30seconds.blogs.com: Kiel, Germany

Last stop before returning Copenhagen to fly home to Zurich: Kiel, Germany.

One very unexpected thing that happened on this cruise is that our very first port of call was CANCELLED the morning we were supposed to land there, in Warnemünde, Germany. Fortunately for those who were determined to visit Germany, there was this other stop ten days later, the last one, also in Germany. For us it was no big deal, because we live an hour from Germany, and didn't even have any plans really to get off the ship at the first stop - maybe a ten-minute walk around or something. So we were fine with just getting another day at sea (as rocky as it was, since the cancellation was due to high winds and high seas, prohibiting safe docking). But for those planning on a train trip in to Berlin, I'm sure it was very disappointing.

From Kiel, they were offering train trips into Hamburg, but David and I were content to take a little walk around the edge of Kiel. You can see two spires in the photo below. The left one is an "open" church, St. Nikolaus, whose aim is to be a "warming room for a cold soul." (click on "Konzept" and scroll down, but it's in German). I like that!

The right hand one is the Rathaus (city hall). We walked to both. Circling the Rathaus trying to find a way inside (we had heard it was pretty), we discovered a catholic church, which is a bit confusingly named St. Nikolai. This one offers meetings for those who are sad, or unemployed ("Who cares? We do" the sign says). What a good idea. Encouraging to visit.