Germany to New York Transatlantic Cruise – 2018

We set our alarm for 6:15 AM, knowing we needed to get out early for the long day of sightseeing that we had planned for today.  Unfortunately, for as nice of a day as we had with the weather yesterday, today’s forecast was not good, calling for cooler temperatures and a 90% chance of rain,  It was showering when we got up, so we knew we were in for a damp day, but glad we have our good rain gear, small umbrellas, and good waterproof shoes.

After eating breakfast in the room, consisting of pretzel rolls which we had purchased last night, we were right on schedule, leaving the room at 7:10 AM.

It was just a misty rain falling as we headed to the tram stop at Neuer Markt, near the hotel.  We needed to purchase a three zone, all day ticket for the tram and train ride to Bad Doberan, our first destination.  We headed over to the ticket machine at the tram stop, but the ticket purchase  did not go well.  We could not figure out how to input the required three zones for this special ticket.  We saw zones listed on the machine, but could determine how to select just the three zone ticket we needed.  We did not want to miss the next tram, so we just bought all day tram tickets, and would try and see if we would have better luck with the machines at the Rostock train station.  The price difference for the tickets was not that much higher, and we needed to get going.  Plus, we were tying up the ticket machine and a line on impatient locals was starting to form behind us.

We took the tram to the Rostock train station and unfortunately, only saw the same type ticket machines at the station as we had tried at the tram stop.   We tried again, and finally figured out we needed to select Rostock as the start point, and then the appropriate zone for our destination, which was Bad Doberan.  With those choices, the machine figured out how many zones we need on our ticket, and we purchased two single journey tickets to Bad Doberan.  Unfortunately, by the time we figured out the ticket purchase, and walked to the platform for our train, we arrived just in time to see it pulling away.  Now we had to wait 30 minute for the next train, but we were still going to arrive in Bad Doberan before our designated time, but with no time to spare before we needed to board the Mollie Train there.

Stephanie inside Mollie Train

Our train to Bad Doberan arrived on time, it was only a 25 minute ride there.  When we got off the train, we could see the Mollie Train, which is an old steam engine locomotive and older type passenger cars   The Mollie train goes back and forth between Bad Doberan and Kuhlungsborn, and was originally built in 1886.  The train ride to Kuhlungsborn was about 45 minutes each way, and we needed to return to Bad Doberan in order to continue our journey onward to Schwerin Castle.  The Mollie train is the only train service between Bad Doberan and Kuhlungsborn, and is independently operated from the normal train service in Germany, DB Bahn.

This was the first Mollie Train departure of the day, and there were hardly any passengers getting onto the train, which consisted of about nine passenger cars, plus a dining car and a baggage/freight car, both at the end of the train.  We could not figure out where to purchase tickets, so Stephanie asked the train engineer, and he told us we purchased them on the train during the ride.

We boarded, and the train departed about 5 minutes later, and a lady came through and we purchased our two round trip tickets for Euro 30.00.  We wandered through the train cars and finally selected one near the back of the line of cars, and we had it all to ourselves, at least for a little while.  The train was very interesting, it goes slowly right through the middle of Bad Doberan, right next to stores, with only a sidewalk width away on either side from the train.

Mollie Train Cars

About halfway through the ride, we stopped at a small town and picked up about 60 school children and some teachers, obviously on a field trip.  They boarded the car behind us, and also our car, so we decided to head up to another car closer to the engine, where we once again were by ourselves, and enjoyed the nice and peaceful ride.  By this time, it was raining harder, so we were glad we were inside the train and not walking around anywhere in the rain.

We arrived at Kuhlungsborn, and they unhooked the steam engine from the front of the train, and used a side track to move it to the other end for the return journey.  The engine was operating in reverse the whole way to Kuhlungsborn, and now it was going in a forward facing direction for the return to Bad Doberan.  We were able to get some photos of the engine as they moved it to the opposite end of the train. 

Steam Engine for Mollie Train

Quite a few passengers boarded in Kuhlungsborn for the ride to Bad Doberan, and we were not able to enjoy an entire car to ourselves on the way back.  The children had all departed in Kuhlungsborn, and were replaced by a tour group, some of which boarded our car.  There was one group of three ladies, who chatted non-stop for the entire return journey, so the ride back was much less peaceful, but still enjoyable.

When we arrived back in Bad Doberan, we purchased another train ticket for our journey to Schwerin to see the Schwerin Castle.  Since it was after 10:00 AM, we were able to purchase a single ticket for the remainder of the day, which covered two persons, and only cost Euro 27.00 total.  This ticket is only available after the morning rush hour, hence the 10:00 AM restriction in its first use, but is good until 3:00 AM the following day for any regional trains operating in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region of Germany.

Schwerin Castle

The train was already at the platform, which we did not see initially, and almost missed since it was quite a distance down from the small railway station building at Bad Doberan.  We boarded, and the train left about 3 minutes later for the trip to Schwerin.  Once we arrived at Schwerin, we had about a 1.2 km walk to the castle, through the town.  Of course, by now, we were in a steady rain and needed to use our umbrellas and rain jackets for the walk to the castle.  The town was nice, and the walk took us through a pedestrian only section of town where there were many stores and eateries.  

Throne Room Ceiling – Schwerin Castle

Once we arrived at the castle, we purchased our tickets for the tour of several sections of the castle, including some ceremonial areas where the king’s throne room and other specialty rooms were located.  The building is now mainly used for the Parliament, except for some of the rooms that are on the tour.  It reminded us of the Biltmore House, but on a much larger scale, and much older, being completed in its current form in 1857.  This site had also been the the location of several older castles and forts since about 973 AD.

The self guided tours inside were nice, especially since it was continuing to rain outside.  After about 2 hours of touring, we headed back outside to walk through the beautiful gardens.  Unfortunately, it was now raining really hard, so we were not able to enjoy the gardens very long before we decided to head back onto the town to get some lunch and then to visit the town’s cathedral.  We stopped at a sandwich shop and ate, and then visited the cathedral, which was initially built as a Catholic Church, but  is now an Evangelical Lutheran Church.  The Cathedral was completed in 1248, almost 200 years before Martin Luther was even born.

Schwerin Castle Gardens

The Cathedral was damaged in WWII, and had been rebuilt, but was not very beautiful inside, actually pretty plain, which is typical for Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

We were tired of being in the rain, so we walked back to the train station to head back to Rostock.  There was a direct train to Rostock, but it was running late, and not even scheduled to arrive at Schwering for about 50 minutes.  We decide to take an earlier train, connecting in Wismar, Germany, thinking it would be just as quick if we could make the connection in Wismar without having to wait too long for the next connecting train to arrive there. 

Schwerin Cathedral

Unfortunately, our train from Schwerin ended up being late to arrive in Wismar, and we missed the connection, and had to wait about 45 minutes for the next one to arrive for our return to Rostock.  Visiting Wismar had been on our original agenda for today, before all of the rain.  `It is an old Hanseatic town, located on the coast, and is quite beautiful on a sunnier day, or at least we surmised.   

There were signs for a Lidl grocery store toward town, so we thought we would try and walk there while we waited on our train.  We never found the Lidl, but we did see some of the older town buildings, and the harbor.  

We walked back to the train station, and our train had already arrived, but was parked and waiting for the scheduled departure in about 15 minutes. 

Wismar Waterfront

We could board, so at least we had somewhere warmer and dry to sit while we waited.  It was a little over an hour ‘s ride before we arrived back in Rostock, and it rained very heavily on the ride back. However, once we arrived in Rostock, it looked as though it had not rained there much at all, it was still cloudy, but no signs of significant rainfall.  Unfortunately, with the extra connection time in Wismar, our plan not to wait on the direct train from Schwerin had backfired, but at least we did get to see some of Wismar.

We took the tram from the train station back to the Neuer Markt stop near the hotel, and decided to go to the Netto Grocery, the store the we had not been able to locate last night.  We had looked at google maps again and now knew exactly how to get there this time.  The Netto was not nearly as nice or large as the Edeka store we did find last night, but the prices were better.  We purchased some additional bottled water and a large diet Coke, or Coke Light as it is called in Europe.

Enjoying Local Beer at Hopfenkeller

The wine selection was poor, so we decided to go back to the Edeka to purchase some of the same wine we had drank last night.  By this time, it was now starting to rain in Rostock, so after the grocery run, we headed back to the hotel room to drop off our supplies and backpacks. 

It was about 7:30 PM, so we did not stay in the room long before heading out for some dinner.  We found a restaurant called Hopfenkeller, located in the basement of one of the buildings near our hotel, on the main shopping and restaurant street named Kropeliner Strasse.  The restaurant is located in the vaulted ceiling cellar of a building built in the 15th century, and was quite scenic inside.  Luckily, they also had menus with some English on them, and we ordered two local beers and our dinner.

Dinner at Hopfenkeller

Stephanie had a pork schnitzel, covered with cheese and a slice of pineapple, and I had a pork steak, also covered with cheese.  Both were quite good, and we enjoyed our meal there.

We were tired from the long day, and headed back to the hotel to get showers and relax for the rest of the evening with a glass of wine.  We turned in about 10:30 PM after setting an alarm for 7:30 AM tomorrow.  Our plan for tomorrow is to visit some of the sights in Rostock before heading to the ship via the tram and city bus.