Traveling in north Germany Kiel and Amrum

Clearly I'm not ready to start work yet! I took advantage of my ongoing time off, and traveled to northern Germany to visit Lex and Elmar. They were the best of hosts, had a room for me to stay in, took time out of their scheduled lives and we did local and overnight adventures, in addition to plenty of exercising and good eating. 

There is a local farmer's market just a few minutes walk from their apartment 2xs a week. We picked up fresh fruit, and bread and enjoyed your typical German breakfast spread! Of note: cheese, Nutella, and coffee- of course!

Having started training with Crossfit in Tokyo, I went ahead a found a box in Kiel too! I joined them for a work out on day 2 (after I arrived). As a box, they have only just begun...but the workout was intense none-the-less! After a quick warm-up... 60 jumping jacks, 50 lunges, 40  overhead presses, 30 sit-ups, 20 box jumps and 10 burpees, and a short weight lifting practice, we got to the main workout. 

For time: 90 wall-balls, 70 kettlebell snatches, 50 box-jumps, 30 toes-to-bar, 10 hand stand push-ups. I think my red face (in the photo) can attest to the difficulty of this workout! 

The following day, all three of us took bikes and rode right out the front door! Primarily on bike paths of different material- paved, cobblestone, wooded, sandy... we circumnavigated one of the large lakes just outside of Kiel. A good 50km through forests, small villages, along the lake-side and near some canals too. Whenever there was water opportunities- Lex and Elmar donned swimwear, and jumped in! I cautiously changed behind a tree, and tip-toed into the icy cold lake water. (So NOT the German style!)

The following day, we headed out to the beach along the North Sea, about 30 minutes from Kiel City-Center. The sand bar stretches out for a long ways, so the water here was very shallow. We enjoyed the long stretch of beach, lunch on an outdoor veranda overlooking the sea, and a few dips in the water. 

We did a camping overnight on the island of Amrum. Traveling by ferry, we arrived around 10:30 am, I rented a bicycle and we rode over to the camping platz. It was quite the crowded village of tents and campers. We found ourselves a small area of sand to set up the "it just barely fits" 3-person tent. 

 We enjoyed the beach atmosphere of this island too. Long stretches of desert-like sand, dunes and gentle waves (once we reached the water! About 1 km across the sand from where I'm standing)
We rode our bikes around the island, and with the sun staying up until after 9pm, it really doesn't get dark until well after 10pm.

Another natural treat was this Watt- an excursion during low tide across the mud flats. The most awesome sensation of squelching and squishing through the toes and well up to the mid-calf. The trek was tough-Lex and I were constantly worried about slipping, and each step required careful placement.

 Next post...off to Berlin