Let it all Go – the German Way

After a few busy weeks at work my wife and I wanted a short break and went to the German coast for a weekend. We just wanted to relax a bit and not worry about anything. It worked out - but in a quintessentially German manner.

It started when we checked in and got a thorough tourist introduction with a level of detail I did not expect. The hotel manager asked us at what time we wanted breakfast and wrote it down on his list. He then asked how we wanted our eggs (soft, medium, hard) and also noted our answer. Also the obligatory question ‘tea or coffee’ was asked and the answer recorded. We were informed that the next day we would sit at table number seven. It’s not that I have had restless nights wondering where to sit the next morning but I guess it doesn’t hurt to know this in advance.

It took me a full day to understand the exercise. The following morning table number seven awaited us with a kettle of tea on it and two medium eggs (as medium as it can get). We also had an info sheet regarding the day’s weather. Again the level of detail struck me. Divided into three hour slots it showed: temperature, humidity, chance of rain (and expected amount), chance of thunder storms, wind speeds and air pressure. A final info told us dusk and dawn.

In fact I got a glimpse of all that accuracy when booking the place. They had prices for single and double rooms and for dogs. However, small dogs will cost 1.50 € and big ones 2.50 € (excuse my bad research but I cannot explain when a dog is regarded as big by hotel standards).

We got all the ‘essential’ tourist information which included: a tourist card and a tides calendar that told us the tidal movement with high and low water for the whole year by the minute. This made sense to me. The Wattenmeer is famous for its extreme tidal movements and you don’t want to be ‘surprised’ by high tide when wading in the mud some 2 km off the shore.

The “Büsum at a grasp” guide informed about everybody who might help you in whatever could possibly happen to you. The usual suspects were: police, fire brigade, coast guard and local hospitals. I could make sense of having the local dentist, pharmacies and possibly the ‘poisoning emergency number’ (the institution was located some 300 km away). Why it also provided the numbers of the local town hall as an emergency number I could not get. Further, a heating emergency unit and hotlines for issues with electricity, gas, sanitary instalations, water and electric equipment were listed. There must be a firm belief that this list would be at hand in the moment of mischief and that the listed party would always be available.

I also was surprised when we went to the town’s beach. Note that the community owns this patch on the dyke and charge tourists a small contribution unless you stay in a local hotel (that issues tourist cards for their guests). There was a parking space for bikes because apparently no bikes were allowed on the beach. Dogs on the other hand are fine and there was a part reserved for people with dogs (size not specified). 

- Büsum Norddeich Beach -

The beach area was well designed and a feast for the eye for any organised person. The area served a building offering toilets, changing rooms and a baby change. Exactly every 200 m you had a staircase going into the water. Every 50 m was a dust bin and every 100 m a shower. Every 500 m you could rest on a bench. On the entrance a board with rules explained you what to do in order to fully relax.

This all may be written tongue in cheek. But I really have to say that I felt very comfortable and enjoyed the weekend very much. The place was totally quiet, everybody respected the other’s place and in two days one single plastic cup on the sea bed was the only visible contamination. There seem to be two ways to relax. You can just go with the flow and live for the moment or do it the Büsum way and have everything organised and settled in advance.