After my March ski vacation, I worked another two weeks full-time in Karlsruhe before heading out on the road again. My original plan was to buy a Euro-Rail pass which would give me three weeks of unlimited rail travel in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Despite the great price of about 380 DM, I decided to save the money and try hitch-hiking in Scandinavia instead. Another goal of mine was to visit some of my Swedish friends at home during the semester break. Before reaching Sweden I had to travel through most of Germany, so I decided that on the first day of my travels I would head to Hamburg (in the North) and visit my Aunt for a few days. I left early on the morning of Sat April 15th. I tried to hitch-hike from Karlsruhe but had no luck in the first few hours, so I decided to get a cheap train ticket and start making my way North. I had to change trains often as I was using the cheaper regional trains, and as a result of the slow start and numerous delays (including having to wait an hour because some guy had thrown himself in front of another train on the same track) I fell way behind schedule. Not wanting to arrive in Hamburg at midnight, I tried hitch-hiking again in Frankfurt, this time with huge success. I quickly found a direct lift to Hamburg from Frankfurt. The ride was with a 35 year-old rocker who played guitar in a heavy metal band. To date he is the only person (of many, I might add) who has given me a ride and then asked for gas money. He didn't get any, though (I was broke - again). By 6 PM I was in Hamburg at my aunt's place. The following Sunday my aunt, her friend, and I took a day trip to see Wismar and Schwerin. Both cities are in Mecklenburg Vorpommern, one of the "new" German states, a former part of the ex-DDR. We took the Autobahn on the way there to save time, and a more scenic route on the way back. Our first stop was Wismar. Wismar is one of the seven German cities in the Hanseatic League (the others being Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Rostock, Straslund, and Greifswald). It is on the coast of the Baltic Sea. From 1648 to about 1803 it actually belonged to Sweden, and Swedish flags can even be found in the city today. For the next hundred years it was "leased" to Mecklenburg Vorpommern, meaning that any tax revenue still went to the Swedes. Since around 1902 Wismar has been German. We had ice cream at this cafe. Visiting cities in the former DDR (East Germany) is very interesting. It is usually quite easy to find buildings constructed in the last ten years and those left standing after 40 years of Russian-style "democracy". Some houses are still in bad shape and are just waiting to fall down. Wismar was still very nice - it was great to be by the sea again. The port had a lot of old sailboats. After Wismar we went south to Schwerin which sits on a lake with the same name. Schwerin was impressive, I think that a lot more has been done there in the last ten years than in Wismar. The most elaborate attraction in Schwerin is the palace. The palace is huge and reminded me of Neuschwanstein with its many different towers and wings. We went inside for a coffee after touring the palace grounds. Here is a church in Schwerin. After a few hours in Schwerin we headed back to Hamburg for dinner. I had to get up early the next day to catch a train at 5:30 AM. Back to the Main Page - Zurück zur Hauptseite