The Baltic Beach

Ah, the Baltic Sea! How I miss it in Berlin. Yes, we have water in Berlin, the nasty Spree, the wide Havel, the Dahme. But the wonderful Baltic Sea is something special, dear to my heart. It has always fascinated me, no idea why, as I was born far inland in Western Pennsylvania, where there was not much more water than the Connequenessing Creek.

The first glimpse of the blueness comes on the way to Fehmarn, rounding the bend coming off the Autobahn 1. Going over the Fehmarn-Sund-Bridge shows loads of people enjoying the water on their boats and surfing boards, tents pitched on the beaches.

The first exit and some small streets bring us to Wulfen, a popular camping spot. I must admit a good bit of trepedation when entering a camping area. I don't really care for having so many people on so little ground, even if they now have electrical outlets on every camping space so you can have a little electric coolbox and an electric grill and even a laptop if need be. My sister-in-law insists that the crowd of rambunctions young men with the cases of beer will be soft as lambs after 22.00 or they will be kicked off the place. I don't know, an ambulance came to pick up one of the bunch after a drunken fight broke out during the afternoon...

There is a long peninsula here at Wulfen that divides the area into two - one, to a very shallow bay, is wind surfers paradise. Here even small kids can learn to windsurf. Some fall down constantly, but that's okay, as it is not deep. Others have figured out how to make it go, and are clipping right along. Far out a few braver (sillier?) ones are kite surfing - this lifts you out of the water on big gusts. Scary.

The other side of the peninsula is the Baltic - and a classic Baltic Beach it is! Big boulders give way to a small strip of white sand, just enough for one family collection of towels. There is a tangle of seaweed and lots of little and larger stones at the surfline before you get soft sand under your feet.

The water is unseasonally warm - 26 degrees! I've been swimming in the Baltic at 19 degrees (not stayed in long, but just to be in the wonderfully salty water). Wulfen is also very flat on the Baltic side, you can walk out for 100s of meters before you are up to you chin. The water is refreshing despite being so warm, and it gets cooler as you get in deeper. Three swans come floating by, wondering if we have bread or other goodies with us.

The sun is warm, I dry off quickly in the sun (getting a bit of a sunburn where I missed putting on the suntan oil) enjoying the view of all those nice-looking lifeguards. Compared to Tropical Islands there are many more good-looking guys and gals here. We have to leave in order to get going for Sweden. Our nephew gets his windsurfing certificate, so he now belongs to this elite circle of more-or-less athletic folks.

I read a sign at the reception as we are getting an ice cream before going - they even have a WLAN set up at the beach. Now, if they could just get the electrical outlets out behind the stones, I might even consider spending more time at the beach!