Karolinenkoog to Hamburg - Friday, 25 September

It was a later departure time this morning that allowed us to leave our hotel on time. Most of us had left luggage on the coach since we were only here one night.






Jutta was our guide for the day and she was chock full of information about the Nordfriesen area.

Jutta (with the red scarf) changed our itinerary a bit as we started our day in Tönning, a small fishing village on the Eider Fluß. After a 15 minute walk we stopped at a relief map of the area where she explained the marshes, harbors, and other physical geography of the area.




Then it was about a 10 minute walk into the village. Tönning is a city whose history dates back 500 years. It was a shipping port was and also was subject to catastrophic floods due to storms from the North Sea. A pole depicts the high water marks.



One of the most interesting buildings was the Kanal Packhaus, built in 1783. At Christmas the windows in the building become an Advent Calendar.


Whereas yesterday was a day spent nearly entirely on the coach, today was an on, off, walking day. It was very windy, but when the sun came out, the warmth was appreciated.

After leaving Tönning, it was a short drive to the Eidersperrwerk. Along the way we saw a massive dike that is used to hold back the North Sea.



The Eidersperrwerk is a barrage mechanism for protecting against the storm surges of the North Sea. It was constructed between 1967 and 1973 and is Germany's largest coastal protection structure.









For those who didn't want to take all the time to walk the structure, there was some refreshment time.



We left the Eidersperrwerk and headed for the town of St. Peter Ording. It was another beach resort town on the North Sea and was similar to what we saw on Sylt yesterday. After a stroll through the little village we arrived at a very impressive bridge/boardwalk structure that led to the beach.

Jutta explained the tides and how they change the beach. The boardwalk stretched for 800 meters and some of the choir even made it all the way to the water.












Because of the distance to the sea many could not make it back in time for our 1:00 departure and so we left about 20 minutes late. From there we traveled another short distance to Westerheven to see the lighthouse there. The salt marshes were also very interesting as Jutta explained how the channeling and sediment building increased the effectiveness of the dike on which we were standing.



The marshes are a stopping point for migrating birds.


A short drive took us to the Roter Haupbarg. This is a huge farmhouse that dates back to 1647 and was designed in the Dutch style to have all associated with the farm under one roof. Attached to the house is a museum that shows has many farm tools and artifacts. We had hope to have a coffee and some kuchen there, but didn't have reservations and so could not be accommodated.









Our last tour stop of the day was Husom, another village on the North Sea. It once was a shipbuilding port, but now only does ship repairing. It has an inner harbor and outer harbor and is really a quaint village. It serves as the capital of the district of Nordfriesland. Time for a stroll and a coffee before we returned to the coach to head to Hamburg.






We got to Hamburg and the Leonardo Hotel about 7:15. Quickly dropped our luggage in the rooms and headed to dinner. It was an impressive buffet with a wonderful salad bar.
















The hotel also has a very nice bar of which many took advantage after dinner. For others it was bedtime in anticipation of an 8:30 am departure.

Warder am See to Karolinenkoog via Sylt - Thursday, September 24

It was a short night last night with having to repack and get ready for an early luggage call. With a bit of a mix-up on the departure time, we left Hotel Gasthof am See, our "home" for the last 3 nights to head for the auto train to Sylt.



The best laid plans often don't work. The time to the train was underestimated and we missed out auto train at 10:35. So we had to wait until we could load at 11:35. By the time we left on the train it was close to noon. On the train we had foggy view of the North Sea and some We arrived in Westerland, the only town on the island of villages at 12:45.








We arrived in Westerland about 12:45 and were met by our steo on guide, Sybile. She was an excellent guide and passionate about the life on Sylt. She gave us an introduction to the island, which at one time was part of the mainland 8000 years ago. As is the case in most of northern Germany history, Sylt has a strong Danish heritage and connection even today.

Sylt is a fairly well known movie backdrop with films like Roman Polanski's Ghostwriter having been shot here. On 21 February the residents light a huge fire called Biikeblennen. It originated in pagan times and, later, a time to say farewell to the whalers. Today it is a way to chase the winter away and welcome the new season.

The weather on the island today was bleak,very windy, and eventually very rainy. Sylt's economy is based on tourism, welcoming 850,000 visitors year. We began the tour by heading north to the village of Kampen.
Kampen is characterized by homes with thatched home, which is a home owner requirement. It is an exclusive area with specialty boutiques. Standing on the dunes is a 38 m light house that was erected in 1836 and given to Sylt by the Danish.

(The pictures today were taken through coach windows in misty and foggy conditions and don't nearly represent the beauty of the area.)










Going north on the island, the next village was List. List is the most northern village on the island and in Germany. It was the training center for chefs for the Germany navy and also served as a base for British and American soldiers. Those barracks have been turned into homes as in many other parts of northern Germany. The harbor is the arrival point for the Danish ferry from Rømø.



Coming back south we next came to Ellenbogen or "the elbow." This is privately owned and maintained and a vast expanse of natural lands. It si where sheep have the right away.



It was decided to cut our tour short because no one had eaten lunch and there was a need to stretch some stiff legs. And so we headed back to Westerland where the group dispersed to explore the town for 2 1/2 hours. Sybile took a small group down to the beach where it was windy and cold. Should we have expected anything else? The promenade feature several large hotels and an amphitheatre. The basket chairs provide a comfy place to relax.













The drizzle soon changed to a hard, cold, and driving rain.

We had to be back on the coach at 4:30 and most decided to escape the rain and return early. Our train departed close to 5:00 and we headed to our resting point for the evening.

We drove through pouring rain and finally arrived at the Landhaus Pfahlersdorf, were we would spend the night.

Dinner was a nice buffet of salads, cheeses, meats, cold fish, roast pork, poached fish, vegetables, sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, french fries, and assorted cremes.
















After dinner in the bar area, the singers were asked to sing. So informally, they performed a couple of songs for the staff and some other guests.
What a fun way to end an evening!