Warnemünde, Germany – I watched the sunrise as we slowly sailed into Warnemünde. Passengers on the ferry waved as we passed by. They had been up for some time now. My day was just beginning.
The sun was rising, losing its orange color. Morning shadows slid away. The weather was perfect. A few clouds occasionally punctuated the sky. Mild temps as we docked. We were looking forward to a nice, warm day.
We disembarked and saw an entire train that Carnival Cruise Line had chartered for our non-stop ride to Berlin. The ship was illuminated in full sunshine, but our train was still in shade. Tour directors organized us into groups by which of approximately eight tours we’d be taking once we reached Berlin. Initially, the scene appeared chaotic but the numbering system we followed was well organized. We boarded the train rather quickly.
Henning was our chaperone from the ship to the train station in Berlin. He took very good care of our group, giving us all the information we’d need to know about the trip, the train itself, and some history about Germany. He also gave specific instructions on how to find our particular car. This was because when we returned to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the train would be facing in the opposite direction from when we disembarked, and all of the cars in the train were identical.
Each car had separate compartments. Each compartment had wooden seats and held around 10 passengers. My guess is these were train cars from the 1930’s or 1940’s.
We departed from the dock and slowly made our way through the yard. Warnemünde to Berlin is about 200 km (120 miles). The trip would take a little over three hours due to having to switch train engines before we left Rostock. That is because most of the track we’d be traveling on is electrified, the other section near port is not.
As we left the town Warnemünde and city of Rostock, which is located in the former East Germany and was its most important port, all I kept thinking about was the German countryside I had seen in movies. All of them depicted war zones; rival infantry encountering each other; epic tank battles; dramatic prison escapes. I thought maybe there would be occasional rusted out hulks of cars and tanks destroyed in battle. Bombed-out buildings being slowly taken over by vegetation. Craters in the land. Grey skies. Mud and snow on the ground. I saw none of that.
One of the reasons I took this excursion was to toss out the images of Germany I had grown up with and see for myself what this part of the country was like. So I spent several minutes walking between cars, often pausing on the platforms between the cars to look out at the beautiful scenery as it flowed past. Lots of greenery. A house here, a cottage there, some seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely nothing at all like what I thought I’d see. It looked very serene.
I took all of this in. The more I saw, the more the previous images I had from the movies got pushed further back into the recesses of my memory. Now when the images of Germany from the movies come to mind, I have more pleasant ones to counter them with.
I would have loved to have stopped and walked about the countryside for a few minutes. Take a few photos of the cottages. Can you imagine the conversation: “Excuse me, Herr Conductor. Can you stop the train? Yes, this train, with a couple hundred other passengers aboard. I’d like to get out and take some pictures.”
Our destination was Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station). It opened in 2006 and features above ground (east-west) and underground (north-south) track. It is said that up to 1,800 trains pass through here each day carrying about 350,000 passengers, making it the largest through-station in Europe by traffic volume. Train buffs will have a field day here. There is also food and shopping inside the station.
The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is considered a destination unto itself with visitors and locals coming just to see the steel and glass marvel. I would have liked to have spent a couple of hours here exploring the station and people-watching, but we had an extremely busy day ahead followed by a long journey back to Warnemünde.
After our excursion in Berlin, Henning re-joined us at the train station. He led us to the platform and we found our train. But just as he said, since the train was now facing in the opposite direction, it was a little confusing to find our assigned train car, and especially to find our compartment.
On the journey back, we were given snacks to enjoy. Henning also told us a few more facts about Berlin and Germany.
Those wooden seats on the train frankly became a little uncomfortable on the return trip after a whole day of sightseeing. Uncomfortable, but made manageable by periodically standing and walking around the rest of the car. Periodically, I’d stand on the car platforms and watch the scenery, just as I did on the ride down to Berlin, until darkness began to fall.
Those in our compartment opened up a bit more. Several conversations were going on even though we were all a little tired. As the ride progressed, the conversations became fewer as people began dozing off. Those that were still awake were very considerate, speaking in lowered tones so as not to disturb those who were sleeping. It was nearly 10 p.m. when we arrived back at the dock.
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