Dark Days in Lübeck Germany

We are supposed to be in Copenhagen right now. Thanks to Lufthansa’s greed or mismanagement or Covid or who knows what, those plans were changed. Lufthansa has cancelled our flight home twice. Andreas has spent hours and days on the phone with his booking agent Orbitz. Each time he is directed to a new person in India who can’t do anything to help him. I think they’ve tried. One got as far as sending and receiving emails from Lufthansa only to conclude that he couldn’t help us. Trying to contact Lufthansa in any way has proven futile.

We knew our original flight home was cancelled before we left the US. We figured we would be able to re-schedule it. We were hopeful about being able to do this until about three weeks ago.

Originally we were supposed to spend our last three weeks in Copenhagen for Andreas’ work, but then Copenhagen’s Covid numbers sky rocketed. We thought okay, we don’t have a flight home let’s stay in Germany and travel near Frankfurt and fly out of there. We should be able to change our ticket since we were originally planning to change planes in Frankfurt. Nope, no can do.

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So, we made our way back to Lübeck because it’s sort of between Copenhagen and Frankfurt, we’re comfortable here and we thought we would just be working anyway. We’ve camped out in the Airbnb we started our vacation with in mid-December. The only thing we can figure out to do about getting home is to show up in the Copenhagen airport when we were originally supposed to leave and see what they can do for us. That will happen in a couple of days.

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Andreas and I have spent the last two weeks feeling stressed out, anxious and maybe a little depressed. I’m a nervous traveler during the best of times even when everything is running smoothly, so this situation is making me pretty upset. Neither one of us has been able to do much work and we’ve been getting on each other’s nerves a little bit.

One particularly cold day we left the island and walked to Andreas’ mother’s old neighborhood where she lived until she was a young teen. We took photos of the house at the address she gave us and the air raid bunker that she and her family hid in during the war. She has not seen these photos yet. I can’t say if things look as she remembered them. Still, it was interesting to experience the neighborhood even if it’s been 70 odd years since she lived there. Her family of six lived on one floor of this house. (edit: Christa says that the facade of the house has changed since she lived there and it looks very modern now.)

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On a happier note, we were able to visit with Andreas’ parents again in Neustadt on a rare sunny day. We enjoyed a nice walk and lunch out. Christa and Andreas rode bikes to the local Birkenstock outlet so Andreas could replace his shoes. That was a good idea because the price was less than half of what he paid online for a pair two years ago.

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Andreas’ mother came to Lübeck for a day by herself and we had a wonderful coffee with her childhood friend Sieglinde. Sieglinde’s apartment is at the bottom of the island on the edge of a park with street and lake views. Very cool to watch swans fly by the window at eye level while you drink coffee and eat fancy cookies on delicate china. It was so nice to relax there and enjoy her company.

Coffee at Sieglinde’s

I’ve been keeping busy exploring museums that Andreas is not interested in, and parts of the city that I haven’t seen yet while he tries to concentrate on his work or calls the airline.

This is the Museum of Nature and the environment. (Museum für Natur und Umwelt) It’s a cute little place with tired taxidermy. Some of the exhibits are very nice. There’s a great view of the Dom (Cathedral) through the windows and some live snakes and fish. I had the museum to myself.

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Museum Holstentor This museum is part of the former city wall. The sides facing away from the city have more of a battlement purpose while the back is more ornate with more windows. It has an interesting collection of weapons, kitchen implements and torture devices. I really enjoyed the scale model of medieval Lübeck and the model ships. It’s a fun museum to discover as you are always going up and down spiral steps in the two towers. What’s not apparent from the photos is how much the towers are leaning . Building something that big and heavy on swampy ground in the 1400’s wasn’t a great idea.

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When I was walking back from this museum I cut through the Rathaus square and heard Andreas call my name. (Yelling DRAGONFLY! definitely rattled the two homeless guys sitting next to him.) I just happened to chose that way to walk home and he just happened to be in that square reading on a bench in the sun, so of course we had to get some coffee and cake.

You can’t throw a stone in this town without hitting a cafe with little cakes. It’s all about the afternoon Kuchen und Kaffee around here.

I’ve picked up a few books that I’ve been meaning to read. Cheery ones like The Handmaid’s Tale and Where The Crawdads Sing.. ha ha. I feel like I’ve been wasting time or not enjoying being here to the fullest, I’ve let the stress get to me too much.

Today Andreas is hiking along the Baltic while I have some quiet time to paint. He returned home saying he walked 30,000 steps today and added a few photos below. He also went to Neustadt and surprised his parents with some cake. He and his mom went out for a beer while his dad watched his Sunday TV program.

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I hope that in my next blog I will say I was worried about nothing and Lufthansa totally came through for us, that they flew us to Philadelphia and not Newark, NJ and I’m back home. I hope.

Have any of you experienced travel problems like this with Lufthansa lately?

Lübeck and Neustadt Part 2

Happy New Year from Lübeck! Andreas and I returned to the city after our short stay in Magdeburg. We were able to book one of our favorite Airbnbs in the Stüwes Gang. The house is a historical landmark. I have written about this Airbnb and Lubeck before here, here and here. The house is very old has been renovated in creative ways showcasing much of the original architecture. It’s tiny, but very cool. We were able to get our favorite upstairs room and were happy to meet a friendly couple renting one of the rooms below us. Ciaran and Michele were traveling from Cologne where Ciaran, originally from Ireland, owns an Irish bar called Buskers. I enjoyed the opportunity to speak English with someone, especially someone with an Irish accent. He was also nice enough to leave me the book he was reading when he left.

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We took it easy this week in the city. Andreas found the local library and we spent a few hours there following our interests and discovering new ideas.

A few library books I was reading.

We also revisited the Behnhaus Museum to see some local art, and for fun we made a point of trying new streets and different routes to and from the house.

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While changing our route we also discovered some new artwork.

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We have found a little bar that we are fond of called Kandinsky. If we happened to be in that part of the city in the afternoon, we would stop in for a glühwein. The bar is small, dark, mostly empty and a little smoky from the patrons and the candles. I like the atmosphere while Andreas likes the alcohol and local news papers and magazines. I think they are mostly known for their whiskey selection.

Andreas with his gluhwein and magazine.

My first view of Kandinsky through my rain covered, mask fogged glasses.

To celebrate on New Year’s Eve Andreas picked a fancy restaurant near us. The Schabbelhaus was originally a bakery, a museum and then hosted restaurants. It was destroyed in the war and rebuilt. His parents had celebrated the christening of his cousin Petra there in 1962. His mother remembers all of the details including the wine they bought and how much it cost. For dinner Andreas chose the full New Year’s Eve menu with four courses and dessert. I picked something smaller. The food, and ambience was perfect for the occasion. I wish we were able to dress a little nicer, but when you travel with only a backpack, extra fancy clothes are not an option.

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At midnight we stood at the kitchen window in the Airbnb and watched the fireworks and drones in the sky while listening to the church bells ring.

Behold the worst photo I’ve ever taken of New Year’s Eve fireworks.

We began our new year with another visit to Andreas’ parents in Neustadt in Holstein. Christa prepared a lovely brunch for us. She also fixed the fraying straps of Andreas’ backpack while he and his father worked on Lothar’s old laptop. In the afternoon we met her younger brother Klaus and Andreas’ cousin Kirsten for coffee and cake. Andreas hadn’t seen them in 36 years. They are lovely people and I hope we are able to meet them again soon.

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As I write this, we are in Diez (more about that soon) and we have learned that our flight home has been cancelled. We are working with Orbitz to figure something out and have been unable to reach our airline. We were scheduled to travel to Copenhagen next for Andreas’ work, but we have cancelled due to their crazy high Covid numbers. We will be traveling back to Lübeck to the apartment we stayed in at the beginning of our trip. We feel that it has the best work space for us and we do need to get back to work. Also, as far as Andreas can figure out with the numbers available to him, Covid cases are lower there than in the USA, Denmark and other areas in Germany.

All photos by Dragonfly Leathrum

Tschüss Lübeck I’ll miss you the most.

Lubeck Germany. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Andreas and I were not back in Bremerhaven more than a couple of hours from our last trip when we realized this week’s early July weather was going to be very cool. We decided to take advantage and travel again before the next heat wave. We set out to my favorite city Lübeck to say goodbye to Andreas’ parents and Aunt; our third trip to Lübeck this year. (Last summer 2018) (Christmas 2018)

The town of Lubeck created in marzipan in the window of Niederegger. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

At our favorite Airbnb. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Andreas working in the Airbnb. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Wine in the Gang in front of our Airbnb with the old school Lubeck gang. From left to right: Christa, Lothar, Andreas and Annemarie. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

In two days, we visited all of the familiar places. We stayed at our usual Airbnb in the tiny passage or Gang. (I looked up these passages and learned that two scenes from Nosferatu were filmed in Lübeck), we ate at our favorite restaurants and walked around the beautiful, old city. Since we’ve recently become step-grandparents toy stores are newly interesting and as always, time and money were spent in bookstores.

Leaving the Kartoffelkeller restaurant. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Dinner at the Alte Zolln where Andreas’ grandfather used to drink. The woman with the blue shirt and watch is local and was sitting alone. The other three are visiting Lubeck from Scotland and were seated at her table because seats were available. She immediately asked about their thoughts on Brexit. They replied that they absolutely didn’t want to talk about politics. within ten minutes they were talking about politics. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Bookstore in Lubeck. Photo by Andreas Muenchow

Thankfully, Andreas’ parents, Aunt Annemarie and his mother’s friend from school, Sieglinde were able to join us for dinner with just a few days’ notice. It’s always fun to walk around the city with them because they have so many memories of being young there.

Sisters. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Sieglinde and Christa. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Annemarie, Sieglinde and Christa at Schlumachers. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Our new find was the Europäisches Hansemuseum. The museum site was originally a castle built in 1100, which turned into a Friary, which turned into an almshouse, which turned into a law court and prison which became the museum. Thus.. a really cool collection of buildings with remnants of all of these periods can be viewed.

Andreas in the old court room. Hansemuseum. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Angels in the architecture from the original castle and friary. Hansemuseum. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Stained glass from around 1400 that survived the bombings in WWII. Hansemuseum. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Just a couple of weeks are left in Andreas’ sabbatical, I hope this cool spell lasts and we can travel a little more.

Walking towards Marienkiche. It was built between 1250-1350 on the highest point of the island. After WWII Andreas’ Uncle helped to rebuild the wooden structures of the steeples and his father ran the new telephone wires. Photo by Andreas Muenchow

 

 

Lübeck, Germany: Island Living at it’s Best

At the bus stop in Bremerhaven on the way to Lubeck. I believe those two are playing rock, paper, scissors, Batman, bunny foo foo and are stuck in a foo foo draw. Photo by Andreas Muenchow

Sometimes in life you pick favorites. It’s discouraged, right? Even though people ask for an opinion of a favorite this or that all of the time, we are encouraged to keep an open mind to discover new things. I have a favorite German city, just in case you were wondering. It’s Lubeck, and yes, I do have an open mind about it. I expect to discover another even more wonderful city during my year abroad, but in six months Lübeck still wins.

The Dom through the trees. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

I convinced my brother and his family that we must visit Lübeck during our eleven-day excursion. Andreas and I chose our favorite Airbnb and booked the whole thing last spring.

One of the bathrooms in our Airbnb. You have to be very careful not to hit your head on that beam when you use the potty. The ceiling is low. I love this place. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Three bedrooms and two shared kitchens and baths. I thought that having this much “space” would be good for the six of us. I wasn’t aware that what I think is a lot of space is very tiny for other people. My brother and his family are use to more space and more bathrooms. The Airbnb was referred to as “another one of Dragonfly’s dollhouses”. Ha ha, so true. I can see it now in retrospect and have learned a lesson. Sorry to smoosh you in there, family.

Andreas and nephews play Skat in the “dollhouse” living room. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

In Lübeck we found ourselves splitting off into little groups. Brother and sister-in-law to the Christmas market for Glühwein while Uncle Andreas and Auntie Fly hang out with the kids, sister-in-law and I yarn and resale shopping, Andreas and shorter nephew Geocaching the island with seven finds! We also went out to dinner as a group. My husband is a very patient menu translator, a saint really.

Sister-in-law and I found this amazing yarn and fabric store. I visited this store three times in three days. Heaven. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

We planned one special lunch to introduce my family to Andreas’ local family as we were newly married three weeks before. We chose a restaurant in the cellar of the Heiligen-Geist Hospital. It is one of the oldest existing social institutions in the world founded in 1227. I regret not photographing the interior, it was cool and I hope to tour the rest of the building when we visit again. (Check it out here) Andreas’ parents, Aunt and older cousin were able to attend. We had a very nice lunch and I would recommend the restaurant. (English menus! Andreas had the day off.)

The author with her new German family feeling very lucky and loved. Photo by Patrick Leathrum

After lunch we visited Jakobikirche. The church of the seafarers built around 1300. Andreas’ aunt mentioned that she hadn’t been inside in years. She said it’s where the town stored the bread reserves during WWII.

Jakobikirche The church of the seafarers. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

My brother and entourage moved on to Berlin the next day so we invited Andreas’ parents to join us for a night in the Airbnb. They are local to Lübeck and we thought they would enjoy seeing the place and its special location.

Enjoying the slideshow of our Arctic trip on the computer while relaxing in our Airbnb. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

We toured the city and visited the large Buniamshof sports complex that Christa’s father managed from 1950 to 1973.

Christa lived on the second floor of this building at the Buniamshof Sports Complex as a teenager and later Andreas and his siblings spent many days playing here as children. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Impossible sometimes to take a photo of these two. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

We had lunch in the Im Alten Zolln bar nearby that Christa’s father liked to visit. When he visited for too long Lothar would fetch him home in the days before Andreas was born.  It was nice listening to Andreas’ parents reminisce about the days before they were married.

Lunch at Im Alten Zolln. Lots of family history here. The also have awesome kartoffelpuffer with smoked salmon. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

Lothar and Santa at Im Alten Zolln. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum

The next morning, after a huge breakfast at Café Calma where Christa made a beautiful salad bouquet, we were back on the train happy to be returning to Bremerhaven and a few quiet months at home. Goodbye Lübeck, you are my go to place for art supplies (no good arts and crafts places in Bremerhaven), fun cafe’s, cute shops and beautiful churches. I can’t get lost when I visit because you are a small island and that comforts me. Until next time, my favorite.

The author and Christa at Cafe Calma. Christa holds her bouquet created from the fancy salads accompanying our breakfasts. Photo by Andreas Muenchow

What shall we do with these pretty flowers and bits of baby greens? ha ha. Photo by Dragonfly Leathrum