Our Beach

We took the tram to the beach on Wednesday. As we were walking from the tram to the beach (maybe the equivalent of four or five blocks), I was questioning my own sanity. It was cold! But the moment we walked past the line of trees and onto the beach, I was so glad we came.

There is something so tranquil about waves on the shore. We did not have Christmas cards made or sent out this year. I wanted a picture on the snowy beach for our Christmas card, but we did not have any snow before Christmas. So I am considering this picture as our belated Christmas card!

And the unique experience of walking on a snow covered beach is totally worth it. I was surprised to see quite a number of people (maybe 20 or so) walking about on the beach. There was a young woman (probably around 18 or 19) having her picture taken. She was wearing a sleeveless top and skirt. She had to be freezing! We really enjoyed the swans. Here are Natalie and a couple of her friends contemplating the sea.

We took a loaf of bread to share with them. As they saw Natalie walking toward them, they ran at top speed to reach her. They knew she had goodies to share!

They have huge, black webbed feet, and watching swans run is hilarious. At one point they lined up and waited for Natalie to give each a piece of bread--very polite!

Trey was a little afraid at first to let the swans take bread out of his hand. When he finally was brave enough, one swan gave his hand a little nibble! Luckily he thought it was funny and had gloves on. It didn't hurt too badly. This picture was right before Trey fed one himself. I believe this one was the biter!

As we were leaving I took this picture of the kids. We'll come back to this particular spot as the seasons change and take updated photos.

There were large snow drifts in various places on the beach. Ben found this big one and the man vs. nature conflict kicked in. Ben was victorious!

Abbie and Trey took on smaller drifts.

The sun is shining today--that's something we have not seen in Gdansk for a long time. It is forecasted to be sunny tomorrow as well. We are always happy to see a sunny day, even if it is still cold!