... more Wanderlust

Just when I was beginning to feel a trifle parochial with all these inner-German and former-German inward-looking travels, relief came from my ever supportive family:

First, my youngest son asked for help with moving to his dorm room in London  - isn't he the nice guy to ask his mother to carry his suitcases? But he knows I would "sell my grandmother for travel" as my own mother not so delicately put it a long time ago. And - he argued - an extra flight ticket for me would be cheaper than the additional fees for excess luggage. I'm not so sure about that but nevertheless relented. 
He can carry his suitcases, I will give emotional support and carry my own photographer's gear ...

Second, my daughter in Sydney has a "reading week" end of September. She has a group work assignment due at the end of that week but was confident to be able to put her fellow students under enough steam to be finished long before the deadline ... Time to explore Melbourne and go on a coastal drive on the Great Ocean Road! From the lack of communication during her first weeks in Sydney, we are sure she is not lonely ... but she would be happy if I could join her! ... and pay for the airfare, hotels and drive the car ... -  Who am I to resist?

And third: my husband! He became a bit jealous and felt neglected. He had a conference in Paris in September and asked me to join him and squeeze in a few days in Paris between London and Sydney.   Lucky me: my husband, after knowing me for nearly forty years and being married for 28, recently seems to have a Photoshop liquify/distort-filtered view of my charms built into his eyes ... no need to correct his vision - I am happy to use the extra time in Paris for some street photography and extended strolls along the Seine! 

So there is plenty of stuff for the next weeks to fill this blog :) and bear with me, if I am a little sluggish with processing the terabytes of pictures coming out of these stints ...

In a preview - or as an appetizer -  I have produced a new "Me Myself I" thing: 

"Versatile Mum"

Have a safe trip! 

On the Baltic coast

Exploring the coast of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern, we drove from Heiligendamm eastwards, towards the islands of Rügen and Usedom.

One of the white villas at Heiligendamm, still to be converted into luxurious living spaces.

at Heiligendamm

The Baltic coast at Heiligendamm, although they have a very good hotel complex, is probably the least attractive one - mostly pebbled beach and rough water. Further on eastwards, we found Rügen to be much more attractive with its chalk cliffs and varied wide vistas. 

 Rügen at Cap Arkona

the lighthouse at Cap Arkona

The Königstuhl is Rügen's most famous chalk cliff. Jasmund National Park has been created around it. 

 Swallows nesting in the chalk cliffs

Dense beech forests grow up to the cliffs' edge. One has to strictly stay on the marked trails. Accidents happen every year when tourists, who think themselves on solid ground, become victims of natural cliff erosion. 

... wobbly experiments ... 

Further to the east lies the peninsula Fischland-Darß with long sandy beaches and a string of small villages. The largest of them is Zingst, well-known from its photography festival and crane populations, that fly in during the short autumn months on their way south and use the shallow waters around to stock up with fish. We were too early to see any - I have to go back later in the year. 

Ahrenshoop

The next island to the east on the border with Poland is Usedom. Sandy beaches and some famous spa towns like Zinnowitz and Heringsdorf are here, that were frequented from the end of the 19th century. 

Zinnowitz has a very strange "diving bell" at its pier, where you can visit the sea floor staying dry ..

... it is still the Baltic, not the mediterranean ...

The large "Kulturhaus" in Zinnowitz from 1953 built in a socialist-classicist style still lies in its slumber and waits for the prince (or investor) to kiss it awake.

Bastei

The Bastei close to Dresden, Sachsen, in the eastern corner of Germany close to the Polish-Czech border, is a rock formation on the bank of the Elbe river. It was another spot on our travel itinerary for this summer. Hiking in this spectacular scenery between the sandstone blocks has attracted visitors and especially painters like Caspar David Friedrich (and photographers) for over 200 years. In the mid 19th century the first bridge was built connecting some of the rocks and providing easy access for tourists. 

looking up

Views down to the Elbe river:

From the 13th century on this place was occupied by the inhabitants of Castle Neurathen. Well protected, but living there cannot have been easy ...  

Sunrise over the Bastei

Breslau

Breslau (now Wroclaw) lies enroute to Langenau in Silesia only three hours from Berlin. It was nearly completely destroyed during WWII but has mostly been restored. It is a lively town with a large university and bustling art scene, streets and bars full of young people. 

Rynek, the main market square with its baroque and medieval facades

Schweidnitzer Keller - Guten Appetit! 

The Griffin house

Inside the old university:

 Aula Leopoldina

Aula Leopoldina is being restored.

The bridge leads to Cathedral Island in the centre of town:

The double church  with a lower church ....

.... and an upper church room above: 

a few blocks away: 

a high-end version of "Gartenzwerg"?

Parking was easy. Follow the green lights ... This parking lot surprised us with a special feature: it has sensors installed above every space that switch on a red light if something occupies the space. We tested it out ... again, this seems to be a classic case of opm -  spending "other-people's-money", probably from some EU infrastructure fonds.