RÜGEN PART 4 (THE END)

Somehow I was able to tear myself away from that incredibly fuzzy little fuzzball of evilness doggie. Some photos of the KdF-Bad buildings from the outside:

DOOF

The only good system is a sound system!!!

The only good system is a sound system!!!

And in the middle it says “Save the Agatoad!”

Waves beating the rocks

We went to the King’s chair, and were shocked by the hordes of tourists flocking it. Then we went down to the beach and walked as far as we could from the crowds, so that Ilan could take off his clothes and we could do some shooting for this video he is making. :op

Waves

I found a chicken god on this beach. o/
When I have chicken I can hang it n their coop, and it will protect them and keep them healthy and let them lay eggs without problems, if the Crimean Tatars are correct.

Actually, it’s not a specifically Tatar belief, but its origin seems to be in Slavonic mythology, which has been adopted by the Crimean Tatars Yevtushenko writes about in the short story that spawned the popularity of the chicken gods in East Germany.
An interesting linguistic detail is that the word “Hühnergott” has been in DDR “Duden” dictionaries since 1975. In 1990, when the first common Duden dictionary after the reunification was made, the word was left out(!!!!!). Only in 2000, it was finally added again.

At some point we were really far away.

We were preparing to walk back the same way along the beach, but then we saw this extremely steep and muddy path up the hill. And that looked like a lot more fun. :o)

Once we had climbed all the way up the hill, the view on the not so white cliffs of Rügen was splendid.

The not so white cliffs of Rügen

A nice abandoned house in our base village Nipmerow:

Nice abandoned house in Nipmerow

Evening light on the less spectacular view towards the east from our living room. (No view of the ocean, but to the south we had some very nice fields on rolling hills, and forests in the distance.)

Evening light

Aww.

One of three very sweet horses. When we came walking from the forest they spotted us and came to say hello to us. The red one came first, and lost interest after a while. The black ones hung around until we left. They all wanted to chew on us. Awww.
It’s nice to see real working horses like these.

The two black ones were especially cute.

Finally, a DDR style hostel, now abandoned. What I could see of the interior was decorated in nice 70’s style.

DDR style hostel, now abandoned

Some more photos from this batch can be viewed here.

That was the first real vacation of more than one day at a time that I have had since I started freelancing in 2006. Whee!

RÜGEN PART 3

Still on the sandy beaches of Prora.

Green waves

I thought these would be the nicest doggies I saw this day ...

I thought these would be the nicest doggies I saw this day …
Little did I know what was in store for me.

Foamy!

Birdie in the foam

Birdie.

Nose

So we were walking back from the beach, and then Ilan said, “Hey, there’s a doggie coming”, and it was hidden behind a lot of people and I couldn’t really see it, but then it CAME RUNNING ALMOST RIGHT AT ME AND IT WAS ALL HAPPY AND FUZZY AND TOTALLY EVIL.

DOGGIE

Black velvet muzzle madness …

So I forced Ilan to go back to the beach after this incredible fuzzmonster doggie and make lots and lots of paparazzi photos of it!!!

Superfuzzy doggie at the beach

Running on the beach …

This doggie is a young Eurasian – a relatively new breed based on a mixture of Wolfsspitz, Chow Chow and Samoyed. I think they attempted to create the most evil dog in the universe.

Awww, the doggie and its reflection form a heart ...

Being fuzzy …

Running on the beach

THERE ARE THREE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS INCREDIBLE DOGGIE RIGHT HERE

RÜGEN PART 2

So, we went to Prora to see the huge KdF-Bad complex.

Open doorway

This doorway is open, but it was bricked up on the inside. However, later on we found an entrance into another of the buildings …

♥ Triumph over fascism ♥

♥ Triumph over fascism ♥

Pretty green wallpaper

Pretty green wallpapers in the common bath area. This building was obviously in use in the 1970’s, when the complex belonged to the GDR military.

Into the shadows.

Pretty wallpapers.

Perhaps my favourite wallpaper in this building.

Hallway

Ilan meets a challenger

Ilan meets a challenger …

Kitchen elevators

Kitchen elevators make me think of Jet Li, even though those were actually laundry shafts in Kiss of the Dragon

In this room we saved a bird.

Here comes another example of why thoughtless vandalism is very stupid and harmful.

In this room on the top floor, there was a bird trapped between the two window panes in a double glass window. It had flown into a hole in the broken glass on the inside, and could not get out again since it was too narrow and slippery to get back up to the hole.

Ilan broke off part of the inner glass to make the hole wider, and my arm luckily fit between the two panes. After several tries (and while also doing my best to get over my fear of hurting the tiny little robin – I’m not used to handling birds at all), I was able to lift her out, and she flew into freedom through the window at the far end in the above photo.

There are two windows like that in this room, with broken inner panes. Both of them are filled with the carcasses of dead birds.

Face behind bars

^ This is how that makes me feel.

Nazis out!

Er, they already left more than 60 years ago?

Beyond the cut down pines

Doggie beach is that way.

Doggie beach is that way. So of course we went that way.

I can’t wait to post the next batch of photos … :3
Meanwhile, there are some more photos from this batch here.

RÜGEN PART 1

I am back from a brief internetless vacation. Here are some of the first photos:

The land behind these ruins slid down into the sea.

The land behind these ruins slid down into the sea.

Trail towards the sea

We were walking for a long time along some annoying paved road with cars running us over, until we finally found this path that led down to the sea. There was a sign that said, “Enter at your own risk. – The mayor”. The way down to the sea is very steep and maybe dangerous.

Big dead fish

A big dead fish on the beach. It was like 40 cm long.

Distorting reality

We found two intact light bulbs on the beach. Kind of amazing how the glass survived their ordeal as flotsam completely intact.

Ilan on the rocks

Ilan on the rocks where the land slid away. They’ve built breakwater structures in the sea below. Black cormorants like to hang out on them.

The sea in Prora

Then we went to Prora, where there is the huge KdF-Bad complex built during the Nazi times and now largely abandoned …

Seagull on Prora's sandy beach

A couple of more photos from this batch here, and more photos to come.