Swimming in Lübeck

I spent the six months before my surgery getting fit.  I did that in several ways, one of which was to attend every aqua exercise class I could find, so prior to my surgery I was at several classes a week.  I became so keen on the water that I was sad to think about having to stop whilst my incisions healed (and as it turned out I had a leaky one it was around a month before I could get back into the pool).  The hotel I stayed in didn't have a pool so on my way back from the consultation with Professor Schmeller, my long suffering husband joined me at the local swimming pool, Zentralbad Lübeck.  The photo above shows the opening hours (and that if  you are brave or have some German you could even join in an aqua exercise class on a Monday!) but you should check them out at the highlighted link to be sure they are current when you go.  Incase it isn't obvious, Öffnungszeiten means opening times and Zentral is central so I believe this is the main swimming pool in the town.  

The price of a swim was 4 euro each, so I thought it was good value.  The water temperature was a bit cold - 26 degrees Celsius according to their website but I can only say it felt cold to both me and my husband. He still remembers it as a bit on the cold side but says it was OK.  It was one of the coldest pools I had been in for a while so I had to move around briskly - so it did me a favour really!  We went in the shallow pool as they have a shallow pool and a deep pool - the deep one was full of lane swimming at the time.  Maybe that pool is warmer but I am sure I touched it before leaving and it felt the same!

My tips for the pool (other than be prepared for a bracing temperature!) are:
* take flip flops or pool shoes as no-one wears outdoor shoes in the locker or changing areas.  That is a strict rule and will be enforced by the staff (they are friendly and will help you and show you the way around etc)
*the changing area was separate for men and women so ensure you have separate bags and shower items if you go with someone of the opposite sex
* I can't remember if you needed a coin for a locker - if so they would take a one euro coin
* the shower was a communal open shower (but just for your own gender as I recall) - so again I recommend using your flip flops.  The shower temperature was fine though!  You will need to take toiletries with you.  
* I don't remember about hairdryers - I left mine towel dried as we walked just around the corner straight into a restaurant for dinner so I was dry before we went for the longer walk back to the hotel.  

The pool was nice and clean so I would swim there again and would recommend it to a water lover.  I wanted to get a bit of pressure on my lymphatics after the flight and before my surgery, in the hopes it would help (and I find water workouts and swimming great stress relief).  If you feel the same I hope this post helps you!

In checking the details for this post I found that there are  other swimming pools in Lübeck so I have included a link which reviews the Zentralbad and the others.  

Places to eat in Lübeck

You can walk around Lübeck happily looking at places to eat - all the usual restaurants from Italian to chinese etc.  We just wandered around and were always able to find something good to eat.  

It seemed like people don't tend to eat late - the restaurants seemed quite quiet by 9pm. 

If you are looking for easy menus then I can confirm that the Maredo steakhouse has menus in English as well as German (I think they had a range of languages) and their food was fresh - salad bar, steaks, fajitas etc.  The staff were friendly and it was a very comfortable place to eat. 

The Park Inn hotel has an Italian restaurant LaBaracca Cucina Italiana with menus on tablets - like small ipads.  You can switch the languages on those and you order through your tablet device!  The restaurant has loads of windows so is very light and nice to look out from whilst you eat.  

For something indulgent and different for an afternoon tea I have to recommend the Niederegger cafe where you can indulge in their famous marzipan in tasty desserts and tea.  They do also sandwich type mains.  

Things to do in Lübeck

 
Lübeck is a fascinating place to walk around with great architecture and interesting things like this 3D mini map of the town that we just walked past by some shops.  

The Niederegger shop, cafe and museum is wonderful.  You have to go to the cafe and try marzipan tea and marzipan cake.

The museum is upstairs, accessed through a side door in the cafe, and is quite small but informative.  It covers the history of marzipan making and has some impressive statues made of marzipan - it smells quite nice in there!
 

The shop downstairs has some impressive marzipan art too and the most amazing varied flavours of marzipan.  

I think the marzipan options are so varied that this is the only place to shop for souvenirs!




Another place I wanted to visit, but which was closed when we were in town was the Theatre Figure museum.  You can find it up a little side street - you can see this dragon outside!  They have over a thousand theatre puppets so are on my list to go back to one day.  

Lübeck itself

So I realised I hadn't said much about Lübeck itself, other than that many people will speak good english.  The town is famous for it's brick architecture according to google.  A good example of that is the old gate here, which is on the walk from the train station or Park Inn hotel into town. 

If you get close and look up it is quite impressive too!

 The river is just on the edge of the town centre as you walk through the gate above. 

 Random old building overlooking river - such a lovely and peaceful area.  I felt   Lübeck was very picturesque and welcoming. 

If you are wondering about the town itself, Lübeck is a small town, with a lot of places to eat and a decent range of shops (bakeries, sports/small department type stores etc).  

It does have some steep hills if you wander all over, but you can walk some interesting routes around the town or along the river if you want to avoid the steeper streets,  

There are a lot of cobbles in the town centre side streets and pedestrianised areas so wear comfortable shoes not high heels if you go walking!