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| Travemunde view from the bus stop. |
We slept in a bit this morning, getting up about 8.
After breakfast, we headed off the boat in
Travemunde, a beach town in northern Germany.
Waiting for the bus, we looked around and noticed a woman enjoying a can
of beer.
Well, I guess it was almost 10AM on a Sunday, so…what else might one expect from a 60 year old woman?
We took the bus to Lubeck, an ancient city
that was controlled by the Hanseatic group, a trade group that controlled several
cities in the middle ages (around 1300-1600AD).
They fought for their independence from Denmark. And became a self-controlling city state. The city of Lubeck was founded in 1143, so they celebrated their 875
th
birthday this year.
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| A church, but not the one we attended. |
We attended Mass at Sacred Heart, which was also dedicated
to the four “Lubeck Martyrs”. In WWII, a
group of 3 Catholic Priests and a Lutheran Minister banded together to speak
out against the actions of the Nazis.
They were arrested in the summer of 1943, for not following the government
requirement of “Silence and Obedience”.
On the 10th of November, 1943, the prison had them
beheaded. There was a very nice tribute to them in the basement of the church. It was all very well described...in German. Thank you for showing me the Google App, Hunter!
After Mass, we walked about the town and took in the
scenery. The old city is on an island
and often called the “Island of Churches”, aptly named since the place is
crowded with churches, many of which seemed to be built between the 12th
and 14th century or so.
Nearly all of them are gigantic behemoths, made exclusively of
brick. Seeing so many gothic churches
built lavishly of various stones, these seemed strange. After the Reformation, virtually all of the
churches were seized and converted to a Protestant denomination, yet they kept
their names, which were almost all named for Saints.
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| Rathaus, or "City Hall" |
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| Arcade |
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| Arcade |
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| Lubeck street view. |
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| Another brick church! |
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| Look! A brick church!! |
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| The ancient buildings, old street, and modern cars...cool! |
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| Notice how each building top is different! |
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| The City Wall Gate. (beyond this wall the road leaves the island) |
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| OK, pointless, but it is a beautiful Jaguar, isn't it?? |
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| Another neat building...and this time, BRICK!! |
After exploring the island, we took the bus back, and
ordered some room service, then headed up for our Trivia team. Alas, only 3rd place today. But, people were probably getting bitter since
our team had won nearly every competition since the start of the cruise! We headed to the pool bar for a drink, and
then ready for dinner!
At dinner, we joined another table, and were seated with a
very nice couple. In short order, we found
that she was a retiree from BA (in IT), so discussion included
many non-rev topics and stories. Also, he did a lot of travel for work, so we had that in common also. The dichotomy of travelling with status and travelling in "beggar class" is not shared with many! The dinner conversation was fun, being able
to share things that, well, non-airline people just don’t really know. :-) We headed up for a quick night cap, and get
to sleep in tomorrow! Yay!
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| Good Night!! |
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