From Hiddensee to Juliusruhe
Saturday 18 July
Today we catch the boat from Vitte to Schaprode at 10,15, a nice little
trip of barely an hour. From Schaprode we head north-east towards Wiek,
and from there up to the north coast which we follow to Kap Arkona. The
path along the coast which follows the steep cliff top is not very good,
and some of it goes through an interminable camping site called the Regenbogen
camping. At Arkona which is the fabled site of the Slavic idol Svantevit,
a four-headed god, there are today three lighthouses to inspect and some
earthen remains of the Slavic fortifications from about a thousand years
ago. As we are looking at all this, a tremendous shower comes up which
is so violent that we have to take cover in one of the lighthouses. After
the worst of it is over, we take to the by now waterlogged road which takes
us to Vitt, known as the smallest village on Rügen. It is certainly
very pretty, lying in a fold of the high cliff coast, but unfortunately,
there is no available accomodation in the village, so we have to go on
in very uncertain weather with intermittent showers. After many unsuccessful
attempts to find somewhere to sleep, we finally strike lucky in Juliusruhe,
another beach resort, where we find a room at a brand-new just opened hotel
(150 DM), the best if not the most expensive hotel we have yet stayed in.
Sunday 19 July
This morning we are all set to go when we find a break in one of the
bicycle chains which cannot be put to rights on our own. Nor can we find
a repairshop open on a Sunday, so we decide to remain another night at
the nice hotel. That gives us time to look around Juliusruhe. The neighbouring
Breege has a small harbour onto the Jasmunder Bodden where you can catch
a ferry to Hiddensee. The same pattern is repeated here with many renovated
old houses offering holiday lets and rooms and a few unrenovated ones which
are covered in the brown plaster which seems to be the hallmark of the
DDR time.
In the afternoon, Jacob with the help of a young man working at the
hotel manages to fix the chain, and we're all set for tomorrow.