Schwerin , put this on your bucket list

We approached Schwerin and the Palace across the Schwerin See, a truly awesome sight.
973 first mention of a Slavic fortress where the castle stands today.

OK we saw it from the water now it's time to take a look about. The Palace ,as you can imagine , has had a colourful history, there have been fires ,rebuilds, re designs, extensions etc over the centuries. In the mid 1800's the Palace gardens created. After the abdication of Grand Duke Friedrich FranzIV in 1918 the Palace became the property of the State. Used for many different purposes over the last century, part is now used as the seat of regional parliament of Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, the huge Palace museum takes up the other part.






We did the museum visit, amazing opulence , but what I loved most were the gardens.

and just to prove I'm really on this trip a photo of me!! Dressed for the winter conditions we were experiencing in the latter part of June, here I'm sitting with this dear little statue.

Schwerin founded by Heinrich the Lion in 1160. This is a very beautiful town, well preserved, well kept, lots of interesting streets, alleys , buildings,



After a windy week the local sailing club were no doubt disappointed to be becalmed for their Thursday evening regatta.

A cycle up to the town of Wismar bought us past this field of poppies, breathtaking.

Wismar,an old trading town on the Baltic Sea, some interesting buildings in this old town. Town had belonged to Sweden from 1653 until 1803 then they leased it back to Mecklenburg state for another 100 years, 1903 it reverted back to German ownership.

Longest day of the year and happy times

Dagmar and Eva and Curly
There we were cruising along the canal and we passed a couple of ladies out walking their Airedale Terrier, they called out they loved the boat, we called out we loved their dog and continued on our way. Shortly after we came to an old disused quay, looked good so decided to stop for the day. Not long after the women appeared with the dog, they stopped, we got chatting, this lead to an invitation to come up for a glass of bubbles at Dagmar's house. Well we all know what a drink in the middle of the day can lead to, a jolly long party. What a great time, drinks became dinner down on Linquenda and a bonfire to celebrate the longest day of the year. Dagmar a film director, Mounty her Canadian husband and Eva ( she does post production work )their good friend from Berlin. Gorgeous people, how lucky were we to meet them

Mounty , Dagmar and Eva

Crossing the Müritz

Went for a lovely cycle to Rheinsberg and came across these cute sculptures , mermaid, Neptune theme.


Left Fürstenberg with Anette and Frede heading towards Müritz, to our surprise and delight what should we find hidden behind the securing pole in the lock but a nest of swallows! Must be a very stressful summer for poor mother swallow as the lock is filled and emptyed countless times during the course of the day. Nest is not in the water but boats continually around them.

Hygge time in the wheelhouse, Anette and I spending some time painting, Frede and Knud chatting and reading


Not the brightest sunniest day but that didn't stop the intrepid mariners. This photo shows us leaving Kline Müritz lake and heading onto the Müritz, this is the largest lake in Germany about 25km long and at the widest spot a bit over 10km so a large expanse of water.

The wind picked up, white caps appeared , spray breaking over the bow!

So much for my freshly cleaned windows, they got a good second rinse , in fact entire boat had a good wash

Crossed the Müritz, then on across the Kölpinsee, then finally found a sheltered mooring on the Fleesensee at Malchow, looking out from the wheelhouse after that afternoon could hardly believe that we had experienced such rough conditions earlier.

The week that was

The water craft one sees , can leave you speechless. This one seen as we headed north from Berlin on the Havel River
Now we are meandering along the Obere Havel Wasserstraße, a particularly winding stretch of canal, very beautiful
The canal leads into a series of lakes, a stunning area of Germany
If you get tired of the waterways then you can head into the surrounding forests, endless kilometres of running and cycling trails
Took a photo of this poster so as to give you an idea of the lake and canal system
For my Arty Farty mates , new and improved uses for lace doilies
For our cycling mates, Need a new inner tube, not a problem, available 24hours a day from handy dispensing machines, range of sizes available.

We left the hustle and bustle of Berlin behind us on Monday 8th June and started heading north up the Havel River towards Die Mecklenburger Seenplatte, basically translates to the Mecklenburg Lakes district. We had a night on anchor in a beautiful little lake just out of Zehdnick, then continued northwards next night stopping at Brederiche, a good quay so we got the bikes off to explore and Kaj headed out running on the forest trails. Wednesday we got into Fürstenberg, a good free mooring above the lock, some lovely shady willows to relax under when the afternoon heat gets too much. All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Kaj , 10 days have flown past far too quickly. We will spend a few more days here, a fantastic area for cycling, lots of cycling tracks not many roads, how good is that!
However not all roses and sunshine this area does have a sad past, a huge concentration camp for Jewish women nearby here, known as Ravensbruck, 100's of thousands died. Also nearby were a couple of work camps one for young boys and the other for young girls and women. To have the 'luck' to get into one of theses camps you could have no fixed abode, have alcoholic parents , parents who had belonged to the wrong political party, or not the right attitude etc These work camps have a horrendous history too. Believed over 5000 interns died from cold and starvation in the last few months of the war!
So as if this is not bad enough, the Russians continued to use the facilities right up until the 1990's as a work camp manned by dissidents or undesirables maintaining military equipment. Passing nearby these places gives an almost palatable feeling of despair and hopelessness.

Lovely week with Kaj

Enjoying a special coffee and cake experience
Relaxing on deck after a big sightseeing day