A Tale of Two Beaches: Week 3

Norderney! We have been hearing so much about this small island ever since the informational meetings for this study abroad and we are finally here. My first impression of Norderney was that it was way colder than I expected. We had been told that a light jacket would be enough, but I think a parka might have been nice. As soon as our ferry reached the island, we walked over to the bike rental building to pick up our bikes that we would use for transportation on the island for the rest of the week. While the island was one of the few East Frisian Islands that allowed cars, it was small enough that biking was the best way to get around. 

The highlight of Norderney was definitely visiting the badehaus. First, Dr. Wasser presented an interesting lecture from one of his colleagues about the history of bathing and the island. One fun fact from this lecture is that the island is slowly moving from to the east because the land is eroded on the western end and deposited on the eastern end of the island. After the lecture, we visited the sauna, took a mud bath, and became siblings in steam. 


Later in the week, we took a bike tour of the island. We saw quite a few species of birds, some dead rabbits, and lots of sand dunes. The wind made the ride a bit tricky, but we made it through. We ended the week with a mud flat tour, where we walked out onto the mud near the island that is revealed during the low tide.


I spent the weekend after Norderney in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. We had a great time relaxing at the beach (which was much warmer than the North Sea) and eating paella. Fortunately, our Sunday night flight back to Bonn got canceled, so we got to stay in Mallorca an extra day.