What Would I Say Mania

I was really captivated by the whole What Would I Say Thing.  Here are my favorites...

Really, does anyone know why the Romantic period?

I would choose the three beasties.

This is actually really good advice.  I'm proud of my computer generated self.

But isn't that one of the central questions of life-whether one can Freiheit in Central Park?

All joking aside, this hits pretty close.

But things are always better...

Best summary of Shutdown 2013 I've heard yet.

Lastly, a philosophical conundrum.  Wasn't it cool, being you on Tuesday?

Rügen: My fourth day

Before talking about my last day on Rügen, I want to do a quick shout-out to my dad. There are a looooot of things I have to thank him for, but in particular, the camera that took all of these pictures! Shortly before I left America, I mentioned to him that it was one of the things I needed, and he just gave me his!  It's a great little camera. It's performed wonderfully and put up with a lot of abuse from me. (Such as being dropped on concrete while trying to photograph cows...)

My last day on Rügen was cloudy and stormy, but with the promise of just a hint of sun. I decided to spend it walking along the beach, flying my kite if possible, and looking for amber.  On Rügen in an autumn storm is one of the best chances I might ever have to find it.  Maybe I would walk along the beach as far as Prora, the next town to the north.

The morning light in Binz was incredibly dramatic.  At times, it looked almost as though it would turn sunny.  At other times, the rain pelted down so hard I went off the beach and into the treeline for protection.  Kite flying was out of the question.

Some diligent soul built quite a sand castle.

And as I walked along, I started to get glimpses of the most incredible blue sky.

After a while, I started to see a huge structure in the distance.  At first, I thought it was a group of buildings.  As I got closer, it was clear that it was built to affect the coastline in some way...but built quite a long time ago.

Here you can see a little of how the structure was crumbling.  I also thought the figure in this grafetti was strangely moving. 

As I walked next to the structure, I thought, "this has to be DDR or even earlier." This sign, which warns about pieces of the structure falling off, definitely confirmed that impression.

If it wasn't so dangerous, it would have been tempting to walk along the top and look out to sea.  I didn't try it.  If I had, there's probably a good chance I wouldn't be writing this now.

Not too long after the mystery structure came the most incredible part of the whole day: I found a piece of amber! After picking up dozens of maybe-ambers that weren't, I finally held the real thing, and the difference was unmistakable. 

And then the sky finally started to clear.

...Just as I was reaching a town.  

This must be Prora, I thought, four kilometers from Binz!

....It was Granitz, and I had walked 8.4 kilometers.  I looked for a bus, but the bus system on Rügen is....unique and different.  (As an aside, I also met the rudest busdriver I've ever experienced on Rügen.)  There was nothing to do but walk back.

It was lucky I did, because I got to see the Kolossus of Prora on the way.  The Kolossus is a relic from WWII and the Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) program.  It was intended as a massive resort, one that would be within the reach of the average worker.  This one building has been left as a ruin, while the others of the complex are still in use.  They're unbelievably massive.

My last meal on Rügen: beer, potato salad, and a big hunk of smoked salmon!

From, of course, a traditional smokery just off the beach, run by the same family for the last four generations.

And that was my trip to Rügen: peaceful, rainy, and beautiful.

Rügen: My third day

On my third day in Rügen, I visited the King's Throne, a famous chalk cliff.  It's a World Heritage site, as is the first growth beech forest that surrounds it.  This is a picture taken from the King's Throne, not of the King's throne.  I felt so lucky to be on the island just when the fall colors were out.

This picture is also from-not-of the King's Throne.  As you can see, it started getting cloudy while I was there.

Caspar David Friedrich, possibly the most famous painter of the Romantic period, based this picture on the chalk cliffs of Rügen.  It's even thought to be a composite of two sites in particular.

This picture is for Geoff.

When I returned from my first short walk through the beech forest, this raven was sitting in front of the museum! He seemed to like being treated as a celebrity, because he let me take a lot of pictures.  Ravens are fairly common in this area, but I wasn't the only one who was impressed to see one so close up.

Like the rest of Rügen, these woods had a beautiful stillness to them.

Now, this is a picture of the King's Throne.  The chalk was wonderfully white when the sunlight hit it.  One of the legends about the formation's name is that in ancient times, the young men of the area would try to climb the slippery, crumbling chalk of the King's Throne.  The young man who survived and reached the top would become their king.  I wouldn't want to try it!

I went on a hike led by one of the local rangers, and ended up making friends with an older German gentleman who was also on the hike.  We went along this beach together.  He was the first person to warn me about the dangers of looking for amber on Üsedom.  Because rockets were manufactured on the island in WWII, it was heavily bombed with phosphorus.  Just like amber, phosphorus floats in water, is translucent brown, and has a plasticky feel.  However, unlike amber, phosphorus explodes when it dries out.  So if you collect amber on Üsedom, don't put anything you find in your pocket!

He also told me that he had been vacationing in the area for thirteen years and had always looked for amber, without ever finding a single piece.

I left a note in the museum guestbook.  It says, "You've had a visit from America. I come from Seattle, Washington, and although it's beautiful there, I can truthfully say you have something really special here!"