When I got up this morning, I didn’t know that only a few hours later my journey would take me to the end of the world. Or at least to the end of the Schlei fjord, which is pretty much the end of the world as far as I see it. But sometimes the places where you least expect it, turn out to be the prettiest places. And so today – I must add – turned out to be the unexpected highlight of our family vacation at the Baltic Sea. The plan had been to get dad to the historic train station, where he and my sister wanted to embark on a special train ride, while mom and I wanted to go to town with them, sit in a cafe, read a book, and wait for them to return. But plans don’t always work the way we anticipate them. Sometimes they change. For the better, that is! Things changed for me, when I realized – as soon as I got out of the car – that …

What’s a beach holiday without a real sand castle? Nothing, really – you’re right! We’re thinking the same. And so today, we set out to turn this vacation into the real deal, full-blown, sand-castle-building beach holiday! After lunch, we armed ourselves with a little shovel, some plastic cups, and a good deal of excitement, and thus, we began to build ourselves a castle. It turned out not quite the prettiest of all sand castles which have ever been built, but on our little strip of sand it certainly was one of the largest around.

Do the photos look like the weather’s been a blast the last couple of days? Well, truth be told, weather conditions have been rather unsettled these days. Lots of sunshine, but lots of rain, too. Fortunately, I’m working on assignments most of the time, and when I finally get to leave books, notes, and the internet behind, the sun is out again, and I can venture to the beach without worrying about how to escape the water that comes from above. Here’s the discoveries I made today …

I’ve been working hard these days. Because assignments never ask whether you’re on vacation when their due date is calling. But the good news is: as soon as I close my “books” (that is my (computer) “notebook,”) I find myself surrounded by beach, sand, ocean, and wind, and that means, I’m ready to take off on a new tour of discoveries. Today, this is what I got to study out of doors …  

I got to collect treasures today. Treasured memories that is. Memories from playing at the beach, from walking the nature trail, from exploring the cliffs, and from checking out the other pretty beaches which are within bike riding distance from our location. There’s no better place for a retreat than a stretch of sand right by the seaside.