Staying onboard the MV Logos Hope, the ship that Peter is living and working on for a year, in a very comfortable guest cabin, was a very pleasant experience. In terms of engine and intercom noise the Logos Hope is much quieter than the Doulos. The large ship sits very still in the water and to be honest it was easy to forget that we were on a ship at all.
We awoke early and went for what turned out to be about a 10km walk. Kiel is a surprisingly beautiful harbour and town and our early morning walk took us along part of the quayside heading north towards the mouth of the Baltic Sea. As we walked we observed many Germans enjoying their early morning walks (with sticks in case they fell over), bathing in a private pool, running and risking life and limb on roller blades. We passed a children’s fair which was just coming to life which included standard kids things such as rides and face painting but also unique German attractions (celebrating the public holiday for Pentecost) such as an ‘on tap’ beer stand open from 9am. The walk was quite sunny and hot. We were surprised to come across a plaque commemorating the fact that the fiord was used for the yachting at the famous 1936 Olympic Games.
Peter joined us for a walk to town, which again was very pleasant. Kiel is a town of 250,000 with all the facilities of a small city. We had lunch on the ship and then enjoyed catching up with an old friend Graham Jack.
In the evening we went out to dinner to a waterside restaurant with Peter and 5 of his friends to celebrate his 18th birthday. With great food we enjoyed this significant event. Peter’s friends, Adam from Perth, Antony from the UK, Becca, Nicky and Brian from the USA were a wonderful group and we laughed so much the other more refined Germans at the restaurant kept turning around and looking at us. We have enjoyed outdoor dining before with portable gas heaters in case of cold weather, but it was a first for us when we noticed the blankets, also supplied to enjoy alfresco dining, Baltic style.
It was wonderful to meet Peter’s impressive group of friends and to see that he is having a great time on the ship.
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