On a good day, a train will take you from Berlin to Rostock in just over 2 hours. So, I had to explore this area, even if my train got canceled and I ended up spending much longer to get there. I was staying in Warnemünde and took the S-bahn to Rostock for a day trip. It was a warm Friday with a brisk wind. From the main station I wandered in the direction of the center without a clear goal. I’d read about a few highlights, but decided to just walk around and see what I could find. After all, Rostock’s center is not that big.
I wandered into the former monastery area. There were a bunch of small houses along a cobbled street, surrounding a church. To the side were some gardens, close to the former city wall. The complex now houses a free museum with lots of details on Rostock’s history. I entered and found some very cool interactive exhibitions for kids. The wall had talking portraits, reminding me of Harry Potter. They explained who they were and what significance they had to history. The building was old, and so small staircases led to long, small rooms and hidden corners. Upstairs I found some art from the region, but also works by Dutch painters, of scenes that didn’t come from the Rostock area. But the museum also focuses on what made Rostock, the trades that went on here and the trading routes it was part of. A special exhibition shared knowledge about one of the dukes of Mecklenburg, who really wanted nothing to do with the region: Christian Louis I. He spent his time traveling, leaving the ruling of his lands to some delegates. Even though I didn’t read through all the information, I walked out with some idea of what had shaped this city.
I continued walking and at the end of the Kröpeliner Straße I found the Kröpeliner Tor, one of the former city gates from the 13th century. For a few euros you could climb the stairs and check out an exhibition. It was a bit weird, about antisemitism in post cards. I thought I would eventually get to a view, but ended up on the top floor, which had some info about the tower and no views. Some floors had small windows, but the views were disappointing. I consoled myself by saying that I’d contributed some money that would probably help keep this monument intact. I wandered on, through the shopping street and onto the Neuer Markt, where a wedding party was just leaving the city hall. They were picked up by a special party tram. There was a small market on the square, but I admired the colorful buildings. From here I walked to the riverside, which was great for a stroll. I walked towards a quite modern area and then turned again, back into the old town.
Back in the old part of the city I found the Petrikirche. The inside was surprisingly modern and had some art works on display. But the church had an elevator going up to a viewing platform. What a luxury! You could also opt to take the 165 steps to the top, but I was already walking enough. On the top it was crazy windy! I mean, it was windy enough on ground level, so up there it was intense. There were small openings that gave a great view over the city. They were covered in a mesh, to protect it from birds I presume. So it was hard to take good photos. In some of them they’d made a small hole so you could stick your camera through.
After all the walking I found a café called Törtcheneck Schwesterherz, where I got a strawberry-yoghurt cake. It’s a very cute little place with some benches outside, lined up along the wall. I found the last free spot outside. Suddenly the mail delivery woman came. My bench was placed right in front of some mail boxes. I bent to the right, to the left. The people next to me joked she could just give it to me, but the mail lady had a sense of duty. I chuckled at the strange placement of benches.
At some point I had a bizarre encounter. I was taking out money and a lady behind me said something. It took me a few seconds to realize she complimented me on my dress. While we switched taking out money, I was done, she just started, she rambled on about all kind of things. Where I’d bought the dress. That it probably wouldn’t be available anymore, or maybe it was a strange question. That maybe it was from the internet anyway. Then she increased her speed in a story about her boyfriend and something that wasn’t right. Meanwhile she made a mistake in the ATM and another guy came in, so she was distracted. I wasn’t really feeling like a whole conversation, so I used the moment to say goodbye. She repeated one more time “really awesome dress”.
If you need to do some shopping, I think Rostock is a very nice place to do it. The shopping street is super cute, with many colorful buildings and some terraces and eateries in between. I walked another time through the shopping street and on to the area behind the Kröpeliner Tor. There were a few more shops and restaurants, but more spread out. I did find a very nice square, where many people were getting a coffee in the sunshine. It was nice to see a regular part of the city on my way to the Parkstraße S-bahn. With my guest card from Warnemünde, I could hop on the train back for free. It was a really nice day out.
