Sylt and Flensburg

Monday 31st July 2006, Dagebüll, on the North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein
This really is a very pleasant site. It has only the minimum of facilities so does not attract large crowds. They tend to use the main site further down the road. The facilities here are clean and adequate and now that there is a cool breeze blowing the lack of shade is not so urgent. The site is called Moin Moin. This is a regional word which we have discovered means Good Morning or Hello. Most of Germany uses the word Morgen but Moin Moin is equivalent to the Bavarian Gruss Gott. This evening we have sat outside with glasses of wine while our supper cooked in the tiny oven we have with us. Until today we have not used it for weeks as it has been far too hot to cook.

Last night we eventually had a little rain and this morning everywhere felt much fresher though the rain that fell had completely disappeared into the grass which felt as dry as ever as we breakfasted outside.

We drove into Niebüll where we have spent most of the day. At the library we were unable to load material on to the internet as they did not permit us to use our USB stick. However, we solved this problem at the railway station before returning to the town centre for a very nice, inexpensive lunch at the local butcher/delicatessen where every day they offer a particular dish. Today it was roast lamb with vegetables which we ate at a table shared with others outside the shop front. Here we ended up talking to a couple who had visited Exeter and had fond memories of the cathedral, but most of all, memories of Pizza Express on the cathedral green. They reckon it serves the best pizza they have ever tasted!

During the afternoon we visited the Friesland Museum. It only opens for a few hours a day and is run by very well informed volunteers. We were the only visitors this afternoon and were given a guided tour by the curator. It took two hours to see around the farmhouse which is conserved as it would have been over the last few centuries. It was in use until the 1920s. Our guide was a very friendly man who quickly warmed to his subject when he realised Ian could cope with German and with translating the bits Jill didn't quite grasp – though that is improving very quickly. He was the same age as us and had attended school in Niebüll at the time Ian was here so long ago. They speculated they may even have met at that time!

He took us around the museum, room by room, explaining how the farm would have been run and how thatching with reeds was carried out, showing us the necessary tools. He explained the workings of the kitchen - bread making, the way the huge cast iron cooking pots would have been used, how water was drawn and heated and how farm produce was preserved for the winter months He showed us the box beds where the family slept and the loom where fabric was woven. He was frequently able to draw on examples from his own life, speaking about his grandfather and even showing us skates similar to the ones he used to get to school across the frozen winter landscape. Here the water level rises in winter, freezes and forms a sheet of ice over whole areas of the countryside. He showed us cupboards filled with women's lace bonnets, equipment for making candles, paintings and samplers done by local people, farming tools and nineteenth century ledgers with the farm accounts neatly written down with a quill pen. He showed us the stalls where the cattle were milked and livestock housed over the wintertime. It became clear from his descriptions that the whole building was efficiently designed, from its east-west orientation with the cattle at the east end - down-wind from the prevailing westerlies, to the seats of the farmer and his wife beside the south-facing windows, the farmer with his rack of pipes readily to hand, the wife with her embroidery and lace making equipment fixed to her side of the table.

Farmhouse museum in Niebüll

Main living room and bedroom at the farmhouse museum in Niebüll

Best parlour at the farmhouse museum in Niebüll

Candle-making equipment at the farmhouse museum in Niebüll

Kitchen range and cooking equipment at the farmhouse museum in Niebüll

Usually we prefer to look around a place at our own pace and work out how things function. In this instance though, it was really good to have someone so enthusiastic and knowledgeable to explain things to us in such a friendly manner. He obviously got as much pleasure from it as we did and he was in no hurry to get off home at closing time when we were still there chatting.

Later, back in town, we picked up a pretty Porthmerion mug for peanuts in a junk shop. Obviously it is not recognised or appreciated here as it is in Britain and other parts of Europe. We've been very good about not buying anything as we travel, knowing we would have to carry it around for the rest of the year. Now though, with only four weeks to go, we can perhaps afford to be a bit more self-indulgent.

Tuesday 1st August 2006, Dagebüll, on the North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein
Yes, we are still here! Having found a nice campsite why rush off up into Denmark? Everyone we have spoken to warns us it is expensive and there are still interesting things to do around this northernmost tip of Germany where we can understand the language and everyone is so friendly.

Looking at the map a while back it seemed as if it would be interesting to take Modestine to Sylt, a strip of land off the westernmost coast of German Friesland, linked to the mainland by a causeway and stretching right up to the Danish border. However, we discovered the only way out is across the Hindenburg Dam, a stretch of reclaimed land across the mudflats with the sea lapping at either side where drainage ditches and dykes are helping to reclaim a gradually widening strip back from the sea. The dam is only wide enough to support a railway line which is single track for much of its length. Vehicles have to be loaded onto navettes at Niebüll to be carried across the causeway and unloaded in Westerland, the only town of any size on the long, narrow strip of land that is Sylt. Having no real need for Modestine on the island, or indeed for Hinge and Bracket, we left them together in a car park in Niebüll and took the train across the causeway without them.

Vehicles being carried to the island of Sylt

As we left the mainland it started to rain. We have been longing for it to return but on an exposed spit of land almost devoid of trees, it was not quite the moment to welcome it back

According to our German guidebook Westerland is the most chic of all the German seaside resorts. Germany does not actually have many seaside resorts and perhaps we were naïve to assume this meant it was a rather nice place. We were generally disappointed with Sylt. While it was worth a single visit, we would never bother to go again. Westerland is overcrowded and overpriced. The streets in the centre may be chic but within half and hour we had become bored with shops selling locally made chocolate, smart coffee shops selling marzipan gulls' eggs and quark cake, expensive china shops selling Meissen porcelain and cheap souvenir shops selling mugs and teeshirts inscribed with "My family visited Sylt and all they bought me was this mug/teeshirt" accompanied by a long thin wormy looking shape with a hook at the top. (See a map of Sylt.) The enthusiasm for using other languages in Germany is sometimes carried to extremes. So, an expensive lingerie shop in the town centre is called "Touch Me Dessous" which strikes us as verging on the obscene! We strolled through the town to the sea front. Here our way was barred by a barrier and a ticket office. If you want to see the sea, you are expected to pay for it!

Manhole cover, Westerland

Uncovered woman, Westerland

Outside of the immediate town centre the roads were full of traffic jams – amazing when you think everything on the island from vehicles to foodstuffs has to come across the Hindenburg Dam! The streets were boring, stretching away into the distance with flats, trading estates and sand dunes to either side. There are only two roads to speak of on the island. One stretches about eighteen kilometres north of Westerland with the sea on either side, the other does much the same in the opposite direction.

Near the station we found the number 1 bus about to depart to the north of the island. (Presumably the number 2 bus goes south but we didn't investigate!) Bored with Westerland we took a ride up the coast to List, almost at the furthest tip. From here a ferry leaves for the Danish island of Rømø, a short hop across the water. This area proved to be more interesting though is only a small port with several cafes and bars and a few tourist shops. We explored the port and some of the shops, particularly those selling fresh fish and foodstuffs. The most northerly fish shop in Germany is called Gosch. We were impressed and bought Bratherring rolls there for our picnic lunch. Gosch, they were nice! We recalled today that we had found the fish menus around the Mediterranean region not really to our taste, being either full of bones or like rubber bands in expensive sauce, or to be swallowed whole and raw. Here though, we have really enjoyed all the fish dishes we have tried and have actually been eager to appreciate all the different possibilities. For one thing we can see them displayed, already prepared and clearly labelled so we know what we will be getting, and they are very much cheaper than the expensive menus we have seen in southern Europe. North Sea fish is also something with which we are more familiar. A herring is a herring, a mackerel a mackerel and a sprat is exactly that. (We still shudder to recall the plate of Devil's dentures we saw in Santiago de Compostela and wonder what on earth they were!)

Harbour at List

Most northerly fish restaurant in Germany, List

Friesian freezer, List

Smoked eels – sold by length, List

Smoked fish, List

At List the sun was really hot one moment and the wind and rain came sweeping in the next, only to disappear just as suddenly. It didn't take long to exhaust the possibilities on offer on the northern point of this landspit so we returned down the island to Westerland and caught the train one station back towards Niebüll to the village of Keitum. This used to be the historic "capital" of Sylt before Westerland developed as a seaside tourist resort. Here the houses were all in traditional style with reed thatched roofs, brick walls and pretty gardens. They were rather like those we had seen on Föhr but not quite so picturesque. Incidentally, we have learnt that while the buildings are traditionally reed covered, because the drainage of the Koogs has been so effective, reeds are no longer found here in sufficient quantities for thatching. Now the reeds are imported from the Hungarian Pusta, probably the very Hortobagy region we crossed in the torrential rain with the permanent chorus of frogs!

Reed covered cottages amongst the sand dunes near List

As we strolled around the village streets we could hear a very plummy British commentary from a loud speaker system at the polo ground on the far side of the railway track. Apparently Germany and Switzerland were locked in mortal polo combat but why the commentary needed to be in English we do not know. Fortunately the result was a tie which was a jolly good show all round what what!

Suddenly our friend the Rain discovered exactly where we were and spent the next ten minutes boisterously soaking us and eagerly accompanied us back to the station. Here the train was running thirty minutes late. British Rail is not the only one to have delays. Being single track for much of the route delays are almost inevitable. Nobody seemed too bothered and the girl waiting to board the train to sell refreshments had very little left by the time it arrived. Delayed travellers, crowded together on the platform seeking warmth and shelter from the rain, had consumed her Kuchen and emptied her Teekännchen!

Eventually though, we rejoined Modestine in Niebüll and retuned to our campsite here at Dagebüll. Rain followed gleefully behind and, making up for lost time, has spent most of the evening teeming down while we have been snug and comfortably warm inside Modestine. It has been an interesting day but unless Denmark is very different from here, there may not be enough to keep us happily occupied for the final month of our travels. We are in the process of rethinking our future plans.

Wednesday 2nd August 2006, Flensburg, Baltic Coast, Schleswig-Holstein
This evening finds us on a pleasant campsite within cycling distance of the town of Flensburg, still just within Germany on the eastern side of the Jutland Peninsula. We want to visit the town and in particular the museum as we were told by Frau Feddersen the other day that there are a number of paintings by Hans-Peter Feddersen on display there and one of the curators is a specialist in his works. We expected to arrive in time to visit the town during the day but it was evening by the time we arrived so instead we made straight for this campsite.

We left Dagebüll after breakfast but decided to use the internet in Niebüll before moving on as we still have rather a backblog to load and we needed to check ferry times for our return to England. By that time we decided we might as well get some wine and tins of food before we go into Denmark where we understand prices will be a lot higher. Then we thought we'd have lunch. Then we discovered the church was unlocked and went inside to explore. Then we decided we needed a coffee. Then we remembered a museum we intended visiting at Seebüll out on the polders, dedicated to the works of Emil Nolde. So that really was our day. We considered returning to Dagebüll again for the night but decided to press on to Flensburg and hope we could find a campsite when we arrived.

We really enjoyed the last few days in and around the little brick town of Niebüll. It is small enough to be friendly and relaxed but large enough to have everything you might need. It is also a pretty little town with attractive public gardens and quiet, tree-lined roads. Today we visited the simple brick Lutheran church, built in the 1730s.
Inside the walls are plain white and hung with several oil paintings including one of Luther himself. There is an impressive 17th century carved and painted pulpit with bible texts in Low German. There is also a painted altar piece flanked by carved angels. The pews and woodwork are painted in dove grey and pale green. There is an old, incised granite baptismal font and nearby a huge cross flanked by carved wooden figures.

Lutheran Church at Niebüll

Looking towards the altar and pulpit in the Church at Niebüll

From the Altar looking to the back of the Church at Niebüll

Font and Crucifixion in the church at Niebüll

Carved and painted pews dated 1730 in the church at Niebüll

Wooden pulpit with Low German inscriptions in the church at Niebüll

We were taken aback to discover here the original of one of the paintings we had been admiring in the book we were given about the artist Hans Peter Feddersen. Called "The return of the prodigal son" it hangs in the local church rather than one of the museums or private collections of his works. We felt quite excited to have seen it. It was only chance we went into the church and only chance too that we recognised the painting for what it was.

The return of the prodigal son by Hans-Peter Feddersen, in the church at Niebüll

Hans-Peter Feddersen (1848–1941) was an older contemporary of the artist Emil Nolde (1867–1956). Both painted local scenes and landscapes but their painting styles were very different. Nolde became more and more expressionistic in the way he worked. We drove out along little lanes right up to the Danish border - he was in fact born over the border but settled at Seebüll in Germany in a house built to his own design during the 1920s, set remotely amidst the polders where cattle graze under dramatic skies.

Cattle grazing under dramatic skies near Seebüll

Emil Nolde's house seen from the garden, Seebüll

Emil Nolde's garden house, Seebüll

He had the double-edged recognition of being included in the notorious Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition in 1937. During the war his works were banned by the Nazis and many paintings confiscated. He was however a prolific artist and spent the war years secretly working on smaller water colours for himself. These now form the basis of the exhibition. We expected to be the only people around, not realising how widely appreciated he was. When we arrived at his gallery and studio it was crowded with art enthusiasts from both sides of the border, many arriving in coach loads. The house had been his home, where he worked, lived and died. Now it displays a selection of his paintings, woodcuts and engravings.

We were impressed by his works and particularly by his vivid use of colour. Earlier works were more traditional portraits and local scenes but soon colour took precedence over form and they became increasingly expressionistic, often with an emotionally charged harshness. Apparently, according to Frau Feddersen, Hans-Peter Feddersen did not fully sympathise with the work of Nolde, asking him once why he chose to work as if he didn't know how to paint when all the time he was a first rate painter! Downstairs his original studio had been given over to his canvases of self portraits and religious paintings. The latter were particularly interesting being in wonderfully bright and frequently unexpected colours, bold splodges of colour that almost naively conveyed scenes from the life of Christ. The painting of the Holy Family was one of the gaudiest and most cheerful nativity scenes we have seen. Even today when we have become used to using colour and form in so many different ways it makes a very pleasurable impact. Regrettably we cannot show any photos of his works but try the Nolde Stiftung website.

Outside we wandered in his garden, beautifully maintained and, like his paintings, bright with vivid colours as dahlias, golden rod, climbing roses and nasturtiums jostled for space and gentle bees droned amongst them, their legs heavy with pollen.

If we were to make it to Flensburg before dusk we'd best get going. It was around 50 kilometres along a straight dyke that ran almost along the frontier between Germany and Denmark. The route was generally quiet but badly potholed. It seems strange that it is the routes along borders that tend to be neglected. It was the same on the German/Polish border. This campsite is at a useful crossing point between Germany and Denmark and many of the people staying here are Danish. They sound a remarkably boisterous lot with rather loud voices. It still sounds very strange to our ears but over the next couple of weeks we should get used to it even if we cannot understand it. All the signs on the campsite are in German and Danish. As Jill still finds it rather a struggle with German she's hoping she won't end up having to cope in Danish!

Thursday 3rd August 2006, Flensburg, Baltic Coast, Schleswig-Holstein
What do you think of when Denmark is mentioned? Bacon, open sandwiches, raw herrings, modern furniture, pastries, fairy tales and of course Lego. This was Jill's list. When she asked Ian for additional suggestions he immediately responded with "blonde naked ladies in the sand dunes."

This morning we cycled from the campsite the four kilometres into Flensburg where we have spent the entire day - and a very pleasant, if exhausting one it has been. It is a town of 87,000 inhabitants and the old centre stretches out along one main street with little courtyards off to either side. Formerly these were stores and warehouses for the port which lies on the fiord, parallel to the main street. Now these courtyards are full of flowers, craft shops and sunny cafés. Although we are still in Germany there is a definite feel that we are on the edge of Scandinavia here. Ian has purchased a German-Danish phrase book which he is eagerly studying. Danish seems rather like a mixture of German and English with several new diacriticals. So long as we say "Tak" and "Skål" a lot we should be okay.

Courtyard off the main street, Flensburg

In the 18th century Flensburg was an important trading port, particularly for the ships from the West Indies fleet. They would return here with cargoes of rum which were distilled and refined in the town. It is still famous for its distilleries today.

We started our tour of the town exploring the flea market where we bought a wooden budgerigar. No, we don't really know why either. He looked rather sorry for himself on the junk stall and we decided to pay up to a euro for him. As the man on the stall said, it was a bargain as we never needed to feed him.

Südermarkt, Flensburg

Further along the road we stopped to look in at a rum dealer's warehouse. Here we had glasses of rum slipped into our hands to try! What with that and the budgie on her shoulder Jill was beginning to feel like Long John Silver! The rum was very warming and made a change from a mid-morning coffee. We learnt all there must be to know about rum before we left. It has a history of being very popular with the Danish and the Norwegian fishermen who would drink it to give them courage before setting off to fish the North Sea.

A rum business, Flensburg

The main street is a long pedestriansised area of shops and cafés at ground level but the upper floors of the properties reveal the history of the town as a prosperous trading port full of merchants' houses with elaborately carved doors and windows, ornate gables, statues and decorated brickwork.

Nordertor, Flensburg

Down by the port we looked out across the fjord to the many sailing vessels and explored the old boatyard where in the past the wooden fishing boats were made. Now it seems to concentrate more on restoring some of the older boats rather than building new ones. It is though a very interesting area to explore. Nearby is a museum on the history of boat building in Friesland.

Sailing craft in the harbour, Flensburg

Boat builder's yard, Flensburg

Kompagnietor, the guildhall of ship owners and merchants, built in 1602, Flensburg

The salt water around the boats was full of jellyfish. They have a wicked sting but look quite beautiful as they propel themselves through the dark water by pulsating their delicate, transparent umbrella shape, their tendrils flowing out behind. Later in the museum we learned something of their life cycle. They are strange organisms. At this time of year the waters here are quite infested with them.

Jellyfish in the harbour, Flensburg

For lunch we went to a cheap Chinese restaurant for bean sprouts and noodles with duck and a bottle of Chinese beer. It wasn't what we expected to be doing but made a nice change from our practice of always trying out the local dishes. It seemed strange to be ordering a dish from the Chinese waitress in German on the border of Denmark, but the cosmopolitan mix is all part of the joy of travelling around Europe like this.

Flensburg seen from the museum

The afternoon was spent in the museum and art gallery perched high above the town on the first hill we have seen for ages. Our reason for being here was to seek out some of the paintings by Hans-Peter Feddersen. There are several in the Flensburg museum and even a couple of miniatures by his father, who had the same name. We were fortunate to be able to photograph a few examples of their work.

View near Deezbüll by Hans-Peter Feddersen, Flensburg Museum

Another view near Deezbüll by Hans-Peter Feddersen, Flensburg Museum

Dagebüll by Hans-Peter Feddersen, Flensburg Museum

Italian scene by Hans-Peter Feddersen, Flensburg Museum

Miniatures by Hans-Peter Feddersen the elder, Flensburg Museum

The museum also has a large collection of paintings by other North Frisian artists including several by Emil Nolde (even in the museum we were not allowed to photograph his works.) The open landscape and the clear light encouraged local artists during the nineteenth century and there seems to have been a proliferation of excellent works depicting the local landscape, peoples, buildings and interiors of that period. There is currently a large exhibition of paintings by Erich Heckel who produced many paintings of Flensburg and its surroundings. The exhibits have come from museums throughout Germany, in particular Berlin and Dresden. Like Nolde, Heckel was an expressionist painter making powerful use of colour in his works. He was part of the Brücke group of expressionists in the early 20th century.

For a change, and because it was included with our entry ticket, we pottered across from the art gallery to the museum. Here we found several more paintings by Feddersen but also an excellent local and natural history gallery with exhibits on the birds and animals of the area. Upstairs were recreations of rooms appropriately furnished to illustrate 17th and 18th century middle class Frisian houses complete with wood panelling, stone floors and huge, heavy, beautifully carved cupboards, tables, chairs and buffets.

By now we were rather weary so returned to our bikes, stopping only to retrieve a rubik cube being thrown out as unsellable junk by the stall holder we had purchased our budgie from. No doubt it too would have ended up in the rubbish skip if we'd not bought it earlier! We cycled back to the campsite to discover it had been pouring with rain here and the washing we'd left out to dry this morning was still soaking wet. We'll have to pack it into a bucket tomorrow morning and dry it off in Denmark.

Schleswig-Holstein and Lubeck

Monday 24th July 2006, Römnitz near Ratzeburg, Schleswig-Holstein
There is a strange feeling that we are nearing home even though we are actually heading towards Denmark. There is something about the little red brick villages we have been passing through that remind us of Suffolk while the many shallow lakes and flat landscape are reminiscent of Norfolk with its Broads.

We left Potsdam just before midday and made our way north towards Hamburg. Jill was anxious to move on, aware that time is fast running out. In just five weeks we will need to be back in Exeter and we still have so much we hope to do. So we missed out the town of Brandenburg and have managed to avoid Hamburg and several smaller cities in order to move north as quickly as possible.

We have been amazed at just how empty the landscape is in Northern Germany. Most of our travels have been in the area of the former GDR where large collective farms were the norm. The legacy of this is still there with endless acres of cereals, ripe for harvesting, or huge fields of stubble that stretch as far as the eye can see across the empty landscape. It can easily be fifteen or twenty kilometres between villages and these seem to be little more than several farmsteads gathered together.

There is also much woodland. We seemed to pass for ever along die-straight roads through pine forests but with nowhere to pull off the road for a rest. Sometimes we would travel for several minutes without seeing another vehicle, and this on the main road linking Hamburg to Berlin!

At Wittenburg we stopped for fuel and to stock up on food as we had done no shopping during our visit to Berlin. We seem to have made good progress, the driving has been about the easiest we have done anywhere – the roads make rural France look busy! Soon we were passing into Schleswig-Holstein and back into the area that was always part of West Germany. It may be for this reason that fields here are smaller and there are fences and hedges. Certainly the landscape is more interesting and hospitable with horses in paddocks, cattle out in the fields, pretty little villages that are reminiscent of England built in red brick and tiles, sometimes using timber beam construction, little churches with wooden spires, weeping willow trees and pretty gardens.

Ian announced a sudden desire to visit Lübeck and as we do not wish to drive in the city we have found a campsite beside a lake on the edge of one of the little villages. It is peaceful and pretty here. Tonight Jill went for a swim and Ian for a paddle. In fact all we could do was paddle as no matter how far out we waded it never seemed to get much above our knees. A bit disappointing for Jill but it is certainly a very beautiful setting and ideal for shallow boats and canoes. It may be possible to cycle to the town of Ratzeburg tomorrow and take the train into Lübeck.

Ratzeburger See Römnitz


As we sat by the lake this evening Ian mentioned places in the area he had visited in his youth when he was studying German. Jill had not realised he had ever visited this area before so it looks as if there may be a few more ghosts from the past to sort out before we return home. Ian's mum was a student of German in her youth and worked as a nanny to a German family right near the border with Denmark when she was a teenager in the late1920s. She remained in contact with the family and friends for many years much as Jill has done with her friends in the Jura. Contact was lost during the war but picked up again later. The result was that the next generation of young people made contact with each other and exchange visits were made. It is here therefore that Ian learned much of his German that later led to him studying it for his degree.

Ian's mum is no longer alive and links with the area have lapsed for some time. However, Ian is eager to see the region again and to perhaps recognise places he once knew well. It will provide an interesting purpose for exploring the area which shows every sign of being fascinating anyway.

Ian has just been checking the map – when isn't he? He has announced that we are as far north as Blackpool! That's a deal further north than we were in Tarifa!

Tuesday 25th July 2006, Römnitz near Ratzeburg, Schleswig-Holstein
Same place, different campsite. This morning we decided in view of the heat that it would be foolish to cycle eight kilometres to the railway station and still have any energy to explore Lübeck. So we packed up and left the campsite by the lake and drove to the railway station at Ratzeburg. It turned out to be right on the far side of the town which is on an island in the lake linked to the shore by a causeway. It would certainly not have been sensible to cycle there.

We left Modestine in the station car park and twenty minutes later were walking out of the main station onto the streets of Lübeck. It was love at first sight! We were both immediately captivated by the city with its gabled merchants' houses, enormous brick churches, tall green spires, tiny almshouses, beautiful little courtyards filled with roses and hollyhocks, cobbled streets and mediaeval gateways. The city is encircled by a wide canal with commercial and pleasure craft and of course has a huge port. The last two we have only glimpsed briefly but there was a tang of the sea in the air as we looked out towards the harbour. We have yet to see the sea but the air is fresher here and we have a yearning to once again be near to salt water. The last time we were on a beach was north of Ravenna on the Adriatic. How long ago that seems and how hot and airless it has been deep in the centre of Europe over the past few months.

It is still very hot. The liquid crystal thermometer displayed in the centre of Lübeck this afternoon registered 40 degrees. But at night here it seems much cooler than further south.

It is so very different here in Northern Germany. As the countryside and villages yesterday reminded us of England, so today Lübeck reminded us of Holland. It is a beautiful city getting on with its everyday life rather than a tourist showpiece. It has so many churches, museums, galleries and ancient commercial buildings it is impossible to do any sort of justice to them here. So below is a selection of photos to give an impression of what we saw today.

Holstentor under restoration, Lübeck

Burgtor, Lübeck

House in Rosengarten, Lübeck

Glandorpsgang almshouses, Lübeck

Historic port, Lübeck

Street leading to St. Aegidien's Church, Lübeck

Grosse Petersgrube, Lübeck

The city was very badly bombed during the war, presumably because, like Kiel to the north, it was a port. The main raid took place on Palm Sunday 1942, shortly before Exeter was badly bombed in revenge. It is difficult, looking at the city today, to appreciate the state of damage after the war. There are many photos though, showing the damage before restoration. Frequently buildings have had to be almost completely rebuilt.

St. Mary's Church, Lübeck, 1942

Cathedral, Lübeck, 1942

We visited the church of St. Mary which is the tallest brick church in the world. Inside the area is vast with its huge gothic arches, stained glass windows and simple, clean lines, devoid of flamboyant decoration such as we have seen in the baroque churches around Vienna. Here the beauty is in the architecture, carrying the eye for ever upwards, rather than in ornamentation. There is an astronomical clock housed here.

Friends reunited, outside St. Mary's Church, Lübeck
The Devil reflects a legend connected with the building of the church

Nave, St. Mary's Church, Lübeck

Astronomical clock, St. Mary's Church, Lübeck

Next we went on a guided tour of the Rathaus or town hall. This is built using red fired bricks and others that had been glazed black to provide an interesting decorated exterior. Originally dating from mediaeval times it has been added to in the 19th century in similar style using machine manufactured bricks rather than hand-made ones.

Town Hall from the Market Square, Lübeck

Town Hall from Breite Strasse, Lübeck

Audience room in the Town Hall, Lübeck

Stairway with historic murals in the Town Hall, Lübeck

Corridor with mayoral portraits in the Town Hall, Lübeck
Not a Vermeer painting!

Worthy of special mention was the hospital where the elderly and infirm have been cared for and accommodated since the 13th century. It is still in use today. The main hall is decorated with 15th century frescos, carved screens and statues of the saints.

Heiligen Geist Hospital, Lübeck

Heiligen Geist Hospital, Lübeck

Gunter Grass, the noble prize winner for literature, is a son of the city. His home is now a museum. Although we knew of him as a writer we had not realised he was skilled as a painter and sculptor as well.

Also from Lübeck are the Mann brothers, Thomas and Heinrich, both writers. Their home is now a museum of their works and time. The house is known after the title of possibly Thomas Mann's most renowned novel, Buddenbrooks. Ian studied Mann at university and Jill confesses to trying to read it – in translation – years ago but found it too heavy going. Little could I have known that today I would be sitting drinking a beer at the bar just opposite the very house where it was both set and written! I'll have to have another attempt when we get home.

Buddenbrooks House, Lübeck

We'd been walking most of the day in great heat. Fortunately everything is close together in the old town and the rows of stunning, gabled houses either side of the cobbled streets are almost guaranteed to provide a little shade at any time, so it has not been as difficult as Dresden, Berlin or Vienna where each sight stands isolated in a furnace of sunlight. However, by the time we eventually sat down for a beer we found it hard to get going again. A cursory glance in at the cathedral on our way back towards the station was all we could manage. After the beautiful interior of St. Mary's church the cathedral seemed something of an afterthought being white painted brick inside. Like all the churches in Lübeck it is huge in scale and has some interesting monuments.

Cathedral with Zeughaus in front, Lübeck

We caught the train back to Ratzeburg and rejoined Modestine. We were not wildly enthusiastic about last night's campsite so decided to try the other one we'd seen a sign for. No campsites are perfect and each has its peculiarities. Prices seem much the same, around 16-19 euros in this area, 25 euros at Potsdam. Here facilities are a very long way in complete darkness from the camping area but at least hot water and showers are included. It is annoying to sometimes discover, as you rush to clean up after the heat of the day, that it costs an extra euro each for a three minute shower.

Wednesday 26th July 2006, Büsum, on the North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein
Our steady advance on Denmark continues as we travel northwards. The sun is travelling with us and is as unrelenting as ever. We decided to head for the North Sea hoping it would be fresher here than on the Baltic and also that there would be fewer summer visitors. Probably we have been correct on both counts. Certainly the roads have not been busy and generally this area of Germany seems very sparsely populated. There is also a slight breeze this evening up on top of the dyke that protects the coast from the winter gales – difficult to imagine under today's searing sunlight! Our miscalculation was to forget that being flat reclaimed polder lands with endless acres of cereals and herds of black and white Frisian cattle, there are very few trees and no welcome shade to relieve the eyes from the bright perpetual glare of the sun. Out in the midst of it all farmers are gathering in the harvest, making their way back and forth with their combine harvesters, lost amidst a choking cloud of dust.

Leaving the campsite this morning we parked in the attractive little town of Ratzeburg on its island in the lake in the vain hope of finding internet access. Ian went off to discover the cathedral which is brick built Romanesque, constructed in the 12th century and standing in a picturesque position amid greenery perched above the lake. Jill had too many blisters from wearing new sandals around Berlin and Lübeck to be enthusiastic about a walk around the cobbled streets, so contented herself with browsing the little shops of the town and watching people going about their daily business. It also provided the opportunity to add a new manhole cover to our growing collection!

Cathedral seen across the lake, Ratzeburg

12th century cathedral, Ratzeburg

Manhole cover, Ratzeburg

We mentioned Ian had distant links with this area through his mother. Browsing the phonebook at the last campsite he discovered someone he met back in the 1960s listed and determined to revisit the tiny village of Tremsbüttel to see if he recognised anything. The village lies in a remote area of open countryside north of Hamburg. In the 1920s when Ian's mum was here it must have been a very lonely place indeed. As soon as we reached the village Ian recognised the house though many of the surrounding buildings were more recent.

The former farmhouse where Ian stayed, Tremsbüttel

A very friendly lady answered Ian's knock at the door and didn't seem in the least phased by his strange tale. She called her father-in-law and he and Ian chatted about the family and what became of each member. Ian says he could immediately recognise the man he had known so long ago. Not so with him. He couldn't remember Ian at all, but then Ian was only about 15 at the time! We have learnt that his younger sister, who had stayed with Ian's family in England, now lives in Berlin, so there is no chance of meeting her as we have passed well away from that area now. There are other links further north from here so we will perhaps look in on the village of Niebüll near to where his mother lived for several months and where Ian spent several childhood holidays.

Having said goodbye and that we'd pop in again next time we were passing in another forty years we explored the pretty village with its thatched brick cottages, symmetrically laid out herb gardens, village pond and the castle. This is set in its own grounds and is now a privately run hotel. We walked into the gardens and up to the front door where a very nice young lady happy accepted Ian's statement that he was tracing his past and told us we could go inside and wander around. Apparently the place was being used today by North German Television who is making a melodrama with Dracula-type characters and the castle provides the perfect setting! We wandered from room to room, each furnished with huge dressers, tables, mirrors, vases and long case clocks. Go upstairs as well, we were told. On the wide staircase were two carved and painted angels beneath the large stained glass window and at the top a coat of armour. Pushing at a half open door we entered a room in deep shadow where the blinds had been drawn. Reflected in the mirror of the dressing table was the face of Dracula himself, grinning savagely as he checked that his fangs were sufficiently bloody for the forthcoming scene about to be shot! We had accidentally stumbled into his dressing and make-up room. We retreated hastily back downstairs and out through the main doors to the castle making good our escape before we got offered parts as extras in the production!

Thatched brick cottage with herb garden, Tremsbüttel

Castle, Tremsbüttel

Castle interior, Tremsbüttel

Castle interior, upstairs landing, Tremsbüttel

After a picnic by the pond we left Tremsbüttel and will almost certainly never return. Our visit had turned out to be far more interesting than we could possibly have imagined. Ian's greatest regret is that he cannot tell his mum about is. She would have been highly amused and delighted by the whole affair.

Temperatures rose well into the 30s this afternoon and we stopped at the town of Kaltenkirchen to cool off with ice creams. Towns are all small and many kilometres apart north of Hamburg and we have given up trying to find internet access for the time being. Realising that any campsites would be on the coast, that time was pressing and we still had a considerable distance to drive we took the motorway. Traffic is so sparse one wonders why they need a motorway but it does provide the area with fast access to the port of Kiel. In no time we had reached the edge of Büsum where we found this campsite. They laughed when we asked if there was any shade but we do have a low hedge which, together with shade from Modestine herself, stopped us from frying this evening. People in tents, many having arrived by bicycle or motorbike, were less fortunate. We do not fancy staying here during the day tomorrow so will be forced to move on. At this rate we will be in Denmark in a day or so but really would prefer to explore around here first.

In all honesty the landscape here is rather boring, just burned yellow grass for ever and flat polder land. Its redeeming feature for us is the gentle breeze that has been blowing across as we drove north. Apart from the occasional hamlet of brick houses the only things to break the monotony of the landscape are the windmills. Not traditional ones unfortunately but the tall slender, three-armed giants who stand around in clusters doing gymnastic twirling as they generate electricity.

Wind turbines near Büsum

This evening we went for a walk to watch the sunset over the North Sea. As we said, we last paddled in the Adriatic. This evening we did so in the North Sea! There was a pleasure in seeing the sea again but it seems so very far away with just shallow mud full of cockles stretching away into the far distance. The sun though was glorious as it sank below the horizon. And jolly glad we were to see it go! At 10pm it is still 25 degrees but that feels really cool after the heat of the day.

Our first view of the North Sea, Büsum

Who says the Germans always get the best places by the sea? Büsum

Watching the sun go down, Büsum

The number of showers on this site is quite inadequate. It's nearly midnight and Ian's just returned looking cool and clean so while he sorts out today's photos, I'm off to try my luck before the early morning rush arrives! At least at this time of the night moving around is reasonably comfortable.

Ian has just been speculating whether the town of Büsum should be twinned with Brest! Time for sleep before any more bright ideas occur to him.

Thursday 27th July 2006, Husum, on the North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein
This morning we woke in metaphysical mood to yet another day of dazzling sunlight. "Busy old fool, unruly Sun. Why must thou thus through windows and through curtains peer on us?"

At breakfast, where we cowered from the heat between the hedge and Modestine's flank, seeking shade, we were joined by a large hare! We are not accustomed to seeing them at such close quarters but it was driven to such tame behaviour by the desire for the few blades of grass next to the hedge not yet scorched the pale yellow of the Friesian countryside. Later, we saw a hare that had been hit by a passing car, lying dead on the roadside. As Ian said, still in metaphysical mood, "Hare today and gone tomorrow".

Hare today, Büsum

This morning we explored this area of North Friesland. Many place-names around here end in Koog which is the Friesian term for Polder. At the estuary of the river Eider a row of massive sluices has been constructed to limit the flow of water passing up and down during high tides or river floods. This proved a very interesting visit and explained a lot about how the area is gradually drained and reclaimed. Work on the flood prevention barrier – the Eidersperrwerk - was completed in 1973 after serious flooding in1962. It also provides a bridge that enables cars and bicycles to cross the estuary quickly and conveniently without the necessity of a five kilometre detour. While we were there the road was raised to permit a vessel to pass up the estuary and the iron sluice-gates came down to reduce the inward flow of the incoming tide. It is an impressive piece of engineering work and has greatly reduced storm and flood damage to crops and farmlands since its installation.

Sluice gates, Eidersperrwerk

It was very enjoyable for us to potter around on the muddy beach amidst the mussels and cockles at the water's edge, listening to the plaintive cry of the herring gulls, the sharp scream of the terns and the sounds of the estuary wading birds. There is a great pleasure in the familiar smells and sounds of Europe's more northern sea waters after so long on the soft sands of the Mediterranean. The most appreciated thing though, was the soft breeze that disguised just how hot it has been today.

We drove on to Sankt Peter Ording on Eiderstedt, a peninsula which was once an island but has now been joined to the mainland by reclamation of land. This is a small village with a number of houses typical of the area, built in red brick and often thatched. Having struggled through its pretty little streets in heat that made us both feel unwell, we took refuge in the cool of the church. This was a simple building with blue painted pews and an interesting locally carved 17th century wooden altar screen.

Cottage in Sankt Peter Ording

Traditional 18th century farmhouse, now a museum, Sankt Peter Ording

Reredos in the church, Sankt Peter Ording

Our onward route carried us through a bleached landscape of crops and stubble. We passed a number of Haubarge - typical low farmhouses with massive thatched roofs, often set in clumps of trees for shelter. They stand isolated amidst the endless flat landscape, which is sometimes below sea level, with dykes providing protection from possible flooding from sea and rivers.

Our next stop was Friedrichstadt, founded by Dutch refugees on land granted by Duke Friedrich III of Holstein in 1621. This turned out to be a little corner of Holland! It was more Dutch than many typical towns to be found in Holland. There are canals and terraces of little brick houses with decorated gables. The market square is lined with large, tall buildings with mansard roofs and gables and the shops are straight from Delft with window displays of blue and white pottery, ceramic windmills and even clogs! For lunch we tried the typical local fare – Bismark herrings and onions in a roll with glasses of chilled water. We found the empty church where we sat exhausted as the cool air wrapped around us. Again the feel was very Dutch and there was an ornately decorated and carved 17th century pulpit in the church with inscriptions in Dutch.

Gabled houses on the market square, Friedrichstadt

Residential street, Friedrichstadt

Shop window with Delft ceramics, Friedrichstadt

It was too uncomfortable to enjoy looking around. Given the choice we would not be doing any of this on such a day, but we have no choice. We are staying on flat treeless campsites without a speck of shade during the day where temperatures are up into the forties. We do not even have an awning for Modestine so we have to drive to get any breeze and take shelter wherever we can find it. So often the streets have no shade at all and we have taken to measuring the distance from one patch of shadow to the next before setting off, as fast as we can between the two points! It is the hardest and most difficult time we have had to cope with. No matter which direction we take from here, there does not look any likelihood of improvement. We do not know how we are going to survive the next few weeks. On the way back to Modestine we sat on the bank of the canal and soaked ourselves in water. Seconds later we were dry and as hot as ever.

Canal in Friedrichstadt

At Husum we eventually found an internet place. It felt like a sauna in there. It was expensive and we were unable to load the images we needed properly. It's the second time we have tried to load them for that particular blog. It is all so frustrating. Internet places are few and far between up here. It could be days before we have another opportunity.

We were too hot and sticky to explore the town but found a campsite nearby so can return tomorrow. It is nearly midnight and only now is the temperature becoming bearable. By 6am we will have started the next day of torment.

We do not wish to sound negative about the area of Friesland. We have just not been able to do it full justice and the last thing we feel like doing at night when it is so close is sorting out pictures and writing the blog. In cooler weather the area offers lots of interesting activities from sailing and canoeing to cycling, swimming, riding and sand yachting. There are numerous pretty villages and some beautiful rural churches. The vernacular architecture is picturesque and the landscape charged with character. High dykes protect the fields from the sea and the sparse yellow grass along the top is browsed by sheep, much as it is on the Marshes of Romney, Camber and Dymchurch.

It is sometimes difficult to believe we are still in Germany here in Schleswig-Holstein. It is so very different from either Bavaria, Saxony or any of the other states we have visited on our travels. It is right on the border with Denmark and the local diet certainly reflects this with restaurants selling all kinds of north sea fish, crabs and eels prepared in all sorts of ways – smoked, baked, pickled and raw. The buildings in the towns and villages look very Dutch while out in the countryside with its canals, reed beds, wheat fields, vegetable gardens full of cabbages and carrots and huge thatched farmsteads you can imagine yourself in Norfolk or Suffolk or indeed any of the low-lying counties of south eastern England.