American in Berlin

Tegelsee

With the mercury predicted to rise into the 90's yesterday, Lexy and Email and I decided to check out one of Berlin many lakes. We took a subway and bus and then walked to Tegelsee, about 45 minutes north of the downtown area. Unlike my previous German beach and sauna experiences, I was not caught off guard by the topless women, speedo-sporting men or the Freie Koeper Kultur ("free body culture") area of the beach.

Yesterday's new experience was that we rented a "strand korb"-- a twin beach chair with a wicker canopy. I know I've seen pictures of them in the States, but I can't think of the English name, nor had I ever seen one in person. It was quite nice! I would enjoy one at Lake Michigan! The water was very warm and pleasantly clear. There were minnows swimming near the shore, but no big fish or yucky stuff floating around.

The only real surprise of the day was when we sat down at the restaurant near the beach for some lunch. There were big signs saying you needed to be dressed in something other than a swimsuit to eat there. It appeared that everyone was following the rule and I was even intrigued that one guy was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jersey. The surprise though was that when he stood up, he was not wearing pants! Of all the way Eagles jerseys are worn in Philadephia, sans pants is not one of them. Lexy said he was wearing a euro-man swimsuit, but all I saw was no pants!

I am sure there will be other beach days before I leave. Maybe next time we will try another lake, just to see something new.

Today was quite. I got some much needed work done on my resume and applied for a job. My sister and I discussed whether I should list "gumshoe" (from my Where in the World in Carmen SanDiego days) as a job skill at FEMA. We decided that would be "cute but not appropriate":-)

posted by Erin @ 3:11 PM