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It seems there's a strawberry lover (or more) in the group. And wouldn't you know, it'll be strawberry season when you're here!
I know that you can get strawberries almost the whole year there in Florida, but not here in Germany. We have to wait for Mother Nature to warm things up before we get fresh - and good - strawberries.
These are strawberries we bought at the market yesterday. They're from south Germany. And I have to say they tasted really really good on the French toast this morning.
We can Erdbeeren selbst pflucken bei Asendorfs (pick your own strawberries at Asendorf's) (German looks very strange sometimes, doesn't it?). It's a big farm near here where they grow them and it's not too far to bike. There's a cool store at the farm too where you can buy their own sausages and cheese and butter and such. Even look at the animals.
And if we get tired of picking, we can just buy some at the strawberry stand. Either way they taste really good.
Questions
1. What is this?
a. something to play music on
b. a back massager
c. a washing machine
d. a potato scraper
2. What is this??
a. a washing machine
b. a rocket launcher
c. a mosquito laser
d. a pogo stick
3. What is this???
a. a printing press
b. an iron
c. a sausage maker
d. a pasta machine
READY??
And the answers are: TA DA (music and whistles)
1. c. It's a washing machine. Really. What fun it was to wash not so very long ago. You used this to rub the clothes and get the dirt out.
2. a. It's a washing machine. Again? Yes, really. This was used to push the clothes and such up and down in the big pot to get the dirt out.
3. b. It's an iron. Are you kidding? No, I'm not. People (women, really - don't think the men ever did this work!) put the towels and sheets and cloths through here to press them. It took at least two people (women) to operate it. And it was a modern convenience!!!!
There's a museum near here that is an old house and it has all these old things in the house and we think it would be fun to see. Besides, it is a nice little bike trip from here which means we can take another picnic and go on our bikes.
OK with you?
Well, that's geographically impossible, isn't it? Africa is a continent and so is Europe and they do not occupy the same space. So we can't have Africa in Europe - specifically Germany.
But we can import some of Africa here and have a little impression of Africa here. And they do! It's the Serengheti Park Germany. ( Here is link to the park and it's written in English, but I think they need my help with the translation. )
They have lions and tigers and giraffes and monkeys and - well, you know - all those African animals! You take a ride with a bus through the park and then you visit the monkeys and then you have some food (I've heard it 's MUCH better to take your own picnic, and we like doing that anyway!).
Then, hey, there are rides! Great! You can ride and we can watch. But if there's a Ferris Wheel, we'll do that. We like Ferris Wheels.
Looks like a day trip to me! What do you think?
I know, I know, you haven't even GOT to Bremen yet. So how can we talk about leaving? But of course we do have to leave, otherwise the Moms and Dads would be in Paris and we wouldn't. And you know we have to plan ahead.
We'd considered all the alternatives. We could drive in the car. Hummmm. That's a bit cramped, what with a 10-hour trip.
We could rent a van. That would give us a lot more room, but it's still a lot of hours of driving. And what in the world do you do with a car in Paris? Answer: Park it.
How about the train? Well, that's cool. But it's still a long way. How do you keep it from being tooooo boring? You sleep. You leave at night from Germany and you sleep in a sleeping car. It is so wonderful sleeping on a train! The wheels go ca-thump, ca-thump and it's almost like a lullaby. And in the morning, you're in Paris. How cool is that?
The picture on the left is (about) how it looks when the beds are down, and on the right how it looks when you're just sitting around.
Who gets to sleep on top?????
People in Germany love storks. First, they're really pretty to see flying. Second, they are good luck. And third, when you see the storks, it means spring is coming and winter is going - always a welcome event here in the cold north.
Storks are graceful but since they're so big, they can't make tight turns - it takes a while to prepare for landing. Sadly, they get injured sometimes because of these long approaches and sometimes run into power lines and such. Not far away there's a refuge for injured storks - the Storchenstation.
Here's the map. From our house it's about 14 kilometers.
There are storks everywhere there - in the trees, on top of the house and on the ground. Besides the storks there are a few other animals wandering around as well.
We can pack a picnic, visit the storks and then head to the beach at the river. Sounds like a day trip to me!
Werner and I simply cannot remember if we've visited a windmill with you. That must mean that we haven't. Mills are important to Bremen - that's exactly where the story of the Bremen Town Musicians starts. So we have to do that.
There are a couple of windmills in Bremen, but they just stand there and don't do anything even though they are really beautiful. This one downtown is a restaurant; another is a museum. Nothing wrong with restaurants or museums, but wouldn't it be nice to see one that really works?
We can do that!
Worpswede. Funny name, huh? You can say it this way: Vorpsvaeda. We can get there by boat and take our bikes on the boat.
Coming up to Worpswede, it looks like this. See the windmill? It's really small, about one-third of the way across the horizon. Do you see it?
Here it is up close. The mill doesn't regularly grind the wheat into flour - they only do it on special days. But it works. The sails go faster than you can think and it makes a lot of noise since all the gears and such are made of wood. See the windows? They're regular windows, so you can guess how big the "sails" are! Not small.
The fence is to keep people away from the sails when they're moving, but it looks like a nice porch. But only when the sails are still.
You know your bedroom looks out over and across the street, right? So, the big house was sold this year and now the new owners are fixing it up. It seriously needed fixing up.
It's been interesting watching what's going on, ESPECIALLY the roofers. These guys are crazy if you ask me and it's amazing how they just walk around up there like they're on the ground!
I don't really think you'll be seeing this in June. Surely the roof will be finished by then!
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