Babymoon on the Baltic Sea!
Happy July to you, my dear readers. This is a special month to me personally as there are so many family birthdays- including my own, and also our wedding anniversary: 4 years now:) We took the opportunity to celebrate with a long weekend at the Baltic Sea, just a 2.5 hour drive northeast of Berlin. This cute beach town is situated near the Germany-Poland border, and filled with mostly German and other European tourists.
This was also our "babymoon" as we are about a month away from our due date in mid-August. We really lucked out on the weather; it was gorgeous. We stayed in a pretty town with a fun name: Heringsdorf! Next to another town of Ahlbeck which means Eel's Back. It's all about fresh fish there...Here are some pics while exploring and dining about:
Our hotel was quite nice: comfortable, clean, politely-staffed and with easy access to the beach. There are so many nice hotels and villas there though; it would be tough to go wrong.
Henning surprised me with a welcome gift of fruit and flowers, which was truly delightful. What a stellar guy! :)
We walked everywhere, enjoying the long stretch of sandy beach, historic villas, good restaurants, and weekend happenings like watching Germany win a world cup soccer game, French movie night (note screen in water!), and a live band from former East Germany. Sunsets were particularly amazing.
The Baltic Sea itself is so lovely! It's flat and easy to enter, once you brave the cool water temperature. Then swim all you want...We saw some harmless jelly fish on the first day but they left the next. There were plenty of sea birds, and some algae that dredged up AMBER! Apparently, baltic amber is from the Eocene epoch (44 million years ago) and contains some of the most species-rich fossil insect flora; so it's a treat to find. Our tiny loot is shown below.
By the way, one thing I noticed was the lack of inhibition in the dress code of most beach goers. This was both refreshing and sometimes slightly amusing to me. All body types and shapes were present, and many adults and children abandoned bathing suits or portions there of, or had a civilized practice of changing directly after emerging from the water. While most stayed suited up, many did not and none cared. Of course, this is very 'European' but it was just sort of notable to me at first. I was glad to see people embracing all sorts of appearances and just enjoying the nature of it all.
Good times! Never thought Germany would look like this... Always fun to be surprised. :)
This was also our "babymoon" as we are about a month away from our due date in mid-August. We really lucked out on the weather; it was gorgeous. We stayed in a pretty town with a fun name: Heringsdorf! Next to another town of Ahlbeck which means Eel's Back. It's all about fresh fish there...Here are some pics while exploring and dining about:
Our hotel was quite nice: comfortable, clean, politely-staffed and with easy access to the beach. There are so many nice hotels and villas there though; it would be tough to go wrong.
Henning surprised me with a welcome gift of fruit and flowers, which was truly delightful. What a stellar guy! :)
We walked everywhere, enjoying the long stretch of sandy beach, historic villas, good restaurants, and weekend happenings like watching Germany win a world cup soccer game, French movie night (note screen in water!), and a live band from former East Germany. Sunsets were particularly amazing.
The Baltic Sea itself is so lovely! It's flat and easy to enter, once you brave the cool water temperature. Then swim all you want...We saw some harmless jelly fish on the first day but they left the next. There were plenty of sea birds, and some algae that dredged up AMBER! Apparently, baltic amber is from the Eocene epoch (44 million years ago) and contains some of the most species-rich fossil insect flora; so it's a treat to find. Our tiny loot is shown below.
By the way, one thing I noticed was the lack of inhibition in the dress code of most beach goers. This was both refreshing and sometimes slightly amusing to me. All body types and shapes were present, and many adults and children abandoned bathing suits or portions there of, or had a civilized practice of changing directly after emerging from the water. While most stayed suited up, many did not and none cared. Of course, this is very 'European' but it was just sort of notable to me at first. I was glad to see people embracing all sorts of appearances and just enjoying the nature of it all.
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One of the best parts of the trip for me was the minimal price of renting a 'Strandkorb"or beach basket. This long-standing tradition of simple, clever 'huts' makes a full day of beaching even more enjoyable. You sit elevated off the sand, lean back and enjoy a wind barrier, reading (built-in book shelf), your lunch etc. Plus you can dry off easily and rotate any direction- towards sun, the water, your family/neighbors if inclined, etc. Brilliant. Here's ours:Good times! Never thought Germany would look like this... Always fun to be surprised. :)
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