Waiting for the ferry

Today we drove down to the ferry terminal in Gedser for the crossing to Rostock. We then had a long drive south through the north German plain to Salzwedel where we stay for two nights.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Gedser and joined the queue. As we approached the ferry to board, I was puzzled by what looked like a large chimney with a cover over the top. It’s actually a turbine for a hybrid ferry.

The sea was calm and the crossing took only 2 hours.

We arrived in Rostock and began the drive south, heading for Salzwedel.

This part of northern Germany spans the border between the old East and West Germany, as shown by the green line. Sometimes the actual border is the river Elbe and sometimes it is a line drawn over the land. We passed an old watchtower left in a field. Unfortunately we did not stop to take a picture. You can read a history of this inner-German border here.

Growing up in the 60’s, I’d lived through the so-called “Cold War” and the media coverage of the border between East and West Germany. It’s fascinating to see what one of the old border areas is like now.