Fields of Groß Zicker

I found this road, this fork, and those clouds very nice to photograph. Here we are heading into the hills for an after-lunch hike.

Zicker Lunch

Lunchtime at Taun Hövt in Groß Zicker after a morning of touring the coastal cities.
We have gone almost as far south as one can go in this corner of the island.
Here, if you're interested, is what it's like to drive through the lovely country village
of Groß Zicker to some classical guitar (someone else's video).

Ma is happy to have found something vegan! Off-menu, apparently. The specials are fish. 

I had a breaded Dorschfilet (cod).

Swing!

Nele and her friend Tim on a teeter-swing... well, a... 

some kind of playground implement at the place we ate lunch.

Country Parsonage

The Groß Zicker Church. Built in 1360, no big deal. :)

On the Seebrücke

A nice photo of Mom, Matthias, me and Jule snapped by Martin on the Binz pier.

Binz and Sellin

Next day, we all took a drive to see some of Rügen's southern cities on the beach.

 Looking back at Binz from the long seebrücke.

The Pensioner where my grandmother was sent during the War. In Sellin.

The long steps down to the seebrücke in Sellin.

Kap Arkona

At the end of the bikeride was Kap Arkona and its twin lighthouses. About this time, I found the camera's panorama mode. Beware, epic 180s ahead.

Glowe Bikeride

The first thing we did on our first full day in Rügen was take a bikeride out to the cape. About 30 miles, round. Here are some things we saw along the way.

This modern hotel tucked away on top of a cliff in what must be the quietest corner of the island.

This lovely tree on some sort of old burial mound.

This grave wooden chap guarding the dangerous cliffs.

Photo by Martin

Tapetenwechsel, KDR

We arrive in Glowe in the evening. A traffic jam has made us later than expected. Here is our Ferienwohnung. Mom, Dad and I are already on vacation, but for Matthias, Anne, Oma and Nele, this other house by the sea is a much-needed Tapetenwechsel (changing-of-wallpaper).

The island of Rügen is known historically for having been the official vacation destination for the working class of DDR (East) Germany. Sectors of the island still have depressing rows of Communist-built vacation modules meant to provide the workers their annual Tapetenwechsel. The Party even had a catchy Orwellian slogan to capture the aspirations of the vacation program: "Kraft Durch Freude" (Power Through Joy).

Matthias and Anne were always commenting on what has improved on Rügen since the Wall fell 24 years ago. When Westerners were first allowed back into the East, the infrastructure was in a terrible state and houses like this didn't exist. A huge proportion of unified Germany's taxpayer money has thus gone into recovery: bringing the East back up to speed with the West. The island of Rügen is still in the process of upgrading from a Communist vacation destination to a Capitalist one.

End of Part IV

Go to Part V...

Burggarten, Schwerin

On the way to Rügen, we stopped in Schwerin to stretch the legs, take in the sight of this beautiful Schloß and take on another passenger: cousin Nele's boyfriend, Tim.

Tim, Nele, and Mama 'round in the back garden area of Schloß Schwerin.

Woop! Someone else was back there too.

Matthias' Taxi Company

My Uncle Matthias and his wife Anne run a busy taxi company in Kiel metro area. Every time we needed a ride somewhere, it was one of their cars. Business is good, but that also means they are always being called up for a problem with one of their 70 cars or drivers.

I think Tyler and Rami will appreciate this panorama of the Mercedes lot. Me and Pop aren't even into cars that much, but we still enjoyed picking out the one we wanted...

With the other kids gone, it was time to rearrange the cars for our next outing, a vacation within a vacation, to the island of Rügen...

The Kids Say Goodbye

Alas, it is time for Tyler, Maia, Nina & Rami to go back to America and back to work. One last schnapps, a few more stories and pictures, and then the girls kiss their Oma goodbye... probably for five more years.

Wiedersehen!

Andreas' Boat

An old friend of Martin's, Andreas, invited us out to his old sailboat on Kieler Hafen. It was quite beautiful to look at... and breathe in. The hull is original wood from the 1880's, which makes his one of the oldest boats still afloat in Kiel. Andreas takes it out 2-3 times a year, for short pleasure trips with a lady-friend, or for festivals. Andreas has all sorts of weird hobbies, but mainly he's an audiophile. Here we are talking about Zappa in the boat's mahogany cabin...

Disco!

Disco pre-game. What a couple of badasses. Maia, me, Pacino, Tyler and cousin Aaron before heading out to Kiel's nightlife district. No one shows up to the clubs until about 1 am. It's a long pre-game. We are drinking jack and cokes in Aaron's flat.

Ease, Kiel's best place for house music. They could have just plugged in Tyler's phone!

My brother is up on his house music.

Dinner at Bärbel's

Max's wife Bärbel was kind enough to invite us all over to Fresendorf again for dinner. No doubt inspired by discussions with my mom, she cooked all-vegan for 12 people. Gut gemacht Bärbel, now have a drink!

Her son, Aaron (far left), has come in from Kiel to drive us to disco after dinner!

Kaffee und Kuchen with Dad's Old Flame

Martin's old girlfriend brought a cake and her husband to tea.
They met on an exchange year when they were both 16.

Lunch... more fish!

For lunch one day Matthias and Anne brought home two special fish sauces. The yellow one is shrimp in a mild curry with dill, the purple one is herring in beet juice and vinegar. On a fresh sesame roll from across the street. Just seeing this photo makes my mouth water again. I got really into fish. Tyler is on board too.

Happy Martin

Breakfast Brötchen

A typical breakfast in Oma's house. Brötchen (sesam) with assorted marmalades, an egg, and tea or coffee.