We arrived in Warnemunde (the gateway to Berlin) early. We decided not to do the 6+ hour round trip ride to Berlin. There’s just too much to see and we couldn’t justify that amount of time on a train.

We decided instead to take the 20 minute train ride to Rostock, a medieval shipping and ship building town. It’s on the Warnow river but most sights are in the Old Town (Alstadt) so we walked there. Neuper Markt (New Market Square) houses the Town Hall and some refurbished stores. In the middle of the square is a fountain which depicts Neptune with his 4 sons and Marienkirche (St Mary’s Church) overlooks it all. Magnificent! This church dates to the 14th century with restoration done in the 1990’s. It’s typical Lutheran - tall, white and spacious with Gothic architecture. There is an astronomical clock built in 1472, an intricate bronze baptismal font, an elaborate pulpit, an gorgeous organ and an amazing stained glass window from 1904.

We walked down the main pedestrian street to Universitatsplatz (University Square) with the delightful Fountain of Joy and the University’s main building. We also saw Kropelin Gate (Kropeliner Tor) one of 2 surviving watchtowers from the old city wall and the other Gat- Steintor which has the city inscription, seal and coat of arms. We also wanted to see an old Sastri (Nazi secret police) prison which was in a residential area of town but it is closed for renovations.

And we visited St Nikolaikirche (St Nicolai Church)- the oldest of the remaining Hall churches in the Baltic region started in 1230, and Petrikirche (St Petri Church) - the highest church with a tower of 117 meters, built in 1300.

We saw everything we wanted to see (and everything there was to see) in Rostock so we headed back to Warnemunde which is basically a seaside port that used to be a fishing town. There’s not much there but we saw the Church and we just strolled along the seaside on the boardwalk and enjoyed the solitude. It has a feel of a resort town and cafes line the Harbour area. There is a huge beach (reminiscient to me of Wasaga Beach) that has hundreds of cabanas for rent and a lovely lighthouse.

We had arranged to meet George and company for dinner and it was a night of laughs at the table and at the show. There was a comedian and he was hilarious. At 11:30 we headed to our room to turn in for the night.

Tomorrow is another sea day. :(