Weekend #2 in Berlin. 92 degrees F and the only thing to do is flee the city to one of the many lakes nearby to cool off. So we sunscreened-up, packed a lunch, identified our lake "The Schlactensee" and hit the trains to get out there.
The train stop dumps you within about 100 yards of the See. We unloaded with about 200 other people and paraded in packed procession down from the platform to a couple large, open grassy areas already packed with bodies. Lots of trash in overflowing containers, rare for Germans. A screen of trees separates you from the water. No beach in evidence yet, so we find a wide trail through the forest (that everyone else is funneling towards) and join the tide of humanity.
In the forest people lay out their towels and blankets and braziers, skipping across the trail to climb down through tree roots to the water. In some places you have wide dirt openings to the water, but the trees go right up to the shoreline so there's not really any large designated area to lay your stuff down. This works fine for me, since it means you can be near the water without sitting out getting fried in the sun. But it also means you're sharing space with many many other people. We keep walking, expecting to find something bigger. People on bikes weave in and out of the line of beach-goers.
We walk until finally deciding that it is better to grab some dirt and jump in, since it is way too hot to continue exploring. The constant stream of people walking up the path makes for incredible people watching. Nearby, PDA rules the day as couples all but copulate in the shade next to us. In our little "section" we spy a couple hookahs (hookahs! Apparently worth the effort!) and weed smell wafts around fairly consistently. Kind of like Seattle.
One thing we don't see is nekkid people, which completely blew our expectation of what happens in Europe in the summertimes. In fact, we've been here almost two weeks and neither one of us has yet to see a furry calf on a woman. Either Berlin got the memo or our world is really much more homogeneous than we'd like to admit. We told the kids to be prepared for naked people and then there's no naked people. One guy was wearing a speedo and Cody pointed at him and asked aloud why he was wearing his underpants. But beyond that, no visual shockers for anyone.
After about 3 hours of frolicking (the water felt amazing good) we made our way back down the trail and had smoothies at a cafe. Again, another moment of "homogeniety": menu in English, frappuccinos on offer, all coffee products are "Fair Trade" certified, baristas speak English, etc.
And then, after finishing our highly-exotic peanut butter smothies, its back over to the S-Bahn for the long ride back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment