House Swap in Berlin

by Barbara
(Melbourne, Australia)

We were very lucky to score a house swap in Berlin. It was a none synchronized swap which meant that we didn't exchange at the same time. The house was huge and we had our own bedroom, living room and kitchen. We met the hosts and had dinner with them several times, but we were free to do what ever we wanted.
Berlin was a lovely city, very modern but full of history. There were many museums telling the stories about the wall which we both found fascinating.

One thing we found funny and unusual was a lake at the end of the road where many locals swam in the summer. Local people would walk from their houses in a dressing gown down the road to the lake. We were given dressing gowns to do this also! we were warned that we would probably see a few naked people as they were all into skinny dipping! and sure enough on our walk we'd see several naked swimmers, all shapes and sizes climbing out of the lake and walking towards us. Once we got used to it, it was fine and we even had ago ourselves before we left - a new experience in public (we did make sure no-one was around!)