Ostsee/Nordsee - June 8-11

Back in Grafenau after the 2800km loop of Germany. Time to organize pictures, catch up on posts and get ready to leave for Helsinki tomorrow. Traveling is stressful business.
Deutschland Tour

Deutschland - June 2014

After leaving Wismar my target was Schoenbergerstrand on the Baltic Sea.

Since it was only 100km away, I detoured through Luebeck and the island Fehmarn. Luebeck is yet another Hansestadt, and was to be my last on this tour. Also, it was the first city back in western Germany. It's a very pretty city with a large clean old town and the famous Holstentor. It is not on the water, so a canal was dug to the nearby Baltic Sea. Its other claim to fame is Marzipan. Since I tripped over the store of the main manufacturer (Niederegger), I felt compelled to pick up some provisions.

The detour to Fehmarn did not prove successful. It was a holiday weekend, and the little town of Burg was packed like Times Square on a summer Wednesday. I backed out rapidly and resumed my way towards Schoenberg across the northern backroads.
My reason for staying in Schoenberg was to visit old friends. Many moons ago, when I was but a wee lad, I stayed at a family after school until my parents came home from work. This went on for five years, until we left for the US and they really were a second family to me. "Mom" had moved up north, as had one of my "sisters". I stayed a day longer than intended. It was nice to catch up, chill out, go swimming in the "Ostsee".  Too easy to loose track of time and friends.
Schoenbergerstrand is a little tourist town directly behind the levee. The entire north of Germany is surrounded by levees, since the land is at or below sea level. Mostly this keeps the farm lands dry.

Since I had blown the day I had planned for visiting Hamburg, I drove straight across to the North Sea to spend a couple of days with my sister and brother-in-law. They had rented a vacation house in a park next to the North Sea levee on the peninsula Butjadingen. One of the definig things about the North Sea is the Wattenmeer. The "beach" has barely any slant to it and goes on for miles out to sea. At low tide it's completely dry and you can walk across to some islands. The tide delta next to land is about 6 feet, but further out it is more than 12. The effect is absolutely fascinating. Mostly it's a solid surface, but at times there is deep slick, soft as quicksand.

North Sea levees are much taller than those on the the Baltic Sea. They have a permanent "maintenance crew" of sheep herds on them that keep the grass mowed and also tamp down the earth.