24 May
We slept dreamily and Caroline woke us at 9:30am so we could go to the town market. We had showers and then coffee and strawberries out in the glorious sunshine on their back patio. The girls got over their shyness pretty quickly and started showing off on the bikes and swings and engaging in multiple costume changes. It's amazing to listen to the German-English integration in the household--everyone seems to slip between the two constantly. We finished ur coffee and fruit and then headed into the town center with Caroline.
The Trave river runs through the town and on into Lubeck, where we'll go tomorrow. The town center is a mix of very old buildings and newer ones, houses and shops mixed. Caroline said that the newer buildings are where the bombs dropped. Interesting to see that visual documentation of history. All the houses right on the river here have amazing gardens with lilacs and wisteria and other colorful fragrant flowers everywhere. Their Saturday market was bustling (it's also election weekend so there were even more people out than normal, and lots of Mormons doing the rounds too!)
We saw a woman selling giant stalks of spargel(white asparagus), lots of delicious produce and plants, meats, cheeses, pastry, eggs, and honey. Kind of like a souped up version of our farmer's markets. Everyone brings their own bags, and lots of people were on bikes with shopping baskets attached. The Maypole is still standing in the town center. There's a definite mix of old and new. Cobblestone streets, the ancient church, and a T Mobile shop across the lane. We waled the winding path around town and looked at some gardens, and then stopped into the grocery store for milk and beer (which you can buy per bottle right off the shelf.) Across the way from the town center parking lot is the youth hostel with a skate park and trailer parking attached. So cool.
Got back to the good news that our bag has landed! But it won't be delivered until evening. At least it's safe. The woman on the phone told Karsten "they found your teeth!" Ha.
Caroline put out a traditional northern Germany nighttime spread (we were originally going to have it last evening when we came in, until our flight changed)of black bread with butter, ham, salami, mountain cheese, shrimps and picked herring. All delicious. We had beer and wine and then Karsetn made coffee and we had some little chocolate wrapped cakes. Now it's naptime! Later today we'll drive past the cottage of the father of the Mennonites, and then onto the beach at the Baltic sea. Tomorrow we'll take a drive into Lubeck to check out the Medieval town! But not the Thomas Mann Museum......