Walking around, I am struck by how unbelievably HOT it is. The sun is unrelenting and, despite being near water, there is no breeze. I mean none at all. Ok, I see that it is only about 80 but still.
Olaf tells me that, as with many of these old East German cities, they are in various states of renovation/disrepair. He describes the grey cement with which the buildings were all built (all covered in coal soot) or disguising any original architecture that may have survived. Sometimes, a building was just left to decay whereas the house next to it has escaped ruin.