Lübeck; Thursday, 12 April, 2012

Normally, with a flight from Heathrow it’s a 90 minute commute across London, which for an 08:30 check-in time would have been through the most packed part of the rush hour.

Instead, a little after 8am I rolled out of bed into the shower and 30 minutes later I was walking across the link bridge between the hotel and the airport terminal.

An uneventful flight later and I landed in Hamburg, collected my bags, headed into the city centre and then straight back out again on the train to Lübeck. From the station I walked the short distance to the hotel and checked in there.

I headed back out from the hotel down to the central bus station (having already worked out I would miss the train by about two minutes) to catch the bus out to the seaside resort of Travemünde.

I had a long wander along the beach, taking in the bracing Baltic Sea air before the first drops of rain started falling. As I made my way back towards the train station the drops turned into a fine shower, then a heavy shower, progressing (thankfully after I reached the station building) to an absolute downpour.

I was quite glad that the heating on the train had been put up to maximum as it meant I was able to steam dry myself quite effectively in the 20 minutes it took to get back to Lübeck.

I headed from the station into the city centre to have a wander round at dusk, taking in the main sights, and taking the lift up the tower of the old St Peters Church to take in the views over the city.

After stopping for dinner I had a bit more of a wander around the old town, and along the canal side, before heading back to the hotel.