Lubeck

 We have had a marvellous day today. After a bakery breakfast Ruth called to say she was ready to begin our walking tour. We have had a blast exploring this fabulous old place and Ruth has been a fountain of knowledge and enjoyed showing us around her patch. 

We visited churches painted white inside on the orders of Hitler, only a small amount of restoration has taken place which is a shame because what has been uncovered is beautiful. 

We climbed to top of one of the towers, there was an elevator option but we opted for the steep staicase. I think I’m glad I did!

The roof on the right is shaped like wine bottles, the building is a wine centre. 

We learned about the devils statue sitting outside one of the Churches, he only allowed the Church building to proceed when the town offered to placate him by building a pub opposite. 

Lubeck is the Marzipan capital of Germany so we had to have a sample and there is an amazing marzipan museum attached to the shop along with a cafe. We had lunch no.1 here. 

All made from marzipan. 

One of the main buildings is the Rathaus ( council/ court house) the bricks were all black, the more black bricks in a building( bricks dyed with pigs blood) meant it was more important. 

This building had the largest circular holes cut out in it because it was swaying to much in the wind, the holes allowed the wind through and stabilized the wall.

We continued on through lively town squares and a lovely community garden with fragrant herbs,  vegetables and flowers growing. Free for people to enjoy. 

A lot of the houses are very grand and date from the 13th century, most have been preserved but some have some funny lean angles going on and might be in need of some remedial attention soon.

Whilst the houses look huge, sometimes some of the front is false and built higher. This was to give the impression of grandeur and that a wealthy person lived there.

 The grand houses are all on the street front and they have little alleyway like tunnels running from the street to the rear of the house, the tunnels are really tiny and you need to duck down quite low or you can get a nasty bump to the head. (ask me how I know). Anyway instead of a back yard there is a series of tiny little houses which are still in use as dwellings today. Originally these houses housed the servants of the grand houses in front.  Really interesting and also that the small alleyways must remain open to the public for viewing. 

After lunch 2 we visited a memorial in a church for 4 clergymen who refused to bow down to Hitlers demands amd were guillotined in Hamburg for their trouble. 

Ruth also pointed out a cobblestone that had a plaque set into it. It translates as stumbling stone and has a rough surface to it so that people stumble and look down at it.  The plaque is simply a memorial to an individual who didn’t survive incarceration in a concentration camp. A simple inscription with name, date of birth, date of death amd place of death. A poignant reminder and apparently most cities in Germany have them. 

Ruth walked us off our feet (in a very good way) and at 4 pm we jumped on a bus and on the way back to their house we picked up kebabs for dinner. 

Clive was home to greet us and we spent a lovely few hours catching up. 

Then back on the bus for us, our stop is a main bus terminal, not sure what was happening but when we got there, there was a very large contingent of police. A little bit unsettling. 

Anyway an awesome day and can’t wait for tomorrow.