Spiekeroog part I

After a week on the island, without internet or proper phone connection, we are back in the fast-moving world. It is true – on Spiekeroog, you immediately slow down, take life easy and relax. Or maybe it was just the exhaustion of the 12 hour journey? 😉

We started at Zurich airport, took a flight to Hamburg, a train from there to Bremen, a bus from there to Neuharlingersiel and finally the ferry to Spiekeroog. It would have been faster to fly to the US or even South America, but then we would have missed a wonderful wedding and our first holiday at the North Sea.

Spiekeroog is such a beautiful island. It is one of the East Frisian Islands and part of the Wadden Sea which was recently listed as World Heritage. As soon as we arrived I noticed how much I missed the sea – the sky is just incredibly wide, the air smells salty and a bit like seaweed and you hear the seagulls (and, quite often, the pheasants which are everywhere on the island). There are no cars on Spiekeroog, just a few electric vehicles to transport luggage (or old tourists). It does not only mean that you walk everywhere (or cycle), but also that you can hear the rushing sea and the birds…something many people might forget about when living in a city.

The wedding weekend was very windy and rainy. But after we managed the 2o minute walk to church in high heels and skirts with gusts of wind and rain, we didn’t mind the weather anymore. With the celebration taking place at the country hostel where we also slept during the weekend, we were in the great situation that we could just put the little one to bed at 8pm and then switch on the babyphone and enjoy the wedding. For the first time in a long while we danced again! We drank wine and whisky, laughed, enjoyed the buffet and the good company. It was great. 🙂

As soon as most of the guests had left on the monday morning ferry, the weather changed from rainy to less rainy (and after another 2 days from less rainy to sunny) and Karsten and I enjoyed some more beautiful days on the island. The little one loved eating sand (and many other things) and destroying sand castles. She also loved the indoor playhouse which was an awesome place to wait until the occasional rain showers were gone again. We loved eating matjes (salted herring) and shrimps. We loved going for walks in the dunes. I loved the trip to the seals (during which Karsten took care of the little one). We loved drinking coffee in the sunshine. And again the good company of our friends.

And since there is so much to tell and so many pictures to share, I will just post some general pictures of the island now and write one our two more entries during the next week.