A Life in the Slow Lane

The Bierwagen

Team Basil has not moved a muscle since yesterday. We have stayed at Camping Ostsee Rerik for a third and final day. It has turned out to be a good day to do nothing. Today we finally caught up with the European summer – 28 degrees celsius and horribly humid.

As you will have by now gathered one recently retired member of the team has no trouble lazing about and doing very little (that’s me), while another (Sarah) has not yet got the hang of retirement and thinks she needs to keep doing “jobs”. Job is a word that has always had me running for cover, not Sarah.

Today after six months of giving us no trouble whatsoever, Sarah decided Basil’s cavernous boot needed reorganising! Out everything came and back it all went. When I was invited to look at the “re-organisation” I, naturally, expressed myself to be impressed. In reality I am more sympathetic to the school of the great James McGill*, who said “perfection is the enemy of perfectly adequate”!

Once the boot had had the benefit of Sarah’s energies, poor old Melek caught her attention and it was bath time in the big green bucket. To be fair, after his haircut yesterday, the little lad was smelling a bit and he is so laid back he almost enjoys being bathed.

The little lad after his bath

I, in the meantime, merely updated the maps on the blog and wrote a few emails. Someone’s got to do it.

After lunch it was my turn. We went for a walk, first down to the beach and then along the small cliff top until the heat, humidity and thousands of horrible small flies turned us around.

The beach from our clifftop walk

On the way back into the campsite I spied a new blackboard promising a bonfire tonight (just what we need in this heat), stick bread (I presume baguette) and most intriguingly a “Bierwagen”. Since we have left the alcoholic wilderness that is Scandinavia we have tried to retain certain alcohol free days. We already slipped up on Monday when the lure of sausage and German beer was too much. Given that Volkswagen translates as the People’s Car, I can only assume the appearance of some kind of Beer Car – very clever these Germans. I’m afraid at the very least it may be one more “wagen” for me to fall off!

Tomorrow we start our slow journey in the direction of Prague.

* James McGill (AKA Jimmy McGill) is the great attorney character in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”.