WHERE ARE WE ANNE?: LONG DRIVES IN THE COUNTRY

ANOTHER OPERA BY ACCIDENT

We have avoided major autobahns for most of our trip. Our route has taken us through rolling rural heartland areas of mostly grain crops often through avenues of oak trees and all with very little traffic. It's been easy driving and there is usually a really well made, sealed, wide bike path running alongside a few metres away. Cycling holidays are a very pleasant proposition here and we've seen quite a few cyclists with their Ortlieb paniers. Ortlieb rules here.

After the cute wohnwagen experience we drove over to Rheinsberg which has a castle by a lake with an enormous area of carefully laid out gardens. It dates back to a period circa 1730. Yes that's right, you probably know, King Frederick the second. The day we arrived the place was fully booked out, the opera was on. I think it had to do with the top new young talent on the block strutting their stuff. Anne and I listened to and watched a moment or two of the Barber of Seville then walked on to check out the gardens.

We had a very nice fish dish for dinner, I'm calling it trout and sampled a bit more of that Erdinger Weissbrau. The beer sampling was not straightforward. I saw a beer with an interesting name of Diesel and thought I better try a Diesel then. Turns out that is the local vernacular for a shandy of horrible sugary lemonade and beer. About as drinkable as diesel. We all make mistakes on the great beer sampling journey of life and I won't make that one again.

We took a post prandial stroll in the lovely long twilight and then headed down the road where we had previously found a hotel with a spare room. Alas, no airbnb rooms in this area.