Lübeck, Germany
One might think the world is sleeping in the pre-dawn hours before even a hint of sunlight arrives to illuminate the sky. But that is not so. If one ventures from one’s cozy bed and tiptoes down the passageway the night world is found to be abuzz. The engines hum in perfect rhythm watched over carefully by dedicated men. The decks are scrubbed, the railings polished. Tantalizing odors of baking bread waft from the galley. At 0530 the ship slows and a heavy steel door yawns to admit our local pilot.
Outside it is dark, pitch dark except for red and green channel markers winking cyclically and a red glow at the mouth of the River Trave radiating from the lights of night. A searchlight scans across our bow and moves away. Slowly shadows define the world around. The Passat’s ghostly masts are mere silhouettes as we pass it by. And then we are in darkness once again. Daylight slowly filters through the clouds. Woodlands on either side give way to industrial piers here and there or quaint clusters of thatched roofed houses. Marshlands hint of wading birds and waterfowl but they too are only promises of things to come.
What should one do on a rainy day? Immerse yourself in the past? Or partake of the pleasures of the present? In Lübeck, Germany both can be done simultaneously. Squeezed between two rivers the island city can easily be circumnavigated and thus if needed readily defended. It is easy to see why man chose to settle here so many centuries ago. One need not close one’s eyes to imagine bustling merchants welcoming goods from inland and loading them into lumbering cogs for transport to other Hanseatic cities for the warehouses still stand and a reconstructed vessel still sits at the pier. Twin towers capped by peaked spires still guard the Hosten Gate although the ramparts have long since melted away. Seven church steeples reach for the sky, each different than all the others. No one was being pilloried in market square today but vegetable vendors and hawkers of meats still plied their wares backed by a Renaissance gallery and façade of bright glazed tiles. Somehow amidst all this architecture and all this history, at some moment during the day, most everyone dipped into a special shop for cake or café latte or at least to feast our eyes upon the fanciful figures made of marzipan.
Darkness has arrived once again and with it a hint of sadness lingers. It is a time to say goodbye to new found friends while celebrating a shared adventure.
