Freixenet

Freixenet is THE sparkling wine (similar to champagne) we use in Spain to celebrate Xmas, to toast for the new year, and so on. Freixenet Xmas spots have always been very much appreciated. Celebrities, famours directors, sparkling bubbles,... A classic for Xmas in Spain. They are currently trying to earn a place in the German market, saying it is sekt, and getting people to mix it with orange juice.

For some very strange reason, this year they have made a turn into Spanish folclore (real or fake). Which, seen from up here, it is really strange. They are a very succesful catalan brand.

We first saw the spot in Germany. An attempt to do a pseudo-hot latin spot, with dark haired people, a latino macho, and horses (suspiciously similar to the Italian festival). Whatever. The re-interpretation of "hot and latin" from some Northern mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGUkzj7fgkk

After seeing what they have planned for Spain this year... Flamenco. At least, they got on of the best flamenco dancers, Sara Baras.

Warm

It is strangely warm this year. We haven´t seen any snow yet. Don't know whether that is good or bad. The building's heating system is working as if it were really cold, so it is much warmer indoors than usually.

With this kind of weather, who feels like some Gluehwein? Nobody. If it's not freezing, who would want to drink mulled wine? Not us for sure.

A funny thing about the Ibis Hotel nearby. Low season was 55euros/night, until the first weekend when they opened the Xmas market. Now it is 79euros/night on the weekends (not bad, uh?) and 65euros/night during the week. I wonder how much money the businesses over here earn thanks to the Xmas market.

Get thee to Rügen!

Rügen has definitely been a major discovery this year. It is a German island in the Baltic Sea, where Germans have traditionally spent their holidays... until they discovered Mallorca.

We have been twice to the island, and have explored twice Jasmund National Park (Unesco Biosphere Reserve-thing), and nothing else. We are aware that there are other nice spots around, but it is soooo nice.

Train: From Lübeck it takes 4 hours (if DB does not collapse in the meantime) to get to Sassnitzt, the closes town to the National Park.
Car: From Lübeck it takes allegedly 2 hours to get to Sassnitz. The bottle neck is the bridge that connects the island with the mainland in Stralsund, and that puny little main road within the island, where everybody is on.

Within the island, they pride themselves to have a bus network. Well... if you are planning to take the bus after 17:00 on a weekend, you had better check there is a bus at all.

Accomodation: expensive. Lots of places charge you extra if you stay less than 3 nights. How many nights are there in a weekend? The place I come from, two at most.

Red hot chili peppers

Hot peppers coming up alright, despite an aphid infestation. Normal peppers... taking a little longer. For some strange reason, the pepper plants did not grow upwards, but sideways. I wonder whether I will get peppers larger than the hot peppers.

Not much hope for the tomatoes. It is rainy and cold, and they are just little green specks hanging from the plant.

Dragon boat race

Dragon Boat Racing is a Chinese tradition very popular in Southern China. For some reason has been adopted by the Germans up here, who probably thought it was fun to paddle like crazy dressed up in "colourful" costumes. It is not celebrated exactly on the 5th day of the 5th (lunar) month, as in China, but somewhere during summer, to make sure the weather will be good.

Lübeck's Dragon Boat Race is 11 years old. It is one of the biggest company-events of Northern Germany (or so they say). Crews are composed of whomever feels like paddling, and sponsored by the companies. Main thing seems to be to have a good time, and dressing up in weird ways. Like, there was a crew of sausages whose drummer was a ketchup bottle. This was the team for a brand called Prima.

Wattenmeer

The famous Wattenmeer Führung. Up to your knees in mud. And there are 3 types of mud:
1. Dry mud. You do not sink much
2. Medium mud. You sink more.
3. Wet mud. You sink.

In the pic, you can see an example of dry mud.

Get Thee to Copenhaguen

It is strange. We are nearer to Denmark than to Aachen. But then, Denmark is a very big country. Reaching Copenhaguen (256km) is awfully easy. Reaching the Southern part of Jutland (259km) with public transportation is Mision Imposible.

DRIVE
Not sure whether it is the best option, since I am not sure how much the ferry costs. You should drive to Puttgarden, and cross over there.

TRAIN
Easy, comfortable, efficient. There is a direct EC (Euro City) or ICE (InterCity Express) train from Lübeck (sometimes starting in Hamburg) to Copenhaguen every 2 hours. The high speeds work for Germany, but not on the Danish side. There aren't any high speed railtracks in Denmark.

If you get the EuropaSpezial offer, you may pay as little as 49 euros for a one way ticket. Otherwise, normal price is 69, 40, which is not that bad either. Specially, for Danish standards.

And there is a big plus: you get to see how they put a train into a ferry!

BUS

I know Eurolines has one bus from Copenhaguen to Hamburg. This bus stops in Lübeck. We have not tried it, though. It takes 5 hours. But considering the price of the train, and that it is not difficult to get the special price... Up to you.

Get Thee to Berlin!

Ah, Berlin! Probalby, the coolest city in Europe. Not the nicest, nor the prettiest. But the coolest :) Here is a guide on how to get to Berlin from Lübeck.

Berlin is just 298km away from Lübeck! How great is that? Of course, it also depends to which part of Berlin you are heading, but anyway. 300km is not that far away, is it? I can almost smell the "coolness" of Berlin from my terrace.

DRIVING

Just obey your GPS, and you will get there. According to Via Michelin, it is around 3 hours.

BUS

This is a VERY interesting option. Autokraft has a direct bus to Berlin from Lübeck twice a day:
http://www.berlinlinie.de/index.php?sp=de&id=545

The trip takes around 3,5 hours, and you reach the coach station near Berlin radio station (north-west of centre)

TRAIN

Well, we all know how expensive the Deutsche Bahn can be (www.db.de). There are two ways of getting to Berlin. The expensive one, and the cheap one.

1. The expensive (shorter) option : ICE through Hamburg
2,5 hours. You get the RE (regional bahn) to Hamburg from Lübeck, this takes around 45min. Then you change and get into a shiny ICE, and enjoy the ride to Berlin. If you are lucky, book in advance, and travel during the week, you may pay as little as 29 euros for this trip. Standart price in second class is 78 euros.

2. The cheaper (slighty longer) option: RE through Bad Kleinen
3,5 hours. You get the RE to Bad Kleinen, and there you change to the RE to Berlin. You only need to stand that stupid annoying music they play whenever the train approaches a station... If you travel on a weekend, a group of up to five can travel for 30 euros (schönes Wochende Ticket). On a weekday, it is 42 euros one person. Every additional person is 6 euros more (Quer-durchs-Land Ticket)

Catch

Have not been keeping up posting the catch of the day. Anyway, so far, there has not been a big amount of bugs getting in. We are being careful with the lights at night.

Get thee to The Netherlands

We have been already twice to The Netherlands (Utrecht), and we have tried every possibility except flying. This is a short summary.

BY CAR

Well, ViaMichelin (or Google Maps) says that the trip takes less than 5 hours. Problem is, the construction sites between Lübeck and Hamburg (A20), which are taking forever, and the other very long construction site between Bremen and something else (A1). On a Friday, it took us 7 hours to reach Utrecht (this includes a small traffic jam around Bremen). On a Sunday, it was "only" 6 hours or so. Conclusion: driving to Utrecht sucks. Specially if you are the only driver.

It seems that the German ministry of something has information about construction sites. Considering how fast the work (and that you NEVER, ever see anybody working there during the week), I guess it will take them another 3 years to finish doing whatever it is they are doing.

BY BUS

Eurolines has a direct line between Hamburg and Utrecht. It is possible to start your trip with Eurolines in Lübeck (bus coming from Copenhaguen) and then change. It is a night bus that arrives pretty early to Utrecht. No idea how it works the other way around.

Overall impression... how much sleep you get depends on the others on the bus. Drivers... could hardly speak English, and seemed completely lost at a point. Bus started late from Hamburg, stopped in Bremen and some other place, and of course, a couple of stops in gas stations to stretch your legs.

Better than driving though. At least you can relax and sit back. This is the cheapest possibility of all. Trip takes around 7 hours.

There are also buses to Eindhoven and Amsterdam.

BY TRAIN

So far, this has been the most comfortable way to travel. We took a train (well, 4 of them) from Utrecht to Lübeck. Travel time was around 6 hours. You can relax, read, sleep, walk around, and whatever.

Deutsche Bahn has now these "Europa Spezial", and "Niederlanden Spezial" tickets. If you get lucky, you pay just 39 euros. If you get less lucky, you can still get a pretty decent price, and might even be cheaper than renting a car + gas.

Happy Birthday Passat

Passat is one of those old-timer boats, that is moved every once in a while from its docking place in Travemünde. It has celebrated its 100th year birthday this weekend. A lot of old-timers have come to Travemünde to celebrate, and a lot of sailor activities have been organised. We have been able to enjoy some sailor-singing, and free visits to most of the boats.

Giant wasps

As spring started, the insects started visiting. Two giant wasps entered the apartment. Was pretty scary. Do German wasps eat haxe?

Composting and miracles

As I was doing in Madrid, I was piling up organic waste in a fairly big flower pot (DJ Tiesto!) for composting. Half-way through the composting process, spring came, so I reused my half-rotten material to fill up some other flower pots (DJ Tiesto!). And lo! from pieces of marigolds, I have plants growing!? How strange it that?

Big heads

There is this thing some say, that Chinese kids have a big head. With all due respect, I think it is true.

Ref: Infants younger than six months old take part in a swimming contest in Beijing on Sept 12, 2010. [Cheng Gong / for China Daily]

Anyway, I found this pic really funny. I mean, how did we (the white) get the idea that the rubber ring (pool float) should go around the waist. What is more important, to keep your upper body afloat, or your head (specially, if it is a big one!) clear from the water?

What I can read from the red band, it says "here I come!"

Bruno Banani

Who ever heard of that brand? I just find it funny. Spanish-speaking people will understand why.

It smells like... shit

Is it going to rain?

Katrin once told me, that when it smells like shit, it means it is going to rain. Why? Because the farmers grab tons of manure,and spread it through the fields.The rain helps the manure-substance to reach deeper into the ground. It is Januay, it is -3C. Is it really going to rain? Tomorrow we will see.

To summarise: I live so near the fields, that I can smell the manure in the air.