We got to know his wife, Katja, and their two kids, Judith and Jonathan, at our community pool. Knowing she was from Germany, we told her that we were going to Germany. She came to our house and we got out the maps and showed her the port where we would be docking, Warnemunde. It just so happens that she lives just ten minutes away in the town of Rostock. And in fact, she was going home for the summer and would be there when we arrived.
We set up the arrival at the Rostock train station by the information center. Sure enough she was there at 10:00 AM and her daughter Judith. They were our guides for the day.
Rostock is rich in early history. Much of the city was destroyed during WW II. But it is a beautiful town and when the Iron Curtain came down in the late 1980’s, many of the houses were painted bright colors and improvements were made to the town.
We started out at the Academy of Music which used to be a Franciscan Monastery from 1243. Though much was destroyed in a fire in the 1600’s much has been preserved also. It was beautiful and we could hear musician’s practicing into the courtyard. Katja studied there so she knew the place well.
We then walked to St. Peter’s Church. This church is important to the family because Katja’s father –in-law was baptized and confirmed there. He is a retired ship’s captain and he also builds model ships. One of the ships he built is hanging in the church with the name of Jonathan, his grandson and Katja’s youngest child, on it. This caused much distress to Judith because her Opa didn’t build a ship for her. Of course, Opa had a beautiful ship in their home with her name on it that he showed her and she was then happy. The spire on this Church was destroyed in the war. It was only rebuilt in 1994 after many donations from the town.
We took the elevator up to the top for a look around.
The town’s 2nd parish church is St. Nicholas. It too was badly damaged in the war and rebuilt in 1994. It is beautiful also.
By now little Judith who will be 6 in November is hungry so we stopped at a café and had a delicious lunch.
We then found the Town Square with the Town Hall. It looked like a set to a movie. It was brightly colored and reminded me of something you would set in a movie.
We then went to one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, St. Mary’s Church. It is one of the largest churches in northern Germany. It was begun in 1230 with replacements made in the 1400’s. The font is still there from 1290 and has the most beautiful and unusual astronomical clock built in 1472. It was breathtaking.
Of course our tour included many more place but we needed to get to Katja’s parents-in-law because they were babysitting little Jonathan.
We headed to their house for the best cake I have ever had. It is a family favorite and Katja cannot find the ingredients for it in the United States. The best way to describe it is a cookie like crust, a light sweet creamy ricotta filling and meringue on top. Katja’s husband, Jens, is still in the United States. His sister and her husband came to see us from Cologne and Oma and Opa (Katja’s in-laws) were there too.
We had a wonderful afternoon eating cake. They have an incredible garden; beautiful flowers, apple trees, PEAR trees (I have never seen a pear tree), and more flowers.
We took a drive to the Port of Rostock which just happens to be across the river from where our ship was docked! We could swim there if we needed to.
After a walk around the port we said our goodbyes and they showed us to the ferry that crosses the river every 5 minutes. We walked onto the ferry with the other pedestrians and cars and arrived right at our cruise ship! Pretty handy!
We had a lovely day and discovered that no matter where we are in the world there are wonderful, caring people. Today was one of those days that can never be duplicated or matched. It was just perfect. Print this post
1 comment:
Awwww...our little German pool friends. Parker thought this story was very cool. Remember he thinks Judith is pretty cool, for being a girl and all!
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