Tenze
The main reason for our return to northern Germany was to celebrate the 80th birthday of Heidi‘s aunt Heidrun. These milestone birthdays are a big deal in Germany and so, a great chance to see all family and friends in one place. This one was no exception: a 16-musician classical concert in a medieval church followed by 100 person dinner and party which lasted until the sunrise! A retired professor with a double doctorate in Economics, Heidrun has achieved national recognition for her work in furtherance of the arts and culture in the region. Indeed this concert was dedicated to her and performed by some of the top professors of music in the country!
The acoustics of this old church (and of course the performers) were so unbelievably good that even some non-classical music lovers were blown away! The next few days were spent enjoying the area, Rostock/Warnemünde, and the tiny dorf of Neu Tenze (4 houses) where Heidrun and her husband, Harry, live. The temperature during these 3 days started at 28, peaked at 38 the next day and dropped to 18 the next!
Insel Usedom
From Tenze we travelled further north and east to the Island of Usedom on the Östsee (translated East See, but which is actually in the north, yet we call it the Baltic See!). This Island had been a popular resort area for German royalty, as well as common folk, for hundreds of years. It is quite narrow and its northern coast is almost completely one long line of beaches with sand so fine that it feels like powder! The water is surprisingly warm, being that the Baltic Sea is almost completely enclosed with only a very narrow opening to the North Sea.
The Island is accessed by bridge from mainland Germany and its western half is in Germany while its eastern half is in Poland. Not surprisingly, this area is also famous for its fish, be it fresh, pickled, smoked. We stayed at the lovely seaside condo of and with Heidi‘s cousin Volker and his wife Gabi and their daughter Julia and celebrated Heidi‘s birthday with an amazing fresh fish dinner at a fantastic restaurant on the sea. Another night Heidi and Gabi walked to the local fisherman and brought home a feast of smoked fish: halibut, butterfish, eel, and shark belly-flaps! And of course all along the beach and promenade walks are little stands every 100 metres or so at which to sit and have a beer and Bratwurst or better yet, Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake).
Of historical note is Peenemünde which was a strategic naval site in WW2 and the site of missile design led by Werner von Braun (after the war he was recruited by the US and was the brains behind the Saturn and Apollo missile programs which put the first man on the moon). We also had a cool tour of a Russian submarine: can’t imagine how those men could live in a tin can for months at a time! Gabi and Julia took us to see 2 very old windmills of different and distinctive design. Some people might know that a windmill actually turns so that it can meet the direction of the wind at its optimum. The first windmill we saw was designed so that its base sat on the trunk of a massive tree trunk and the whole windmill turned on that base (consequently the miller did not live in those ones. Not a very restful night spinning around!). The other type we saw was the Hollander type, where the whole roof top turns to meet the wind (therefore the base is stable and capable of living quarters). Really cool tours of those two windmills. And Kaffee and Kuchen afterwards of course!
Leaving the Island of Usedom on July 10, we dropped into Poland for a bit just to catch the 7 hour ferry from Swinemünde to land in Ystad, Sweden and then a quick drive to Copenhagen, Denmark. Another 4-country day! And now begins our Scandinavian adventures for the next 6 weeks!
Bellissimo Travels 