Germany Vs. Italy
At the seaside
Germany and Italy are pretty different and online there are plenty of comparisons (check the hilarious videos by Bozzetto on youtube) highlighting various stereotypes.
As an Italian leaving in Germany since 2004, I am providing my personal, informed views.
This summer, I had the possibility to enjoy some time both on the German (Timmendorfer Strand) and the Italian (Pineto) seaside. No, do not worry, I am not going to discuss about weather or food: Italy wins hands down in both fields.
Staying on the beach
At Timmendorfer Strand you are welcome by the usual baskets — a good protection against the usual wind.
To touch the sand you have to pay a fee: from an Italian perspective, that’s pure heresy as access to the seaside is granted by law (few exceptions apply…).
In Pineto, the beach is much more organized and dotted with the classical colorful umbrellas.
The strong impression is that the Italian beach is meant to be lived all day while the German one is on focus for a bunch of hours only — life is going on somewhere else, not on the sand. It seems that Germans prefer to arrive on the beach, heads to the water, come back on shore and then go back to the city. Italians live on the beach more or less continuously from 8AM to 8PM with just a short break for lunch: the city is totally empty and comes to life only late after dinner. Considering this, it is not a surprise that there is a continuous flow of persons moving along the shoreline in Pineto while in Timmendorfer Strand the movement is more transversal to the shoreline, from the beach to the sea and viceversa.
People
I was genuinely surprised to see very few people smoking on the beach in Pineto: ten years ago, last time I was there, every third person you met on the beach was holding a cigarette. It looks like the fashion changed and the cigarette has been substituted by a small bag to hold mobile, wallet and keys.
As concerns people themselves, well, going to the beach in Italy is a highly social activity: being there with a small kid, there were people coming from 50m away just to say hi and play a bit with my newborn son. It was normal (and nice) to chit chat with passersby or even just to greet and be greeted by them when passing by. In Germany the situation is quite different: almost no word is proffered to strangers.
Furthermore sharing of food, drinks, etc. is almost unheard of in Germany while in Italy you could be easily shot if you do not accept anything offered you by your neighbors.
What’s better? Well, if you look for quiet and privacy, possibly German shores are better than Italian ones. On the other hand, if you look to enjoy and relax while still being in touch with humankind, I would go for Italian sands.
