Right after Salzburg, there was a last trip to the agenda before heading back to Canada.

It was not Istanbul, Amsterdam, Venice or even just the Black Forest. It was one place we discussed seeing many times with my friend but never got around going there despite me regularly visiting her in Berlin, more than halfway to it..

The Baltic sea.

I had never seen the sea, and after seeing the ocean from both Canadian coasts, from Venezuela and Honduras, it was about time I saw the actual sea and not the ocean.

I made my way to Berlin merely days before my departure to Canada. Overnight bus trip. Yay.  -Said nobody ever.

Luckily enough, I sat next to a French gentleman with whom we exchanged many travel stories, and spoke to a German gal when he later fell asleep.

My friend picked me up directly at the drop point, Berlin Messe Nord / ICC station.

Off we were towards the sea.

Rügen at almost 1000 square kilometres is the biggest German Island. It is reached by crossing the bridge linking it to Stralsund. In 2011 the Jasmund national park on the island was awarded the UNESCO world heritage site status for the big Chalk deposits and cliffs like Königsstuhl (King’s Chair) on it and for it’s vast sand beaches. Mostly filled with tourists from April to October, the beaches bring the most tourists but the lush forests as well.

The terrible directions our GPS gave us once on Rügen to get to the Jasmund national park, riddled with paved off-roads and tiny lost paths made us loose our direction sense a few times.

The minute we got out of the car at destination we got drenched wet. Mother nature’s welcome.

Once nearby the Königsstuhl we found the staircase leading down

Finally we found the sea !

 

The afternoon was spent hunting for fish bones, fossils and rocks with holes in them. Eventually we went back up the endless stairs, to the car and pinned our tent in a camp ground nearby that had a beach. The sun was warm, the jelly fish in the water were playful.

The next morning we were back on our way to Berlin, and moments after arriving had to say goodbye. Goodbyes suck.