Postings from Germany

Day Tripping

Actually, it was a day and a half, but who's counting?

We wanted to take a little trip and decided on area on the North Sea just an hour by car from here - we've been there before but it' s oh so nice to visit familar places.

It was Wednesday so first we had to take a walk and then we had to go to the gym for a workout. I'm still trying to get back into shape after 2+ months of irregular and/or not-so- challenging exercise. And putting on 2+ kilos. OUCH!

That done, we loaded our bikes on the car and our stuff in the car and drove to Varel. You know where that is, don't you? Of course you do. We biked around this area of the North Sea two years years ago in the springtime and wanted to go back and visit a small museum there that's only open in the warm months.

But first things first. Find a bed for the night.

There weren't that many choices, so we went to the city center and found a room at the Friesenhof (Friesland is the whole region here in the north - and the people are made fun of a lot like Southerners in the US, so naturally I have a real affinity for them).

This is the view from our hotel window, a quiet square with the local history museum and restaurants a plenty.

After that we had to have some sustinence - it was time for tea and cake and they seem to make it giant-sized here. We shared the cake sitting along a quiet harbor full of small fishing and sailing boats.

We had dinner at a Greek restaurant -- where they seemed to think we were ordering for six instead of two -- and after our breakfast the next morning packed up again for a bike tour from Dangast and back.

We unloaded just off the beach, arriving in time to see NO WATER IN THE NORTH SEA. These dear souls are getting ready to do a Wattwanderung - a walk around in the mudflats during low tide - to see the worms and crabs and other such critters that keep the whole place alive and wiggling.



The farthest point of the trip was Neuenberg, but first we passed the farmers, making hay while the sun shines. First they cut it, then flip it around a time or two.

The tractors make pretty pattern on the cut fields. I keep thinking I want to get out the paint brushes again when I see these landscapes, but ...... too much already on the plate.

We passed through Bockhorn, a major brick-manufacturing center in Germany. No wonder there are brick barns, brick houses and even brick roads like this out in the middle of no where.

In Neuenberg, we wanted to see the local Manor House. This coat of arms on one of the exterior walls told us that the Duke of Lots of Towns in this Region lived and ruled from here in 1596 and later. But it's been a long time since any royalty passed these thresholds.

It's currently used as a local kindergarten. Wow. Can you imagine sending kids to kindergarden in a building over 400 years old that once housed the local gentry?

Leaving there, we passed the old train station, well preserved, but now a dentist's office!!

Finally back to Dangast and the museum we wanted to visit.

Franz Radziwill (here and here) was a German realist who got into surrealism later in his career, lived modestly in this small village. He never attained international fame, but is well-known in Germany.

Artists' workspaces are fascinating to visit. It's a bit disconcerting to see the arifacts used in the still life paintings, the view from the window that is rendered mulitiple ways in differing lights and seasons; it's a glimpse through the artist's eyes.

A lot to see in a day - and a half. Wish we could show you all in person!!!