Seaside resort Warnemuende

The coastal town and seaside resort of Warnemuende is worth a trip. Like many others that I know - on the North Sea that belonged to the Federal Republic-, this has been lovingly restored as well since the “Wende” or reunification.

We were warned it would be busy because since the beginning of seaside tourism, Saturday is change-over day; tourists leave and new ones arrive. Similar beach “Koerbe” to the ones on the top of my blog were lined up, but there were hardly any customers. It’s just not that kind of a summer here at present. We had a healthy constitutional along the sea front preparing us for our lunch in one of the many restaurants leading to the harbor. From here, only smaller boats do round trips.

My daughter was snap- shotting away with her camera when she gave us the shock of a lifetime. A heavily overweight middle-aged woman was stripping down into her birth costume and took to the sea. This was not a nudist beach, so nobody could believe their eyes; an eye brow raising sight even for a German who is used to nudity and topless women on the beach. Nobody would have stared if she had the body of a beach girl instead of a whale. If there is interest, I’ll post a picture….

At the end of the pier, a carnival awaited, stalls with drinks, food and sweets. An orchestra from Hamburg- Stade played old fishermen’s songs accompanied by their accordions. The North German radio station was there to broadcast it. For me that was a little glimpse down memory lane. My father used to play this instrument and exactly these songs.

Whenever I open this blog...I long for the sea..already. Though it's probably way colder there than what we currently have in Florida. Where could I get such a beach basket? Where would I put it, however?

The company we signed up with for home exchanges has bi-annual newsletters. They always share good stories of successful exchanges. Did I mention I wanted to post our last not so convincing exchange in France on their Forum and they wanted me to rethink my sarcasm? And be more positive? Well, that's my writing style and I don't want to lie to my readers. It's all in my little booklet:Intrepid Home Swapping:Secrets to Successful Home Swaps.Go to Amazon and invest into 99cent and you can rad the nitty-gritty.
I want to share an inspirational piece of yesterday's newsletter here with you. Too late for this year's exchange but  a great thought:

STORIES I TELL MY FRIENDS ABOUT HOME EXCHANGES

I often try to sell the home exchange idea to our friends, and in the process, I cite some of our best experiences. Number one in this category is the wonderful people we have met as a result of these exchanges. Our procedure when we initiate an exchange is to let our hosts know that
we will meet them at the airport—usually Phoenix, but sometimes Boise— bring them to our home which will have the master bedroom ready for them (we sleep in the guest room that night and leave for the airport the next morning); then host a cocktail party with friends and neighbors to meet them. At this party, when the couple is introduced, we say something to the effect that we are leaving to stay in these folksʼ home and weʼre hoping, while they are here, you will look after them. We donʼt go into specifics like we hope you can invite them for dinner, cocktails etc. Our friends and neighbors get the idea and all of the couples we have hosted have bragged on how well treated they were during their stay in our home.
Since this was arranged ahead of time and our host couple knew what was going to happen here, they, in turn, contacted their friends and asked them to do the same for us. Now, the best part. Let me tell you about some experiences.
When we got to our hostsʼ home in Hamilton, New Zealand—a beautiful home overlooking the Waikato River—we heard the doorbell ring and when I answered, there was this beautiful lady there and she said, “Hi, Iʼm Lynnie, a friend of the hosts, and if you will invite me in and pour me a
glass of wine, Iʼll tell you how you can come to our house for dinner.” This incident led to numerous dinners both at their place and ours, and..." on the story goes.

Not only is everybody making friends all around but everybody keeps an amicable eye on each other-- for all you doubting Thomases out there!