The day before Mikkels birthday we went to Schwerin because it was going to rain a lot and we couldn’t find hotels in Lubeck. Schwerin was lovely, and had improved a lot since mama was there last in 1995. We stayed the night in a lovely countryside mansion. The kids wanted to stay in bed and watch German TV, perhaps because they are afraid of mosquitoes. But the parents went out for a bit of chess and boules.