What a gorgeous day we had today! Even though it was still cool and a bit windy in the afternoon (with a high of 63), it was mostly sunny and perfect for a bit of a road trip with little walking bits. In fact, the sun was bright and the sky clear at 5:30 am, lighting up the water and the military ships we can see at the navy harbor across from us, so bright that Mark woke up and immediately grabbed the camera to capture that early light (military ships or not). Just for the record, we did go back to sleep for a bit after that! When we got up at 7, we had a bite to eat (I got a couple of croissants and a raisin brioche from a nearby French bakery) and went for a walk along the promenade because it was so nice, while Kai got himself ready. When we got back home at 8:45, he walked to the train station with me to replace his lost Bahn Card, the discount card that gives a 25% rebate on German train fares, and that only costs 10 euro for under-18-year-olds. Then I showed him where the supermarket was, since he wanted to re-supply himself with snack food and lunch, and met up with Mark to go catch up with the other three for a little 5-person road trip. I had forgotten some items at home, so they jointly retrieved Uschi’s car while I went home to get an all-important map and a book. Then we all set out to drive along the Schlei.
The Schlei is a fjord-like inlet/bay just north of here that goes inland from the Baltic to the town of Schleswig (where Mark and I were yesterday), for 20 idyllic and picturesque miles of coastline dotted with little villages. We drove from Eckernförde to Kappeln, where you can cross from its southern or Schwansen shore to the northern or Angeln side (Angle as in Anglo-Saxon, because this is apparently where this particular Germanic tribe lived for a while) on a drawbridge called a bascule bridge (the kind that opens up in the middle from both sides). This one opens up an hour (during the daytime) to let
boat traffic through, and we crossed it before it opened at 10:45. Then, we parked in the city center and walked along the pier, where there are still real small-outfit fisheries that have their colorful bins for fish all over the harbor, and on to the bridge, where a whole bunch of sailboats and a big three master (without the sails) went up”stream” (the Schlei not being a stream at all, but just a brackish body of baywater without a major inlet/outlet). We also wandered through some of the pedestrian shopping district with its quaint little old houses and lots of greenery. These towns with all their gardens, bushes and vines along the walls, and little beds of flowers would be pretty anytime in the summer, but it is a “bumper crop” year for roses, and we see them everywhere with many buds and blooms—just gorgeous!
We continued after our little walk to the next charming town on the Schlei, Arnis, which has the distinction of being Germany’s smallest incorporated town (at something like 265 inhabitants now—obviously, it was of some importance at some point in the Middle Ages, when it became a town, but now it’s just an adorable one-street village directly on the bay, with a ferry to cross it that fits two cars and a few bicycles and pedestrians (we watched it cross but didn’t take it). Here, we walked the town and found a cafe at one end that was right by the waterfront, and had lovely, simple food for an uncomplicated lunch. While the others ordered, Mark and I went back to the car to repark it from far out of town (i.e. 200 yards away) to closer by (i.e. 50 yards away), and spotted an interesting surreal object: a float with a piano and a baritone horn alongside the sailboats in the harbor across from the parking lot! We never did find out what that was about. When we got back, our food was just about to be served! Bruschetta for Uschi and me, pasta for Mark, and soups for Imke and Dorothee recharged us, and we took a little walk along the Schlei in the sunshine before moving on.
The next leg of our adventure led us back across the Schlei on yet another type of movable bridge, outside the town of Lindaunis—a “rolling bascule bridge” with a weight to make it lift up. This was especially adventurous because it was a one-lane bridge that also doubled up as a train track! It would have been easy to miss the turn to get back off the tracks and onto the road, but we managed! Back on “our” side of the Schlei (where the town with our rental apartments is), we drove to another small town that Uschi knew about because she once ordered something from a goldsmith who has a small studio there. It’s called Sieseby (“by” always being the word for “village” or “very small place,” and pronounced “bü” not “bee” or “by”) and there is confusingly also a Rieseby and a Krieseby! We almost drove by it, but then turned back and found the village street, which featured one cafe, one studio run by multiple artist where that goldsmith had some of her work on display, and where Imke found an adorable sweater for Jupiter, and about 10 cottages, all thatched and whitewashed, with roses and shrubbery. It turns out that the entire village, with homes from the 19th century and an 800-year-old church, is on the national register for historic buildings (“unter Denkmalschutz”). We checked out the modest little church, whitewashed with remnants of frescoes, and again looked at the Schlei, now from its south bank.
It was about 3 pm by now and getting to be a bit windy, and we were beginning to get tired, so we decided to drive back home (only a 20-minute drive). Imke, Uschi and Dorothee went home after we successfully parked the car in an adventurously small parking spot in very dark parking garage, and Mark and I dropped our stuff off and went for a walk while there was still some sun. We climbed the hill on the other side of Eckernförde (Borby) where there is a nice panorama point, and then found ourselves a really nice cafe where we had coffee and tea and a lovely piece of simple sheet cake (Streuselkuchen for me, Apfelkuchen for Mark) to tide us over until dinner. We came home about 5, putzed with photos and blog stuff for a little bit, and then took off with Kai to meet the others at a Greek restaurant for dinner—Dorothee’s treat. The food was wonderful (and the service good in my view, although “the Germans” thought they weren’t quite fast enough—the place was rather busy)—Mark’s gyros and my souvlaki were wonderfully tender, and the rice and tsatsiki were great too. But it was much, much too much—only Uschi was smart enough to order a senior portion. Between trying each other’s meals and taking samples of Kai’s vegetarian platter, we each had food left over and had it boxed up (I am glad that that works in Germany now). When we were done, it was time to sample another concert at the “Spieker,” where our fake Blues Brothers had been. Uschi and Kai both decided to go home, but we other four stayed for a guitar and percussion duo that was playing flamenco music with some jazz and Latin elements. They were very good, even though they were German—the guitarist spoke very good Spanish, but also had a southern German accent. Halfway through, I figured out that they must be from the Black Forest—their band name was Selva Negra. It was a nice evening, although to me it was more background music (all instrumental) and I had also sat too long, so I was a little twitchy and eventually stood up because I couldn’t sit anymore. But Mark and Imke in particular really liked the music, and we did have a good time. We walked home a little after 10 and wrapped up the day around 11.