Feels more like winter in FL

And now you’re all eager to know how our swapped home turned out – I know. It is a spacious house that can easily accommodate 7 people, clean but showing the sign of the times in some rooms. The family room furniture must have been handed down from grandmother’s time whose picture is on the wall. Very dark wood and lots of bric-a-brac (or collectibles) from that era. The thatched roof gives it a very cozy feel but is also responsible for some mess on the ground. The birds on that roof like to play with the straw.  The outside swimming pool has brown water in it, not out of neglect but it’s taken from a nearby lake of the “blue flagged lake “variety. I only read about blue flagged beaches recently in the US. Florida got none, CA only one. It’s too cold for these Floridians anyways.

They just recently installed a fancy new bathroom upstairs for their teenage kids, something you will see in hip hotels. Thank goodness there was room enough left in the closets for our stuff in contrast to last year’s experience. In the meantime, it has gone so cold that we lit a fire in the living-room. That doesn’t warm the bathroom where I need it most. First the radiators started to warm up a little- and then there was none. A sure sign of having run out of oil/ kerosene. Hubby asked how I knew. I only know too well from my experience in Ireland and Germany. In a normal summer, you don’t need heat and oil and turn it off in the spring when the weather picks up. You reorder some time during the summer months watching heating oil prices like a hawk and strike when it’s low. We had a tank of 12,000 l; so a difference in price of 2-10 cents makes quite a difference. But low and behold, especially in Ireland, the weather gods weren’t in the mood for summer and in the middle of July, more than once, I ran out of the last drops.

Who needs heat in the summer? I do when daytime temperatures hover around 14 Celsius and nights are even colder. Delicate me wouldn’t have made it far down the line through Evolution…

Yesterday, the last night my son was here, the “Men” barbecued outside while we had the fire going and watched Mamma Mia. We were happy we only had to do the kitchen chores. Now it’s sheet changing time because my daughter is on her merry way from Berlin to visit us. Yeah! She wants to visit on of the seaside resorts. In this weather?

I fought and lost a battle with the dryer which is of a new technical generation we hadn’t encountered yet. Thanks to a technically minded husband the problem was solved. This apparatus doesn’t blow hot air out anymore while spinning and drying but accumulates the water in a plastic container on the top left where a washer has its soap dispenser. So now for you. My daughter said,"Of course, a condensation dryer!"

We're here!

How did I ever keep it up last year? We've arrived in Germany in the sticks of formerly Eastern Germany and I virtually have no time for blogging in spite of my best intentions. I was going to write details about the journey, actually have some drafts I wrote on the plane when I couldn't sleep and now this all seems to be water under the bridge since we're already here.
In brief: last minute arrangements with cleaners and home exchangers as well as home security company shortly before boarding...and spending precious yet  wasted time on the phone with their "outstanding customer service representatives" (sic!), lousy food, dirty restrooms on the plane; obnoxious people kept us from sleeping one wink arriving totally knackered (Irish English for beat) only to have one of our 4 bags missing and another one badly damaged. Another hour wasted on reporting this to the Hamburg airport authorities before we could set out on an almost 3 hour drive to our final destination half asleep.
That journey took us from Hamburg across what used to be the border between the German Federal and the Democratic Republic.I never understood why the former Eastern, communist State of Germany called itself Democratic Republic while the Stasi imprisoned citizens just for looking the wrong way and the West- the Federal Republic- was the only one that was really democratic.
The Eastern part is still underdeveloped in comparison to the West, but no, there are no ruins or signs of the war left....(just answering the question of one follower here!)
Part of the territory we drove through was no-man's land with border control towers until 1990 where citizens would be shot who tried to escape. The united new Germany built a completely new Autobahn (A24) across what to this day (22 years later) is beautiful unspoilt countryside, mostly used agriculturally or consisting of impressive woods and tree lined "chaussees".
We just dropped into our beds on arrival. Does jet lag get worse when you get older? It really hit us hard this time and we spent most of the next day sleeping - or on the phone again trying to find out why the USPS was still delivering mail to our home instead of forwarding it as requested and what to do about the other bag that KLM had also delayed and was broken when it eventually made it to our door.
The weather is behaving very Irish :sun followed by wind and rain while our exchange partners inform us it's hot. To them it feels like 50 degrees Celsius (120 F ?). That's why we like to get away from Florida in the summer months....
On our second day my son arrived, our first visitor, whom I hadn't seen in  a year, ( and his new girl-friend!) Excuse me, I have to cook for the gang...

The Heat is on...

Not only in the States where temperatures are searing but also in Germany where we are going...in 3 days!  (And there will be no AC!) My old saying 'Time flies whether you're having fun or not' was modified this week on FBby a cutsie to 'Time flies- remember: you're the pilot!'
Today, however - not so much. I thought we'd be packing by now or at least tidying up the house and storing stuff away into the owners' closet. But hubby starts sanding a wall in the house. After the sanding machine was repaired, of course! How come tools are never where you saw them last or not in working order? When the wall is dry -after 24 hours- it can be patched up and then, eventually painted. I had just touched up that wall a few days ago in preparation.
But we're speeding up the drying process: I hear the hair dryer going incessantly. So much for conserving energy. So there is hope!
Those of you who read last year's blog will remember our 6 Big Berthas including one that just had tools, adapters, cables, connectors, you name it. This year we are going to reduce them! Promised! Now there is problem with his work laptop. 'How big is your desktop monitor? If they fail to repair it, would it fit into a suitcase?'
I feel a migraine coming on...

There is a lot to do...

Other people would be packing bags already or at least think about what they are going to take. We spent another preparation-marathon-weekend doing up the porch. Thank goodness, it wasn't as scorching hot as before when we did the outside painting.On Saturday, hubby power washed. We had only painted the floor of the lanai last year before our trip, but watering plants had left unsightly stains, rusty and some algae-green. While we were at it, some plants had to be repotted and the urns they went into---you guessed it: They had to be derusted and painted too. That's the trouble when two perfectionists come together.
On Sunday, we painted the floor and I cleaned the garage. Yes, I hear you ask...but you know yourself: Whose garage is in ship shape? Certainly not ours. There were even some remnants of the last (French) visitors beach erosion that they must have caused judging from the amount of sand we found in some corners. Now there is only the indoor touch up jobs to be done, be that walls or skirting boards and doors. I'm sure, we'll find some last minute extra job that needs doing urgently....2 weeks and counting!
In the meantime, we've also got a schedule for our roaming visitors. I didn't really want to run an open house again, but the nature of the beast is that you want to see your nearest and dearest. And no better place than in a house that can accommodate 7 people easily although they won't all be there at the same time.

Exciting times! And it will all be worth it. We can relax when we're there!

Main Differences

When I told people that we're doing home swaps they asked me about the main differences between the countries: in this case Germany and the USA. The biggest and probably the most hard to take for an American from the South like is the lack of Air Conditioning. I don't know any private homes in Germany that has an AC. Public places and hotels are different. In Germany, we open all the windows to create a breeze and love living outdoors -weather permitting. Mind you, we hardly ever have the temperatures nor the humidity that prevail in Florida for almost half of the year. AC even has a bad reputation in Germany  for some reason: it causes colds, spreads germs and is a waste of electricity. Well, here it's a different kettle of fish and we encourage our house guest to keep the AC on even they may think doing us a great job in saving money for us when they switch it off. They learn soon enough.
With open windows come flies and midges.There aren't really any mosquitoes in Germany. But they annoying midges will find their way into the house and bedroom. You just have to switch off the lights when the windows are open.
Another difference are the fridges.People tend to have smaller fridge-freezers that have no ice-makers.That's what my poor hubby really misses. We even take an extra old fashioned cube tray with us so that we have enough ice cubes. For some reason, Germans don't need ice cubes in their drinks as we do here. Once their drink is chilled in the fridge- that's good enough.
Germany has its famous Autbahn. Many foreigners dream of driving there at top speeds. In reality, in many areas speed is restricted due to heavy traffic in densely populated areas. But I have done my 240 km/h legally. The rest of the country has Bundesstrassen which often are only 2 lane roads. In fact, traveling in the countryside that is the type of road you're likely to encounter. There is only one or 2 of this type of narrow roads left where we live. As my neighbor called it:"The dangerous road..."Ooh, and also windy...scary, scary.

  

Other differences are the ones that I miss dearly: foods! My favorite foods like white asparagus, Italian Gelaterias (ice cream parlors), a gazillion different breads and Broetchen, (bread rolls), most of them not sweet -thank goodness- exquisite cakes and tortes (tartes) as well as beer gardens. I wrote about some of these before in last years blog, Season 1 as an eBook.(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005N0N3CO). With less than 4 weeks to go, my excitement is growing. I'll keep you posted! For more information see www.Intrepidhomeswappers.blogspot.com

Evaluating Site for Seniors

With only 30 days to go on our adventure, I want to report about home swapping website today that exclusively caters to people over 50. If you belong into that category and are thinking about joining one of these agencies, here is the address: www.SeniorHomeSwaps.com.Surprisingly, there is always room for another version to a product by going into niche markets. What may the benefit of it be? People without children. If you don't want children to be running around your house and precious belongings, this may be an obvious possibility. On the other hand, you can always rule children out on the site where we are paid up, like pets. Just tick off the appropriate boxes. You may be limiting your choices, but there you are.
I had a look at this site as a visitor. You can do that and look at individual countries free of charge, of course you cannot connect with the advertising people yet.They only had 7 exchange partners in the whole of Germany. Only one had a photo on offer and only 2 were willing to swap cars too.The may have to grow for more members or they may have more participating partners in the SA and Canada. I didn't look there. They do, however, offer, paid accommodation in private houses.It would be worth checking out comparing the size of houses. Goes to reason that "Seniors" have downsized and families have bigger houses. I wouldn't want to end up in a "Retirement community".
For now,  I'll stick to mine...

Another Swap

With our trip to Germany being only 6 weeks away, it's high time to tell you about our second swap this year.
We'll be driving from pretty much the most north-eastern part of Germany (Baltic Sea) to the most southern-west on the border to France and nearby Switzerland: Baden-Baden. We'll be doing a couple of pit stops to see family and to break up the trip that would take about 10 hours. I did these marathons when I lived in Ireland and did purchasing trips to Germany via England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands: I did those in 2 days at 13 hours a day and one overnight in England. Well, these days are over, I don't enjoy driving long distances that much anymore.

Baden Baden is a renowned spa resort, one of the more high end ones with beautiful thermal baths and a casino. We hope to fill up our coffers there for the rest of the vacation....:) only kidding!
Baden Baden is a famous tourist resort nestling against the foothills of the Black Forest and a mere hop over to Alsace in France. Our exchange partners are a family of three who have been to Florida several times and don't seem to mind the heat that they will encounter. This time our abode is a little smaller, a duplex as we say in Ireland--or rather half a house with  a tiny walled-in garden. In a high end area real estate prices are of a premium and it's still big enough for us. I had sworn to myself after last year's experience that I won't run a B&B anymore m, meaning I won't invite several sets of family and friends and be busy playing the hostess.
What does the town offer? 2 castles :

• Old Castle "Hohenbaden", built in 1102, a ruin since the 15th century
• New Castle (Neues Schloss), 15th century
• Lots of Roman ruins and sights : Caracalla Spa. A thermal bath is so soothing on the ole bones...
• SHOPPING, restaurants, ice cafes (if you read last year's blog you know about my love for Italian icecreams -gelaterias.

                             Here's another pic that I got from Wikipedia: The Kurhaus/ Spa Centrum