Hanging out in the sun

From the coast we drive south inland. I was reading about it being an area for naturists. No industry or cities close by. Hardly any farming because the landscape is dominated by forests, lakes and swamps. In Malay the term ‘ulu’ would describe our destination the best, meaning ‘coming from the backwaters’.

In the tree tunnel.

I am bit worried that the infrastructure is not up to date: roads might be small or in bad condition, sign boards saying ‘you have reached the end of the internet’ might appear, or hill-billies brandishing pitch-forks or rifles against foreigners. But we are daring and want to explore Germany’s unknown regions.

My heart starts beating faster when we leave the autobahn that was recently built with money from the European Union. Surprisingly the road gets narrower and has only two instead of 4 lanes, but it is smooth and we can ride at full speed at 80kph. Left and right of the road, old trees with massive trunks line up as road markers. Sometimes a tree every 50-100m. Sometimes as close as every 20m. Tolkien comes to my mind when Treebeard and his fellow trees join the fight. The road gets so narrow that the branches of the trees touch each other and we are driving through a tunnel of trees. After each curve I am expecting a huge tree standing in the middle of the road blocking our way.

I get alarmed when traffic signs appear warning truck drivers that low-hanging branches could crush into their truck. It is late in the afternoon, the sky is grey and we have not many options to find other camp sites. So we continue carefully, hoping there are no oncoming trucks or buses. A sign post for a nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site for Old Trees tries to lure us into a narrow side road but we have hardly any longing for more forests and trees.

Usually we try to arrive at the camp of the night no later than 3pm. It is 6pm when a sign post to the destination village directs us off the main road onto a local road. Only 10km more to go. We are relieved to arrive soon when the RV starts shaking and vibrating. Obviously the local road was not part of the European renovation project and its surface made of cobble stones was already used by Napoleon´s soldiers. It will take us more than half an hour for the 10km unless we want to wreck our plates and cups, and Ronda’s hip joints.

Long-term campers and their homes.

By the time we arrive we are thoroughly shakened. The camp site at a beautiful lake rewards us for the tough ride. We can park close to a forest and have a relaxed dinner in the cold evening air.

Singing birds and warm sun rays wake me up. Umbria and I have our early morning walk and explore the camp site. A huge area with caravans and tents. Some of them look like they haven´t been moved for ages. Nicely maintained garden areas around the caravans indicate that people live here for many summers. We walk home with our freshly baked buns when a family bicycles pass us riding towards the lake. Surprisingly all of them seem to be nude.

Cleaning windows for a better view.

The sun is getting warmer when we have coffee outside. The neighbour starts cutting his hedge. After a while we realize that he is only wearing a t-shirt and slippers. We start to investigate this topic further and have a close look at other campers. Indeed many of them lie in the nude on their deck chairs or have a chit-chat in slippers only. Another fashion is to wear a neck scarf only to protect you from cross-winds.

We look at each other and wonder what to do.  I decide to follow the old advice: when in Rome do like the Romans do.

Evening at Lake Rätz

The longest ruins in Germany

The white cliffs of Rügen are a spectacular motif.

The weather in Southern Sweden got stormy and cold. So, we decided to take the ferry to the Baltic Sea coast in the former communist part of German. We left the ferry on the island of Rügen which is famous for its white cliffs. We could see them from the ferry when we approached the island. Immediately I was reminded of my art teacher who showed us a painting of the cliffs during a lesson. But the pollution during the last 200 years has done a thorough job: the white cliffs in the painting have turned grey. The joyous impression in the painting has faded and it feels like a grey and rainy afternoon. 

Art Deco building in Binz.

Besides the cliffs, the coast is well-known for its Art Deco sea resorts founded end of the 19th century when Germany still was a monarchy. We visited only one village and got an impression how it could have been a century ago, and what commercialization has done to it in the 20 years after the communist period.

Prora building up close

Far more interesting than the resort villages is a beach location called Prora. We walk on a white sand beach about 50m wide. The clear sea without kelp or algae on the left, sand dunes on the right and the horizon to the front frame the sandy stretch. We follow a path that cuts the dunes and lead to a narrow strip of pine trees behind the sand hills. After a few steps we leave the forest and face a 5-storey building that is hidden by the thick pine trees.

We look closer and see that most windows have no glass. The outside walls look greenish grey like they have suffered from much rain and wind. We look left. We look right. We cannot see the end of the building. Later on I will find out that the length of the building is nearly 4km, and was originally intended to be 4.5km! Nobody is around and suddenly we feel awkward.

How many flats are needed in the nowhere?

Memories of our trips to Johor state in Malaysia flash into my brain. We once drove along the Johor east coast during the monsoon season when a 20-storey apartment house appeared out of nowhere. A fence was still around it with a lonesome man sitting in a guardhouse. Though the windows had glass it looked very similar to the ruins in front of us. In Malaysia often construction projects run out of money when someone absconds or not enough apartments can be sold. When the cash flow ends, workers leave the site and leave behind an abandoned building site. In Germany this is very unusual because no one will start working until all the money is secured.

Indeed Prora is different. The project was started in 1934. The German Führer wanted to offer a perfect holiday place for his followers. As the Führer always planned in superlatives Prora was meant to host over 10,000 persons not far away from the villas of the rich aristocrats. The building actually won an architectural award during a World Exhibition in the 1930s, but it was never completed because another one of The Führer´s projects (World War 2) got more resources and put an end to this project.

After the war communist Germany inherited the nearly 4km long ruin. As the location was close to the border to Western Germany it was only used for military purposes. After the reunification the building was left in a bad state and nobody could live in it. It was again abandoned, because there was no business model to amortise the investments for upgrading the ruin to modern standards.

If you have any idea how to make money with 5,000 apartments in an area with one of the highest unemployment rates and a climate that allows sun-bathing for less than 3 months per year, please feel free to apply. You might not be the first because on billboard ads remodelled flats are priced at 600,000 € each, which is the price of a similar flat in Berlin, Munich or Hamburg.

I wonder how many people are willing and able to put this amount of money on the table.

Jagorstrand´s enchanted garden

JY´s terrace design above the roofs of Cham

My wife and I are enthusiastic gardeners. As we lived in an apartment our own gardening was limited to our balcony that was filled up with plants of all kinds. There was hardly any place for chairs and a table, but we enjoyed being surrounded by nature. Our dream for the future is our own garden divided in three parts: one part for JY, one for me and a blended part. You wonder why there is no dog section? We decided that each of the sections has to be dog friendly and gives space for rolling around.

Enchanted forest gnome.

JY follows the weekly episodes of the BBC “Gardeners’ World” whenever possible. They often show small backyards that have been transformed into hidden gems with limited resources and abundant fantasy. Unfortunately, BBC has stopped broadcasting via satellite so we are cut off during our trip. Therefore, we focus on the real gardening world during our trips, enjoying public parks or botanical gardens whenever we find one.

Standard camp site garden arrangement,

On campsites gardening is typically not a big topic. However, some of the permanent guests are gardening on their little property. Potted plants or bushes with colourful flowers are not unusual. One of the campsites with special focus for families with children had set up an ‘enchanted forest’ adjacent to the tent and motorhome pits. Paths lead into dark and hidden areas where gnomes and trolls are waiting to be discovered or to scare small kids.

Minimalistic approach with zen elements.

A real artwork came to our attention when we visited our Swedish neighbours from Cham and spent a lovely evening on the terrace of their summer house on the coast. As Jagorstrands know our passion for gardening Joakim suggested visiting his father´s garden which has developed into an exhibition for garden furniture and decor items.

Entrance to Jagorstrand's garden world

The next day we arrive at the end of a residential road like you know it from everywhere. One-family houses left and right with front lawns and hedges. Our destiny is the last property on the right with two buildings hidden behind a hedge. An open entrance area connects a residential building on one side and a shop on the other. Both buildings look different from the other houses in the street. It is obvious that the owners love art and design.

Sculpture or flower pot?

Next to the shop a small path between the building and a hedge leads into the garden area. It is a warm and sunny day. After a few steps around the corner it is shady, green and humid from the watering of the plants. The narrow path is made out of natural rocks and cut flagstones. Small plants, scrubs, hanging wines and ivy are everywhere. The trail widens to a small place. A table with chairs invites one to rest and savour a drink. The garden is set up in small sections like a house with many small rooms. Each section has a different atmosphere and design, charming the visitor again and again. Sculptures of different sizes are hanging and standing among the plants. Some are easy to detect, others require a close look to discover their beauty.

A glass of wine would be perfect.

Like in an enchanted garden we stroll around admiring the art around us and soaking in inspiration for our own garden fantasies. A wonderful small garden densely filled with décor and design. Many thanks to the Jagorstrand family for sharing their garden with us.

If you’d like to see more of the garden with many photos, have a look at

Jagorstrand. Inspiration ∙ Konst ∙ Design.

Inspiration, art and design.