🇩🇪 Kiel & Laboe: A Baltic Tale of Ships & Submarines ⚓🌊

From Hamburg HBF, the RE70 train delivers you to Kiel in just over an hour - my third harbor city in as many weeks (Bremerhaven last week, now this - I'm practically turning into a sailor! 🏴‍☠️ Kiel's surprisingly modern skyline? Blame the RAF's WWII bombing, though as a key naval base, it was inevitable. 🚢 Harbor Walk: From Sailboats to Floating Carnival Watched ships grow from cute sailboats to the AIDAnova cruise liner - that garish red lipstick and googly eyes are unmistakably AIDA's signature style! (Spotted one in Hamburg too) Kiel Aquarium: Hard to rate. €3 admission gets you jellyfish, seals and starfish... but the decor screams "Chinese seafood buffet restaurant" 🦞 🎪 Kiel Week Chaos Thought I'd cleverly avoided the crowds by coming after the famous 9-day Kiel Week... only to get swallowed by a human tsunami at City Hall Square. Felt like a proper clown 🤡, but hey - got to "see the world" without leaving Germany! 🏖️ Laboe Expedition 1️⃣ F1 Ferry: 1-hour scenic ride to Laboe Beach (my mission: submarine hunting!) 2️⃣ U995 Submarine & Naval Memorial: As a World of Warships nerd, this was Mecca! Kind ticket lady gave me student discount despite my incomplete registration 📝 Must-sees: Prinz Eugen's propeller, Bismarck model, historic battle flags 3️⃣ View from the Top: Rode up in a typically German (read: brutally efficient) elevator - nearly got blown off the tower by Baltic winds! 🌪️ Detoured past Holstein Kiel's stadium (so bland I mistook it for a warehouse) Final Thoughts: Kiel for real ships, Laboe for ship ghosts - not bad for a day trip! #Kiel #BalticAdventures #NavalHistory #GermanHumor #SpontaneousTravels #HarborHopping #Shipspotting