Ostseebad Binz

I just returned yesterday from a weekend getaway to a small town on Germany's northern coast. We visited a tourist town known as Binz. Binz is a coastal town on the Baltic Sea in an area of Germany known as Rügen. Since it was the off season, there weren't very many tourists. 14 of us went. We took the regional trains up and back, so it took about 4 hours each way. The ride was comfortable and we all either talked, did work, or napped. We left Saturday morning and arrived later that afternoon. The youth hostel we stayed in was top notch and was only about a 10 minute walk from the train station. It was located right on the beach and was beautiful. The rooms were nice, they served us breakfast, and they had ping pong and pool tables to keep us occupied.

When we first arrived, we unloaded our stuff into our rooms then headed for the beach. We had great weather. It wasn't really hot, but the sun was out and it was warm enough to play outside. Once on the beach we pretty much took over a huge section haha. We ended up splitting up into 3 groups. One group played frisbee, the other wiffleball, and the other soccer. I played some wiffleball and then jumped into the soccer game. We had some intense games for both. We pretty much stuck out like a soar thumb on the beach. All the Germans were just walking the beach with their winter coats on and children dragging behind. We were running around in our shorts or bathing suits and having a good ole time. After the sports matches, some went off to walk and take pictures, and just sat in the sand. Me and a couple other guys decided to build a sand castle. Then the sand castle idea turned into deciding to build a sand snake. Then that idea turned into building a sand crocodile. The crocodile idea stuck and looked pretty good for what we had to work with (which was nothing but a frisbee as a shovel).

After that most everyone headed back to the hostel to clean up and find something to eat. A group of us wandered around the town looking for a pizza place we heard about. It took us about 45 minutes to find, and we discovered that it was pretty much right across from the hostel. The pizza was delicious. After that we headed back to the hostel and people just chilled, talked, or played ping pong for the rest of the evening.

The next day, I got up early to shower and take a walk on the beach. I regretted not bringing my running shoes or clothes, because it would of been perfect conditions to run on the beach. But I wandered up and down for about 45 minutes taking pictures and admiring the scenery. It remined a lot of back home in Scarborough and in Rhode Island. I definatley love being on the water. After my stroll, I headed back to the hostel for some breakfast. We hung around on the beach for a little while longer after that, then we caught a bus to a nearby island town for an afternoon hike. We walked through the town, to a small forest located on the edge of the sea. The hike was beautiful and was located on the cliffs. The sea looked amazing on this day, because parts of the cliff had actually slide off into the ocean just a few days before. The ocean looked much like the carribean, because the soil in these cliffs had a lot of chalk and limestone in them, thus turning the dark blue and much lighter color. We hiked for a good long time, then headed down to the rocky beaches. We sat on the beach (i layed down the rocks which were actually quite comfortable and almost fell asleep) for almost an hour. It was sunny and warm and absolutely beautiful. We then headed back into town for the bus back to our hostel. When we arrived back into Binz, we went to the local grocery store to pick up some things for the train ride back, got our things from the hostel, then caught the train back to Berlin.

The vacation was short, but a much needed time of relaxation. The weather was perfect for us, and I was feeling much better after being sick. The area reminded me a lot of home and made me realize how much I really like the scenery of Maine and Rhode Island. I probably will never really be able to live in a city setting much longer than I have now. I like the ocean and the mountains to much and the activities that go along with them. I was a very nice getaway. I also am aware that I haven't told you anything about Hungary and Romania yet, but I've been wicked busy and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I'm going to have the time to post anything about the trip. The excursion was very long and there is a lot to tell, but if I have time I promise I'll make a post. If not, then just remind me to let y'all know when I return.

Bis Dann