Germany - Rheinsburg

This morning we had an early start at 7am. We had breakfast at our pensione, which consisted of cornflakes with yogurt and bread with butter. The meateaters had a lot more to choose from - as they have during this whole trip. Boiled eggs, bockwurst, and fish are all popular breakfast items. The owner of the pensione was incredibly friendly, and I wish I had a photo of him, he was so jolly.

We drove with our German friends from Wittenberg to the village town of Vehlow to conduct our studies with farmers. The day was very dreary, but the landscape was incredibly beautiful due to the mist and the subdued colors of the countryside. We had lunch at the village restaurant. I had traditional sauerkraut and kartoffelpuffer (mashed potatoes). One of our hosts had a pilsen beer mixed with water, which is a common practice for Germans. They like to mix their beers (usually pilsens I believe) with lemonade, apple juice, or water. Hmmm.



Every restaurant we have been in has been decorated for Christmas. They all have Christmas trees and Christmas napkins. This village as well as many others in East Germany are suffering a huge population decline (some more than 50%) since the Revolution in 1991. Most people are moving to the cities for jobs, so the villages feel desolate. The Christmas decorations help lift the mood quite a bit.



This evening, Edwin and I sent Crystal off to Berlin on the train in Neustadt. Prior to that we ate at a restaurant where I had a klein salat (various little cole slaw/pickled cabbage) and kurcremesuppe (pumpkin cream soup)? I also ordered their beer vom fass (on draft) - a BitBurger - not palatable to me, but I drank most of it. I liked the Köstrißer better.



Despite Edwin being a Dutch National, I'm learning so much about German customs, their way of thinking, and their view of Americans from him. I keep commenting on the countryside since that's what I've seen most, but it's truly the small details that make it so utterly amazing here. The roads are lined with trees, which I really love and defines the countryside so much. The trees also have reflectors to deter deer from running across the road. My photos don't do them justice.

We're at the Schloss Hotel in Rheinsberg tonight, apparently this is a large lake district and a Schloss (castle) here. This will be my last night in the countryside unfortunately, but I'll have the day back in Vehlow, and then off to Berlin!

Currently, I'm having a Märkischer Landmann, a dark bier that tastes almost like it has soy sauce in it, which I didn't quite like until about the 10th sip! I think I'm in the mood to buy a German country haus now! They're really quite affordable - ones I've seen range between EU 95-120,000.