Lubeck Shore Excursion

Salzspeicher and Holstentor

Lubeck Shore Excursion – On My Own

The next stop on our HAL Rotterdam cruise was Kiel. I decided to make this a Lubeck Shore Excursion, but this time I’d be going it alone, as my wife had a contracted the full version of the cough and cold that was circulating through the ship. During my bus ride to Lubeck I wondered why I hadn’t contracted this cold, because the coughing on the bus was incessant. The bus dropped us right at the Trave River facing the Old Town. The excursion was bus transportation only, with 3 hours allocated to explore Lubeck on my own.

Lubeck Shore Excursion – Holstentor, Salzspeicher, St Mary’s

I immediately headed to the iconic Holstentor and walked through its gate opening and over the bridge to the opposite bank of the Trave River. This provided a nice view of the Salzspeicher buildings, which used to store salt in medieval times. Then I planned to visit St Peter’s but as I circled the church, I realized I had gone all the way to St Mary’s instead. So, I adjusted my plan and headed next to the City Hall and the market square.

Lubeck Shore Excursion – Niederegger Cafe

My research accurately indicated that you couldn’t tour City Hall without an advance tour ticket, but I was able to enter the foyer to enjoy the intricate brick design. Then I passed the City Hall staircase and went inside the Original Niederegger Cafe & marzipan store. The store and cafe are on the first floor. Formal service is located on the second floor. The third floor holds the Niederegger Marzipan Museum. If that isn’t enough, across the street from the Original Niederegger Building, you will find the Niederegger Arcades Cafe. This location, on the City Hall side of the street, is for people who don’t have time for the formal experience.

Niederegger Stammhaus

The chocolates and pastries at the store were like visiting a royal crown jewels display. Continuing upstairs, there was a formal restaurant which seemed to be mainly designed for the consumption of delicious pastries. I knew there were elaborate marzipan & chocolate carvings here too and my German was good enough to understand the instructions to head left and up the stairs to the third floor.

Niederegger Museum

Lubeck Shore Excursion – Niederegger Marzipan Museum

When I entered the small museum area, I was surprised to see that I was the only visitor enjoying the life-sized medieval characters sculpted from marzipan chocolate. The sculptures were truly amazing and at the same time a bit confusing because I was all alone except for one staff member, who was sitting at a desk creating marzipan pastries. A very special experience!

Lubeck Shore Excursion – St Peter’s, Holy Spirit & Burgtor

At this point, I headed to St Peter’s to take the elevator up to its viewpoint. The sun looked like it wanted to break through the clouds, but the winds kept pushing dark clouds quickly into any brief sunny gaps. The view of the Old Town was still worthwhile though. In the elevator I met a group of Australians who said they wished the Canadian Prime Minster, Mark Carney, would come to Australia as their leader too. After St Peter’s I made my way to the Church of the Holy Spirit and then on to the Burgtor.

When I reached the Burgtor, the sun came out at the north end of town and created perfect lighting for pictures. It’s amazing how much a little sunshine can enhance a view and also a mood.

Searching for Another St George and the Dragon

Next it was on to St Catherine’s to see yet another St George and the Dragon sculpture. I searched the entire church, but couldn’t find the sculpture, which made no sense because it’s a very large sculpture. I inquired about it and after struggling this time with my German, I came to realize that I was in St Jacob’s. I’d gone to the wrong church for the second time on my Lubeck Shore Excursion.

When I finally entered St Catherine’s, it was easy to find St George and the Dragon. The sculpture is an exact wooden copy of the one in Stockholm, since both were created by Bernt Notke who came from Lubeck. The church is also well known for displaying the original Resurrection of Lazarus (1576) by Venetian master Jacopo Tintoretto. I was lucky indeed to have seen these two treasures, as the attendant on our excursion bus had recommended we try to take advantage of the rare opening of St Catherine’s to the public that particular day.

Lubeck Shore Excursion – Restaurant Schiffergesellschaft

From St George and the Dragon I headed to Restaurant Schiffergesellschaft, where I wanted to take in the maritime decor of the restaurant. I performed a little better on my German as I informed them I didn’t have enough time for a meal, but would love to have a drink. They brought me a Helles Lager and I thoroughly enjoyed being in such a unique restaurant where all the customers were local German’s.

Sievers Thorweg

When I left the Schiffergesellschaft, I struggled a bit to walk straight on the cobblestones, because I’m not a drinker and my time in Lubeck was so short that I had skipped lunch. Only a few steps away, I found Sievers Thorweg Alley and the gate was open, signifying the public was welcome to enter. I snapped a pic of this alleyway that is typical of many that you can find in Lubeck. By now my 3 hours in Lubeck were just about up. I rushed back to the excursion bus and returned to the cruise ship in Kiel. What a special day!