Sierksdorf

Idyllic. From a Hamburg hostel with 3 lanes of traffic outside to a bungalow by the sea with rabbits hopping around by the door. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we managed a couple of sunny half-days to bookend our time here and quite a lot of rain in between.

We arrived on Friday and spent a very lovely sunny afternoon at the beach which is a 3 minute walk from the bungalow.





The boys went in the sea - Reuben for the first time ever which needless to say he loved and would have gone in up to his neck like the daredevil that he is if we would have let him!

The weather forecast had predicted a showery Saturday so we decided to visit Lübeck which was about a 30 minute drive away. The old town is UNESCO protected and so we had a wander around, saw the Holstentor and the old Rathaus.

There was a handball championship on in the main square so it probably wasn't totally authentic! There also seemed to be a marching band spectacle going on with 5 or 6 different bands which both boys really liked. We decided to look in one of the churches (Jakobikirche) and Reuben discovered that the acoustics make for a great sound when you screech really loudly so we left fairly quickly. Our bellies said it was lunchtime and we found a great little burger restaurant with trees inside.

Fun in the park

The weather had been kind so far so we headed back and planned to go to the beach just in time for the heavens to open. So a movie afternoon it was. Nick and Zach headed to the soccer field in between the showers and we hoped for some better weather on Sunday but the forecast hadn't been great.

We decided to drive down the coast a little on Sunday to Timmendorfer strand. If the weather was good we could head to the beach but otherwise there was a Sea Life Centre we could visit. It didn't start well when we finally found a car park and saw that we still had to pay on Sundays. At that moment there was a huge rainstorm while I was trying to find change for the parking meter. Finally found some but then the meter took my money but refused to give me a ticket. Not impressed. At that point, we had no more change so had to find somewhere else to park. We tried an indoor car park with no success and then found a huge free car park less than 100m from where we first tried. Ah well, at least the rain had stopped. In fact, we managed to eat our picnic overlooking the sea before going to the Sea Life Centre.

Both boys really enjoyed it - Reuben especially was mesmerised by the fish and Zach enjoyed collecting stamps in his little dive book. After an icecream (we are on holiday, so we'll have one even if it's not warm) we headed back hopeful of a quick trip to the beach but again the weather conspired against us. The boys all managed a little football at the field though. 

Monday was unfortunately another rainy day so movies and playing inside were the order of the day. Lots of Heads Up on the iPhone and cartoons in German on the tv. We managed to go down to the deserted beach in the afternoon - no surprise really as it was around 15 degrees. Zach and Nick played an epic game of football while Reuben poured sand from buckets. Zach declared it to be 'just like being in Brazil'. Hmmm maybe not.

Tuesday was our last day and best chance for some fun at the beach. Although not warm still, it was at last not raining. Zach and I built a big sandcastle and then Nick and Zach played football using Strandkorbe as goalposts while Reuben destroyed the castle. Back to the house for lunch, dodging a rain shower and then back in the afternoon where a few other families who were also obviously fed up of staying in had joined us. Zach and I built a sand race car track and then Nick and I enjoyed a beer while Zach held the beach Grand Prix. Another final game of beach football before we ran back to miss the rain.

At least the weather forecast is better for our next stop - Stralsund - so hopefully we'll actually get to enjoy the beach while we're in Germany.