It seems like such a long time ago that I was in South America. Every day it becomes more of a distant memory, a lifestyle left behind. Somehow that experience doesn’t blend in with the present. It’s like two different worlds. I feel kind of restricted in my current situation, looking for a new job, trying to fit back in in the city. So when my parents came over and we visited the island of Usedom for a few days, it was a welcomed escape from the day to day.
We stayed in a holiday apartment in Karlshagen, on the Northern end of the island. It’s a popular place in summer, but even in autumn I found it a pleasant place to be. Maybe we were lucky, or maybe it’s because it’s the sunniest place in Germany. Either way, we had three beautiful days, apart from a few morning rain drops. The island is quite populated and there are many beach towns lining the sandy coast. Karlshagen is just a small town, but we started there with a walk along the beach. There were some hotels and restaurants around a little square with a tiny ferris wheel. On the beach it was quite windy and the waves and clouds made the water look green-gray. Many people were strolling close to the water. When it got too cold, we looped back through the forest, sheltered from the wind. There was a camp ground which still had a good amount of caravans and campers for this time of year.
Another day we drove across the island to reach Poland. At Swinemünde we went through a large tunnel and popped out on the other side in the region West Pomerania, where we drove to the touristy town Międzyzdroje. Where Karlshagen felt like a sleepy town, this place was tourist central, with many retired Germans sauntering on Poland’s largest pier. Entering the pier, we passed about ten ice cream and waffle shops. There were terraces in the middle of the pier and you could walk around, above the sea water, for around 400m. The view was spectacular, with the white sand and the cliffs in the distance. Out on the sea a marine ship was patrolling. Seagulls were flying around, trying to catch some leftover foods. When we looked in the water, we saw hundreds, no thousands of jellyfish. It was too cold anyway, but my desire to swim in this sea quickly disappeared.
Instead of swimming, we walked out to a huge staircase that we could see from the pier. We walked over the beach and saw the construction of a big new hotel. Many hotels and apartment buildings here looked quite new. There were buildings until the edge of the Wolin national park. The staircase was part of it and at the bottom of the stairs stood a sign saying there was an entry fee for the park. It just didn’t mention how much. We climbed up the stairs to Kawcza Mountain, which really is a 61m high cliff. The views from about three quarters up the stairs were really beautiful. After that the view got obscured by the trees. On the top you could follow a trail back to town. It only went down and was quite pleasant as it went through the pine forest. At the exit stood a lady charging entry fees though. We could pay euros, but it felt like she just charged us the złoty price in euro, without conversion. An expensive stroll.
After a well-deserved ice cream we made our way back through the tunnel to the Usedom island. The very Southern tip is Polish territory. This is where Świnoujście or, in German, Swinemünde lies. There was no pier, but a very fancy boulevard with, closer to the beach, the newer, and larger hotels. There were many restaurants and shops and some street vendors. Further away from the boulevard, on the other side, lay older mansions. They were so pretty, colorful and simply grand. Like Międzyzdroje, the city was very well taken care of and the gardens and flower beds complemented the fancy style of the mansions.
One of my main wishes for this day was to eat in a proper Polish restaurant, but it was still early. So we went to see the beach, walked through the park and through the city center, which lay a bit further from the tourist center near the beach. There was a fairly large harbor in the Świna river, from where you can also take ferries to Sweden. Besides ferries, there were a lot of marine ships in the port. It was still early when we finished our walk, but Polish food was calling. I’d found a traditional place, including traditional decorations. The whole ceiling hung full of bunches of dried grains and the walls were covered in art, some of which you could buy. The waitresses wore traditional clothing and plates were huge! I had some delicious potato pancakes that were hidden under a pile of goulash with what seemed like an entire tub of sour cream. It made my dreams come true.
Another day we drove North to visit Peenemünde. I had no idea this was a significant place in the course of history. As we drove up, there was a huge area of forest that was closed off due to “danger”. In the
Historisch-Technisches Museum we would learn why. It was here where the V2 rocket was developed, the first of its kind with liquid propellant. When we entered the museum property, we immediately saw a huge black and white rocket standing there. On its side stood a painted naked lady on a rocket and the moon. This bomb was used to destroy much of Western Europe during WW2. For example, the nazis could now bomb London from the Dutch coast. The research here was somewhat controversial I guess, with scientists working on something they hoped would aid aerospace engineering, but in innitially just destroyed a lot of places. Added to that, the rockets were assembled in an underground work camp with slaves.
The museum had a large exhibition with many sad facts, nazi propaganda posters and technical information. The site has an old power plant that was built to supply the research facility with power. Walking around this building, big panels explained the process. It was interesting walking around this deserted factory. The main exhibition building was a lot more plain, with three floors filled with information. On the top floor we could also see a bit more about what’s hidden in the “forbidden forest”. There are ruins of launch sites and living quarters. Rockets were launched from there into the Baltic sea, so who knows what explosives could still be hidden between the trees.
As a last site we went to Zinnowitz for a walk around another pier and views of white sand beaches. I wish I had the beach closer to home. It’s a great place to just walk and let the wind carry your thoughts. Well, maybe I should visit the Ostsee a bit more often. After all, it’s not that far from Berlin.
