On Fri 27th April nine members of the Scottish Society flew from Edinburgh to Stanstead to Lubbeck. Lead by President Ruari, with Anne; there were Donald and Anna; Derek and Pat; Nancy Macleod Nicol and Rose Fleming and Stella Henderson. At Lubbeck we met Kenneth and Anne from Troon, who had come up from Hanover and Albrecht, President of the German Society. In glorious sunny weather we drove in an hour to Kuelungsborn, on the Baltic Coast, to stay at the Polar Stern, Albrecht and Dagmar?s charming hotel.
The hotel was built in 1913 as part of a development of hotels along the Baltic Coast. After the Second War, the town was in East Germany and so there was no money to spend on refurbishing it, or pulling it down. Albrecht purchased the hotel in 1993 and has put a lot of money and time into restoring it.
Mairi, from Stornoway arrived later, from Copen-hagen and Rostock. Late at night Janet MacLeod Trotter and Charlie appeared having flown from Newcastle to Amsterdam and then travelled by train. But they missed their first connection and had an epic journey changing at ? and ? and ? and ? !
On Saturday we walked to the rail station and took the narrow gage train, ?Molli?, to Bad Doberan and visited the town developed by the Dukes of Mecklenburg as their hunting retreat. There are some fine 18th century houses and a large red brick enclosure for the minster grounds, with a huge red brick church dominating the town. The bulls head is the crest of Mecklenburg, and appeared in the tiles of the church floor.
On the return journey, some of the group stopped at Heiligendamm, where some weeks later the G8 Summit was held. The beautiful old white hotel buildings have been restored by the Kaplinski group. There was a 3m high fence around the whole town.
On Saturday evening there was a dinner and ceilidh for members of the Scottish and german Societies. After an excellent meal there was music from a trio, which included Derek, on the fiddle; singing and storytelling.
On Sunday we drove down to Wismar, one of the Hanseatic cities, a wonderful mediaeval town which, having been in the FDR has never been redeveloped. Every street is a delight with wonderful half timbered houses. There was a reception in the room above one of the ancient city gates and then we all boarded Atalanta, a sailing schooner. There was a delicious cold lunch of fish. In fine weather, but a crisp northerly wind, Atalanta set out into the Baltic To keep out the cold, a good deal of schnapps was drunk and everyone snuggled up close under coats and blankets. On the return journey there was delicious warming soup with sausages.
On Monday, another clear, but cool day, the group took the steamer to Wannemunde, the port of Rostock, further east along the Baltic. The port was full of boats and visitors and it was from here that the ferry sails to Denmark. In the evening there was a visit to a mini brewery and a Viking dinner at which a good deal of beer was drunk in litre glasses, led by Albrecht and his brother Clem.
Tuesday was a relaxing day with a walk along the shore to a nature reserve and some time for shopping. In the evening, after dinner, .. deputy head of one of the high school, spoke about life in the FDR when everyone had the same ? very little ? and a job and was happy ! It was a fascinating insight into the former Democratic Republic and many folk now feel a little disillusioned about unification and remember the ?good old days.?
Janet had composed a saga of her journey to the Baltic, which was acted out by Charlie, including the suitcase handle breaking !
On Wednesday morning Ruari and Anne visited the high school and were most impressed by the standard of spoken English. Many of the pupils were to act as interpreters for hotels and restaurants for the forthcoming G8 summit.
There was a visit to the 13th century church, with wooden bell tower and stone chancel, which, like so much else in northern Germany was ravaged by the 30 Years war in the 17th century.
It was a delightful tour and a chance to visit the Baltic in bracing, but sunny weather. Thanks to Al-brecht for making the arrangements and to him and Dagmar and all the staff at the Polar Stern for such friendly hospitality.
