Boltenhagen and Wismar

This past weekend we wanted to go to the beach to celebrate summer. I am in denial summer is leaving us here in Germany and although I really enjoy Germany in fall, I firmly believe it is summer until September 21st! Yes, Germans may think I am crazy when I go to work without a jacket or scarf in the cooler weather we have been having and yes, some Germans may have raised their eyebrows when our family ventured onto the beach to play in the sand and the water when the wind was blowing and there were white caps on the water...nevertheless, we had a wonderful time.

We decided to go somewhere different from where we have been in the past. A friend of ours recommended Boltenhagen, a seaside town in West Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, also formerly East Germany She even said we could find 30 cent ice cream, which would be our 50 cent ice cream in Büchen! Unfortunately, we did not find the ice cream but we did find 1 Euro Fischbrötchen. I had salmon and She had halibut. The Bugs had them too of course - they are such great eaters. We enjoyed playing in the sand, wading in the water, watching people pass by in sweatshirts and scarves...yes, it was a bit nippy even though the sun was shining. There was a small number of people braving the cool, white-capped waters of the Baltic Sea, mostly older people who I thought may think they have nothing to lose. I watched as one man who appeared to be in his eighties stripped down and went out into the waves. I sat for a few minutes watching him, really thinking it might be a death watch but he made it back safely to shore and was even nice enough to offer us his Strandkorb. Unfortunately, we were not able to take him up on his offer because we wanted to have enough time to take the scenic route home through Wismar, a charming Hanseatic city and then to Ratzeburg, a lake town in Schlewig-Holstein.

It was a stunning drive. Wismar is charming and very colorful for a former GDR city. The drive through the countryside on the way to Ratzeburg was breathtaking! We had just had a rainstorm and then the sun came out as we drove over rolling hills, through forests and villages and past plowed fields. Oh, the beauty of late summer! Here are a few pictures from our day out.

This past weekend we wanted to go to the beach to celebrate summer. I am in denial summer is leaving us here in Germany and although I really enjoy Germany in fall, I firmly believe it is summer until September 21st! Yes, Germans may think I am crazy when I go to work without a jacket or scarf in the cooler weather we have been having and yes, some Germans may have raised their eyebrows when our family ventured onto the beach to play in the sand and the water when the wind was blowing and there were white caps on the water...nevertheless, we had a wonderful time.