I’ll admit it! I like lighthouses. There’s something to these structures that (used) to serve hundreds of seafarers as navigating guidelines. Today, we decided to visit that lighthouse, which is closest to where we’re staying. We didn’t even have to go very far. In fact, the lighthouse Dahmeshöved is so close to our whereabouts that we decided to take our bikes and ride along the coast.
Fehmarn is just a small island off the Baltic coast. It’s not even very special except for the fact that the majority of the traffic going to Denmark, Sweden, and beyond has to cross Fehmarn to get to the ferry (and in the past, I’ve done that quite a few times). Today, however, we decided to make Fehmarn our destination, thinking there must be more to this place than just that famous major transit route. And right we were! After visiting a large underwater world, we ended up in this tiny town, which is nothing more, really, than a pit stop for sailors on their way to some place else. We’d just stumbled upon that place, after we’d taken a wrong turn, turned around, and then reconsidered, turning yet again, curious where that wrong turn would take us. And it took us to the quiet little harbor of Orth, where we spent a perfectly tranquil afternoon. Finally, we moved on, and on our way back decided we’d like to make a detour to a tiny little …
A long time ago, during a class trip, a friend took me on a short visit to Neustadt. I still remember the little town with its harbor and the pretty houses, and having landed ourselves in the direct vicinity of Neustadt and today being a pretty rainy day (not much fun for the beach), we decided to pay Neustadt another visit. It was quite different from what I remembered, and so it was quite worth our little trip.
Life’s getting exciting once more. Today, life’s journey swept us to the shores of the Baltic Sea once more. For a whole week, we’ll be privileged to enjoy the sand, the ocean, and whatever else we may decide to lay eyes upon. Our first stop brought us to the lovely town of Grömitz, where we’ll be spending most of our time this coming week. Here’s a quick glance at what’s happening:
I learned a new dance today. A so-called table dance. No, not the kind of table dance you might think of. A table dance of the kind where instead of getting up and moving around, you get to stay seated at the table (thus table dance; comprendo?). It’s the sort of dance old people would do. And that’s why we “danced” it, because it was all about the old folks. What got me into spending an afternoon with people well beyond my age? Well, it was because it gave me the chance to meet an “old” friend (though, technically speaking, she’s actually quite young). But we hadn’t seen each other in years, we live in different parts of the world, and we ended up getting a chance to meet up when those old folks got together, and so you’ll gladly learn the moves to the table dance, if that gives you a chance of an afternoon spent with a friend!
So far, this summer has been incredible (and you can’t say that of every summer in central/northern Europe). We’ve been having week after week of glorious sunshine, of heat, blue skies, and all the joys that summer brings. And I’m someone who still knows how to enjoy the simple beauties of a fine summer day!
It’s sad, but it’s true: it’s time to move on. That means, it’s time to say bye bye, Switzerland! After a week full of adventure, of hiking, celebrating, of resting, eating chocolate fondue (yes, with 4 kinds of Swiss chocolate, what greater indulgence could there be?), for one last time we went to see the mountains (which we ended up not seeing from the little hill we drove to, because they’d decided to hide behind the clouds), and then the call was back to the road. Bye bye Switzerland! I’m going to miss your beauty and your charms!
They call it the “murder(0us) wall” – the Eiger north face, one of the six great north faces of the Alps. When we made the Eiger our hiking destination for today, we had no clue yet, how close we’d come to experience this mountain’s treacherous reputation for ourselves. You see, everything started out just lovely. All we’d wanted was a fun day in the mountains, with a bit of hiking, and a lot of grand views of the mountains and the scenery around. And with dear cousin living so close to the famed mountains of Eiger, Monk, and Virgin (Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau), our day’s destination was pretty clear to start out with: the Lauterbrunnen valley, from where we would decide what and where we would hike. (Last year, I’d hiked the mountain ranges across from Eiger and its two companions.) So, we parked the car in Lauterbrunnen, and decided to hike up to Wengen (more like walk, because there’s no trails; just follow the road). The weather was glorious (warm, the sun shining happily all …
Look where dear cousin took me just after sunset the other day … A little mountain right near his home, and this is the view we had of a soft purple evening in the Alps … beautiful! Perfect view of Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau (Eiger, Monk, Virgin)
August 1 is the Swiss national holiday – cause for much celebration in Switzerland. I was lucky to get to spend this special day with the Swiss together. We ended up going to a little mountain (Selibüel) near the larger mountains of the Gurnigel (perfect view of Thun, the lake of Thun, and the Alps of the Berner Oberland), where we stayed until the sun had set, and from which we had the grand view to watch all the bonfires and fireworks that were fired up all over the country Gurnigel Lake Thun with the peaks of Jungfrau and Eiger (if I’m not mistaken) in the background …
