Towards the end of our hike on the Zicker Alps and through Gross Zicker we came across the delightful little village church. We’d decided not to stop and look at the Pfarrwitwenhaus Museum but the little church tempted us in and we were glad to have a look round.
Category Archives: Milady ventures overseas
Walking in the “Alps” : First day on Rügen
Maps : Left : Germany (highlighting the Rügen area in yellow) Right : The Rügen Area
The Zicker Alps in the furthest southeast corner of Rügen
Boizenburg/Elbe
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.
Sitting down, eating and drinking in Lübeck
You may possibly think that Rhona and I did nothing in Lübeck but trail round museums and galleries and alleys and courtyards and churches but indeed, you’ll be surprised to know, that we did lots of sitting down too!
The first evening we found The Rathaushof near the Town Hall and ate herrings and potatoes. A very typical dish of the region; and that is what it is all about for me.
Matjesfilet (soused herrings)
Lübecker Museen : The Behnhaus-Drägerhaus and The Europäisches Hansemuseum
The Behnhaus-Drägerhaus Museum was totally unknown to me before my visit to Lübeck : but what a gem! Quite a big gem, actually. Just a few doors along Königstrasse from Willy Brandt House at numbers 9 to 11 the Museum/Gallery is housed in two adjoining classical mansions.
Here is a link to a very brief glimpse of the character of the museum.
Die Marienkirche Lübeck
Our walks through the alleys and courtyards and visits to the three houses with connections to Nobel prize winners only occupied the late afternoon on the day we arrived in Lübeck and the morning of the day we left. That left all of one day to visit a gallery, a museum and relax (yes, we did that as well!) on a river boat trip. On our final morning we also managed to fit in a visit to the huge and dominating St Maria Church (Die Marienkirche). And, would you believe, it is not the only vast church in Lübeck. Another day and we might have visited them all.
Lübeck : City of Nobel Prize Winners : Thomas Mann; Willy Brandt; Günter Grass
The excellent Buddenbrook Book Shop
Lübeck is proud to claim three Nobel Prize winners among its residents: Thomas Mann (1875-1955) Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929); Willy Brandt (1913-1992) Nobel Peace Prize in 1971; and Günter Grass (born in Danzig in 1927 died Lübeck 2015) Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. All three claim this Hanseatic city as their home. The writer Thomas Mann was born here and for the first 18 years of his life called this city on the river Trave his home. The politician Willy Brandt was also born in Lübeck and, similarly, spent his formative years in the Hanseatic city. The author Günter Grass moved to Lübeck at the age of 68 – to be, as he once stated, “closer” to Thomas Mann and Willy Brandt.
Germany, Bornholm and Sweden : a quick resumé of a three week tour
Where to begin? Where to begin? I arrived home on Wednesday after my wonderful visit to Germany and Scandinavia and now comes the hardest part – sifting through photographs and deciding which to include and which to discard.
Here is just a taster selection and I hope to expand on some of the visits and walks during the next couple of weeks.
At Buddenbrooks House, Lübeck
The Adventures of Milady in Rügen with Elizabeth von Arnim
On Wednesday I start this summer’s “Big Adventure”. In 2013 I spent a month working at a B&B in Switzerland and last year and the year before I took myself off to Ireland for 4 weeks and 3 weeks successively. This year I’ll be travelling in Germany, Denmark and Sweden visiting Lübeck, the Baltic islands of Rügen and Bornholm, walking the Osterlen Way before finally spending two nights in the Swedish university city of Lund. Originally I had hoped to travel quite independently by ferry and car but there are no longer passenger car ferry services between the north of England and northern Germany or Scandinavia. I think there is still a service to Amsterdam but that is as far north in Europe as you can get these days. So, to save precious time, I’m flying to Hamburg and back from Copenhagen.
The Walled City of Girona
We spent the last two nights of our trip in Girona itself. We had booked an apartment which turned out to be ideally situated for the Historic Centre, grocery and bakery shops and actually faced the starting point of the Girona Walls Walk which had been highly recommended to us as the ideal introduction to the city.
The Walls from our Balcony
miladysboudoir 