9th day on Rügen (October 12, 2021, Tuesday)

9th day on Rügen (October 12, 2021, Tuesday)

And today we went to Königsstuhl. The chalk cliffs were formed by calcareous algae, root-footers, and ostracods. Their shells and skeletons sank to the sea floor after their death. Due to tectonic changes, these layers of chalk were pushed up from the sea floor and now wind and weather are working on their permanent erosion. Chalk quarries are dangerous.

We came across a large parking lot with a sign for Königsstuhl and parked. But when I saw the sign that a 2.6 km long path lay ahead of me, I was rather discouraged. We set off on the way, while Gabi casually said, 'We can do it.'

Well then, we started walking. The path through the alder forest was really beautiful. There were wetlands everywhere in the forest, mushrooms growing out of the colorful autumn leaves, fallen trees creating the impression of a primeval forest. And even a large lake was nestled in the middle of this idyll. A sign indicated that this might be an enchanted forest, which suited our 'Little Red Riding Hood Forest' that regularly led us to the main road. We had already named another forest 'Hansel and Gretel Forest', and another one was the 'Rübezahl Forest'. But no matter how beautiful it was here: I kept whining, as children usually do, and Gabi laughed with me and joined in the game.

'Imagine if we reach the top and there's a parking lot there,' I said. 'Yes, and?' Gabi said. 'Then I'll bite my own butt.' 'You can do that, but then we would have missed the beautiful forest.' Finally, there were only 600 meters left and what did I see shortly afterwards: A road!!!! Well then, we made it. And as if to taunt us, there was now also a bus starting its engine to drive to our parking lot.

Now it was time to pay, and they really wanted ten euros to be able to go to the Königsstuhl. This also included a museum and a film. Since we both found this quite cheeky, we set off to take the free path after asking, but when we saw the slope and the steepness, we decided to pay the ten euros after all. But this path was also not easy and had several steps, which put a strain on Gabi's knee.

We admired the surrounding steep chalk cliffs, where the alder trees grew right up to the edge and the view over the wide sea, but basically, it was not very spectacular because the sections that could be seen were rather small. Various stories surround the name of the Königsstuhl. One story says that young men had to climb up the rock and whoever reached the top first would be crowned king. We quickly took another photo of ourselves and started the descent to then indulge ourselves in the bistro. Suddenly, Gabi said, 'I think we should take the bus down after all, my knee can't take it anymore.' That was exactly what I wanted, because I had already announced that I would call a helicopter up there because I couldn't go any further. So off we went to the bus, which actually went to our parking lot. But where was my car? Once again, I had completely lost my orientation, took out my key to look for a light signal from my car, when Gabi said, 'Irmi, it's right there.' We both laughed because my car was right in front of us.

On the way back, we took a round through Sassnitz and then looked for the sign for the Flint Fields, but somehow we must have overlooked it. In Sassnitz, I had the brilliant idea of asking Siri about an antique shop, and lo and behold, on our street, there should be such a shop in 900 meters. I browsed through narrow aisles and saw many interesting pieces of furniture, but I didn't have space for them and I wasn't even looking for them. And then I saw a small old display case. Now the only question was how much it should cost. We reached an agreement and he even carried the good piece to my car. This is where my memories would have a good place. I was happy, even though I felt the sorrow of losing two dear friends in such a short time.

Back at our vacation home, I called Norbert because I had taken a brochure of a restaurant with me, where he had already been, but with all the brochures that had accumulated by now, I wasn't sure if I had picked out the right one. But that was the case, and when I called there, I found out that there were new owners. First I booked a table, but then I read the reviews and since there was a clear discrepancy in the ratings of the past months, I canceled our table and we set off for dinner and found a hotel in Göhren where we both had a very delicious meal and drove home satisfied and full.