We did not receive our tour tickets for Rostock in Germany so we inquired at the Shore Excursions desk to find out that what we thought we had booked before leaving Australia had not been processed properly, and now our chosen tour was fully booked.
We could not confirm this until we got close to shore to access the internet to see if the money had been taken out of our credit card. So we were back to square one!
We cruised into the Hanseatic city of Rostock via the Warnow River on the north coast of Germany and docked about 8.30 am. There are two ports. We are at the container terminal so it is about 25 minute drive to Rostock.
As we now had no tour, we purchased shuttle tickets (US$20 each) and caught the bus into town about 10.30 am. We were delighted to find a beautiful city with the most astounding gothic and baroque architecture. We spent our time in the cobblestone market area called Neuer Markt and wandered along the mall. No cars to avoid, just fast pushbikes.
I apologise now for the huge number of photos in this post. I was amazed when I downloaded from my camera how many shots I had taken. This town was just lovely at every turn.
The plan was to walk until we had enough, then stop for something to eat, then walk back to the bus.
Unfortunately 2 of the places that looked Ok to purchase food had large, strange shaped flies in their food cabinets so we decided to give the food a miss and eat back on the ship. With still 3 weeks to go we didn’t want to chance a bad meal!
We found the Grand Fountain in the main square area very interesting. The statues were very detailed and not what I thought would be on display in a family type location. When I googled it the locals call it the ‘Porn Fountain’ (Pornobrunn). The real name is Zest for life.
Rostock University was founded in 1419.
Rostock was heavily bombed in WW2 and many buildings had to be rebuilt.
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A lot of passengers took the 2,5 hour coach trip to Berlin today but we are so glad we stayed closer to the ship and just explored Rostock.
We actually think we may have enjoyed our own walk around as much as the tour we missed.
When we arrived back on board, a group of German Musicians came to entertain us. The Rostock Concert Band played for about 45 minutes. I think this video goes for 6 minutes which may be a bit long for you.
Amazing!