"Please dont put this in your blog"

Yup, Germany definitely won!! Yesterday we got up bright and early to take a three hour train up to Warnemunde, Germany located on the beautiful Baltic Sea. The weather called for an extremely hot 95 or above so being out of the city was a definite must. It was also a Saturday so the train was packed, thankfully we were able to find 3 seats to avoid joining the people who had to stand the entire way. Once we arrived we began heading over to the beach and ran into a man who ever so nicely told us we were walking in the wrong direction...not sure how we pulled that off. As he brought us to the area we wanted to go we got talking to him and he was able to give us a bunch of good tips on the area. He was from South Africa, visiting Germany to see his brother for only 3 months but had information for days. We passed a busy area of town on our way to the less busy, and apparently less clothed, area of the beach. There was a lighthouse right in the center which, according to this guy, is the same lighthouse they used on the dvd cover of Shutter Island..check it out!! After parting with our new friend we found a sweet area on the beach where Kim and Staci decided to rent a "basket". As we toured the area on foot and traveled down part of the beach we realized what kind of beach this reaaaallly was! Needless to say I was a little shocked, lost for words and honestly a little terrified. I mean lets be serious, we've all seen naked people but holy moly this was like a 'half-way beach' for women who didnt mind having those things flappin' all over the place but not yet ready to let it allll hang out. We're talkin big small, old young, this was not a place to watch out for bikers but more of a caution for getting eyes poked out. The nakedness was a little overwhelming but once I got over that we enjoyed many hours laying (amongst our basket) catching the amazing sun rays and relaxing. At around 4p.m. the "football" game started and even if you didnt know about it, you knew then or at least after the first goal was scored! It was amazing to see the people go crazy over this game and while walking back towards the train all you saw were tvs lining the street sides and people crowded around. The train ride was definitely interesting, this was a day for many cultural experiences--naked and not so naked. Apparently, while riding the train if there happens to be a seat open across from you its EXTREMELY rude to put your feet on it with shoes, okay without, but with them its a huge no no. Well, lets take a guess at who had their feet on the seat and just so happened to be in the eye shot of a older man walking past. This 100% German man, understanding only German, was not happy at Kim and all she could do was take it. There was no backfiring a German man who couldnt understand anything you had to say nor did he even take the time to stop having a fit to see if she was even speaking German ...entertaining for sure!! After that lovely experience we were greeted by about 10 men probably in their 30's on their version on a 'bachelor party'. In Germany when a guy is getting married, and I guess a girl too, he must sell a basket of various items costing under 2 euro. Lets remember that this was post football game after a long hot day of drinking and celebrating the end of this guys life, supposedly. These guys were hilarious and loved the fact that Kim and I were "aaaaamerriiicaa", they tried to get us to buy anything from this soon to be married man but if that didnt work out, we could purchase them too...oooh the cultural experiences. After freshening up at home we left to go out for some drinks and saw a few more bachelor/bachelorette groups selling things from bar to bar, must have been the time to get married.
Today was our last day in Germany with Staci, we head off to Prague too early in the morning for two nights. We didnt do much today cause Staci had to work and we still had some planning to do for the next couple days but we made up for hours of planning and laundry by having a few drinks out by the canal. You see in Europe it is actually legal to have open containers, such as a beer, in public so the atmosphere is a little more laid back and it is a lot of fun to grab a 6 pack and hang out by the water. The area we went to was on a bridge just over the canal where many people sat and hung out and a few people played guitars. Because this is a popular place to hang out at night the area between the cobblestones is wedged with bottle caps as if it was supposed to be there all along and ones that have probably been there for years. Berlin was amazing and Staci was the perfect host, we're off in the morning to Prague and only a few short days until I see my Agnese :-) Happy 4th of July America!!!