Rostock-Warnemünde and Hamburg - June 2016

Monsieur's grandparents had told us a long time in advance: they would celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in June 2016, and they'd be very sad if we couldn't participate. The celebration would take place in Rostock-Warnemünde, at the famous hotel "Neptun", where they have spent many holidays in the last decades. 
So basically we had no choice but to be at the Baltic sea for a few days in June. Of course we looked forward to seeing the grandparents and celebrate with them, it's a big anniversary (imagine being married for sixty years!) and we don't see them very often, so it goes without saying that we wanted to make it possible. But Rostock. There are not many direct flights from Switzerland to Rostock, and as we have close friends in Hamburg, we decided to fly to Hamburg and stay there for two days before flying back home. To get from Hamburg to Rostock, we rented a car.

The "Neptun"

While Monsieur had been to Warnemünde before, this was my first time, and I really liked the beautiful beach and the view we had from the balcony of our hotel room. The "Neptun" towers above Warnemünde with its 64 meters, it has 18 floors and 338 rooms, is a 5-star house and has a very special history. It opened in 1971, when Rostock was part of the GDR, and originally it should be a place for foreigners only. But when this policy was abandoned, it became a hotel where citizens of the GDR went for holidays and met westerners. This prompted an in-house black market which the responsibles tried to fight with the hotel's own currency, the "Neptun-Geld". 

View from our balcony.

The view from the Neptun's balconies is really quite spectacular. The big cruise ships coming into the port of Rostock via Warnemünde add a cosmopolitan touch to this otherwise cosy little town. We checked the calendar on the hotel's website to find out which ships would come in or leave while we were there and found out that indeed, there would be some quite big ones. But they would come very early in the morning. So we decided to get up as early as needed, and - wrapped in our blankets - waited for them on the balcony. It was so worth it! We saw the "Serenade of the Seas" and the "Regal Princess" and had a wonderful, very happy morning just ship spotting, taking photos and enjoying the view.

With Monsieur's grandparents, we took walks along the beach and strolled through the town, ate dinner together and had a great time. They were perfectly happy to have us there and seemed to enjoy it very much.

After two days in Warnemünde, we drove back to Hamburg in the pouring rain, returned the car to the airport and took the train to the city centre. We had booked a room at the Generator Hostel right at the main station. Hamburg is not a cheap place and it was a weekend, so this was fine for one night.

We both love the north, and Hamburg. I could sit at the Landungsbrücken for days on end and just watch the ships, the people, the colours. With our friend, we took one of the public transport ferries, which is something I'd prefer to a (much more expensive) harbour tour any time.

We also went to the Hafencity, where Hamburg has developed a completely new quarter during the last few years. I still don't really like its atmosphere, it feels artificial and honestly, a quarter where after nine p.m. there is no open restaurant or café and no people on the streets doesn't give a very lively impression. When we'd last been in Hamburg, the Elbphilharmonie had still been a huge construction site, now it seemed to be close to completion, it finally opened in January 2017. It's a terrific building which (compared to the rest of the Hafencity) matches Hamburg's other buildings very well. Next time we'll visit we'll hopefully have time for a guided tour!