Part 4: Of Rejuvenation, Safety and Fire Prevention

(12.06.2022-25.06.2022)

On Sunday 12.06. the time has come, I go to Sassnitz and the Basic Safety Training can start tomorrow. I find accommodation in the local school dormitory (or trainee home), where I also get to know Silas soon after arrival - a Swiss who also does the course and basically follows very similar plans as I do with it. During the two weeks we do the majority of our excursions outside the metropolis Sassnitz together.

The rest of the time I enjoy having some routine again in contrast to everyday travel - exclusively cooking myself, doing sports in the evening, sitting down and just reading a bit.

During the occasional socialization with the trainees, I am easily transported back to my school days and feel very young again. Their fresh faces in the morning, after they had celebrated all night, regularly bring me back down to earth though.

Relaxed evening with the trainees

Destinations:

Military grounds: Just opposite of the school dormitory is an old abandoned military area. We suspect after some research it used to be a submarine shipyard from the early 1950s. Whatever it used to be, nowadays it seems both imposing and threatening. There is also a large bunker complex on the grounds, but we did not want to visit it any further due to too much shitting ourselves.

The entrance to the bunker was still closed the day before. BIG Nope!

I still wanted to go in a few meters

Kap Arkona: Starting from Sassnitz, Silas and I take a bike ride to Cape Arkona (about 80 km). The cape is rather disappointing, but the landscape along the way is very beautiful. A very nice and exhausting tour (with the 7-gear ladies' bike) along the coast of the Bodden and the Baltic Sea.

Selfie mit Silas auf der Radtour

Stoertebeker Festspiele: Since I always tend to land where (without planning it in advance) some local festival is taking place, the Stoertebeker festival is also available on Ruegen, which starts on 18.06. Every year, a different part of Klaus Stoertebeker's life is performed here on a huge stage on the seaside. Stoertebeker was a pirate and is now a local legend. His story could be casually told as the "Robin Hood of the North sea and Baltic Sea". The play is nothing short of magnificent - from the recreation of a medieval city on the coast of the Bodden, to the actors riding on horses over the stage, to the cannon shots, to burning houses, ships, people, and so on. A unique show!