Regardless of wether you identify as a Hipster or you just like the stylish and vintage kind of places – this post is for you!
You can see them on the streets wherever you go. Especially downtown or in the KTV (Kröpeliner-Tor- Vorstadt), the student quarter of Rostock. They wear jute bags and skinny jeans combined with old leather boots and an undone hair look. They are cool. Too cool for you? Probably not. Because they are from Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. And even if they appear very cold at first sight, they have huge hearts and are happy to help you around town. Am I about to mock the wannabe individual mainstream style most people are adapting at the moment? Hell yes! Why? Just because. Because everyone likes a bit of shabby places and vintage style at the moment, and you shouldn’t take yourselves too seriously. So head around town to find the “it-places” to get to know local people.
Love cranes and anchors? Because you identify with the “Northernness” and the mentality of the coldish but very kind people of Northern Germany? Get your jute bag at Freiraum which is on Barnstorfer Weg. They have beautiful and also locally made Rostock march, and anything from fair and sustainable body care to other odds and ends. Fill your bag at Herr Koreander Buchhandlung and get vintage and second hand books to read on your trip. They even have books in English, French or sometimes in Spanish because they collect whatever people bring to them.
Get a Break, Get a Coffee!
You need a break and want to start reading your new book? Right around the corner you will find way too expensive coffee at Ronja’s Espresso at Margaretenplatz. Bring your own cup and you will even get a discount off your coffee. For me, as a German student, it is expensive indeed (you get a cafe latte for about 3,20€ which is more expensive than at a conventional place like a bakery) but eventually one of the very rare places in Rostock where you can get actual good coffee and where the staff knows about barista art AND the owner Jan roasts the coffee himself each Wednesday. So one should appreciate that! They have a second coffee bar at Doberaner Platz which might as well be visited more frequently but if you like to enjoy a coffee and have some quiet time away from the hassle (and it randomly is a Wednesday that you head out to try their coffee and you want to smell the fresh roasted coffee scent all through the quarter), you should definitely go to Margaretenplatz.
(Source)
Another new place to find a good coffee around town is at Patriotischer Weg. It just has a sign that says “café” on it. The furniture is very minimalist. They even hung a race bike at the wall. (I mean, come on!) It does remind one of the Coffee Bars in Berlin Kreuzberg – the home place of hipster hood. The owner’s name is Myrthe. This shop is part of a coffee collective and roasting facility called Da Joir Ma. They value fair-trade and organic and are definitely the most authentic place to go and have an authentic coffee. They almost only sell coffee. Plain-vanilla coffee. (This one is definitely my favourite.)
Katrin Bornscheuer, 8th May 2017
Comment this post to let me know how you liked the coffee or recommend these places to fellow travelers!
Safe travels,
Katrin
afaik Ronja’s has the lowest price for a really, really delicious double espresso @Doberaner Platz. So I recommend go for it in case you just need caffeine and no trendy type extras 🙂