Money- or your Life!

The wonderful house we swapped with a German family in the East near the Baltic Sea came with a boat house and a small craft that didn’t need a license. Engines over 5 hp on Germany lakes etc. do.

 My son and his friend, strapping young lads that they are, had taken the rowing boat out to begin with but hubby felt lazy and privileged to have a “motor boat’ at his disposal .

On our last night, a beautiful warm evening, he got it started and cleaned it from cobwebs. Normally, I’m not particularly seaworthy but this I could do, I thought hopping into the vessel.

We went along the little canal that connected to the adjacent lake where we had done a lot of constitutional walks, passing all these cute little vacation or weekend houses;  datschas - I presume they were called in the ‘olden days’. Owners were out on their porches  barbecuing, having a beer or just sitting out enjoying the balmy evening. My friendly greetings and “Guten Appetit!” mostly went unanswered; instead we got stares.

My family had commented on the fact before that the locals seemed to be rather reserved, looking away or looking at us outright suspiciously. Hubby had his theories about them being former communists who had lived in a supervised state where neighbors spied on each other and were naturally suspicious. Could that be the case almost a generation after the fall of the Iron Curtain? I wonder. The difference in behavior to other parts of Germany that I am familiar with was striking, however.

So here we were put-putting along.  At a tight spot in the canal we had to slow down from our snail space to make rooms for 2 canoeists. The engine died.”Not to worry, there is a second battery. I just have to switch over to that one.” To be on the safe side we decided not to continue our journey to the lake with only one battery and turn around instead. But the second battery never started. The canoeists enquired if we had paddles. I hadn’t yet spotted them, but gracefully there was a pair on the floor of our boat.

                                                               
(View from our boathouse onto canal)

So paddling it was, back past the houses and people we had just passed. Their behavior and demeanor had miraculously changed. Some got up form their seats to throw a funny remark, “Machine kaputt?” or “Need a push?” Others interrupted their meal to get a good view of the spectacle.  All of a sudden we encountered a lot of smiles and laughter. We are not practiced paddlers…

One older guy, alone on his deck, pointed what looked like an antique pistol at us, “Money or your life”. He was probably just lonely or thought he was funny. I started to get peeved. Why had nobody bothered to engage with us before? There is something about Schadenfreude that we Germans are verifiably good at. The self-proclaimed pirate invited us to join him. “I’ll throw a couple of bratwurst on the Barbie for when you return” not realizing that we were on our way back already and wouldn’t paddle by again. Maybe he’s still standing there, waiting.

It was either that the batteries had not fully charged or the connections had come loose. We made it back through the sweat of our own hands. The behavior of our neighbors there remains a mystery, however. To do the people form Meck Pomm justice, our exchange partners, some of their friends and neighbor who we met were totally friendly; some even stepped out of their way to give us a helping hand. It remains a mystery until I get some enlightening comments from people in the know.

Fallen off the face of the Earth?

No- Just technical challenges in modern day Germany

In case you worried- thank you- I didn’t get lost in my own country or fall off the face of the earth. Blogging from the road can be quite a challenge. If you’re stationary and have a good broadband connection, not so much. I was experiencing the joys of  a data stick - and the technical problems that go with it. We never had that in the States. Maybe it was the mountains that surround us there that are responsible. A mobile data stick works on the principle of a cell phone where your reception depends on the signal and amount of bars that you get – or that you don’t get.

In the first week after my last report we traveled from eastern Germany via friends and family who didn’t have a viable connection either or where we just stayed for one night and I didn’t want to ask, ”Can I use your Internet?” instead of spending time with them.

Always planning ahead, we had ordered the first stick to the address where we stayed for 3 weeks. It arrived but we never got it to work. Like with the return of our damaged bags, there was an unbelievable song and dance to get it replaced. It duly arrived but this replacement didn’t work either. I think I still have a good command of my native tongue but these good customer people were as obtuse as if I spoke Chinese. Maybe they train them this way. We had to pay them for their good telephone support a mere 42 Cents/minute. Waiting in line for one to come on and listen to my grievances had to be paid for as well. So we heard the Euros clicking by.

Something that doesn’t often happen in the US. Ten Euros later, their data stick wasn’t compatible with Windows 7, according to their expert knowledge. Well, hello if that is the case and they know it, make it compatible, or please refund this customer.

Their position, however, was that once the data stick- −which is just a cell phone numbers − registered on your computer you have activated it and that’s it. They are not obliged to take it back and refund you. A fact we weren’t willing to swallow. 2 weeks and a stinker of a letter later, I got my money back yesterday.

We bought another one in a store where we coaxed a friendly employee into installing it for us by playing ignorant. Their policy also was once the stick is registered…Then you’re on your own. Good luck. We spent over an hour until the guy got it fixed. He had learned his superb English from the internet; not through an online course but by playing games online and interacting with English speakers.

Before I bore you too much with too many details let me finish off the first part of our trip to the former East on an episode in our eastern abode before we left. The data stick problems didn't allow me to upload photos or get on to FB to promote. The speed is just too slow to find FB or Twitter for that matter.

But I'm back in circulation now, thank goodness!

3 Day Blitz Summer

Germany's biggest tabloid, Bild (or Bildzeitung) declares the summer over almost before it got started on its front page today:"3 Day Blitz Summer".
In contrast to British minds, nobody here associates the word Blitz with the war anymore.It means lightning and appears in weather reports.Not even remotely, secretly in the back of their minds does it connote to WWII.
It appears in word combinations like blitzschnell (as fast as lightning), blitzartig (like a lightning) or blitzsauber (so clean it sparkles). War references, Blitzkrieg, mean The First Gulf War or Israel's 6 Days War.

Anyway, Bild, not exactly the paragon of journalism, knows our bliss with the sun is going to be short-lived.We shall see and I'll let you know. Today certainly is another day for the swimming pool.In Berlin that means that the lucky ones who needn't go to work hang out on the banks of the River Spree, Havel or at Wannsee.  
All of Meck Pomm with its hundreds of lakes and waterways imbedded in a gorgeous landscape of unspoilt forests is basking in the sun. Really worth a vacation for nature lovers.

Next Stop: Berlin

(Brandenburg Gate with its Quadriga on top)

Eventually, it also feels like summer. Now we can leave the old brollie and coat at home. We didn’t come here for the weather; on the contrary, we needed to escape the Floridian heat. Locals said that at least they don’t have brush fires here. Southern Europe, Mallorca & Greece in particular, are literally being scorched.

  

The weekend was spent at my daughter’s in Berlin. I’ve been to Berlin several times, yet like in any other capital, there is so much to see! Berlin became the capital of reunified Germany in 1990 and the seat of the German government since 1999 – much to the dismay of some countries who feared that Germany’s position in Europe was becoming too big again and felt reminded of a certain time in our history. Its dominant position within the European Union and especially during the recent fiscal crisis have renewed and aggravated these sentiments.

During previous visits, Berlin was one big construction site but this has come to an end over 20 years after reunification. A lot of hip young people are drawn to the capital and there is a lot of entertainment. We primarily explored the neighborhood (“Kietz”) where my daughter just moved to. Berlin is like a conglomerate of many little villages with their distinct features, many pubs, restaurants of almost every nation under the sun, and flea markets at the weekend. Even after 2 days of walking around and eating out, some faces seemed familiar already.

.(Picture of Berliner Dom / Cathedral in the city center).The best way to get a first impression of the city (3.5 million inhabitants) is a guided bus tour

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.

First road trip "Rostock"

My ever energetic daughter came to visit for the weekend and we went on our first road trip, first to a seaside resort called Warnemuende and then into the "Hansestadt of Rostock". In medieval times northern German cities created a federation of trading cities around the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The Hanseatic League.Since the war, the Northern towns were pretty much on their own, but have been rejoined now by the East which have been rejuvenated by big money from the West. I just learned that every working person must contribute a solidarity fee to rebuild the eastern part. In contrast to tithing the church (Church Tax) you cannot opt out of this one.

It was only a 50km drive. Again new roads and motorways.Especially in the inner harbor, the rejuvenated brick buildings that were used during Hanse times for storage of grains, cloths etc. look very impressive with their pulleys on top. A style you don't see much anymore.The city center, historic market place, and around the university (founded in 1419) everything was restored lovingly. If you leave the main drag, however, you will find buildings totally unchanged from since before the war. The GDR had no building materials to speak of. My relatives got their last wallpaper before the war.

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!"