The drive between Lübeck and Boizenburg takes less than 90 minutes but suddenly along the route we came across a few cars parked by the side of the road next a small fenced off area. Intrigued, Rhona and I swerved into the grassy car park and got out to investigate. Apparently, what began as a school project developed into a small open air museum. It turns out that at that point in the road the former border between east and west Germany had existed.

Apart from this reminder I noticed very few signs of the relatively recent past. After passing the museum the rest of my visit to Germany on this occasion was spent in the former DDR.

After the formalities of a ‘nice cup of tea’ my companion for the next 11 days, Bärbel, or QB as we know her here, took me on a walking tour of her ‘new’ home town: Boizenburg. Quick facts : Boizenburg is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, and lies 50 km east of Hamburg (where QB lived and worked until very recently).

We walked at first through a nature reserve and past a canal until we reached the pretty lane leading to the centre of the Old Town.

St Mary’s Church

Pretty streets in the Old Town (Altstadt)

Boizenburg is famous for its tile making. We saw the Museum (unfortunately it was closed) and from then on I noticed more and more tile pictures on the walls of the town buildings.

The Elbe Bookshop

Look at the lovely Cafe Stenschke with its coffee pot displays!

I’m looking forward to revisiting Boizenburg and both Rhona and QB have recommended that I visit Hamburg and I’ve heard very good reports of the town of Lüneberg nearby. But one of the main points of my visit to Germany was to see the island of Rügen for myself … reports of that visit very soon!