Our second day in Rostock began with a big crowd.  A large bus tour stayed in the hotel and they were all having breakfast at the same time, which made finding a seat challenging.  However, one thing I will say about the Radisson Blu in Rostock is that their breakfast, while chaotic, was pretty plentiful.  Yes, it was mostly buffet, though they would make certain dishes to order if we wanted them.  But the buffet had a whole lot of choices– everything from traditional breakfast foods we eat in the United States, to the more typical German cheeses, cold cuts, breads, and vegetables.

Cool Methodist church which evidently doubles as a library.  You can see the library books through the window.

It started raining pretty hard while we were eating, so we went back to the room and I did some writing.  We later took a walk around the Rostock Klostergarten, then went searching for the Stasi Pre-trial Prison.  We found it, but as I mentioned in a previous post, it’s currently closed.  I got some pictures, anyway, then we walked around the town through gardens and shopping areas.  There’s a lot going on in Rostock.  It’s kind of hard to think of it as a bleak East German port city, known for its prison.  Below are some pictures from our walk.

 Klostergarten, bordered by an impressive wall and wooded area.  They have plays in the garden.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t one going on during our one full day in Rostock. 

The yellow signs advertise shows.

A lovely rose garden.

Prime dog walking territory.  We saw more than a few enjoying themselves here.

You can park your dog while you shop at Penny Markt, near the prison museum.

The little boy in this picture had a great time jumping in that puddle.  His mom stood by and watched… probably glad he was wearing rain pants.

A maritime museum.  We probably should have had a look at it, but I was too sad the prison museum was closed.

A government building.  They have Stasi records there.  Behind the building is the prison.  Pictures are below.

This is where people who had been accused of crimes during the East German times were held before trial.  Conditions at the prison, which was built in the 1950s and used until 1989, were brutal.  People were brought there in tight, white vans and interrogated mercilessly until they confessed.  If you look carefully at the pictures, you can see the bars on the windows.  Have a look at this site for more information and interior photos.  If we have a chance to go back to Rostock after the renovations are finished, we will make a point of visiting. 

We stopped by a book store so Bill could pick up a new Moleskine.  While we were in there, I noticed some interesting marketing…  Actually, it’s kind of genius.

Beer, wine, and chocolate for sale!

By lunchtime, the weather had cleared up.  We were going to go to a seafood restaurant Bill found.  Unfortunately, although Google had said our first choice was open, it turned out they’d changed the hours.  The other restaurant was across the street, but there was no handy crosswalk to get to it and jaywalking was out of the question, due to the heavy traffic.  So we had lunch at Ritter Runkel Stuw, a hidden gem I had noticed advertised the day before.  This restaurant is tucked away in an adorable courtyard.  It would be very easy to miss it if you didn’t see the sign on the main shopping drag.

Don’t miss the sign!  My German friend says that Ritter Runkel was a famous DDR (East German) cartoon character.  Stuw is short for “Stube”, which means parlor.  I usually see Stube in connection with wine. 

Bill had fried rotbarsch, with homefries and vegetables.  I think his fish was fried in a cornmeal mix.

I liked the set of armor.

I had fried zander filet, which was a house specialty, and came with herbal butter, fried potatoes, and a few fresh veggies.  It was very good.  I got a kick out of the friendly waiter.  The restaurant appeared to be popular with cruise ship passengers.

A couple of Rostock’s local brews.  They taste just like other brews.

Super cute courtyard.  After the rain stopped, it was a nice day.  We could have hung out outside and enjoyed the weather.

After we had lunch, we decided to stop by an Eis Cafe and have some ice cream.  Ice cream is a big production in Germany, as you can plainly see!

Bill didn’t want to get one… but he made room.

This place takes dollars!  That’s not a sign one sees often in Germany.

Purple flowers.  I had to take a picture because they were so pretty.

Rostock is surrounded by towers, gates, and fortifications.  This gate is one of the best known in the city.

We made it an early day because Bill wanted to Skype with his daughter, who was heavily pregnant.  She was scheduled to be induced on July 9th, but as Bill was talking to her, he could see she was exhausted.  When he finished his call, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if she had her baby earlier than the 9th.  Bill’s older daughter was born on July 4th, and Bill was born on July 7th.  I thought the odds were good the new baby would share a birthday with another family member.

I ended up watching a program about naturopathic remedies for everything from type two diabetes to foot fungus.  I happen to have a phobia of fungus, so when they showed this on the program, I had to take a picture.  This is exactly what my mean spirited older sisters used to draw in my coloring books when I was a little kid.  They thought it was funny to torment me.  We lived in England, where mushrooms grow huge, and it was fun for them to chase me with them.  I sent my sister a message on Facebook and she laughed about what a “pip” she was back then.  Indeed… my traumatized inner child is laughing with her now.

I had to share this with a friend who thought the idea of my being horrified by shark teeth on mushrooms in coloring books was funny…  I guess it is kind of funny, even thought those pictures still make me want to scream.

This show aired in the USA from 1986-90.  I wasn’t a fan.  Apparently, they like it in Germany.

I also watched Alf in German.  I don’t remember watching Alf when it was on the air.  And we had McDonald’s for dinner, although they gave Bill the wrong order.  I had Chicken McNuggets for the first time since the early 80s, and they didn’t even give me any sauce.  Well… at least there was only one more night on the rock hard bed before we’d finally be heading to Leipzig for the original planned part of our trip!