Day 10 – Warnemunde

Sailor, Sailor, Sailor: 

Once again, I did not run off with a Dachshund to eat weinerschnitzel. Yes I am in Germany, but for goodness sakes, I have been here before and did not come home with a German Shepard!  I am loyal to you (you needn’t know about Ziggie, the German Short-haired Pointer who lives in Key Biscayne, but I knew him for several years before I met you).  

Warnemunde is a lovely little seaside town.  Not a lot of historic places to see here ... it was a major U-boat center thus it was heavily bombed in WWII.  Most of the houses were built in the 40’s and 50’s and it’s sometimes called the German Riviera.  You can see why from the photo. 

Warnemunde, the German Riviera

I would have more pictures of Warnemunde, but I thought I forgot my camera in my cabin.  I was lugging my notebook computer around all day because I imagined I’d find an internet café where I could go over e-mails and send out my blog.  All I achieved was a sore shoulder and a new backpack to carry my computer in.  Had I dug down to the bottom of my tote bag I would have found my camera, but it’s too late now.

With the exception of one 18^th century (I think) church, this was like a Northern European version of seaside towns I’ve seen all over the US.  T-shirt shops, souvenir shops and cafes, maritime themed antiques and some children’s stores.  A very cute lighthouse out on the point, great beaches when the sun is shining, (which it did in the afternoon, but it was hazy and a bit chilly when I first stepped off the ship in the morning).  A nice marina or two.

The only wi-fi I was able to find was at the McDonald’s and I wasn’t able to log on.  I wasn’t willing to wait in line to order a diet coke on the off chance they would give me the password in thanks for my grand purchase.  I figured there would have been ship’s crew hanging around to contact loved ones back home if internet was available, and I didn’t see any crew – they’ve been everywhere else that internet service was offered.

This was the Queen Victoria’s maiden call in Warnemunde and you should have seen the crowds waving the British flag when we sailed off!  What a sight it was to see a couple of thousand Germans waving the Union Jack!  And we were escorted out of the harbor by a number of ships all tooting their horns with crowds of people on board waving.  (I have to get the photos from Pamela, I had the binoculars, but she had the camera.) 

Pamela, on her way to visit her daughter.

There was a sense of going back in time to the days of grand send-offs where families and friends came to wish you bon voyage and waved from the pier until you were out of sight.  Pamela’s daughter (Pamela is the friend from New Zealand who is traveling with me) lives just outside of Warnemunde and she spent the day visiting with her daughter and 1-year old granddaughter.  After their visit her daughter drove her back to the pier and they were waving goodbye to us with the rest of the crowd.  Although this is the jet age, they don’t know just when they’ll see each other again.  Pamela hung a red sweater over the rail on Deck 3 so they could spot us and we all waved goodbye for a good long time … it gave me a chill thinking how our ancestors left their countries just the same way (well not quite this elegantly, but they sailed out of sight by ship), with families and friends probably waving goodbye to them forever.   I felt a ghost of how wrenching that had to have been. 

Well … on our way to Copenhagen where I am sure more wonderful sights await.  I’m taking a half day tour so should be full of all sorts of information tomorrow night.  Bit of a sore throat now, so I’m going to have a cup of tea and go to bed.   

Goodnight dearest, doggiest, bestest dog, I’ll be back soon – I MISS YOU!!!