Kruså, Denmark - Kiel, Germany

Wednesday 22nd September 1999

After some last minute shopping in Denmark to rid ourselves of the last of our Danish coins we headed over the border into Germany. Our next major destination was Lübeck, once the main Hanseatic city, but we thought we'd look in on a few smaller places on the way.

We arrived in the town of Schleswig at about lunchtime. First sight to greet us as we approached the town was Schloss Gottorf, nicely situated in the middle of a lake. We wheeled across the bridge to the car-park in front of the schloss and decided that this would be a great place for lunch.

That done we decided to have a look inside the castle. Nothing remained of the original furnishings but the whole thing had been turned over to a museum, 132 rooms worth. The displays ranged from medieval art to exhibits on Sami culture. Our favourite though was the ornate wooden chapel, still in original condition.

The day was getting on and we wanted to see some of the town so we set off in the van and parked by the dockside. First up was the cathedral, in the heart of the Altstadt. Dating from 1134 it contains a sensational wooden altarpiece, carved in 1521. Over four hundred figures appear in the 24 panels telling the story of the passion of Christ. We sat and stared for some time and I longed for Dad's binoculars to make out some more detail.

We left the cathedral and headed towards Holm, a traditional fishing village that was an island until 1935, although no sign of the division exists today. The central square was simply gorgeous, a delightful small chapel surrounded by a small park, with cobbled streets and colourful houses framing the edge. The dark clouds overhead leant a degree of drama to the scene, then the sun would reappear and bathe the whole area in brilliant light.

We strolled around and enjoyed the ambience before finally heading back to the car, the afternoon fast receding. We headed back on to the road and began looking for a place to stop for the night. We travelled the 50km to Kiel with no luck and so began to set our sights lower. After the fantastic places we'd stopped every night in Norway it was a little difficult to accept a busy roadside pullover. After another 50km, with the towns appearing more and more frequently, we realised we didn't have the luxury of choice. We took the next spot we saw, a small pullover not entirely flat, and accepted our lot. Back to busy Europe.