Rainy Rugen Island

We came to Rugen Island for some fun in the sun and got rain and wind. We expected temperatures in the mid 20's but got wintry conditions around 14 degrees and swarms of vampiric mosquitoes. In fact when you swatted a mossie it looked like a blood massacre!

The weather conditions limited what we could see but we did manage to walk to the famous white chalk cliffs before the rain came down. Located in the Jasmund National Park, the 'Chalk Coast' is an UNESCO World Heritage area with untouched ancient beech forests. It has lots of walking trails to see the cliff faces with viewing platforms at varying intervals, one jutting out above the cliff to see the broken sections of the cliff face below.

Looking down at the shoreline below

Broken sections of the cliff face looking down on the shoreline with ducks or swans in the water.

German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich frequented the cliffs and depicted them in a number of his paintings.

The ancient beech forest 

Giant leeches in the forest...this one was around 10cm long

We stayed at a seaside town called Glowe in a hotel that had well equipped rooms with some antique furniture and a large dining area and bar. However, the hotel reception and dining area shut down between 11.30 am and 5pm with not a soul to be found if you needed anything. In fact, if you returned to the hotel during those hours the doors were locked! Luckily, our upstairs rooms had a second entry via a spiral staircase so we could come and go and we pleased. We discovered later that only one staff member looked after the breakfast room, cooked the food and worked reception. The hotel also only took cash, no credit cards and the advertised Internet was non-existent - although if you went outside into the smokers area at one table only there was an intermittent internet hotspot.

Sitting at the table where a internet hotspot existed at times

Our room upstairs with access via a spiral staircase 

The bitterly cold beach in the middle of summer..the holiday makers must have been locked up into their holiday lettings 

Later in the day we drove further along the island to find somewhere to have dinner. This very rustic restaurant 'Hot Cafe' in a small town called Altenkirchen, had a young cook who spoke English reasonably well, unlike most of the inhabitants of the island.

Undercover but outdoor cafe in a back shed....very rustic but fabulously cooked food.

The church in Altenkirchen

Bridge from Rugen Island to the German mainland