St Peter Dorf

Saturday, 10 July 2010
I sat at my computer playing computer games. I couldn't sleep. For a moment I stared out of the window watching the dark road. There were still lights in couple of windows. It was 1 am and still 35°C. The air was so humid you could cut it with a knife and sell the pieces on the market. An unusual heat wave had take hold of Hamburg and I wondered how I should survive the weekend. A moment later it hit me. Why should I stay in the city. There must be some place that offers a little respite. I switched to the website of the German Weather Service and checked the coastal towns. At first it didn't sight it didn't look promising, but not giving up hope I tried out various destinations. After a couple of minutes I found that the temperature in St. Peter-Ording should only be 28°C for this Saturday. Combined with a little seabreeze this would definitely be an improvement. However on Sunday it should be raining so I looked at the forecast of the island Sylt and found that Saturday was too hot but on Sunday the temperature should drop to blessed 19°C combined with lovely sunshine. Well, I made up my mind and packed clothes for a night, before I went to bed trying to catch a little nap before my train to St. Peter-Ording would leave. I would just chance to find a room there. If I was not lucky, I could always take an evening train back home.

When I stepped out of the train at noon, the air was flaring from the heat. No cloud was to be seen in the deep blue sky. From the train station which is in the district Ording it was a bit of a walk through the forest to reach the district Bad, where you find the spa and the bridge to the big sandbank that is used as beach at lowtide. However I didn't stay there because my first worry was to find an accomodation for the night and I preferred to go to the much nicer district St. Peter Dorf (= village of St. Peter) with it's old houses. I turned into the main road and prepared myself for another 3 km walk in the heat of the day turning in here and there to ask for a room, but every place was fully booked. What else could you expect during the summer vacation period? After half an hours walk I realized that I was quite stupid. The main road would be the first place where everybody would turn in for accomodation, especially if they had a car. After the penny had dropped I turned into the first side road and my lucked turned on the second door I knocked on. A wonderful landlady told that yes she could offer bed & breakfast to me, because she had just gotten a cancellation a few minutes ago.

Moreover when I said that I had to catch the train at 6:30 am next morning that angel told me that this would suit her perfectly as her breakfast area was quite so small she had to serve her guest in shifts. I was welcome to come down at about 5:30 am for my morning meal. Afterwards she give me a lift to the station so that I slipped the long walk. I couldn't ask for more. She was really sweet.

After I had unpacked I decided to get a late lunch in the village. I passed the church and peeped into it. It was a beautiful little village church and blessedly cool refuge. I took my time to look at the crafts on the walls and the elaborate pulpit before I went out again. A little stroll over the cemetery followed, but after a while my stomach complained that feeding was overdue.

After a delicious lunch in an old Frisian house I was once again met by the heat. Therefore I decided to give the local museum a try. It proved to be a lovely exhibition with beautiful old furniture, traditional costumes and a bit of historical background. I took my time. When I returned to the road in the late afternoon the air seemed a bit more bearable so that I finally wandered through the roads to enjoy the beautiful houses and gardens before I finally headed back to Bad to spend the early evening on the beach and in the water.