05:15 AM. It’s raining. And it wakes me up. And I check the time. And I check how long it’ll rain. Basically all day. Wow, it’s really happening now. The sunshine is gone. I try to look forward to at least giving the rain clothes I bought a try. They are squished in the bottom of my backpack since the beginning of the trip. Time to put them on. But first, time to sleep again? Or should I just stay awake and keep writing more posts? I very randomly put on a podcast about the Simpsons – a very shitty one, as the speakers spend the first twenty minutes not talking about the Simpsons at all, but about themselves. Well, it’s still nice to just hear someone talking by the side.

08:00. I wake up. And I wake up unsure of whether I should wake up. It’s still raining so much. But then I realize everyone else is still sleeping and I should take advantage of the shared bathroom. I make some hot tap water coffee and chocolate porridge and enjoy the calmness and the sound of the rain.

08:30. I prepare to pack and pop in another painkiller for my knee. And for some strange reason I feel like listening to Jazz while packing. So I do…

Checking out is simple and fast. The woman who manages the house is younger than I expected and super friendly. She asks me if I’m going hiking and says it’s really nice when I say yes. Can you believe that not a single place I stayed in checked my passport while checking in or anything?

The rain has stopped, maybe for the rest of the day? I head out, wearing my waterproof trousers for the first time. I decide not to wear the jacket yet, as it gets warm under it very fast.

Walking to the main city of the island (Kirchdorf) is alright. There is no rain and it isn’t that cold. It’s really grey though. And I hear lots of cars. And I cross lots of streets… with ugly signs.

But I try to enjoy the wide scenery around me. Slowly I develop a plan in my head. I didn’t eat properly yet, so I’ll head by a café, grab a sandwich and a coffee, eat it by the harbor and then take the bus to the beach – Timmerndorf Strand.

I still contemplate whether I should later walk all the way to Wismar or not. It would be another 3-4 hours, and I would have to walk back the road I took yesterday. As my knee still hurts though, and I still have 2 more days to go on my journey, I will probably just take the bus today.

I walk and walk… checking the nearest café on Google Maps. I’m close enough. There it is. I wait by the door until the customer inside finishes up. It’s a tiny place, with no sitting area, just lots of bread and… only sweet stuff? What? It’s breakfast time! Even for my sweet tooth it’s a disappointment. Okay, moving on to the next café.

The city has a very sad vibe to it somehow. It feels different compared to other cities I’ve seen on my trip. It somehow feels poorer and the houses are a bit shabbier and less “stylish” than other city’s houses. I am surprised, as the tiny village on this island that I was staying in – Niendorf – was different. It was full of big luxurious houses. But I have to be fair. It’s a dark day, it’s rainy and it’s hard to feel a vibrant city vibe in such weather.

The next café I enter is an equal disappointment! Only sweet stuff as well, and no coffee even. Oh well. Two Spritzkuchen (a very sweet pastry you will see on a picture below) it is. Not how I wanted to start my day, but I am left no choice. I also feel a bit out of place, as a customer before me clearly knows the lady working there, and the man waiting behind me also knows her, so they greet each other with so much excitement, while I am just calmly getting my order taken and leaving.

I walk to the harbor, which is also not as impressive as I hoped for. Almost everything is still closed, there are barely any people and it’s quite wet on all benches. I spot a wooden bench that’s more dry and sit on it, having my Spritzkuchen. It tastes okay. Not the best one I had, but enough to fill my stomach. I start to make peace with the situation / morning not working out as I had hoped for.

There are two kids running around, playing in the rain.
Regenmatschpfütze! Regenmatschpfütze! I hear a happy girl screaming next to me and excitedly running through a puddle on the ground. She reminds me to be happy with the little nice details of the situation. And she reminds me of my earlier university days when I used to be so excited about the reflections in puddles of water on the street. And now, seeing them all the time… something has changed.

It’s time to get up. My waterproof trousers can keep the water away, but not the cold going up my butt. And so I get up soon enough and start walking to the beach at Timmerndorf, which is 51 minutes away via foot. I decide to do this to get warm and stay warm.

A few minutes later, being on the path and listening to Ocean Tree (by Feathered Sun, Christopher Schwarzwälder, Nu & Raz Ohara) on loudspeaker, I am glad I made the decision to walk. The scenery is beautiful, despite the cloudy sky.

I don’t see many people, but a few do pass me. At some point a group of older cyclists pass me, I greet them all and a woman smiles at me very widely, while scanning me with her eyes. It put a wide smile on my face. I got scanned a lot from top to bottom by passers by on my trip, but nobody looked as excited as this woman did.

When I reach a crossing, a couple asks me for directions. It gives me a sense of pride to realize that after not even one whole day of being here, I can guide them to some extent. It’s somehow uplifting to have such short, but nice encounters.

Walking further, I see something that gives my soul a sense of joy. I watch a horse that throws itself on the ground, turning itself around on the grass, as horses sometimes do.

It looks so happy doing that and then it gets up and actually just gallops through the field, over and over again, while neighing. A beautiful sight. If only all animals in captivity were given that freedom. I stand there and watch it for like five minutes.

I also like the way the way the street is naturally lit.

After almost an hour, as estimated, I get to Timmerndorf Strand. It’s a strange vibe. It’s clear that it’s a very touristic area, and like many other areas by the beach, it’s interesting to see how dead these places are without tourists. It’s like they can’t be nice without tourists anymore. Their natural beauty is corrupted somehow.

I still try to gather impressions that speak to me. But I’m still upset over not having eaten properly yet, and all that seems to be there is fish, fish, fish. No vegetarian options. I spot another bakery, but they also only have sweet stuff. Seems like it’s a specialty around here. At least they have coffee… so I order that to go and a Laugenecke (a croissant-like piece of bakery) and go sit by the beach.

It’s really hard to walk through the sand. It really sucks you in. I most definitely was not going to take my shoes off anymore. So I just choose a part in the sand, which seems slightly appropriate for sitting, again feeling the cold against my butt, and I eat and drink.

3 minutes in, I put on my gloves again, 7 minutes in, I cover my face. 10 minutes in, I get up and keep walking. It’s way too cold.

The bus is coming at 01:33 PM, and I actually count down the time. I give it another try to find something to eat and settle for some sweet potato fries with mayo.

Let’s just say it was enough to keep me going for a few hours. It’s the best deal I could’ve gotten at this place.

At 01:25 PM I’m sitting in the bus and thinking how relieving it feels right now to not have to walk. I watch the scenery of Poel pass me by. We pass by the same long street I walked yesterday and today and I think – wow, I walked all this entirely on my own. I’m proud of myself. Proud, but tired. Excited to be in Wismar. Wismar. I don’t know why but I always liked the sound of it.

And as I lie on the couch of the place I booked for the last two days, I write the last sentence of this post. I’m excited what Wismar has to offer me – tonight, tomorrow and the day after.

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Trip stats (the walk from Kirchdorf to Timmerndorf Strand):
51 minutes (in motion) – 4,08 km – 10 m (elevation)

If you’d like to see the whole trip on komoot, follow this link:
https://www.komoot.de/tour/264964412