BY THE BALTIC SEA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2801, 20 November 1907, Page 87

BY THE BALTIC SEA.

AN IDEAL GERMAN WATERING

PLACE.

(Bt a New Zeai^kder.)

From New Zealand to the Baltic is IS far cry, and yet here I sit, a New Zeialander, by the shores of this beautiful sea.

Long has it been my wish to visit it; its very name has always had a charm for me, and now here is the fulfilment. Thus it is once more proved to me that one has only to wish strongly enough fo» a. thing, and determine to have it, and in time one gets it. In time; yes, that is the trouble. So often one gets what one wants when tha edge of the desire has worn off, and the result is dust and ashes. Nevertheless, as I ait here by the seashore this bright; warm summer morning, my heart is full of content, for this time the fulfilment has not come too late. All is so peaceful and so beautiful. Before me stretches tha blue sea, which lap, laps, below on tha stony beach. Just opposite is a white fishing boat with white sails, while other, white sails are to be seen in the distance. To the left is a brown rowing boat, and to the right two little coastal steamers — one going out, and the other coming in, — with their smoke streaming behind for miles.

Behind me are the beech woods, which here at the shore are all knotted, and! gnarled and blown into queer shapes by the wind.

My seat is on the twisted roots of onei of these veterans — a natural armchair, well padded with moss and leaves. Here and! there flit white butterflies, and now and then a dragon-fly; while bumble bees ado! their music to that of the breeze and tha lapping watei. How could anyone who is at peace with himself be anything bat happy under such circumstances? Tha only thing needed to complete one'i sat^Sr faction is a good book, and that hes beside me.

The name of this ideal spot is Heil£-< gendamm, the oldest watering-place in Germany. It is very small, consisting of a sanatorium (really a boarding-house), with which are connected six or eight villas, a few hotels, the Bobenzollera Burg (which belongs to the sanatorium, but is let to the Royal Family), and tha villa of the Duke of MecklenburgSob werin. But it is also very select, for here the Crown Prince and Princess gener j ' ally spend a few weeks each summer (feheyare here at present), and the Duke ol Mecklenburg comes annually. Not being on the direct line of rail-; way, Heiligendamm is reached by it earn tram from Doberan, a small town with an interesting old church.

From Doberan td the coast stretch beautiful woods, and such woods are to be found along almost the whole coast of the Baltic, or " East Sea," as the Germans call if.

All through these woods are. beautiful paths, and when one is tired of the beach,, or it is too hot or too cold to sit there fc one can wander for miles under the loftjj beeches, whose tops, so far above one, form a thick gresn roof, through whicf only shafts of sunlight can penetrate. For the benefit of the old or the in^ dustrious are placed at intervale benohesv painted green with very often little gree* tables before them, where the German matron can lay her needlework or thi inevitable packet of food, " belegtej n<tterbrod "—rolls or grey bread, witg ham, cheese, or sausage" between.

Sometimes, if one is very quiet, one see^ a squirrel springing over the ground oi running up the trunk of a tree-, and $- v, pretty to watch them leaping fron tree-top to tree-top and along the bought Occasionally one startles a- hare, whicl bounds off over the dead leaves and ferns | ami in walking, especially after a showei of rain, one .has to be careful not to step on the little brown frogs or the fat, black snails, which are very numerous.

If one is tired of the woods and sea, then theie are country roads, with cornfields on either side ; the corn at present ripe for cutting, and often bright with cornflowers. Or there are meadows with cows grazing, a sight ono doesn't see everywhere in Germany, where so often the cows are stable-fed.

For those who like company and to be well dressed there are the pier and the promenade, where one can stroll, meet one's friends, and listen to the band, which performs three times a day. Then there is a tennis court, where the young and! energetic play, and which is much patronised by the Crown Prince. In Germany there is no mixed bathing, but separate baths for "Damen" and " Herren." In most watering-places the price of a bathe is 4d or sd, but here w« are very select — even the water is select, — ■ and as one must pay extra for selectnes3, so a bathe in Heiligendamm costs lOd. The Baltic ihas no ebb and flow, and therefore, except in windy weather, no waves. It has very little of the strong, 6alty smell of the sea proper, and practically no shells and seaweed. Had I not known beforehand what to expect, I fchould have been grievously disappointed ; but as it is I find it charming. - From Heiligendamm little coastal steamers ply daily to Warnemunde, one of the large Baltic watering-places, on ono side, and to Brunshaupten and Arundeee, two smaller resorts, on the other. All three places are very full in summer, and the beach is covered with beaoh-chairs and little beach-ihouses, where people sit with books or work, while everything is gay with strings of tiny, many-coloured flags. From Warnemunde one can cross in a few hours to Denmark.

Most of the people in my hotel arc Berlincs, and there is a good sprinkling of Je-iv?. At my table wa6 for some days a Jewish family* whom I found very plcasajit. Since they left I have my seat ucxt to a worthy couple from Vienna, who cause me endless amusement. The husband ia a bullet-headed man, with \\L«t>

Professor Ge>kio has estimated the amount of sediiacnt carried to the 6«& by fche Thames ift * *•« ai, U&805 *)lbl» teeW

little Jialr he has left shaved off to the roots, so that he looks quite bald. He is middle-sized and round-shouldered, and very emphatic in his speech. The wife is a tall, lean woman of perhaps 40, with colourless eyes and hair and a nose and chin which bend affectionately towards each other, while the mouth is sunken and insignificant. To watch these people at their meals is a study, and amazes me afresh every day. How can they eat so much, and so many different things, without being ill? And hovr can they possibly drink so much! I could never do it if I lived to be 100, but then, of course, I am English, and have noi been trained to it all my life.

Supper begins with a hot meat, such as steak. This they usually partake of twice ; then follows cold beef, cold sliced sausages of different kinds, pickled cucumber, and cold ham. On top of this cold herring and smoked salmon, and lastly bread and cheese, not omitting the inevitable beer.

Every day, both at dinner and supper (dinner is a midday meal in Germany), the worthy Frau disposes of two, and sometimes three, big bumpers of beer (she assures me she can easily take five or six

when sitting in company), and often finishes up with some wine. Herr takes wine, soda water, and sometimes

beer too, and retires from the table to drink a cup of coffee in his own room. He has a great appreciation of the good things of this world, and frequently pauses in his meal, lifts his head from his plate, to which it is always kept close for convenience in disposing of the food, and remarks : " This veal is really excellent," or " This is a delicious piece of fish — really delicious ; I have never eaten

better."

It is nice to see how attentive he is to his wife. Apparently he is bent on fattening her up while they are on their

holiday, and is willing to spare no expense in doing s>o. So he turns to her and says, " Try a piece of this salmon ; it is very good." And when she protests in a childishly plaintive voice that "she can't eat any* more — she really can't," he takes no notice, but helps her liberally, or cuts off a dainty mor«el from that on bis own plate and puts it on to hers, or feeds her with tasty pieces from the fork with which

he is eating.

I notice that she generally manages to get through what she is given. Often I cannot help smiling, and remarking that one must get fat on a holiday. One day he wanted her to take another piece of black bread, and she, as usual, protested. " Just one piece," Baid he ; " you can manage that, and proceeded to spread it for her. I laughed as I passed the bread plate with a fresh slice, for the bread is cut so. thin that one often butters two pieces and puts them together, and Frau remarked:

" The lady is laughing again !"

Whereupon I hastened to explain that I thought it very nice that her husband was so attentive.

It is quite touching to see him stroke nor hand or her cheek, and I like to watch him order a fresh glass of beer, and when ehe is not noticing change it for her nearly empty one.

So, although they are not very aristo<f.lic people (the Germans of the better clai6 eat just as nicely as the English), and in spite of their little peculiarities, I like them ; — good-natured and kindly people, who take a friendly interest in one and stre only too willing to do one a good turn when possible. Opposite to me at table sits an old man whom I like, too, because he is always content. It may rain or blow, but out he goes, nevertheless, and never can see what anyone has to complain about. He lies on his back on the beach a great part of the day, and during his solitary rambles i& always discovering some new wild flower. He has the not too common gift of humour, and a good deal of the mi'k of human kindness, and speaks nothing but good of his fellow-beings. Then there is the "Kaiser," as I 'call him — a very self-important young man, who has a little table to himself, and orders the waiters about like a lord. He cannot wait for his letters until the postman, comts, but Sena's Frederick, the porter, to fetch them, so that he may have the pleasure of perusing them 10 minutes before other people get theirs. I only hope Frederick will get a tip in proportion to his services.

People at Home, except perhaps those who have had a like experience, can hardly imagine what a time one has when the fact becomes known that one is from New Zealand. For the sake of peace, I generally keep it quiet, and let people think that I am from England, for the very mention of being a New Zealander brings a torrent of questions about one's ears, and when one has been a couple of years in Germany one becomes decidedly tired of answering the same questions over and over again.

" Ach, from New Zealand . So far have you come ; that is a long journey. That will have taken you well four weeks." On being informed that I spent eight on the steamer, there is great astonishment.

Then follow the usual questions. I always know what to expect. " New Zealand is an English colony, isn't it?" "How large are the towns?" "What is the capital?" "And is it a beautiful country?"

Of course, I give an, enthusiastic description of my native country, and am generally rewarded by the remark that England has the pick of the colonies, and Germany envies lier them. Most people have c, very dim idea of what it is like in such a far-away country, and some don't even know where it is.

Then they ask mo what sort of wild animals we have there, and seem to imagine it quite a- primitive place, where | the Natives go about fiercely brandishing

I But what amuses most is the fact that the trees are evergreen, and that Christmas comes m summer. No Christmas trees and no snow! That to the German is not Christmas at all. I once met a gentleman who knew and had read a great deal about New Zealand, even so far as to be acquainted with the fact that women vote for members of Parliament ; I but he was a rarity. I had the good fortune to see the Crown Prince and Princess one Sunday morning as they drove away from the little Lutheran Church, where they had been I attending service. I happened to be going through the woods to the beach, and passing the church (which, by the way, is beautifully situated on the edge of a cornfield, with a background of woods), noticed the royal carriage waiting at the door, with a coachman in scarlet and silver and a footman in green livery. Thereupon I waited, with a few other stragglers, and saw the royal couple quite close as they drove away. Happening to stand a little distant from the other spectators, New Zealand got a greeting for herself. The Princess struck me as pretty and better-looking than her pictures make her. I saw the baby Prince one day, too, going home from his afternoon constitutional. He is a bonny, intel-ligent-looking little child, just over a year old, with fair hair and pretty blue eyes. He was dressed in white, and was > wheeled in a white perambulator by a nurse in white; while a female attendant, also in white, walked beside him, and a man in livery brought up the rear. The Crown Prince is an energetic young man. Besides playing tennis, he goes every. day for a swim, and also drives his own motor car. He and the Princess seem to be well liked, and whenever they are expected to leave or return to their villa a crowd gathers round to wait for them. ! The season in Heiligendamm, which is now almost at an end, is finishing with a tennis tournament, which is keenly followed by the spectators, and in which the Grafin Schulenburg, Germany's champion lady player, is a central figure. | The tennis courts are excellent, and are ' prettily placed, being surrounded by woods, and therefore fairly well sheltered from the wind, which blows here constantly. I was much surprised to learn, that tihe Germans use all the English; terms for the gshne; they call it tennis, speak of -a racquet and count in English. On"c of my favourite walks in Heiligen damm is by an open road by the sea to a miserable little fishing village, -which is, , however, more or less picturesque on ac- j count of its deep thatched roofs, often < overgrown with moss. On one side of the road ia the stony beach and the blue sea, I and on the other green fields, while all the way is lined with wild flowers. There is a tiny purple sweet pea, a species of i white marguerite, a flower very like a j cornflower of a lovely cerulean blue, and > everywhere masses of a small, pale yellow snapdragon. There are many others besides — whi{e, yellow, red and blue, — of ! which I do not know the names. j To sit on one of the benches tihere in I the sunshine and breathe in the delicious air from sea and fields is indeed a joy to any Nature-loving 60ul. But the time of peace and rest wil} soon be over, and I ' must return to the town, where instead ; of being soothed to 6leep by the wind in. ■ the trees and the cry of an owl, one's slumbers are disturbed by the roar of passing trams and the rattle of cabs over the paved streets.