Bornholm

What an experience we had at Bornholm last weekend!! Reviews of the place imply that it is a wonderful getaway where one can enjoy the waters of the Baltic sea and the warm and wonderful sun. Well, I did get a dip in the Baltic sea. The water was crystal clear and there were fishes swimming around me. Tiny, long green fishes. They look beautiful. The water, nevertheless, was cold. My feet felt numb after barely minutes in the water.

The sun was great. Everyone was out by the beach or on their balconies and verandas enjoying the good weather. The children were having so much fun at the beach building sand castles, and running in and out of the water. The adults, on the other hand, were contented to just sit or lie down on the sand and get the tan that they want.

Guess i was the weekend so most of the attractions were closed. Speaking of attractions, there were not much too. Some smoke houses, museums, and shops. The people there lead a very laid back life. Things move slowly, not that slowly though. People were friendly because we were all there for the only purpose of relaxation (die Entspannung). Most of the houses there are summer houses. Hence, I think Bornholm is quite lonely during winter.

We all stayed at SAS Radisson hotel. One of the higher rated ones. The rooms had no air-conditioning. There were cobwebs all over the balcony. One of the light bulbs in the bathroom was not working. The fridge was leaking because someone switched of the power. The pillows were so flat that I woke up with my neck and should aching. All these were beginning to build up on my list of dissatisfaction with the hotel. Then, we thought that maybe we could use the spa/jacuzzi to wind down after a day. We went down, got the key and stuff and started to fill the jacuzzi with water. Then we tried to swtich on the air jets to get the bubbles working. To our surprise, it wasn't working. We went up to the reception to get some help. And the reply was that it was already not working for some time and the receptionist was hoping that we could get it to work. Oh my goodness. Are we angels who could work miracles with the jacuzzi? We had to change out of our bathing suits and get back to our room. So much work for nothing... The only consolation was that we had supper. We had bought escargoes and some instant noodles. Halfway through our supper, there was a beeping sound in the room. Guess what! The smoke detector had run out of battery and is beeping away.... We called the receptionist and she sent someone up to take out the batteries. Then we asked if new batteries would be put in and the guy said, "Oh, you will have to get batteries from the receptionist and replace it." What an answer! We decided to leave it at that. (In my mind, I was thinking about the possible implications of the spoilt smoke detector. Questions such as whether one would survive any possible fires flashed in my mind).

Well, who cares. I went to bed, too tired and disappointed...