Foiled by Adrspach, Hello Deutschland

Our next day in Adrspach started out overcast, but our first priorty was finding a way to Berlin. We finally agreed the overnight bus was the best, but had no way to purchase tickets, unless we could be in Prague by 6pm. We phoned and the bus that night was already full, so this made the process much simpler. The longer and more expensive train trip tomorrow it would be. At least we wouldn't arrive in Berlin at 5:15am as we would with the bus. David went on a mission to buy us tickets and I rested at the campsite. His task was more difficult than it would seem. He ran into Teplice (closest town to our campsite) but the train station there was unmanned. So he got a hopefully correct amount of cash and caught the trolley train back to Adrspach. Here, he communicated in varying ways with the non-english speaking ticket woman the best route for us to get to Berlin (quite compex with several changes), and bought two tickets... then ran back to the campsite... Quite the accomplishment. Upon his return we went on a walk through the Teplice rocks. Similiar to the Adrspach site as you pay an admission and there's a little tour route with signs and names etc. Many of the lines on these rocks looked beautiful as well, but unfortunately the day had turned into rain and mist. Back at the campsite we retired early as our 15 hour journey would begin early (6am).

In the morning we packed up and were at the train station in perfect time. Everything was going smoothly until we got off at the wrong stop in Teplice, an easy mistake to make as they all have very similiar names and we had never been to the third one. Luckily we had half an hour so we booked it through the town and found the next station with 2 min to spare. So much for breakfast. From here the journey went on without a hitch and at 5:13pm we were in Berlin. The trainstation was huge, but thankfully our train was only half an hour late giving us almost an hour to find cash and buy tickets to Güstrow. More on this: when we hiked the West Coast trail just before going on this trip we met a German couple and a few others who we would see at the campsites every night. While on this trip we received an email from them and decided to take them up on their nice offer to come stay with them in Güstrow and they would show us the Baltic Sea and surrounding area. So we arrived in Güstrow at 9pm where Cordula and Thomas met us at the train station. Were we ever happy for some food, a shower and comfy bed.

The following day we drove the half hour out to the seaside town of Rostock. Here Thomas and Cordula showed us through the throngs of tourists, to some of the best things on the Baltic. We had herring sandwiches (raw, but preserved in a way like sashimi - it was delicious), beer and mead (a honey wine from the medieval times). All the while taking in the sights and sounds of a fishing village. We made our way to the beach and were pleasantly suprised. We were both expecting something quite rugged and rocky, but it was fine white sand as far as we could see. The water was warm as well, it was like we were on a tropical beach somewhere. We walked for a ways and after some time were chased out by the weather. It was very rapidly changing today. Thankfully when the big downpour came we were under an awning enjoying a beer. Now it was just windy. Back at there house we prepared for dinner. They took us to a town nearby where a retired world famous Flamenco dancer had retired. She converted the barn into a dance school/studio upstairs and a cafe downstairs where she also showcased her painting. We enjoyed antipasto, wine and payaya all the while being entertained by Flamnco, Tango and belly dancing performances. She even had a spanish guitarist who she performed with. It was amazing. A Spanish night in a small village in Eastern Germany, who woulda thunk it.

Today they going to show us their town of Güstow. I can hardly wait.

Ciao