Aug 30, 2017 - Lubeck, Germany

We drove through Lubeck on our way home from Copenhagen; we had very fond memories of Lubeck given it was our first European camping experience in 2005. We had left Hamburg and the comfortable arms of our friends Brita and Gabriela who helped us import our motorhome, Gypsy, into Germany and were now truly on our own. Lubeck, a UNESCO World Heritage city, described as a "12th Century gem with over 1,000 historical buildings" is one of the founding members of the Hanseatic League. You enter the city through the Holstentor (gate) built in 1464...

Jun 2, 2014 - Lubeck

Today we headed west from Wismar to Lubeck. Lubeck was one of the richest and most powerful cities in Europe, its merchants being the most powerful members of Hanseatic League and in fact acted as the capital of this medieval trading cartel. The town reflects this today with its many Hanseatic buildings and churches. However driving into the town was not that easy. As we found with many Germany towns their directional signs are poor. We by chance found a car park by the main conference/theatre and from there walked into the old town. The...

Apr 5, 2014 - Lübeck

If you’re traveling through Germany by train, it’s easy to begin to believe that the entire country is nothing but a collection of drab, stucco-covered 5 story apartment houses, punctuated by odd, somewhat jarring glass-covered office buildings. Each town has a few old relics that have been lovingly rebuilt or one or two that actually survived. But once you’ve seen that one, you’re done, and it’s back to kilometer after kilometer of the same old same old, punctuated by the obligatory Fußgängerzone, which in turn is populated by the VERY...

Aug 13, 2013 - On the road to Berlin

Hi All It is really hard to fit in these daily updates with all of the activity around me and optional trips that often take up the night. We ended last night in Zilo’s Grill in Berlin city where we got a taste of Germans really letting their hair down. The food waiter came to our table and asked if I ordered soup and when I said YES I found it was a booby trapped fake that fell towards me and scared the living daylights out of me. He had picked me immediately as one who doesn’t mind being the butt of a joke. But it got better. One fellow...

Aug 5, 2011 - Belgium, Netherlands & Germany

Hi Everyone As we were leaving Delft in the Netherlands, we decided to take one last look around this beautiful town and to our delight found two markets – a general market and a flea market – so much to see. Stalls weighed down by round, bright yellow cheeses, the heavy scent of the blooms from the flower seller, the appetizing aroma from the bakery stall and so many stalls full of bric-a-brac. Amongst it all I found the top and bottom for a bell pull I have embroidered on this trip, a fantastic find. Lunch time was fast approaching so we...

Aug 21, 2006 - Item for HPA newsletter - Music thus far on our trip

LUBECK In the 15th century, Lubeck was dubbed "the lovely" and indeed that is how I would describe Lubeck in the 21st Century. It was pouring rain as we left Bremen, Germany and by-passed Hamburg to arrive in Lubeck still raiaing in the afternoon of 14 August. Our main purpose of visiting Lubeck was to catch up with our friend Herbert Thomsen who is staying with his nephew, Hans-Gunter Thomsen and his wife, Marita. What better day to arrive than on Herbert's 88th birthday and when we arrived the birthday celebrations were in full swing....

Sep 23, 2005 - M: Luebeck

When we left Copenhagen, we were certain that we would make Luebeck our overnight stay. Not only is Luebeck a pretty medieval city, but it used to be the "Queen of the Hanseatic League", the headquarters of the trading league linking cities that included Gdansk, Tallinn, Riga, Stockholm, Oslo, Bergen, Copenhagen and Hamburg. We didn't expect though that Luebeck would be such a popular destination that we won't find any accommodation. After 1 hour of unsuccessful searches, we decided to put our backpacks in a locker and explore the city,...

Sep 4, 2005 - Lubeck

Though it was terrific staying in the comfort of Brita's home - and the comfort of her negotiating things for us in German - it was time for us to try Europe on our own! We drove about an hour north of Hamburg to the old medieval walled city of Lübeck. We stayed away from the autobahn and took a small, secondary road through the very agricultural landscape, full of windmills (the modern kind, unfortunately). We learned that nothing is open on Sunday in Germany - other than the bars and restaurants. For that reason, the town seemed almost...

Nov 28, 2004 - Lubeck

We left Hamburg around 8 and planned on arriving at 9 in Lubeck, which is a smaller city which is connected to the Baltic Sea by a river and in the past had been a big inland harbor for trading. When we arrived we met up with Corinne, Ingrid and Corinne's sister Magi, who actually lived in Lubeck. We walked to the place where miles and I would be staying and dropped off our bags. The apartment belonged to a friend of Magis, who was gone for the weekend, so it was very nice of her to offer us a place to stay, because Magi's apartment wasn't...

Sep 3, 2004 - Germany - The Koch's of Lubeck

I have to admit that I hadn't actually heard of Lubeck before. I was in fact on my way to Berlin, and really only stopped in Lubeck because it was sort of halfway between Berlin and Amsterdam, and the Lonely Planet guidebook said it was a cute little town. It turns out (and I only found this out weeks after being there) that Lubeck is where my best friend Rita Koch's parents were married and where her two older brothers were born. Which explains a lot about my friend Rita. Yesiree, like her voracious appetite for red meat and sausage. And...