3rd Port - Warnemunde, Germany

July 10 – Warnemunde, Germany

We had to set an alarm this morning and I thought this was vacation.  Today a lot of people on the ship went to Berlin and had to leave the ship early, so breakfast wasn’t too crowded.  They were taking a three hour train ride there, touring for about 4 hours and then the three hours back.  We decided not to do that since we want to do a long weekend in Berlin, so we took a train into Rostock, Germany then another train to Schwerin to see a castle.  At the train station, we met a Bishop from Toledo, Ohio, who is a friend of Cardinal DiNardo.  Cardinal DiNardo belongs to the Knights of Columbus at our church in Spring.  The Bishop knew the Cardinal in school and in Rome (what a small world).  The Bishop was traveling with another priest from Florida and we ended up sharing a cab to the castle with them when we arrived in Schwerin. 

Warnemunde, Germany (view from the top deck of our ship)

Rostock City Hall

Palace Schwerin is located in the middle of an island on Lake Schwerin.  The palace is surrounded by the palace garden and the royal park is nearby.  It was such a beautiful area.  After our tour we stopped at a café on the shores of the lake for a beer.  Jay had a German pils (pilsner) from Schwerin called Lubzer.  He said it was OK, but he still prefers the Bavarian lagers.  He is really going to suffer when we get back to the states.  

Palace Schwerin

Palace garden

As we were walking back to the train station we stopped at a Lutheran Church.  This church also had a very ornate wood carving behind the altar.  We walked past the Town Hall where a fireman was celebrating his 30^th birthday.  His friends strapped him in a chair and he was drinking some champagne and then his friends sprayed him with the fire hose.  He then had to clean the steps of City Hall with a toothbrush.  The steps were covered in wet saw dust.  Everyone then sang Happy Birthday to him and he put out his candles with a fire extinguisher. 

When we got back to Warnemunde there was a festival going on at the waterfront, so we walked around and looked at the local craft and food booths.  They also had some sand sculptures located around the festival.  I bought my ski hat for next winter from one of the vendors.   Hmmmm, buying a winter hat in the middle of July, I guess you have to buy one some time.  (You’ll have to wait until January to see the hat)  There was also a huge sailing ship in port from Russia, we think, but it was too late to take a tour of the ship.  Jay had a local beer, Rostock Pils, he said it was OK, and it was cheaper than buying one on the ship.  Back to the hot tub to relax and after dinner we went to see a movie under the stars and then to the casino.  We had Surf N Turf for dinner and it was delicious!!!!