about 120 ft above ground.

Twin spires 400 feet high.

Looking up to the ceiling of the nave, 120 feet above ground

The church's bells, laying where they fell during an air raid in 1942

We lunched in the hall where merchants and ship owners would have negotiated their contracts for the transportation of goods.

Lunch in the Schiffer-gesellschaft

Lubeck is the home of Marzipan and so a visit to a Marzipan store was mandatory as were the necessary purchases!

Here's a few more pics of Lubeck;

Lynne, Jill and Phil taking the weight off their feet!

Holstentor Gate, and yes it's crooked in real life due to subsidence

Impressive bay window

Sun dial

City street scene

The trip back to the QV allowed all to have a snooze so we were all well rested when we got back to the ship. The highlight of leaving Warnemunde was the flotilla of small tour boats that followed us out of harbour and celebrated our departure.

Our departure flotilla

View back to Warnemunde with dispersing flotilla

Coming to get the pilot off the QV