RO: Recunoastem, principalul motiv pentru care am vrut musai sa vedem insula Rugen este… poza de mai jos. Da, cladirea alba art-nouveau de pe digul de la Sellin a fost atractia principala. Si poate ca nu o fi insula Rugen Paradisul exotic pe care si-l imagineaza oamenii cand se gandesc la insule si plaje scoase din cartile postale, insa pentru popoarele nordice infiorate de caldurile Mediteranei si iubitorii de frig si vreme racoroasa, este compromisul perfect. Si nu doar cladirea alba din capatul digului, pozata eventual la apus, de pe plaja plina cu cosurile tipice pe post de sezlonguri, e atuul locului. Ba chiar si strada principala Wilhelmstrasse, plina de cladiri vechi si hoteluri ce par adevarate conace, e senzational de frumoasa. Cumva, e un paradox al nemtilor 🙂 Desi intregul oras se vrea a fi o statiune diferita de sudul calduros al Europei, cumva arhitectura pare sa fie cat mai aproape de stilul mediteranean, dus poate intr-o extrema mai eleganta si mai posh 🙂 Apropo, cladirea din capatul digului a fost distrusa de nenumarate ori de-a lungul timpului, in principal din cauza vremii neprimitoare, insa din 1997 a fost refacuta complet iar de atunci arata ca scoasa din tipla 🙂

EN: We have to admit it, the main reason why we wanted to see Rugen island is… the picture below. Yup, the white art-nouveau building on Sellien pier was the main attraction. And maybe Rugen Island is not quite the exotic Paradise that most of the people think about when talking about islands and postcard beaches, but for the northern people, who are terrified by the heats of the Mediterranean and those who love the cold and chilly weather, this might be the perfect compromise. And not just the white building from the end of the pier, photographed at sunset, from the beach full of beach chairs is the ace up the sleeve of this place. Even the main street, Wilhelmstrasse, full of old buildings and hotels that look like real manors, is extremely beautiful. Somehow, this seems to be a German paradox 🙂 Even though the entire town wants to be different than the sunny southern part of Europe, the local architecture seems to be closer to the Mediterranean style, maybe a bit more posh that one could imagine 🙂 By the way, the building from the end of the pier was destroyed several times throughout its history, mainly because of the bad weather, but since 1997 it was completely rebuilt and since then it looks like brand new 🙂  

RO: Sassnitz este un alt orasel de pe insula Rugen, cu tipicele hoteluri si case albe, cu aspect victorian, unde sincer, am ajuns din totala intamplare, cautand cel mai usor mod de a ajunge la croazierele catre Stancile Albe din Rugen (Koenigsstuhl). Foarte asemanatoare de altfel cu stancile ca de creta din apropiere de Dover (White Cliffs of Dover) ori cu cele de langa Eastbourne (Seven Sisters), din Marea Britanie 🙂 Adevarul e ca vizita noastra pe insula Rugen a fost cum nu se poate de scurta (nemtii obisnuiesc sa isi petreaca intreaga vacanta de vara aici – atunci cand nu-i gasim in Ibiza si sudul Spaniei, bineinteles :D), insa oricat de putin timp am avea la dispozitie, sunt doua lucruri de neratat pe cea mai mare insula a Germaniei, si-acelea sunt cu siguranta digul de la Sellin despre care am vorbit mai sus si-apoi stancile albe de la Koenigsstuhl. Ar fi fost poate mai pitoresc sa le vedem facand unul dintre traseele prin padure, ajungand de ce nu, la faimoasa platforma construita chiar in locul de unde pictorul Caspar David Friedrich a pictat cea mai cunoscuta lucrare a lui (o simpla cautare pe Google dupa White Cliffs of Rugen rezulta in sute de poze ale lucrarii sale, si mai putin in detalii despre cum sa vezi stancile in realitate :P), insa noi am preferat sa luam o barcuta din Sassnitz si sa le vedem din departare.

EN: Sassnitz is another small town on Rugen island, with typical white houses and hotels having that Victorian style, where honestly, we got by pure mistake, searching for an easy way to get to the boat cruises to the White Cliffs of Rugen (Koenigsstuhl). Which actually look a lot like the chalk cliffs from Dover (White Cliffs of Dover) or the ones close to Eastbourne (Seven Sisters) in Great Britain 🙂 Truth is that our visit to Rugen island was extremely short (German people use to spend their entire summer vacation here – that is of course when we don’t find them in Ibiza and southern Spain :D), but no matter the time that we have, there are two main things not to be missed on the largest island of Germany and those are the Sellin pier that we’ve talked about and the white cliffs from Koenigsstuhl. It would have probably been more picturesque to see them after hiking on one of the trails from the forest, reaching the famous platform built right where the painter Caspar David Friedrich painted his most renowned master piece (a simple Google search for White Cliffs of Rugen results in hundreds of pictures with his painting rather than details about how to see the cliffs in reality :P), but we preferred to take a boat from Sassnitz and see them at a distance.







RO: Ce ne-ar fi placut sa facem in zona daca am fi avut mai mult timp la dispozitie (din pacate in Sellin nu am stat mai mult de 30 de minute, fiind nevoiti sa ajungem in Berlin pentru zborul de intoarcere), ar fi o plimbare cu mocanita 🙂 Da, amuzant ori nu, insula Rugen are o mocanita intocmai ca a noastra in Maramures 🙂 Este cunoscuta ca Rasender Roland si strabate rand pe rand principalele orase ale insulei – Binz, Sellin, Baabe si Gohren. De altfel, sunt multe locurile pe care le-am ratat pe insula Rugen, si-ar mai fi si altele de mentionat pe drumul dinspre Berlin catre Rugen – cum ar fi orasul Rostock. Dar asa avem suficiente motive intemeiate sa ne intoarcem mereu si mereu in Germania 🙂

EN: However, what we would have liked to see on Rugen island if we would have had some more time (unfortunately in Sellin we could only stay 30 minutes, as we had to reach Berlin for our return flight), is a ride with the narrow gauge railway 🙂 Yup, funny or not, Rugen Island has a narrow gauge exactly as ours in Maramures 🙂 This is known as Rasender Roland and passes through the main towns on the island – Binz, Sellin, Baabe and Gohren. Actually, there are many things to see on Rugen Island, and there are plenty of others even on the way to the island – as Rostock city. But that is why we have enough good reasons to always come back to Germany 🙂