Hiddensee: Hidden Charm of the Baltic Sea

Dornbusch Lighthouse

This weekend I discovered hidden beauty of the Baltic Sea; Hiddensee island. I have been in Gdańsk/Poland at the Baltic Sea cost before and I liked there a lot. Hiddensee was a part of DDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. At some point they tried to be a part of Sweden without success. In order to reach there first I took the train until Stralsund from Berlin Hauptbahnhof. After getting off at Stralsund, I catched the ferry from the port to Hiddensee. All together the journey takes about 5 hours.

I stayed in a small charming pension called Lachmoewe, "laughing sea gull", directly situated in front of the port Vitte. (I learned this is a sea gull species.) It has cosy rooms, a nice cafe with very seductive choices of home made cakes and the staff is very hospitable. The prices are reasonable.

One should visit Hiddensee, only if he/she likes nature. The cars are forbidden, so no bus no metro. You can either rent a horse or a bike for transportation. But bringing your own bike to the island is forbidden. Because they rent the bikes, this is one of the limited incomes of the island. It costs about 7-8 Euros per day.

By my bike I made my way down to the south of the island. There are more things to see in south. The costs of the island are well maintained. The smell of the roses suppresses the smell of the sea. One can see the farms around. Actually, the whole island is like a big village.




Don't be optimistic with the weather. At the end of May the weather was cold, windy and time to time rainy. Nevertheless, inhaling fresh air made me fell good.

The nature was blossoming, all colours of flowers were attracting my attention all around.

Horse carts

In Kloster, there is Heimatmuseum where the history, flora, fauna and some pieces of Wikings' treasure are exhibited. Gerhart Hauptmann Haus has been used as a cultural centre in the island after Gerhart Hauptmann (1912 Nobel Prize in literature). However, I heard from the people of the island, he was not used to be a beloved one there because of his arrogance towards to the poor fishermen habitants. He was not the only artist of the island. Actually, Hiddensee hosted many artists, especially in 20's. The german expressionists Walter Grammatté, Erich Heckel of the Die Brücke group ("The Bridge"), painter Elisabeth Buechsel, stunt film star Asta Nielsen, dancer Gret Palucca also lived in this island.

The artistic spirit is permeated to the island. There are galleries, arts & crafts ateliers processing famous amber of the Baltic sea and the charming small theatre See Buehne cherish the island. I saw an interesting version of Goethe's Faust at this theatre. It was a puppet theatre and the play was very successfully adapted.

To eat in a fisher island of course my first choice is fish. Annemarie's Fischkist offers quick, delicious and very cheap fish sandwiches. It was interesting to see, every house has totems in their gardens such as hanging stones, sailor marks etc.

Fischkist

Strandkörbchen

Strandkörbchen are very characteristic to the beaches of the Baltic Sea. They are designed to protect people from the wind, not surprisingly. I enjoyed walking along the long beaches-without anyone swimming or sun bathing:)-, being alone with the sound of the waves and the wind.

Windmill

There is a charming old windmill along the cost. It has been used as an atelier nowadays.
In the south of the island there is Dornbusch Lighthouse. For me it is the most impressive attraction of the island.

Dornbusch Lighthouse

I came by my bike until the entry of the national park-then bikes are not allowed. After hiking a small hill, I reached the lighthouse. Dornbusch Lighthouse lies at 54° 35' 57'' N, 13° 7' 10'' E. It was built in 1887/1888. The tower height is 28 m and the light height is 95 m.

View of Baltic Sea from the top of the lighthouse

They say the lighthouses stand alone. But this lighthouse was not alone at all with so many visitors. One needs to just climb the stairs! But there were chairs at the floors to rest for a while. And the view worts it.




On the way back, I visited the Nationalpark Haus where the geological history of the island can be learned. I was amazed when I saw how fast the north of the island is rising and getting larger.

Ponys can be seen and smelled everywhere of the island.

One day on the cost I saw people searching something among the seaweeds. A woman showed me the ambers she found. I started searching for them, too. And I was lucky! At the costs of Baltic Sea I found ambers.

A DDR Nostalgia: Dresden

Trabby

This beautiful city is the capital of the upper Saxony and it was a part of DDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Dresden is situated on Elbe River side. It was my first long trip to an old east-german city.

Dresden has been the city of art. The baroque distric, old city of Dresden reflects the old glorious times of Saxony. One can see statues of workers from communistic times spread around the old classical statues in parks. Although some beton blocks rise among the 17th-18th century churches, palaces, the texture of the city is quite well preserved.

Frauenkirche

The most famous image of the city is the Frauenkirche. This 18th century masterpiece of arcitecture was totally destroyed during the second world war. After the unification of Germany it was rebuilt. With the old original black stone pieces embedded into the new limestone walls, Frauenkirche recalls its reincarnetion.

There are restaurants and bars among the street from the church to the terraces near the Elbe. From the terraces, the night view of the old city is really worth to see.

Following an insider tip I got from Nina, we went to see the new city. This contemporary part of the city lies on the other side of Elbe. Thanks to all day long running trams, the transportation between the two sides of the river is quite well. Opposite to the old city, here the life starts by night. Even it was Sunday night, the streets were full with young people. With its huge technical univesity, Fraunhofer, Max Planck institutes and many R&D centers Dresden is the only ex-DDR city appeals the young educated people.

We tried to eat something at Schaune but it was full and we could find seats at the bar.

A large part of the Dresden castle, Zwinger including the old master's gallery (where Sistine Madonna of Raphael is exhibited) was under restoration. Then I made my way to the Green Vault where the largest treasures of Europe is exhibited. It was founded by Augustus II the Strong (1670 - 1733, elector of Saxony, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania). But my real goal was to see the Türckische Cammer. Weapons, otağs, üzengis and historical customs of Ottomans is a real feast for the eyes. The collection was started by Augustus II the Strong due to the collaboration of Ottomans and Saxons. Suleiman the Magnificent wanted Vienna and Augustus II the Strong wanted to be the emparor. Most of the pieces of the collection are the presents of Turks to their old allias. However, the allias was broken when Suleiman the Magnificent came to the skirts of Vienna. Because Augustus II the Strong was suppressed by the other Europen leaders and the Pope threatened him by dethroning him. Note for visitors: Take the long long ticket queue into account.

In the following days I met the guys from Les Houches. I took them to Schaune. This time we were lucky and got a table. The kitchen is mostly Indian, the prices are not cheap but still acceptable. One should be patient to reach the food, service is slow due to crowd. The guests are quite international and this place is very popular among the young adults. The restaurant is on the ground floor and there is a stage on the first floor, at nights there are live performances going on. The ceiling of the bar is totally covered with mistleoes. The story tells one can kiss a girl if there is a mistleoes is hanging above. That's why mistleoes is everywhere at X-mas. Well, this is a story, try it at your own risk.

After having dinner we went to Groove Station which lies few hundreds meters down. That was a nice place to have a drink and play mini football, as a tradition from Les Houches.

Another attraction of the Neustadt is the charming Kunsthof-Passage.
There are a number of coctail bars, arts & hand crafts, second hand and book shops in the passage. But the characteristic of the passage is the creative design of the passage itself.

I took the way down to Bautzner Strasse to find the most beautiful dairy of the world. That's how they call Pfunds Molkerei. Although the company does no more production, the dairy is a touristic attraction with its history and renovated Villeroy&Boch majolicas.

Last night I dined at Brennnessel. This restaurant is at 10-15 minutes walking distance from the Zwinger. However, this quarter is far from the touristic rush of the old city. The menu is fully vegetarian and delicious. I recommend Gebackener Schafskäse-baked sheep chease. At late hours the musicians of the concert haus came to dime with their instruments, too.

I wish I could visit Sächsische Schweiz, too. But it was still cold in the middle of March and the possibility of running into some skinheads-although during my more than 4 years stay in Germany I have never met any of them, they warned me some of them are still alive-at rural part of the east Germany stopped me.

So, I enjoyed Dresden. Until next time!

Berlinale 61

In the queue. One hour before the opening of the counter...
It is once again cold February and once again Berlinale. Although it is freezing cold, people are rushing from one cinema to the other. Berlinale fever! This time 61st.

Berlinale has different sections depending on the film profiles. Accepted big international movies are shown in the Competition, independent productions in Panorama, experimental films and films with exotic origin in Forum, movies mostly for young audience in Generation, German productions in Perspective Deutsches Kino, short films in Berlinale Shorts. Every year there is also a Retrospective section which focuses on the works of a master. This year we had the opportunity to see works of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman in the frame of this section once again.

Berlinale is Europe's, for some the world's most contemporary cinema event and it is the festival of discussions and encounters. This mega event fits perfectly to the cosmopolitan, alternative texture of the Berlin city.

Some small tips for the beginners: Plan ahead! Advence sales of the tickets are possible only 3 days before the show. Only a tiny bit of tickets are available online. You can still find tickets from the box office, they call here "Abendkassee", as well. But this would be difficult in general and impossible for the galas.

This year Asghar Farhadi from Iran held the golden bear with Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation). And silver bear went to Béla Tarr from Hungary for his film A torinói ló (The Turin Horse).

I saw A torinói ló with a Hungarian friend of mine. This film is photographically a masterpiece. All black and white. But it can be depressing if you are not prepared. It is about a week of a father who is a coachman, his daughter and their horse. All days are the same in poverty. A storm is accompanying the lack of hope in the background of the film. One day the horse refuses to eat, move or doing anything. They try to escape from their misserable circle but they turn back from the half way. At the end, they cannot eat anymore neither. Like the Turin horse. There are only few dialogs in the film. Turin is a city-a nice city according to Mónika-in Hungary. The guy who was sitting next to us asked where we are coming from. When he learned Mónika is Hungarian, he asked her if she could explain him what was the whole film about. Well, as I mentioned one should be really trained before watching this film. The film abstracts can be deceitful.



Friedrichstadt Palast

Coriolanus is a modern Shakespeares adaptation from Ralph Fiennes. It is about power struggles between Rome and Volscians at ancient times. Commander Coriolanus is a tough soldier but as a hero and an honest man he enters to the politics. His opponents trick him and he is banished from the city. He joins to the Volscians and attackes on Rome. Then he makes the mistake of forgiving Rome for the sake of his mother and wife.

I had the chance to see the restored 4K version of Taxi Driver from Martin Scorsese. He was expected in the Berlinale Special Gala but he could not show up because of illness. The scnenarist of the film Paul Schrader attended to the gala. He explained how he has written the script. Basically he insprired from his own life, a 26 years old man with an old car like a coffin, in a killer loop. He told if he had not written the Taxi Driver, he would be like the Taxi Driver. And this 4K version of the film is brilliantly high definition.

My favorite film was Made in Poland from Przemyslaw Wojcieszek. It is again a black and white-and a bit of red-film, but it is full of humor. Boguś is a young and angry man left the school and he wants to do a revolution. All his attempts to organize a revolutionist group fails and he demolishes the cars in a parking lot. That lands him in a big trouble, one of the cars belongs to a ganster. He has to pay the price. It is possible to see several reflections from post-communist Poland in the film. A rebel teenager, voice of national conservatives Radio Maryja which promotes the “Prayer for Poland’s Rescue”, new riches and gangsters born after the fall of communist regime, neo-liberals lulling everyone to sleep, a literature teacher who caused injury of his daughter in an accedent, a romantic socialist mother, a disabled law student living with his sister full with hope for the future and a priest as a father figure. I watched the film with my Polish neighbour who hosted me in Gdansk. We really saw the new Poland in the film blended with black humor.

Cinema is war! A pamphlet

WAR! Cinema is war.
Cinema is not comforting stories.
Cinema is war.
Cinema is not bringing people together.
Cinema is war.
Cinema is not cherished nostalgia.
Cinema is war.
Cinema is not beauty of life.
Cinema is the destruction of a system that turns you into a slave.
Cinema is not fancy hits in the background of your well-mannered life.
Cinema is a war cry, cinema is warfare, cinema is a warpath.
Cinema is not a million dollar camera set up and a truck of lights.
Cinema is 5D, 7D, Super 8, an insurgent’s backpack full of batteries and flash cards.
Cinema is not money.
Cinema is poverty.
Cinema is not status quo.
Cinema is disruption of status quo.
Cinema is not a dinner at Davos.
Cinema is riots in Greece.
Camera is not a toy.
Camera is not a tool.
Camera is a weapon.
Ready to shoot.
And we’re about to begin.

Przemysław Wojcieszek