We arrived in Germany on a Thursday, the day before a 3-day holiday weekend--that Friday was German Unity Day. Nearly every business here is closed on holidays, except for the biergartens (beer gardens), so we had little to do for three days but unpack, get over our jetlag, and hang out around the farmhouse. By Sunday afternoon, we felt ready to venture out and explore some of the countryside. [Remember--clicking on a pic shows you a larger version, so you can explore the countryside too!]
The farmhouse is at the junction of three thoroughfares that I would classify somewhere between "roads" and "trails." "Troads," if you will. They probably started out as little farm roads, worn by many a horse and plow. Now they are officially walking or biking trails, but also allow tractors and the occasional car, like ours, destined for a local farm. All weekend we had seen people out for pleasure strolls, passing the farmhouse and disappearing into woods on the horizon. The name of our troad is Maisinger See Weg, which more or less translates as "Lake Maisinger Way"; so we suspected that there might be a lake somewhere beyond that horizon.
We followed the path over lovely, meticulously manicured fields and through patches of dark evergreen woods (also manicured).
After about half an hour--a fairly long time to walk with a baby strapped to one's chest--we reached a decidedly deciduous wood with a creek running through it. Could this mean the lake is nearby?
After a few more minutes, we had our answer. I couldn't resist exclaiming, "I see Maisinger See!"
We now wondered if we should head back or go on a bit further. Rachel said (and I thought), "This walk is almost perfect, except I wish I could have something to eat before walking all the way back home." As if on cue, the faint sound of children laughing and playing floated by on a breeze through the trees ahead. I thought I could also make out the sound of clinking plates and glasses, though I considered the possibility that this might be some kind of auditory mirage (an aurage?). We had to explore a little more. We rounded another bend and...
...lo and behold, there was a bustling biergarten, complete with a playground and picnic tables overlooking the lake! The scene was full of happy German families, the dads eating sausages and drinking tall beers, the moms eating spätzle (noodles) and salads and drinking tall beers, the kids eating schnitzel (aka Wiener schnitzel) and drinking tall fresh ciders of various types. It was like we had walked into a medieval banquet, or perhaps into Bilbo's birthday party in Hobbiton. Now THAT's a German experience I could appreciate! We were a little daunted by the menu, however....
Fortunately, a nice woman who spoke a little bit of English gave us some suggestions on what to order. I had the currywurst--a sausage with ketchup-like curry sauce--plus fries and a tall beer. Rachel had the käsespätzle--noodles with cheese and fried onions--and salad, but for Gwen Wren's sake refrained from the beer.
I was a happy hiker...
...with my happy family at the biergarten.
We went back the following weekend to try some additional items from the menu. Rachel had seen some people eating some kind of fried fish that looked very good, and I wanted something with dumplings. We asked a man for help finding these things on the menu. He spoke decent English, but BOY did he steer us wrong!
Rachel's fish dish was not what she had seen at all. Rather, it was a whole fish, head to tail, which I was concerned would frighten the Wren. (It didn't.) Fortunately, it turned out to be pretty tasty, though difficult to eat, and the salad was excellent. My selection, on the other hand, both looked and tasted disgusting. It was some kind of pork, which seemed to have been boiled and fried (or fried and boiled), then chilled, then embedded in a gelatinous brown goo, along with some pickles and boiled eggs. I ended up going back for an order of fries, and eating half of Rachel's fish. Next time, I think we'll stick with spätzle and sausages.
The others debates were not quite live, but thanks to iTunes, she was able to watch from the comfort of her German farmhouse couch. The consensus? Not at all impressed with the McCain/Palin ticket. Obama and Biden, on the other hand, look great. And that’s from a 4 month old. If only the rest of the country understood the political climate so well…
Gwendolyn freely admits, however, that the majority of her news coverage comes from downloaded episodes of The Daily Show. How could we bear today’s political climate without Jon Stewart?
After paying close attention to the issues and critically weighing the candidates’ platforms, the Wren was upset to learn that we would not be voting in person. Filling out an absentee ballot in the parking lot of a German post office was decidedly anticlimactic.
