Rostock and the Baltic Sea

Last Saturday I headed up to Rostock, a large city nearby the Baltic Sea to visit two friends of mine, both participants in my program. The architecure in the north is completely different from the rest of Germany. A lot of brick is used in the buildings, reminding me more of New England than Germany, materialwise. I got the tour of Rostock from the city, to the party life of the students. We ended up at a funky party where a belly dancer entertained everyone in the backyard. As if that wasn't amazing enough, there were fire dancers afterwards.

The next few days involved more of the sea itself. Sunday was spent at a local beach resort, eating the traditional fish sandwiches and walking around barefoot in the sand. I also made it farther East to Stalsund to visit an Unesco World Heritage site and get drenched in the rain. Dumping on the city. I then went to Rugen Island, the largest in all of Germany, where it was just as windy and rainy and I almost got blown off a large cliff. The cliffs are famous for being chalk white and very steep. I walked down to the rocky beach, a 15 minute trek, and checked to see if the water was as cold as in Rostock, and it was.

Then I had two options, to either head back to Rostock, or to go to a new city. Of course I went to the new city, taking the bus along the coast to Binz, known for it's long pier. Unfortunately when I arrived in Binz, I saw that the next and last train directly to Rostock was in 15 minute. So I hustled down to the beach, snapped a couple photos, got rained on and then headed back. A long day, full of rain, wind and an amazing island.

It was a blast being on a beach again, seeing choppy water with waves, eating fresh fish, hanging out with friends and seeing a new part of Germany. So far I've been all over the country except the north. I hope to get to Hamburg in the next month to cap off this amazing country. From the medival fortresses along the Rhein, to the walled cities with bier gardens in Bavaria, Germany has offered a lot to do, and I'm loving it.


The Baltic Sea!
Eating the traditional fish sandwich from a cafe boat

Stralsund Town Hall, a huge brick facade

On Rugen, amongst the cliffs

The lookout point, windy as hell

Beach on Rugen, with cliffs and choppy waters

Rostock harbour