Tiddly Carvings?! - A Baltic Cruise: Day 5 - Warnemunde, Germany

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Index

Today’s Navigator


Today we were doing a private tour, which I had arranged myself and which was meeting at 8:00 so we were up at 6:45 and after getting washed and dressed we went up to Topsiders to get some fruit juice and to take some photos.

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At 7:30 we got off the ship and found a German band there to welcome us.

We went outside the terminal and met up with Heidi (Has) and her parents who were also on the tour and soon afterwards we met up with Dave from Friends of Dave tours who was going to be our guide for the day. There were another 8 people also doing the tour and once we were all together Dave handed out audio headsets so that we would all be able to hear him easily and after introducing ourselves to each other we set off for a walking tour of Warnemunde. Dave took us all around the town explaining the history along the way and pointing out various places of interest.

At 9:45 we stopped off in a little café for coffee and a cake - which was included in the tour price.

The Germans rent these little chairs to sit on at the beach – I’ve no idea why because they are SO uncomfortable!

After our rest stop we walked back to Warnemunde station where we boarded a train for Rostock and once we reached Rostock we changed onto a train bound for Wismar.

We arrived at Wismar at 12:15 and again embarked on a walking tour including St Nikolai Church

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We stopped for lunch at a brewery at 1:45 and again the price of lunch, which included several choices of food and drink, was included in the tour price. I had a goulash with beer sauce and Dad had Hunter’s schnitzel, both of which came up in huge portions.

After an hour for lunch we were off walking again and stopped off at the Holy Ghost Church.

And at St Mary’s Church. This was bombed in the Second World war and only the tower remains, however the outline of the outer walls has been rebuilt to waist level and this is going to be made a ‘contemplation garden’ where people can come and remember how years of history can be destroyed so easily.

After half an hour of free time we returned to Wismar station where we boarded the 4:42 train and after changing again at Rostock we arrived back at Warnemunde at 6:30. Dave collected all the headsets and we paid him the cost of the tour - 115 Euros each, which was excellent value for money considering it included all the train fares, the coffee and cakes, lunch and the enthusiasm with which Dave shared his knowledge with us. If anybody is ever in Warnemunde I can highly recommend ‘Friends of Dave Tours’ and by the end of the day we definitely were, and will remain, friends of Dave. While some people went their separate ways Dave, his partner Michael, Dale (Epcotrulz), his partner Jeff and I all went off to a local bar for a drink together. The bar was in the perfect location and we were able to enjoy our drinks with a view of the Magic.

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We were due back on board at 8:30 so at around 7:45 we finished up our drinks and started making our way back to the ship. There was time for a group photo on the way back.

And photos of some sand sculptures that were being exhibited.

We were back on the boat at 8:10 and went up on deck to watch the sail away. Dave is a Disney fan himself so he had stayed to wave the ship off and we soon spotted him down on the dock waving up at us. The ship left at about 8:40 and this was the best send-off we had had so far with lots of people out to see us off and a few sightseeing boats escorting us to the harbour entrance.

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Once we had left the harbour we went to Pluto’s Dog House where Dad had chicken strips and fries and I had Cajun chicken breast and fries. By now it was 9:15 and as we knew that the shop was opening at 9:30 with some Inaugural Baltic Cruise logo merchandise that hadn’t been available on board before we made our way down there only to find a queue already waiting for us. The shop opened a couple of minutes later and I was just in time to grab a medium sized T-shirt which I wasn’t sure would fit me but got anyway with a view to changing it if they put a larger size out later.

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We then went back to the cabin where I took some photos of the sunset from the verandah. After relaxing for a while we went down to the Promenade Lounge where we had a large brandy each and put our watches forward an hour before going to bed at 11:30 (00:30).

Day 6

 

[Dave and Micha]

Hey.. what AMAZING photos of our day together! I am so glad to have you guys as friends! Your video made me teary, especially as I posted one on my Facebook page of you guys leaving. Seeing the Magic in Warnemünde was really special for me... it was like life had come a little bit full circle, what with an Orlando Disney boy like me living in Warnemünde and seeing a piece of home sail into port.

I don't know what made me smile more, turning the corner and seeing Goofy hanging off the back of the Magic or hearing When You Wish Upon a Star as the boat farewell... I think it's a tie.

 

[irongirlof12]

what a fab day. some great sights. love the sand sculptures

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Another wonderful day .... your tour sounds amazing. Great photos

 

[mandymouse]

What a great day David, it sounds like you had a fab time on your tour

 

[suzycute]

Great day - I love the sand sculptures!

 

[Chilly]

wonderful day

 

[PJB71]

Looks like you had a fantastic day David, looks a lovely place

 

[jjk]

lovely day

 

[disney_princess_85]

Warnemünde and Wismar look really lovely.

 

[florida sun]

What a fabulous day, that beach looks fantastic and Daves tour sounds great value and really interesting, lovely day

 

[CustardTart]

Wow, fab pics!!! Warnemunde looks really beautiful and that blue sky really lifts the spirits... And how lovely to meet up with Dave and make new friends like that - a great day all round...

 

[arieljasmine]

What a pretty place. The tour sounds excellent and you have some spectacular photos of the churches.

But you didn't tell us whether the t-shirt fitted you or not?!

Laur's xx

 

[DMMarla07860]

sound awesome I met that guy Dave since in February/March 2009 my dad and I were on the same back-2-back cruise as him, he is nice.

 

[Pegasus928]

We lived in Germany for 4 years so it was nice to see the familiar architecture and hear about the food that you enjoyed

Great pics of the sand sculptures

 

[tennisfan]

Lovely city, another fab day