KIEL

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Kiel of course is the port at the entrance to the Kiel Canal. You can read a little of its history in the left sidebar. Michele came off the ship only briefly to smell the flowers as her hip is giving her problems and with a quiet day today and a sea day tomorrow we are hoping it will settle down particularly for the two days in St Petersburg.

However I was trusted with the loot and set off for a morning on my own. They must have known I would be flying solo without my navigator because they provided a blue painted line on the pathway from the dock into the town of Kiel. Brilliant. Even I couldn't get lost and it was so easy to find my way home. I was nearly killed again; this time by a bicycle travelling at the speed of sound and I was standing in her bike lane.

Do you see the blue line? This mall extends for 3000kms through a winding trail of cobble stones (well, it felt like that anyway.) The further you go, the more interesting it was with little shops, coffee stops, and all sorts of tempting German food. Four vans were parked in the square selling fruit & veg, meat, cheeses, and pastries:

St Nicholas

The bells to St Nicholas Church welcomed me in and what a sound there was inside. The church organ was installed in 1965 and was loudly playing some very dark music in this magnificent building. St Nicholas Church was named after the patron saint of sails-men and merchants and was first built around 1242CE. Obviously the church has undergone significant renovations over the centuries particularly after it was almost completely destroyed in 1943 and 1944 by British air pilots. The church was rebuilt in 1950. Hanging on one wall is the Coventry Cross made of three nails from Coventry Cathedral that had been bombed by the Germans in 1940 and sent to St Nicholas Church as a sign of reconciliation.

Dr Jessen

This is Dr Jessen pastor of St Nicholas 1651- 1676. Most of the valuable works of art had been evacuated to Bordesholm after the first bombs had fallen on the city centre and were saved from being destroyed. 80 per cent of the town was reduced to rubble during WWII and rebuilt in modern form although it maintained the same road format as previously. Hence this rather winding mall.

I walked on, perhaps not uplifted by the dirge-like organ music, magnificent as it was, but certainly impressed by the historical significance of this church and found a little stall where a lady was making hot dogs - huge Bratwurst sausages trying to escape a much smaller bun at each end and covered with mustard. All I need now is a jug of German beer but settled for a coffee and Internet access. I was sad to receive an email from my sweet Poppie to say that Parker was very sick (presumably with the flu his mum had) and could I bring home some caramels. 

Sausage to go - Two Euros

I brought this photo back for M to see if it would be enough to entice her out despite her injury but to no avail. This long winding mall really was very attractive to the female shopper. I saw all the male partners wandering outside the doorways looking anxiously in with that male stance that give off signals of mild impatience but resiled to a goodly wait.

Wool Heaven

We sail out of Kiel to the commentary of one of the ship's officers who points out the German naval shipping yard that is currently building five submarines for the Israeli navy and some of the most expensive private yachts many of which will go to the Arab State countries. This shipyard was founded in 1838 and built its first submarine in 1850. There are 6600 employed in the shipyards where the luxury yacht Christina O was built for Onasis. The shipyard provides a servicing centre for many ships. During WWII the German Baltic fleet was based in Kiel and it obvious why Kiel became a military target towards the end of the war.

This submarine sunk by the British is now a Memorial

A very interesting conversation over dinner last night with two Australians and two Americans. If you thought all I could talk about was the state of political affairs, you didn't experience this Australian male in particular. Ian and and his wife Willie (Willomena) live in Canberra and openly admit to spending the kids' inheritance doing lots of travelling. He is retired from the corporate world and is died in the wool Liberal devotee. However, he goes on at length about having only ever voted Conservative in the past, a strong admirer of John Howard, and now will be voting Labor for the first time if Abbott is still PM by the next election. He shakes his head with disgust recounting the poor decision making and leadership skills of Abbott. He has met Abbott a number of times through his work. Willie is not as condemnatory but regards Abbott as 'sub-optimal'. (Interesting term - I was inclined to say sub-normal but kept my mouth shut.) The American couple were reasonably quiet as they couldn't really get a word in edge ways. I tested if they knew that voting in Aus is compulsory; they didn't and really couldn't comprehend being required to vote by law and fined for transgressing. We tend to know much more about US politics than Americans know about Aus. But that's understandable. Ian and Willie have just joined the ship and as the evening wore on, jet lag started to take hold and Ian finally ran out of puff and stumbled off to bed. 

My assessment of this little conversation is to confirm what serious trouble the Liberal Government is in under Abbott's leadership when you have a rusted on conservative willing to switch to Labor. Swinging voters will move under these circumstances but usually not people with this background. The Canning by-election in WA will be a real test of Abbott's security as PM but long term, you would have to think he won't be the leader at the next election. The only factor that is preventing his dumping is the spectre of being seen to be repeating the Rudd/Gillard fiasco. The irony would be delicious. However, let's not kid ourselves. Labor's only hope of returning to Govt after one term is to keep Abbott as PM.