I was in eighth grade when I went on a class trip to the small German town of Glücksburg near the Danish border. During that class trip, we went to a charming little town, Sønderborg in Denmark, and from Sønderborg we traveled via ship back to Germany, to a town called Kappeln (which wasn’t far from the place where we stayed).
Why I’m telling you this, you wonder?
Well, because today I went on a trip down memory lane. Today, almost exactly twenty years after I first visited Sønderborg and Kappeln, I returned – a little older and wiser, for sure – but just as thrilled. Of course, this time, we didn’t travel by bus and ship. This being a family trip, we had the convenience of a car, and a little more independence. So we walked the neat little streets of Sønderborg and learned all there is to learn in one day about Danish culture and lifestyle. (And to be honest, I wouldn’t have known the town from what I remember from twenty years ago.)
On the way back, we decided to stop in Kappeln, where we promenaded alongside the banks of Germany’s largest fjord (Schlei), admired the old and new sailboats in the marina, learned about the current weather conditions in the weather station, and got stuck in traffic for at least half an hour when the big bascule bridge lifted to allow a never ending line of sailboats to pass through.
Sønderborg, Denmark
Sailboats in Kappeln
Marina, Kappeln
Weather Station
Weather Station (Translation)
rock moves = storm
rock hangs still = calm
rock is wet = rain
rock is dry = no rain
rock is white = snow
rock casts shadow = sunshine
rock is invisible = fog
rock has fallen down = earthquake
rock is gone = stolen
Bascule bridge, Kappeln
Bascule bridge across the Schlei, Kappeln